Content: >
Tournament Poker Final Table Strategy
If you've ever played in a poker tournament you know that making it to the final table is quite a challenge, but it's only half the battle. The majority of online poker sites only pay the top 3 finishers so making it to the final table doesn't mean anything unless you can grab one of those paid spots. At this level the chip stacks will be very disproportionate with one or two overwhelming chip leader, a few in the middle and one or two short stacks. Of course your goal is to come to the final table as a chip leader but sometimes that's not always the case and you have to play with a short stack. Let's take a look at some of the strategies to use while playing the large chip stack and the short stack.
Playing As The Chip Leader
Your three main goals as the chip leader during the final table are;
1. Increase your chip stack
2. Eliminate players
3. Avoid confrontation with other big stacks
While these three goals may appear intertwined the way to achieve them varies.
1. Increasing your chip stack can be accomplished by knocking off opponents, but there is a significant risk associated with calling an all-in which could cost you a sizable chunk of your stack. Instead you should focus on stealing the blinds pre-flop. Because the majority of player will be playing ultra-conservative they will not offer much resistance if you make a significant pre-flop raise.
2. The short stacks are hanging on for dear life and they're only interested in playing high pocket pairs, or other strong hands such as A-K. Your goal is to accelerate the process and the best way to do this is by raising when they're on the big blind regardless of the cards you're holding. This will have for effect of not allowing them to see a cheap flop and force them to either push all-in or fold thus further diminishing their stack.
3. This may seem like a contradictory statement, after all your goal is to increase your chip stack, so why should you avoid butting heads with your main competitors? For the simple reason that they have the same goals as you which is to increase their chip stack but also eliminate the short stacks. Additionally the other big stacks at the table are the only ones that can jeopardize your tournament chances. So unless you're holding a premium hand, lay your hand down at the slightest resistance from a big stack.
Playing As The Short Stack
Playing the short stack at a final table is very difficult, but all it takes is a double up to get back in the game. The first thing to consider is how many blinds you have left. If you're down to just two big blinds get ready to push all-in with any decent hand. You need to make your move before the blinds come around to you so your chip stack can still make an impact on the larger stacks.
Your hand: A♥-8♣
Your stack: $6,000
Average stack: $22,000
Largest stack: 48,000
Blinds: $1,500/3,000
You're sitting one off the button.
At this point your stack represents almost 30% of the average stack and 12.5% of the largest stack. While an all-in move would be insta-called by the chip leader, the other players may think twice about calling.
As you'd hoped for the chip leader folds under the gun, and three players call. A♥-8♣ is a 30% favorite to win against three players which gives you good odds to push all-in, especially considering that it's unlikely that all three players will call a $3,000 raise.
If you find yourself in between with a middle stack your main goal is to increase your chip stack to compensate for the increasing blinds. While you should stick to playing premium hands for the most part, you will also need to steal the blinds from the short stacks and try to pick up any unraised pots by pushing all-in.
|
|
Play Poker on the World's largest poker site.
|
Exclusive poker bonus offers for PokerSense.com visitors of 30% up to $150.
|
Regular Bonus: 50% up to $200
Our Bonus: 100% up to $500
|
Qualify for the 1,000,000 dollar monthly tournament
|
Qualify for the 3,000,000 dollar tv tournament today.
|
Get a first deposit bonus of $500 and a monthly $200 there after.
|
Refer-A-Friend. $75 for you - $50 for them!
|
The $750K Guarantee - Take a seat in our biggest weekly guarantee tournament.
|
110% Poker Sign-up Bonus
|
|
