General tournament strategy, like most forms of poker, can be best characterized by two words: discipline and opportunism. But there are a number of major strategic differences between playing in tournaments and playing in live money games.

The first and most obvious difference is the overall feel, wrought by the fact that only a small percent of the participants in a tournament actually win money. A sound live money game strategy which normally results in your finishing among the top seventy to ninety percentile of all players (from a plus money perspective) is unsound for tournaments. Thus, the typical “professional” conservative strategy based on grinding out loose money and avoiding house drag with discipline, time and patience, (implemented by playing only super solid starting hands) is not the optimal strategy for tournaments. Because most tournaments have severe time restrictions, you must aggressively create and take advantage of as many plus percentage opportunities as possible, even the risky ones. Agressive players who get in there and fight (with the percentages) win more tournaments than those who sit back conservatively and wait for good hands and a lucky day.

Obviously much depends on the type and format of the tournament itself, and the tone at your particular table. Rebuy tournaments are essentially a psychological “con” device to get more money out of the players who might not otherwise put up a larger front end entry fee. If the rebuys are cheap, relative to the other fees, this tends to promote very loose opportunistic play. Those tournaments where, at the end of the rebuy period, you are made “an offer that you cannot refuse” (ie. your dollars buy several times more tournament chips than previously), should be played conservatively tight before this final rebuy in order to minimize survival rebuys (at poorer rates). Most rebuy tournaments essentially start when the rebuy period is over.

No limit tournaments with rapid ante escalation are pure shoot outs until you have more money than most people at your table. You start off with one foot in the grave since the tournament can end for you at any moment. You either wait for great cards to push all your money in or a good opportunity to buy a pot (beware of lurkers). But even the classic all in before the flop on a pair of aces sends you to the showers (or merely another rebuy) a scary percentage of the time. IF you manage to survive the opening stages and get a comfortable lead, you then have options. Generally, with a big lead, you go against the flow. If there is much action, sit back conservatively and let your opponents destroy themselves. If the pace is tightish, use your money like a club, especially if you are good at reading situations. In a tight game there are always opportunities to steal, and normally a moderate size bet is sufficient.

Rule one for no limit (or pot limit) play is always be aware of the stack size of those you are (or likely to be) playing against on any given hand. Relative stack size is perhaps the single most important factor influencing your play. At any given time in a tournament you can characterize your own stack size as being “comfortable” (blinds are less than 10% of your chips), “survival mode” (you have chips for two blinds or less), or “struggling” somewhere in between. Interestingly enough, your strategy is different in all three modes.

When you are comfortable, your objective is to stay comfortable, and let time smoothly pass. You have enough chips that you can afford a minor loss or two; hence you are in position to play poker. Avoid heavy action if possible (unless you have very heavy cards). It is safer to shop around for cheap investment opportunities to pick up cheap unwanted pots. Time is on your side and you can afford to wait for good cards. Often you can afford to “sit out” a whole round if you can steal one of your blinds. If you can continue to grow slowly and be “comfortable” for the next ante escalation you are on track to make it to the final table.

Note the following well. If, when “comfortable”, you choose to speculate with a lesser hand, you probably should back down if it appears that the pace might suddenly accelerate. One of the most important strategies in Omaha is to start and “get involved bigtime” only with quality cards which have BOTH direct AND latent (sometimes referred to as “plan B”) flop matching potential. When backdoor flushes and straights hit on the river, it is clearly advisable to be the screwor rather than the screwee. Success in tournaments is inversely proportional to the number of major confrontations lost.

When you are in struggling mode, you have to win the next pot that you go all the way in. You are quite willing to risk extinction for the possibility of becoming comfortable. Note that if you “see” several flops and fold, you will probably be reduced to “survival mode” (which is no fun). Unless you are fortunate enough to flop a biggy, you should be looking for an opportunity to make your big move while you still have enough chips for one last drive. Thus you plan to raise before the flop and hope to win the antes (and gain time) or get to go one-on-one against a weaker hand. Unless you know something, you do not intend to lose this hand merely because of a bad flop. You plan to drive it all the way and hope for the best. Otherwise put, when you are not in a comfortable position, you do not have “world enough and time” to afford the luxury of sitting around waiting for a big hand.

When you are in survival mode (one or two chips left), you still have a long shot at the money. You are now reduced to the classic waiting position - waiting for the best starting hand depending on the closeness of the button (when you will have a forced blind).

In high Omaha you are even money to get a good starting hand in about five tries (let’s say about 12 or 13 points in my Omaha point count method). In hold-em you are even money to get one of Larry Hill’s top twenty (see TCP 8/23/91) in about seven tries (or around six tries if AJ,KJ & QJ unsuited are included). But even if your blind will come on the next deal, you should not settle for an average looking hand. When you are down to a few chips, it is usually best to send them all in before the flop and get the best odds (especially if you have enough for a raise which might drop somebody). It is easier to win one hand than two hands.

[Next time, Tournament Strategy: Part 2 - At the Final Table]