In the last issue we talked about the “chip-up frebee“, just before a “chip-up” round, where you should call even with a junk hand because it costs you nothing. Tournament conditions sometimes create other opportunities where good dollar sense suggests actions that vary from the usual. (more…)

In poker tournaments where there is a “chip-up” process, there is also what I call the “chip-up freebee” for those players aware of it. In most poker tournaments the limits and blinds approximately double each round of play (timed periods), thereby neccessitating the frequent introduction of higher value chips, and the retirement from play of the lower value chips. (more…)

Tournament Strategy: Part I, noted some of the major overall strategic differences between playing in tournaments and playing in live money games. At any given time in a tournament your strategy is primarily dependent on your relative stack size, which may be designated as “comfortable” (blinds are less than 10% of your chips), “survival mode” (you have chips for two blinds or less), or “struggling”, somewhere in-between comfortable and survival modes. (more…)