Late Poker Tournament Strategy

Late Poker Tournament Strategy

The late stages of a tournament is when play starts to get a bit more complicated. There are no defined rules for how to go about the later stages of a tournament, but if you are able to analyze a handful of variables it will be easy to pick apart your opponents. The dynamics of tournament play are much more complex than cash games.

There are so many different circumstantial decisions that need to be made that it can be an overwhelming challenge to try and decide what the correct move is in any given situation. Variables such as position, your opponents, and where you are in the standings are all areas that need to be considered when playing the later stages of a tournament.

You should be playing a hand in two completely different ways if you are in first place as opposed to last place. If you need to build up a stack you should have a different mindset than if you are already sitting on a huge pile of chips. Position, especially when the blinds are high, becomes an increasingly important consideration.

Players will be shoving their stack in the middle left and right, so if you are in early position it will be costly to make small raises. In contrast to this is late position play. If everyone folds around to you it will be perfectly fine for you to widen your range a bit to allow for shoves with weaker hands than usual.

The third main variable to keep in mind is where you are in the standings. If you have already cashed you will be playing your hands in a different way than if you are on the bubble or at the final table. The late stages are so complex that only the most astute players will be able to thrive on a consistent basis, there truly is no room for mistakes.

Variables to Consider – Late Tournament Strategy

There are three main variables to consider, amongst many others. These three variables are position, your opponents, and where you are in the standings. Your position describes where you are set to act relative to the other players at the table. The push/fold mentality will be the strategy of choice in the late stages of most tournaments, so you will want to really tighten up if you are in early position. So many players think they can force folds with an open raise from early position, but if you don’t have a strong hand you will be burning your money.

Your opponents are another crucial factor when making decisions late in a tournament. If your table is loose you can wait for a strong hand in order to take advantage of the other player’s looseness, but if you are at a tight table you will want to play a bit more aggressively than usual so that you can steal the blinds.

The third main area to consider when playing the late stages of a tournament is where you are in the standings. If you have already cashed and are one of the big stacks you will be able to absolutely run over the players with smaller stacks, but if you are a short stack you will need to implement a push/fold strategy. Adjust your strategy according to these different variables and you will do well once you get to the later stages of a tournament.

SUMMARY: Tournament Strategy Late Stages

The late stages of a tournament are never easy to play. There are, however, different variables that can be analyzed in order to simplify your decisions. If you breakdown the situation you are in it will be easy to capitalize on your late run.