mtt-guide

THE MULTI-TABLE TOURNAMENT GUIDE

Learning to Win at Poker with Gripsed

OFFICIAL GRIPSED.COM E-BOOK SERIES


If you’ve been looking for a comprehensive, kick-ass multi-table tournament guide, then look no further everything you need to know to become a great tournament player is here. I’ve packed my MTT Strategy Guide with tips, tricks and tools to help you every step of the way, from registration all the way to the final table. By the end, you’ll have an invaluable basis of information that’ll help you dominate every tournament setting, from your weekly Friday night tourney to world-renowned events like the World Series of Poker and the European Poker Tour. You’re going to learn a lot here, and you can take these lessons to the bank – literally.

But before we get started, I want take a moment to talk about creating an ideal learning environment...

Poker is exciting - I get it (no one gets it like me) - but I don’t want your enthusiasm to stonewall your ability to absorb and retain the information divulged here. Take your time with this book - read it fully and slowly. Really let the lessons sink in and once they have, get some practical and real experience putting each principle to work. Master its execution. In fact, consider the very act of reading this guide your inaugural lesson into MTT strategy: consider it your first lesson in observation, perseverance, and patience. You’ll need all three to be a successful tournament player.

Got it?

Good. Let’s get down to the felt.


CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Pre-Game Strategy.

Learn why and how setting clear, actionable, realistic goals will help you succeed.

Chapter 2: Early Stage Strategy.

A comprehensive early-game guide that takes you by the hand so you can play more of yours.

Chapter 3: Middle Stage Play.

This is when you’re going to take the big risks. Learn how to make the leap without flying blind.

Chapter 4: Late Stage Play.

The money bubble has burst and you’re still in the game. Now what? Learn how to max-out your take-away.

Chapter 5: Defence, Offence.

Get in-depth analysis on how to beef up your defensive and offensive tactics.

1. PRE-GAME STRATEGY

If you’re reading this guide, chances are you’re serious about poker, and if you’re serious about poker, chances are you’re playing to win. Winning is the first, most obvious goal of playing poker, and it’s also the easiest to lose sight of in the heat of action. You are going to want to keep it in the front of your mind during any tournament. Winning does not always mean being the last one standing at the final table, but obstensibly, you’d like to maximize your return on investment (i.e. the amount you spent to buy-in to the tournament).

CHAPTER 1. PRE-GAME STRATEGY

Return on Investment (ROI) There are a few factors that will affect your ROI:

1) The amount of play. How deep are the starting stacks? How quickly do the blinds increase? Generally speaking, deeper stacks and slower structures favour stronger players because they demand focus, patience and the experience that teaches both.

2) Your adaptability. Every game is a little bit different. If deep stacks and slow structures favour more aggressive, more conservative players, you will have to adjust your strategy to suit the payout structure.

The nature of tournaments is that you will fall short of the money a high percentage of the time (80-90%), and to make up for all those losing investments you need to be hitting the high paying places so that the average of your payouts compared to your entry fees will be positive. The more top heavy a tournament is, the more inclined you should be to take an aggressive high-risk approach. In the case of flatter payout structures it can be preferable to implement a strategy focused on making the final table (or the final 3) rather than a go-for-it-all or go-home approach.

3) Your focus. If you’re only used to playing quick cash games, the patience and course required for tournament



play may come as a shock to your system. Your ability to collect on your ROI greatly depends on your ability to sit tight, stay focused and keep playing your A-game consistently - not just for the first couple of hours.

4) Your competition. As soon as you sit down at your very first table, you are going to need to try to get a handle on your competition. The skill level of your opponents is a major factor in your ability to maximize your ROI.

Next, I want to talk about the human element of MTT strategy specifically, and poker in general. We know we have to want to win, and we know we have to max our ROI, but all the passion and number strategy in the world won’t make up for a lack of basic psychology.

The Human Element The human element of poker, though perhaps more subtle, is equally important when thinking about MTT goal setting and strategy. Poker isn’t solitaire; it’s not a game strictly between you and the cards. Poker is a game that uses cards, but it is between you and your opponents. As such, you’re going to want to get a feel for the other players at the table so you can choose effective winning strategies. (You’ll learn more about this in the upcoming chapters.)

Let’s recap: the 3 main goals in poker tournaments are...

1) To win

2) To maximize your ROI

3) To get to know your tablemates so you can choose winning strategies

Having these three primary goals positioned clearly at the front of your mind will definitely help you get your



head in the game. Now, I want to focus on the rest of you. Knowing what your goals are outside the tournament space is one thing, but you need to be prepared for the tournament itself. It’s a little like wanting to move to a new country and needing to learn a whole new language; you can take courses, read books and practice speaking out loud before you get there, but the ultimate education comes when you start living there; when you start negotiating the unfamiliar (and sometimes uncomfortable) terrain yourself. Same goes for poker. Theory helps, but it won’t stand alone. You need actual practice as well. You need to the best tools and strongest foundation to build your tournament life – and that’s where this book comes in.

Your Tournament Life The value of your tournament life is directly related to the way you approach tournaments. If you play winning tournament poker then your tournament life holds value. If your approach is to slowly let your chips bleed away then your tournament life isn’t worth much anyway. This is because your goal in a poker tournament should not be to last as long as possible. Your goal should be to give yourself the best shot at winning. Of course, the offshoot of this approach is that you usually will stay in the game longer. Making it to the money and moving up the payout structure are by-products of going for the win, but if they are your primary focus in MTT you’re going to be a steadily losing player. Not what we want.

To make this point more obvious, I want you to look at the increase in payouts in terms of buy-ins rather than actual dollars. You will see the jumps are very, very small compared to the jumps at the top spot. When people are playing tournaments they very often get caught up in the actual dollar amount they can make if they move up a pay spot rather than looking at how much of an increase in pay they are getting relative to their investment. By realizing the change in ROI often isn’t that significant, it becomes much easier to focus on going for those top paying spots where the jumps are significant both in terms of dollars and in terms of buy-ins. This holds especially true in big live buy-in events where the buy-in is $1,000 or $10,000. Those real dollar amounts can



seem like huge jumps, but when compared to the unit of investment - which is how we measure the success in tournaments, they aren’t that meaningful.

Example of a flat payout structure: 1st: 20% 2nd: 16% 3rd: 12% 4th: 9% 5th: 7% 6th: 5% 7th: 3% 8th: 1.8% 9th: 1.2% 10th-12th: 0.75% 13th-15th: 0.6% 16th-18th: 0.4% 19-27: 0.2%

Example of a top-heavy payout structure: 1st: 40% 2nd: 25% 3rd: 15% 4th: 8% 5th: 6% 6th: 4% 7th: 3% 8th: 2% 9th: 1%



In addition to wanting to last longer, other pitfalls to avoid in MTT play include:

Bounty Hunting. Unless you’re playing in an actual bounty tournament, going out of your way to

eliminate other players is not going to help your bankroll. This is particularly useful to remember if you’re the big stack at the table and start to feel the inclination to throw your weight around and knock out the little guy. If at any point during a tournament you start to channel Rambo, take a moment to remember this: it is not your job to kick anyone’s ass in particular, but it is your job to save yours.

Risky Business. Granted, to some extent all poker is risky business, but there is never any reason to take

an irresponsible risk. Being chip leader is great, but if you act rashly, it could cost you a lot (or everything) and you won’t even stand a chance of reaching your goals.

Movie-Script Poker. Thinking about playing straight from the script of your favorite poker movie? Then

you can also think about packing your bags. Trying to make totally wild plays to satisfy your ego only works in the movies. Don’t be too cool for school; stick to the lessons in this guide for your best odds.

Things to Remember

Never forget your ultimate goals (i.e. winning, maxing your ROI, accounting for the human element); it’s

easy to lose sight due to opportunities for instant gratification.

Never give up. Any stack size can win. (Greg Merson had 3.5 big blinds on day 5 of the WSOP Main

Event and came back to win the event for $8.5 million.)

Your stack size is going to fluctuate - don’t let your emotions fluctuate with it.



You need to know your opponents so that you can identify your ideal strategy for getting chips.

BE AGGRESSIVE! You should very rarely pass up on a profitable spot. (Think 60% in your favor or

even money vs. the opponent with dead money in the middle.) When you register for the event you take on the challenge of gambling your way to every chip in play, and you’re not going to get that done by avoiding confrontation.

Be aware of your position in the field relative to others; I’m talking about table position and set up,

average stack size and payout structure. This will help you know your odds of winning as well as your odds of making a specific payout and these factors will influence when you should play a risk-averse strategy (rarely) vs. when you should play a risk-inclined strategy (appropriate for 90-95% of the event).

At this point, you should be mentally ready to handle your pre-tournament challenges. Your mind should be as prepped as possible and you should know exactly what you want out of the event and strategies that will best help you keep your eye on the prize.

Now let’s get to the tables...


2. EARLY STAGE STRATEGY

The biggest predictor of success in tournament poker is your level of focus. The more focused you are, the more able you will be to accomplish the goals of early stage play. Pay attention and take notes! Here are your missions, if you choose to accept them. (And if you want to take it your MTT performance to the max, you will!)

Your Mission: Identify weaknesses.

CHAPTER 2. EARLY STAGE STRATEGY

Your Tools: official poker rankings.com, sharkscope.com.

Your Objective: To scope out the inner workings of your opponents by using these covert (and yes, completely legal and equally available to all) websites. Pay attention to the hands, especially the showdowns! This is your only chance to see your opponents’ hands and how they decided to play them - and this, my friend, is gold. Now you know what makes them tick, and that will help you keep your stack more safe. The best defensive is a good offence, right?

TIP: Look for signs of fishy players. These are players who go in on too many hands (>25%, who make overly large raises and bets). Alternatively, they are also characterized by passive play and making bluffs that just don’t make any sense.

Your Mission: Wait for the sweet spots.

Your Tools: Patience.

Your Objective: To sit calmly and wait for profitable opportunities. There’s no rush to get involved in the action. Being impatient pre-flop can lead to compounding errors post-flop. It’s never a winning play to make losing investments.



A motivational stat: Winning players will typically fold 80-90% of their hands in most positions. Your Mission: Brand yourself.

Your Tools: Basic Psychology.

Your Objective: Establish your table image. How you are perceived determines whether your opponents will give you a lot of action or stay out of your way. Here’s the tricky part: how you wished to be perceived depends on you and your own unique style of play, so I cannot conclusively and absolutely tell you how to brand yourself. What I can tell you definitively is that just about any table image can work if you can accurately predict how your opponents will react to it. Thus you will be able to make adjustments to your strategies accordingly. For example, if people think I’m a calling station, I’m not going to expect them to try and bluff me, and thus I can fold more often to their bets. If they think I’m a maniac, then again I’m not going to try and bluff them as much, but I will be more inclined to make bigger bets when i do bet to get paid off more often. The biggest key when it comes to table image is self-awareness and understanding how others perceive you and consequently, how they are going to adjust to you.

Like I said, it is difficult (if not totally impossible) for me to tell you how you should brand yourself - but I CAN tell you what images you’ll probably want to avoid. Being considered a ‘loudmouth’, a ‘hotshot’, a ‘weak tight’ player, ‘easy to bluff open’ ‘overly loose and passive’ or a player who is never able to fold a hand is generally not a good thing. This is because the best image to have is one that people respect. You should want to project the image of a table captain; someone who has all their things in order; a real winner at life. This sort of image commands respect and will typically make it much easier to play a profitable game. When opponents fear you (and therefore worry about what you are capable of) they are much more likely to just play a straight game



against you, letting you have control of the action.

Now, loudmouth, cocky players may have their things in order, but since they come off as jerks, people will want to take them down. As a result, they have to deal with a lot more questionable situations; they have to wonder if people are making a move because they actually have a good hand or because they want to impart a little lesson in manners.

In short, the more players respect you, the more you’ll be able to get your way. The more you get your way, the more you win. After all, respect doesn’t breed contempt; acting contemptuous breeds contempt. Along the same line, if you’re a friendly, fun person to be around, a lot of players will actually be happy to see you win. They will actually be happy to lose their money to you. Seems almost oxymoronic, doesn’t it? Who would be happy to lose their money to another person? Answer: someone who genuinely likes that other person.

Your Mission: To the max.

Your Tools: The following equation.

Your Objective: I want you to take your value to the max on every single hand, every strategic opportunity, and you’re going to capitalize on this strategy by using this simple equation:

Opponents style + Value of Your hand = optimal line to extract the maximum payoff

So, take what you’ve learned about your opponent, then add in the strength of your hand and voila! - the best way to get the most money out of the situation will present itself to you.



Example: let’s say you get 99 pre-flop and you’re in late position. 99 isn’t a particularly great hand, but it is not something you’re going to want to muck right away either – especially when you are in late position and can see how everyone else is responding to their own hands. If you find yourself up against a looser, more passive player who is checking and calling, chances are you can squeeze a few bets out of this person and get a feel for his or her hand before you have to commit any major investment yourself. The idea here is to take control of the action; to know when to play your hands as value bets or as bluff catchers.

Your Mission: Chip security.

Your Tools: Iron-clad bankroll management.

Your Objective: Don’t give your chips away. It’s common to get no hands for the first few levels, so just blind down and stay focused. In the event you do have a good run in the early levels, build your stack but don’t get reckless with your newly amassed wealth. You are its proud parent and like any parent, some mistakes are inevitable, but you can avoid the big ones (read: the detrimental ones) by making sure every action made is an informed action; that every risk is calculated.

‘Calculated’ is the operative word here. Not every aspect of MTT play can be calculated, but you can roughly (and profitably) predict more than you probably think.

Let’s take a look at some basic and effective calculated MTT strategy.

Increasing the Odds I want you to have a solid handle on what situations are good to stay in and see out, and which ones are best



viewed from the sidelines. I want to start by familiarizing you (or re-familiarizing you, depending on your existing level of poker knowledge) with two simple and important concepts: implied odds and reverse implied odds. Implied odds refer to the future payoff you expect to receive if you catch a flop (or a particular card) that gives you a winning hand. Situations offering good Implied odds refer those where you will be winning a big pot or losing a small pot. Situations offer reverse implied odds are those where you are most likely to win a small pot or lose a big pot. In the early stages of MTT play, implied odds are good and reverse implied odds are undesirable. We want to do everything we can to keep the risk low and rewards great – and the best way to do this is to keep the odds in your favor by gaining and preserving chips. You can accomplish this by...

1) making small investments. Don’t shy away from investing a small percentage of your stack to see cheap flops in order to try and bust tight-playing. More opponents in the hand = more people to potentially pay you off. I recommend that you only do with this pocket pairs, suited connectors, and suited aces. After all, you want to be on the winning side of setup hands.

TIP: BE CAUTIOUS WITH BROADWAY HANDS. I can’t emphasize this enough. Making top pair in deep stack situations is not your primary objective. Knowing your opponent will tell you when it’s OK to go to the house with top pair and against who you can play more hands.

2) gauging your pre-flop play. The worse you expect someone to play after the flop, the larger you think your post-flop edge is, the more hands you can justify playing pre-flop. Don’t play loose just because you want to; there has to method to your perceived madness.

3) being wary of crowded tables. More players also means more people who may have hit lucky on the board. You’ll need to have a more nutted hand to be able to withstand a lot of action in a 5 or 6 way pot.



4) keeping the pot small. The pot size grows exponentially, so be willing to keep the pot small when you are unsure of where you stand in a hand. It’s less disastrous to miss a value bet than to risk losing your entire stack in a spot where you aren’t sure where you stand.

5) punishing your opponents. I’m not talking about taking up an active vendetta against anyone, but you can give a rap on the knuckles to opponents who are playing too loose by playing a tight range in position. This way, when you both hit the flop, you can hit it harder and make the action work for you. Alternatively, let’s look at sure-fire ways you can lose your chips – not to mention any credibility you’ve gained at the table. We’ve already discussed most of these, but they stand revisiting.

Ways to Bleed Chips 1) Playing too loose pre-flop, especially in early position when it compounds into post-flop errors; 2) Calling down too light, especially when competing with other tight players (i.e. making stubborn calls); 3) Playing impatiently in general; 4) Not paying attention and consequently, missing out on profitable opportunities; 5) Making bad bluffs;

Post, Flop, Action! Once you make a hand, it’s time to figure out how to get the most out of it. It’s hard to get dealt strong hand, let alone connect with the flop strongly, so you really have to capitalize on these opportunities. Bluffing does play a role, but when it comes to poker tournaments, for the most part you are going to win the most chips when you are holding a strong hand. Remember, big pots are for big hands!

When to Play your Hands Fast You are going to want to take a more aggressive approach when...



...you think your opponent likes his or her hand and you believe you have a stronger hand ...you encounter dangerous/dynamic boards (i.e. when there are many draws possible) ...scary cards are turning up (think 77 on 235; or when every turn is an over-card or straight) ...you encounter multi-way pots (more opponents means lower chances of winning) ...you’re out of position (i.e. you don’t have control of the action) ...you’re up against passive opponents who need you to do the betting for them

When to Pay your Hands Slow You are going to want to meander down easy street and keep a more passive front when... ...the board is dry/static and doesn’t contain many draws. ...the pot to stack ratio is low. (How many “pot sized bets” do you have left? Hint: The fewer you have, the easier it will be to get all-in by the river and the slower you can play your hand.) ... it’s you vs. only 1 or 2 opponents. (Lower odds of getting sucked out on, and less likely someone has a good enough hand to give you a lot of action.) ... you’re up against hyper aggressive opponents. (Let them seal their own fate! You can always wait until the river to put the last bet in, and you may get 3 streets of value from a dud-hand they were bluffing and would’ve folded if you’d shown any interest earlier on.) ...you have all the cards in the deck and it’s near impossible for your opponent to have anything that will give you action. (In these cases, you have to give your opponent a chance to bluff; they cannot call any bets from you but they can bet themselves.)


3. MIDDLE STAGE PLAY

Your middle stage strategy for MTTs should be a lot like your middle age strategy for life: you’re still in the game, you’ve made it this far, earned your place and now’s the time to take risks. You could easily just keep coasting along, but that’s not how you make an impact, that’s not how you get attention and get your name well known. Want a hot new car? The kids are grown and you don’t need the minivan anymore, so why the hell not? You can afford it. Want a hot new wife? Hmmmm...well, unless you can also afford a good divorce lawyer, this little indulgence probably isn’t a good call. It’s a play that can cost you a lot more than you were betting on. A

CHAPTER 3. MIDDLE STAGE PLAY

good idea in theory, after all, is one thing. A good idea in practice is quite another. Much like successful mid-life strategy, successful mid-stage MTT play depends on balancing solid theory and solid practice. It’s a good time to take risks (theory), granted those risks are founded in strategic, tried and tested rationale (practice). I’m here to show you why you should take those chances and how you can blend the two areas into one bankroll pleasing plan.

Characteristics of Mid-Stage Action As we get closer to the bubble (where the next player knocked out won’t win any money) and average stack gets shorter, a lot of players will become more conservative and risk-averse. Translation: it’s prime time for chip accumulation.

Once the antes come into play there’s more money up for grabs every hand. During this phase of the tournament you should widen your standards for getting involved, but you don’t need to put your stack in reckless danger going after that dead money. While the smart strategy is to raise more hands and go after more pots because of this added ‘dead money’, you still shouldn’t be chasing the pot with wild abandon. Let’s take a look at how we can accumulate chips without fatally compromising our stack. I’ll start by laying out your fundamental mid-stage objectives:



Mid-Stage Goals 1. Read the table. You’re going to identify how you can accumulate chips by checking out the table setup. Always be aware of the table layout, player types and stack sizes; this will keep you from playing too loose or too tight. Remember: each table requires a slightly different approach. Adapt or die. (More on this fundamental adage later!)

2. React to the table. Keep the reckless players in check and don’t give much action to the cautious ones. Never play into your opponent’s style; play in a fashion that will take them out of their comfort zone.

This means you’ll want to re-raise the loose players who are opening trash hands. Yes, occasionally they will wake up with a strong hand, but most of the time (70%+) they will have to fold to your re-raise.

Likewise, you have to be willing to re-raise and call all-ins against the most maniacal players - otherwise, just avoid them all together. Maniacs are the type of players who will not only open a wide range of hands, but will also be willing to come back over the top with weak holdings (e.g. any pair, any ace, broadway cards) if they think you’re pulling a play on them. They may be opening a wide range of hands, but that doesn’t translate to them folding to a lot of 3-bets. So, if you’re going to go up against these players then you’d better be prepared to bet your stack on it with some far from premium hands yourself. Hands like 77 and AJ will go way up in value in these situations against a maniac.

As I mentioned, though, it may not be worth getting involved. The only way to make this call is to take a look at yourself and how you play. Maniacs are always in the action so it can be very tempting to try to get involved with them and play along in their game of who can pick up the most blinds and small pots. This said, their sticky nature can make it a losing proposition if you’re not prepared to follow up re-steal attempts with future bets.



If this is the case, then you’re better served just sitting back, relaxing, and watching the maniac try his magic against the table. You should just focus on the dynamics that are being created around him. You can pick up some valuable information about the way your tablemates play by the way they react to a maniac.

3. Steal from the tight players. Since the stacks are usually pretty short mid-stage, cautious tight players will be letting some prime opportunities pass them by. Don’t let them pass you by too; take these steal opportunities to cushion your own stack - just be aware of who’s in position and whether or not these players are likely to police your steals.

4. Focus on late position. Ah, the sweet spot. Since there are fewer players to get through in late position you have less likelihood of running into a strong hand. When you’re dealing with non-believers, and late position fails, try stealing from positions that will get more credit. Again, pay attention to who is in the big blind and who is in position; this will determine how likely you are to have opponents play back at you.

Building a Stack: Mid-Stage Chip Accumulation Now that you know how to keep your eyes on the prize and your head above water, I want to give you a deeper look in how, exactly, to maximize chip accumulation using precise strategy and numbers. We know there’s an undeniable luck factor in poker and this is why we have to use solid, iron-clad strategies to sway the balance in our favour. In other words, we want to control everything we can control.

1. Steal the blinds: Risk 2-2.5 big blinds to win. The pre-ante reward is 1.5 big blinds. Once antes are in the mix, that reward jumps up to 2.5 big blinds, while the risk on your part remainds the same. A 50% success rate is break-even, so if you pick your spots well, you’ll be making money on your steals.



The exact success rate of your steals is dependent on the following factors:

A) how many hands/players you have to get through

B) what % of their hands each player will continue with (whether it be by flat calling your raise, or by playing back at you with a 3-bet.

*Remember, some opponents will play the same percentage of hands, no matter what. Some will play fewer hands facing a lot of action (raise, re-raise) and others will play fewer hands based on what percentage of hands they think you are opening, so when your raise looks like a steal, it will work less often. On the other hand, if they have no reason to suspect you’re stealing, they may fold everything but the most premium hands.

2. Re-steal from the loose openers. Risk 5-7 big blinds to steal the blinds and the villain’s open (4.5-5.5 big blinds). Your success rate will be based on what percentage of hands the opponent opens and what percentage of those hands they continue with vs. your re-steal (be it via flat calling or re-raising).

3. Play stronger, play in position. Build your stack by playing stronger hand ranges than your opponent. Double your power by playing in position so you can control the action.

Here are some tips on how to achieve these objectives:

If your opponents are opening 20% of their hands, you want to play no more than 20%; you will

experience less fluctuation in your stack if you play an ideal 10-15% of hands in these spots.

When you connect strongly with the flop, you want to continue with the hand. The more shallow your



stack is, the lower your criteria should be for getting all-in. For example, with 1 pot-size bet left to play for, you’re never going to want to fold a top pair, but with 10 pot-sized bets behind the wager, you may consider it since your opponent probably only has very strong holdings if they are willing to invest that much to win the relatively small amount sitting in the middle.

Once you know if you have reached your commitment threshold regarding hand strength, you have to

decide on the best way to get the most money in the pot (i.e. fast-play or slow-play). Your decision to continue with the hand has been made at this point, and your options are whittled down to either calling or raising on each street - folding has been eliminated.

In cases where you have not connected very strongly with the flop, your commitment threshold may be

such that you will call one bet and fold to a second; or perhaps you will call two but not three. In these cases your goal is to find a way to make it to the showdown for that amount of bets. If you end up having to fold your hand, it didn’t really matter what you had - and if you’re up against an opponent who you know is going to put the maximum pressure on, it can be correct to fold right away rather than commit chips you’ll never see again. Again, this comes down to knowing your opponent.

4. Defend your blinds. If you’re facing a min-raise you will be getting 3:1, sometimes 4:1. This means that if you see a flop, you only need to end up winning that pot 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 times to make your money back! Given that a random hand has about a 33% chance of beating a monster like Ace-King, you can see why defending your blinds is very important. Keep in mind that this means you shouldn’t go crazy when you just catch any piece of the board; your goal is not to win the pot every time you defend your blinds - not even half the time! Your goal is to win the pot often enough to make your pre-flop call profitable.

For blind defence to work you must be confident that you can play well after the flop. Conversely, if you are



passing up on this opportunity when you’ve landed great odds, you will be like the player who plays to survive in the tournament, slowly bleeding your chips away. Don’t shy away from putting yourself in a temporarily uncomfortable spot if the action looks like it could be in your favour. Factor in the opponent you’re up against, how many hands they’re opening, how many chips you will have left to play once the flop hits and whether or not you have position; this will determine whether or not you can win the pot the 20-25% of the time it requires to break-even.

You can also defend your blind by re-raising/3 betting. Again, it boils down to simple math: what percentage of hands is the opponent opening and what percentage of those hands will they fold to your re-raise? Let’s not forget that in all these spots, you can always win the pot after the flop as well. You should also consider the standing of your image. In other words, will your opponent think you are stealing, or will they think you woke up with a real hand this time? Building on this, if you make it clear that you are someone who is ready to go to battle, players will be less inclined to go after your blinds in the first place. Your image will impact how often your re-steal will be successful.

5. Capitalize on fold equity. Use your fold equity to win pots without a showdown. Fold equity simply refers to the likelihood that your opponent(s) will fold facing your aggressive action. By using your fold equity to win hands, you take your winning chances from whatever they were based on your pot equity, to 100%.

So:

Fold Equity = 1 - (% of hands your opponent will continue with / % of total hands they have)

Here’s a concrete example to offer up a little more illumination:



Dave holds Ac8h and is up against one other opponent, Susan. She has 4h7d. The flop comes down with 10s6c2d.

At this point in the game, Dave and Susan hold pot equity of 25% and 75%, respectively. Essentially, this means that if the players simply showed their hands and the turn and river cards were dealt, Dave would have a 75% chance of winning and Susan would have a 25% chance.

As it stands, Susan’s hand is pretty dismal and since she doesn’t know what combination of cards Dave could be holding, let’s say she has a 85% chance of folding if confronted with a hefty bet. If Dave can successfully bet Susan off her hand (which we know he can in this case) his chances of winning the pot jump from 75% to 100%. Even if a 7, 4 or running straight cards were going to come on the turn or river, it doesn’t matter because Dave has successfully ended the hand by making a winning bet.

Fold equity can be an incredibly valuable tool, especially in mid-stage MTT play when the stacks are lower and you want to be able to risk more, but risk with a degree of safety. Fold equity puts solid numbers behind random chance. After all, you aren’t always going to land good cards and even if you get them, they do not always guarantee the win. A master poker player is one who can also win chips by good betting. If you are able to do this then when coin-flips and coolers happen you will be more likely able to withstand the blows.

You can learn more about fold equity in Chapter 5: Defence, Offence.

Adapt or Die I’ve already touched on the importance of adaptability, but I want to elaborate to give the point its due attention. Understand: your ability to play successful, winning poker depends largely on your ability to adapt quickly, aptly



and strategically to your table and the action. This holds doubly true for tournament poker when your table and table dynamic changes more frequently - and the truth of the premise increases exponentially when you’ve reached mid-stage, risk-inviting MTT play. If you want to capitalize on the calculated risks I’ve just outlined, you are going to have to be able to change your tactic seamlessly and subtly on a moment’s notice.

Here’s what I’m talking about....

Adjust your aggression. When you’re playing loose you want your opponents to think you are playing

tight. When you are playing tight you want your opponents to think you’re full of it. Keep them guessing; as long as they’re the ones guessing, you’re the one with the best bet.

Adjust your style. Play a lot of hands against weak tables. Wait for strong hands and play straight and

solid when you’re up against the tough ones. Weak tables will let you get away with more moves whereas strong players are likely to see through your play and call you on it.

Adjust according to your stack size. The bigger your stack and the closer you are to the money or big

pay jumps, the more pressure you can apply to other big stacks who won’t want to bust to you. (This strategy is one of the reason’s it’s so useful to build up a big stack.) If you are the 2nd or 3rd biggest stack, be aware of where the other big stacks are AND HOW THEY ARE PLAYING THOSE STACKS. Not everyone with a big stack knows how to use it properly.

Adjust to the bubble. When people tighten up to get into the money, you should be loosening up to take

advantage of your increased fold equity.


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Recap: In the earliest stages of MTT play we focused primarily on playing a tight and solid approach. We identified weak players and took advantage of their mistakes, but otherwise, we’ve been playing a generally conservative game. Up to this point, we have had the luxury of patience and reserve since there has been so little in the pot relative to our stacks. We have been willing to wait for the best spots to get involved in the action. In this stage we were somewhat risk-averse when it came to extremely close spots because we could expect to have a large edge in

CHAPTER 4. LATE STAGE PLAY

deep-stack post-flop situations.

Once we reached the middle stages, antes kicked in and average stacks became shallower. As a result, we had to implement a more aggressive, risk-inclined strategy. Winning the blinds and antes, or re-stealing from an opener served to give us a much greater gain (percentage wise to our stack) and with other players quickly losing flexibility in their play, having a big stack to wield was a lot more useful than it was when everyone had the luxury of playing patient. As we approached the bubble and players got tighter (wanting to bust less; that last longer strategy), we ramped up the aggression to the extreme.

Now that we’re in the money everything changes, and your strategy will have to change as well. Sure, you’re guaranteed a payout, but you’re still a far cry from the finish line. Our goal is to get to that final stretch, ideally with a reasonable chance of winning the race. As with all stages of MTT play, part of your strategy is variable and will depend on your opponents and other tournament factors (e.g. payout structure). The main thing to remember is that if your chances of winning or of making those top 3 spots are already very high, then you should be less inclined to take close gambles. If however, it isn’t looking very likely that you will make it to the end you should welcome gambling opportunities. Staying in the game and moving up in pay shows very little value compared to the great value of potentially getting a big payday. In this position, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.


4. LATE STAGE PLAY

With this in mind, let’s get acquainted with our late-stage objectives. While some of these are similar to our goals in earlier stages, it is important to keep in mind that there are subtle and vital nuances that make these objectives late-stage specific, so read carefully.

1. Read the table. Who is playing actively (playing to win)? Who is playing conservatively (playing to survive)? Who is capable of 3-betting, 4-betting, 5-betting?

2. React to the table. Steal from the weak/tight players. Sometimes any two cards will do. Your cards only matter if you end up making it to a showdown – and you’ll probably be able to push these players out before then. This said, we don’t want to put all our faith in probability. Even weak/tight players can bite back in a pinch. Follow these tips to keep your stack safe:

Don’t try to steal when you’re likely to get re-shoved on (think 12-24 big blind stacks)

Counter the loose players by playing back with re-raises and use flat calls with hands that play well (think

big suited connectors, broadway hands, and big pocket pairs). Hands like 22-66 should still be folded in general since they don’t play well post-flop unless you are deep enough to set mine (i.e limp or call bets with a pocket pair in the hopes of hitting a card of the same rank on the flop). Hands that play well after the flop are ones that will get some piece of the board a good amount of the time (pairs, flush draws, straight draws). Pocket pairs either make a set, or they don’t; there are no really good (or even mediocre) flops for them.

Only engage the maniacs if you’re ready to play for it all; they will play back when you play back. This

can give you a great opportunity to play for the chip lead or a very big stack since these players will 4-bet bluff or 5-bet all-in with marginal holdings. Just keep in mind you still have to hold in those 80/20, 70/30, 60/40 chance spots. If you aren’t prepared for that variance because you like your chip position or your chances, then


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you’re best served to simply avoid them.

3. Build on the final table bubble. The same rule applies anytime a pay jump is on the horizon. Your strategy for doing this is simple because fear in your opponents is at an all time high. As a result, your fold equity is also at its highest, and when fold equity is high, good cards aren’t required to win the pot!

Your second strategy is going to involve putting yourself in a position to win. Tournament pros are judged by how many wins they get - not how many final tables they make. In order to maximize your ROI you want to give yourself the best shot at winning or making those top spots. Creeping into the final table and busting out 7-9th on a consistent basis is unlikely to make you a long-term winner in tournament poker.

In the Money Strategy Now that we’ve laid out your general late-stage goals, it’s time to get specific about the best way to see them through to the end. Your ‘in the money’ strategy is not complex, but it does demand focus and determination so be sure to not only take note of each step, but to thoroughly understand it and commit it to memory. By the time you make it to late-stage play, you don’t want to be fumbling with cheat sheets or struggling to remember your plan; you want your strategy to be so firmly and seamlessly entrenched into your psyche that it’s second nature. The only thing you want to be focused on is the cards and players in front of you. You’re going to do this by transitioning into CLOSING MODE.

Closing Mode Once you’ve made it this far you want to be in control of the tournament, driving the action. Be willing to take profitable gambles for small portions of your stack, but try not to take big risks that will diminish your flexibility


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and leverage.

Here’s how you’re going to achieve this:

Strategy # 1: Evaluate. Always evaluate before taking a gamble. Consider your odds of closing the tourney out if you pass up on this spot, ask yourself how much those odds will increase if you go for it and win. How much will they decrease if you lose? If you stand to gain more, go for it. If you’re going to be much worse off then pass it over. It’s critical to be able to identify where and when to not gamble at this stage of the tournament since the impact of each decision is magnified when you actually have a decent shot of winning. For example, the odds of winning a tournament with 2000 people left (even if you are in 1st place) vs. the odds of winning with 20 left (even if you are in 15-17th place) are very different – and these differences must be accounted for before you act.

You are likewise going to want to evaluate your odds when someone shoves into your blinds or shoves on your open. What are your chances of winning against their range?

King Ten off suit vs. top 20% of hands A9 suited vs. top 25% of hands Pocket jacks vs. the top 10% of hands

Strategy #2: Thieve and Police. Steal from the weak, police the thieves, but BE AWARE OF YOUR IMAGE and


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BE AWARE OF WHO IS GETTING FED UP AND READY TO ADJUST. You want to be taking a few pots per orbit if you can get away with it, but you don’t want to become the guy that everyone wants to go after, unless of course you play a ‘if you’re not first, your last’ Ricky Bobby approach and are looking to engage in confrontation even against the biggest remaining stacks. This strategy can have its upside because if you’re 1st and take out the 2nd place player, you now have a runaway chip lead. Once you’re in this position opponents may just sit back and let you steal and bust out other players so that they can move up the payout structure. It’s not such an awful position to be in; being the only one playing for first while everyone else is playing for second. However, whether or not the risk of targeting the other big stack is worthwhile really depends on the payout structure and the type of players remaining in the field. It depends on how significant the money is to them and how much they care about moving up.

Word to the wise: be careful about attacking the smallest stacks. If a player is in last or near last at this stage, they may feel it’s unlikely they’ll make the final table and thereby implement a nothing-to-lose approach. If you think someone is ready to take their chances and take a stand, that’s when you actually need a decent holding.

Strategy #3: Go Big on the final table Bubble. Your goal, if possible, is to make it to the final table with a big stack. This is the single greatest opportunity to put yourself in a position to win. Here’s why:

a) you’re playing shorthanded, so there are more opportunities to play pots and outplay opponents.

b) the final table is close, pay jumps are looming, people want to make it and many will be much more intent on moving up than risk elimination so close to their goal.

c) the bigger someone’s stack, the better their position in the field, the less likely they will want to bust, so leverage your stack and apply pressure to the players you can bust but can’t bust you; put their tournament life


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on the line and instill a bit of good old fashioned fear in them!

Remember that you’re trying to maximize your ROI, and this is your chance to set yourself up for a highly positive one. You may not need to be first, (like in the case of flatter payout structures where getting a stack that can place you 3-5 will give you a solid payday too), but you always want to aim for the max.

Now that you know what you need to do and how you’re going to do it, I want to give you a closer look at the mechanics of the strategies we’ve been discussing by showing you why and when to use them. We’ll start with our defensive tactics.

DEFENSE ARSENAL What: Fold Equity. Why: Because your stack is almost all gone and you need a lifeline. When: For when you’re at the mercy of the poker gods.

As mentioned earlier, fold equity refers to your odds of making your opponent fold their hand so that you can pick up the pot uncontested. This means no 50% or 30% potential of getting sucked out on by an opponent, because once they’ve folded the hand is over. You can’t get rivered if you get your opponent(s) to fold their hand(s), right?

While the practice is generally only applied in short-stacked scenarios, you should make sure you always have some level of fold equity so that you will have the opportunity to pick up chips without showdown. Being able to win pots without showdown is a lower variance way to increase your stack than playing all-in pots where luck is a major factor. This is why it pays, literally, to be a strong postflop player. Once you get very short-stacked your


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opponents will be priced-in to call your all-ins with any two cards because they are being offered such favorable pot odds. The same is true when they open the pot and you move all in for say 4 or 5 big blinds. Even though you may have been playing tight, the odds being offered to your opponent are so good that it would be a mistake for them to fold any hand. It may be ‘so sick’ that someone beat your Ace-King with 85 suited, but if the math was in their favor, the only thing that actually would’ve been ‘so sick’ would’ve been them folding to your re-raise.

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It’s of the utmost importance to be aware of your stack size so that you know when you have enough chips to move your opponent off their hand vs. when they will have the odds to call your all-in bet and gamble with you. If you lose in a spot where you were a significant favorite, but your opponent was also getting extremely favorable pot odds, then nobody made a mistake, that’s just poker, and sometimes the worse hand pre-flop will be the best by the river. Your job is to try your best to maintain your stack so that you don’t have to put your tournament life on the line in all-in situations very frequently. The less often you get involved in 80/20s, 70/30s, 60/40s, and 50/50s, the much smoother (and less stressful) your ride to the final table will be.

What: Risk-Reward Ratio. Why: Because poker’s full of tough calls. When: When you are on the fence about whether to act or back down.

When identifying whether or not it’s a good time to make a play you want to pay attention to 3 critical factors:

1. How much fold equity do you have? In other words, how many potential hands does your opponent have in this given situation, and how many of those hands will he fold if you make a move? The percentage you’ve identified is your fold equity, and it’s how often your move will work uncontested. The higher your fold equity, the less important your cards are - especially if you’re making a non-all in bet where your cards do not matter,


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because you can fold if your opponent decides to play back.

2. How much will you chip-up relative to your stack? The more you stand to increase your stack, the greater you are increasing your odds of hitting those high paying spots. You should be more liberal in making plays if you can increase your stack 40% or 50% without showdown than if you were only looking at a 5% or 10% increase. The amount you stand to gain also serves as backup if you get called on an all-in bet. After all, it is the OVERLAY that the pot is offering when you get all-in, so if you manage to win the race you don’t just double your stack, you double your stack plus whatever dead money is trapped in the middle (i.e. the blinds, antes, raises that people made and then folded). Even if you only have a 40% chance of winning when called, but you stand to triple up, then you are making a long-run mathematically profitable play. It’s like playing a game with a 5 sided dice, where you only win on 2 of the 5 numbers but, when you win you get paid $2 and when you lose you only have to pay out $1. See the profitability now?

3. How will your odds of placing well in the tournament be affected if your move doesn’t work? You always need to consider that a play may not be successful. Even if you think someone is opening every single hand they are dealt, they will still wake-up with a premium hand 5% of the time, and that 5% of the time your play is not going to work. You should evaluate your current odds of winning the tournament, your odds of winning the tournament if your play works, and your odds of winning the tournament if the play doesn’t work - THEN see which is more significant. Based on how many players are remaining, the skill level of the field, your chip position, and the set up of your table, you should be able to get a good idea of your odds of winning. The more of these factors that are in your favor, the less inclined you should be to take high-risk propositions. Sit tight and don’t push your luck. Also be aware of how much your flexibility will change if the play works or if it fails. You want to have the right weapons to attack your table.

Remember, in the case of non-all-in bets, when your opponent wakes up with a strong hand, you will have


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to fold and surrender those chips. Your assumption should be that more often than not you are going to be successful in your play, so you’ll be making a long-run profit. Recognize that nothing is 100% and that being off on your timing isn’t anything to get upset about - it’s just bad luck, and it’s no reason to keep you from continuing to attempt plays in the future. You’re still in the game and you’ve still got plenty of play left.

When it comes to all-in bets the situation is very different. If your play works you will chip-up without showdown, which is an ideal result. However, if your opponent wakes up with a real hand you will be forced to race for all your chips (sometimes as a significant underdog). This said, just because you got called doesn’t mean you are eliminated from the game. As I just pointed out, nothing is 100%. Even if your odds are slim, recognize that if you catch lightning in a bottle and win the race you will get a full double up plus whatever dead money was in the pot. 20% or 30% may seem like pretty long odds, but if you’re taking those odds for a ton of chips, that may mean that 1 time out of 5 or even 1 time out of 3 you are going to have a very, VERY good chance at taking first place. And based on how much more money is awarded to 1st place than any other position, this will easily make up for all the occasions where you get caught and don’t win the all-in pot.

What: Pot Equity. Why: Because sometimes you’ve just got to call. When: When the odds are in your favour but you want some reassurance.

Winning poker tournaments isn’t just about getting it in with the best hand; mind you, it isn’t a bad strategy (ask Phil Hellmuth). Winning poker tournaments is about being willing to gamble when the odds are in your favor. It’s perfectly fine to get your money is as a 3:2 underdog when the pot is laying you 2:1 odds, or even as a 4:1 underdog if the pot is laying you 8:1 odds. Think about it: when you’re in the big blind and someone moves allin for 2 big blinds, you would call without even looking at your cards because even if they held pocket aces, a random 2 card hand still has about a 20% chance to win, and the pot is laying you over 4:1 odds if antes are in


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play.

When you know what range of hands someone is moving all-in with (be it open shoving all-in, re-raising all in, or cold 4 betting all-in) you can calculate the odds that your hand has against all the hands they could possibly have. Given that you also know the odds the pot is laying you, it’s pretty easy to identify when you need to call all-in bets with hands like pocket 5s, King Jack off-suit or Ace 2 suited. Your opponent may call you a bonehead when you crack his big pair with just a ragged ace, but if you were getting better than 2:1 pot odds you made a profitable call - and that’s just against your opponent’s particular hand. If you took his entire range into account you probably made a great call - but don’t bother telling him that.

So good odds, good to call, right? Not necessarily. Tournaments are a very complicated form of poker involving many variables and sometimes the potential downside of losing a mathematically profitable spot is too heavy to warrant taking on the risk. Anytime you fold you are saying “no thank you” to variance and sometimes you’ll be such a favorite to win anyway that the last thing you want to do is put a good chunk of your destiny in the hands of fickle Lady Luck.

When deciding whether or not to make a move you have to consider a couple of things. Just because you have an appropriate stack size for a specific play doesn’t mean it’s worth trying to execute. Your likelihood of being successful will depend on both how many players are left to act, and what types of players are left to act. As we’ve discussed in previous chapters, loose wild players are capable of thwarting your efforts by playing back with much more hands than tight players, who will only play back when they are dealt a strong hand.

We’ve also gone over the importance of image, and it is just as important when calculating your pot equity. Even if the odds are in your favour your table image and recent activity at the table will determine whether or not your


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opponents think you are making a play because you got dealt a good hand, or because you are trying to steal. When you have a tight/solid image you can get away with more steals, when you have a loose/reckless image you are more likely to run into counter aggression. In other words, your image will impact your odds, so create and use it wisely.

Image is powerful, but the degree to which it factors into your odds fluctuates with these factors:

a) some opponents won’t be playing deep poker and as such, they don’t care about or account for other players’ images;

b) first impressions are most important and some players will never deviate from their initial assumptions about you;

c) people are much more apt to remember what happened 5 minutes ago than 5 hours ago.

Your actual cards do make a difference, especially when making plays that involve all-in bets. If you’re unlikely to reach a showdown though, the first two considerations (players in the hand and table image) are much more important than your cards. Your opponents can’t see your cards, after all, and their reactions will be based on what they perceive you to have, so as you get deeper and deeper stacked and have more opportunities (i.e. streets of betting) to apply the power of fold equity, your pot equity (which is determined by your cards) becomes a much less significant factor in the operation.

OFFENSIVE ARSENAL You can’t be on the defence all the time, especially given the longer, drawn out nature of MTTs, so you’re going to have to stand tall and fight for your stack now and then. Fear not, here’s a prime offensive arsenal of weapons


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to help you out. Read up on the move and how much you’ll need to front to make it work.

1. The Move: The Jam

The Investment: 5-20 big blinds.

Get in your opponents face. I’m talking open shoving, raising all-in, collecting the blinds, antes and any limps. Be ruthless, but not careless.

To increase your odds of being successful with the jam, look for these things:

Number of players left to act. The more players left to act, the greater the likelihood that someone has

been dealt a hand they will call you with, and we want folds, not calls!

Weak/tight players left to act who will not want to call with mediocre hands.

Stacks that will be crippled (lose > 60% of their chips) if they call and lose. The more someone stands to

lose (in terms of odds of winning the tournament) by calling your jam and losing, the less likely they will be to call you, thereby increasing your fold equity. A word of warning: be wary of opening to steal with this stack size. You will usually have the right price to call someone’s all-in bet if they come over the top of you, and you don’t want to be putting your tournament life on the line with a mediocre hand. Be patient and wait for your spot.

2. The Move: The Re-Jam


To re-jam you’re going to want to re-raise all-in over an open. It’s ballsy, but given the right know-how and


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circumstances, it’s enticingly profitable. Here’s how it works: Someone opens the pot and you move all-in over the top and collect the blinds, antes and the villain’s open. Simple as that.

If your opponent is ‘priced in’ (getting favorable pot odds) then you do not have fold equity and you cannot re-jam with bad hands. Likewise, the better your opponents odds, and the tighter their range for opening the pot are in the first place, the more you are limited in regards to what hands with which you can move all-in. This means the more chips you are jamming (i.e. the higher your risk, while the reward remains the same) the stricter your criteria should be for moving all-in.

Against very loose players, who will experience a serious dent to their stack if they call you and lose the pot, you can re-jam every side. In some situations you can re-jam any two cards because:

a) the frequency at which you will succeed; b) the amount you will gain when your opponent(s) fold is extremely high; c) any two cards can make a suck-out and get you a full double on the rare occasions that this maniac actually finds a hand.

Calculating profitability on re-jams:

cEV = (chips we win when villain folds x frequency this happens) + (chips we win when villain calls x frequency this happens) - (chips we lose when villain calls x frequency this happens)

Don’t underestimate the importance of the human element! Notice that a large part of your success with this play depends on your having been observant of the behaviours of your tablemate(s). How much credit is your target going to give you for having a good hand.


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Be careful with opening to steal when you are sitting with these smaller stack sizes. Opponents can re-raise you and leverage your stack, thereby forcing you to either play for all your chips or surrender your steal attempt. They are effectively betting 5 or 6 chips to apply the same pressure as they would’ve if they bet your entire stack. When dealing with this stack size, it’s generally best to only open hands that you are willing to take to the felt.

3. The Move: Stop and Go


Stop and go is like a re-jam after the flop. You defend your blind then when the flop comes down you move allin, collecting the blinds, antes and your opponents’ open (if they fold).

You’re going to make this play when your stack is too short to have fold equity pre-flop (your opponent will call your re-shove with any hand that they opened with) – just make sure you make it against a loose opponent who will often miss the flop and not be able to call our shove.

Example: The villain who opens JTo or 55 would call our re-raise all-in pre-flop. The flop comes A74 and we move all-in into them as it’s pretty hard for them to call.

4. The Move: The Coin-Flip


A coin-flip is when we call someone’s all-in or move all-in ourselves and get called. We then play that pot and hope for the best. To use this move successfully, we want to be ahead of our opponent’s range OR be getting favorable pot odds. The gain in our stack size flexibility if you win should outweigh the loss in flexibility if you


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lose. Always look at how the coin-flip will impact odds of winning the event or reaching high paying position.

5. The Move: Blind Steal

The Investment: 24+ big blinds.

To pull off a blind steal you want to raise and try to collect the blinds and antes. The fewer players to get through (i.e. the better our position), the greater your chances of success. Your opponents’ player types will also matter here, as their ranges for defending their blind or calling our raise in position determines how often the steal will be successful (i.e. loose players play more hands than tight players).

When you’re likely to get a fold either pre-flop or with a continuation bet on the flop, your cards really don’t matter. If you’re likely to have to play multiple streets of betting then you want to open with hands that can connect with the flop; the bigger the better. Suited adds a little sweetness, and an ace is always alright.

So, based on stack size and style of other players you have to determine how likely you are to get away with your steal.

NOTE: It is actually possible to steal on very shallow stacks (as low as 12 big blinds) provided that you will not be priced-in to call if you get re-shoved on, but it is a pretty high risk play, because you lose a large % of your stack when your steal is unsuccessful.

PRECAUTIONS for Blind Steals: As your stack gets shorter, any steal attempts should be made with your absolute worst hands. This is because with your mediocre hands you are better off raising all-in to “take your equity” (i.e. actualize your percentage chance of winning by seeing five cards) rather than raising and making a mathematically bad fold and not realizing any of your equity. Be very, very, very wary when going for a steal with


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under 18 big blinds, as raising and having to fold significantly hurts your stack and your fold equity.

6. The Move: The Isolation Raise


The isolation raise is a great way to single-out a weak player who open limps. Since you are after one player in particular, you want all other players to fold to your raise. You’re going to be working with the exact same principles and strategies as the blind steal. The only difference with an isolation raise is that there will be limpers ahead of you who are less likely to let the steal through, but fairly likely to win with a bet after the flop, so be take the same precautions as you did in the blind steal to help ensure this move works out in your favour.

7. The Move: The Re-Steal (3 Betting)


To execute a re-steal, you are going to re-raise someone who opens the pot, effectively collecting the blinds, the antes and their raise. As we’ve discussed earlier in the book, part and parcel of stealing is policing the thieves. This is one reason why re-stealing is best done when in position (if we are 3-betting with weak hands our goal is to get our opponent to fold pre-flop; we do not want to play post-flop). Even when we are dealing with mediocre hands we want to have the hand over and done with by the flop. You aren’t looking to get into post-flop battles with this play, so primarily use this move against people who are not likely to continue when faced with your 3-bet.

As with a steal, the fewer players left the better. You don’t want anyone getting a solid spread of board cards and ambushing you. You are also going to want to use this move against players with shallower stacks since they have fewer hands to call to see the flop.


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Once again, you are also going to want to consider your image. The perceived strength of your hand is a big factor in how often your re-steal will be successful. If your opponent thinks you are very likely to be attempting a re-steal they may hit you back with a 4-bet, provided they have a big enough stack to do that without committing themselves.

A player who opens 42 % of hands…


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...will only 4 bet all-in with 8.7% of hands...

Versus this particular player we can expect him to fold to a 3-bet 80% of the time. What % of hands they are opening with and what % of hands they are willing to 4-bet all in with, combined with the chances of someone waking up behind with a super premium hand will give you the mathematics of how often your play will work.

As with the steal play, we can technically re-steal with as low as 20 big blinds without being pot committed, granted our opponent opens to 2 big blinds and we make it 4 or 5 big blinds. On the other hand, it is quite detrimental to our winning chances when the play fails. If we are 3- betting with anything decent (any pair, medium ace, any broadway) there’s a good chance we are getting correct odds to call off and gamble against the opponents 4-betting all-in range. When it comes to the 3-bet, we’re damned if we make a mathematically poor fold and damned if we gamble for our tournament life with a marginal hand when we could have just folded pre-flop. Use this tactic wisely.


5. OFFENCE, DEFENSE

8. The Move: The Squeeze Play


The squeeze play is the same as the re-steal (3-bet) except that there is a raise and a call, rather than just a raise. Your strategy on how to play should likewise be the same, but you will need to know the reward is slightly higher because of the added ‘dead money’ that the caller put in the pot. With this in mind, look for a loose opener AND weak passive caller. You can even look for a tight caller, provided it’s not a super tight caller (they actually rarely have a strong enough hand to call a 3-bet, as they would have re-raised those strong hands themselves rather than calling). The squeeze play is best executed when the flat caller is unlikely to be trapping.

9. The Move: The 4-Bet Re-Re-Steal


Here’s how it works: someone opens, someone raises them, we RAISE again! Collect the blinds, antes, the first player’s raise and the second player’s re-raise and enjoy a very hefty heist.

To pull off this smooth move you’ll need a loose opener and a loose 3-bettor who is capable of 3- betting light. The best situation is if you have identified a player who is picking on another player and is therefore very likely to be full of it. Your opponent’s stack size is important; they have to have stacks where they are capable of opening light, and a deep enough stack to be 3-betting light. If your opponents have stack sizes where they will not be making any moves, then making a 4-bet bluff will be both pointless and expensive.

The analysis here is the same as with the 3-bet, except now (because we are putting a fourth bet in the pot), people’s ranges for continuing will be even narrower. Although we are playing back at two players, they will usually have to fold anything that is not a top 5% hand (in some cases they will fold all but the top 2 or 3 % of


WRAP UP

hands). So provided they are opening and 3-betting a reasonable amount, we can expect to turn a profit.

The beauty of 4-betting is that we don’t have to make it all that big and a success rate of around 50% will typically show an instant profit (with the bet sizes involved determining the exact breakeven frequency) The hand will look very strong and will fold out a TON of our opponent’s range. Again, our image is an extremely important consideration here and can make or break this move.

GET STACKIN’ You’ve just been given a solid spread of information, so take your time to let it resonate. Don’t feel bad if you have to read and then re-read several chapters or sections of chapters several times before you can wrap your head around all of the concepts. Some of them may be completely new to you, after all.

You’re also going to want to keep in mind that if you are reading this guide having never entered any kind of tournament before, you are probably going to have to try one out before the concepts and theories come alive. Practice makes perfect, after all. Start with a small online or recreational live tournament; nothing too expensive, nothing too intimidating – just enough to see this knowledge in action off the page and at the table.


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