Poker Tournaments: Mastering Poker Tournament Strategy

Emily Turner
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Online poker tournaments offer a wide range of formats for players, from deep stack and sit & go events to fast-paced turbo and bounty tournaments. Understanding the nuances and the poker strategy for each type is crucial to improving your chances of success.

In this guide, you'll discover expert strategies tailored to each tournament format, helping you develop the skills needed to compete at your best, whether you're chasing a WSOP satellite seat or dominating heads-up matches.

Learn when to play tight, when to push aggressively, and how to adjust based on your opponents and the structure of the game.

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Key Takeaways

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs) with Guaranteed Prize Pools

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs) with guaranteed prize pools are a favourite among players. These tournaments feature large fields across multiple tables and promise a set prize, regardless of the number of entries. This allows players the opportunity to win substantial payouts for relatively low buy-ins, making GTD MTTs an favourite choice for many players.

Recommended Strategy:

Adjust to the Stage of the Tournament

The key is pot control. With large stacks compared to the blinds, aim to see more flops without committing too many chips. Play speculative hands like suited connectors or small pairs to try and build a big stack early, but avoid overcommitting on marginal hands. This phase is more about gathering information and staying disciplined. Avoid big risks unless you have strong hands.

Stealing Blinds in the Middle Stages

When the antes kick in and stacks start shrinking, blind stealing becomes crucial. Focus on your position—the closer to the button, the better for raising. Target players in the small and big blinds who are either passive or on shorter stacks. Be wary of opponents with 10-15 big blinds, as they may try to resteal from you​

Bubble Play Strategy

The bubble is one of the most important phases of the tournament. If you're a big stack, you should increase aggression, especially against players who are just trying to make it into the money. Smaller stacks tend to tighten up to avoid elimination, giving you room to steal poker blinds and antes​. Conversely, if you’re short-stacked, focus on survival and only play premium hands.

Post-Bubble Strategy

Once the bubble bursts and players have secured a payout, the play tends to loosen up. The short stacks will often shove, and big stacks may try to knock them out quickly. If you're sitting on a mid-stack, avoid big confrontations and focus on steadily accumulating chips​

Bet Sizing and C-Betting

In MTTs, preflop raises have shifted towards smaller sizing, such as 2-2.2x the big blind. This allows you to manage your stack and apply pressure without risking too many chips. For continuation bets (c-bets), use smaller sizing early on (around 33% of the pot) to see if your opponent folds, especially if you’re unsure of their hand​

Defending the Big Blind

In modern tournaments, defending your big blind is critical, especially against late-position raises. You only need about 20% equity to justify a call, so defend with a wider range of hands—particularly suited connectors or low pairs​.

Rebuy Online Poker Tournaments

Rebuy tournaments allow players to purchase additional chips if they lose their initial stack within a set time period, usually ranging from 1 to 4 hours. This structure encourages more aggressive play early on since players know they can rebuy if they bust out, leading to a dynamic and fast-paced environment. After the rebuy period ends, the tournament resembles a freezeout, becoming much more strategic as no more rebuys are allowed.

Recommended Strategy:

Rebuy Period: Aggression Pays Off

The rebuy period is the time to be aggressive. Your primary goal is to build a large stack that gives you a comfortable lead when the tournament transitions into the post-rebuy phase. Since players are more likely to gamble with weaker hands, you can loosen your starting hand ranges and take more calculated risks. Here are some key tips for the rebuy phase:

However, don’t recklessly rebuy without considering the overall value. If you're nearing the end of the rebuy period with a very small stack, it might be wiser to play more cautiously rather than dump extra money into the tournament.

Add-On Consideration

Most rebuy tournaments offer an "add-on" option at the end of the rebuy period, where players can purchase extra chips regardless of their current stack size. If you're not one of the chip leaders, always take the add-on to ensure you're well-equipped for the next stage.

Post-Rebuy Period: Tighten Up

Once the rebuy phase ends, the tournament transitions into a more traditional freezeout format. The ability to rebuy is gone, so players become much more cautious and conservative with their remaining chips.

Bubble Play: Pick Your Spots

The bubble stage can be volatile in rebuy tournaments since players who've aggressively built stacks will be aiming to leverage their position, while short-stacked players will tighten up. If you’re a big stack, use this phase to push short stacks around and steal blinds. On the other hand, if you're short-stacked, avoid unnecessary confrontations and wait for premium hands to maximise your chances of survival.

Freezeout Poker Tournaments

Freezeout tournaments follow a simple yet challenging structure: once you lose all your chips, you're out of the tournament. With no option to rebuy or add-on, every hand becomes crucial. This structure places a premium on patience, discipline, and strategic decision-making.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Focus on Preservation and Information Gathering

The early stages of a freezeout tournament are not about taking unnecessary risks. With deep stacks relative to the blinds, the goal is to avoid big confrontations unless you hold premium hands.

Middle Stages: Adjust Your Aggression

As the blinds increase and the effective stacks get shorter, you’ll need to start adjusting your strategy. The middle stages are where successful freezeout players begin to shift gears.

Bubble Play: Leverage Stack Size

The bubble is the phase right before players begin to make the money. In freezeouts, the bubble is a crucial moment to capitalise on the dynamic between players who are trying to survive and those looking to dominate.

Post-Bubble Strategy: Chip Accumulation and Targeting Weaker Players

Once the bubble bursts, players tend to loosen up, knowing they've already made the money. This is your opportunity to shift gears and target players who are playing recklessly.

Final Stages: Survival and Strategic Aggression

In the final stages of a freezeout, when the tournament nears its conclusion, your strategy will depend largely on your stack size.

Bounty (Knockout) Poker Tournaments

Bounty or Knockout tournaments offer an exciting twist on traditional poker tournaments by rewarding players with a cash bounty for every opponent they eliminate. This added incentive encourages aggressive play, as knocking out opponents directly increases your earnings. A portion of each player's buy-in is set aside as a bounty, which is awarded to the player who successfully eliminates them.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Play Solid Poker and Avoid Reckless Bounty Hunting

In the early stages of a bounty tournament, it's important to resist the temptation to chase bounties recklessly. Many players fall into the trap of overcommitting with weak hands just to try and eliminate an opponent. However, this can lead to losing significant portions of your stack early on, which may cost you later in the game.

Middle Stages: Target the Vulnerable Players

As the blinds increase and stacks become shallower, more players will be at risk of elimination. This is when it becomes important to adjust your strategy to capitalise on bounty opportunities while maintaining your own stack.

Late Stages: Balance Bounty Hunting with Survival

In the late stages of the tournament, bounty hunting becomes more lucrative, but the stakes are also higher. Players tend to tighten up, especially near the bubble or final table, making it the perfect time to adjust your play based on stack sizes and table dynamics.

Maximising Bounty Opportunities

In bounty tournaments, there’s a fine line between maximising knockout opportunities and protecting your own chips. A key concept to keep in mind is pot odds—when the bounty value combined with the chips in the pot gives you a good return on investment, it’s worth taking calculated risks. However, always weigh this against your position in the tournament and the strength of your hand.

Deep Stack Poker Tournaments

Deep Stack Poker Tournaments give players a larger starting chip stack compared to traditional tournaments, allowing for more strategic play over a longer period. The deeper stacks provide players with room to make calculated decisions, especially in the early stages, where there is less pressure from escalating blinds. This structure emphasises skill over luck and allows for more intricate post-flop play.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Play More Hands and Focus on Post-Flop Play

In deep stack tournaments, the blinds are low relative to your stack size, which means there’s less pressure to risk large portions of your stack early. This allows you to open up your hand range and engage in more post-flop play.

Middle Stages: Adjust Aggression and Watch Stack Sizes

As blinds increase and the tournament progresses, you’ll need to adjust your strategy based on your stack relative to the blinds and your opponents.

Late Stages: Transition to Survival Mode and Optimise Stack Play

In the later stages, stacks often become shorter in comparison to the blinds, and the emphasis shifts from outplaying your opponents to maximising your chances of survival and chipping up.

Sit & Go Poker Tournaments (SnGs)

Sit & Go (SnG) tournaments are small, fast-paced events that begin as soon as a predetermined number of players have registered, typically ranging from 6 to 9 players. The simplicity and quick format of SnGs make them popular among players looking for quick games without the extended time commitment of larger multi-table tournaments (MTTs). There are no fixed starting times, which makes them ideal for players who want immediate action.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Play Tight and Conservatively

In the early stages of a Sit & Go, the blinds are relatively low, and there’s less immediate pressure to accumulate chips. The main goal here is to preserve your stack and avoid unnecessary risks, allowing weaker opponents to knock each other out. Focus on playing premium hands and avoid speculative hands unless you’re in a late position.

Middle Stages: Loosen Up and Target Passive Players

As the blinds increase, you’ll need to open up your hand range slightly and start accumulating chips to avoid being blinded out. This is where you can take advantage of players who are too tight or too passive.

Late Stages: Shift to Push-Fold Strategy

In the later stages, the blinds are usually large enough that most players have less than 20 big blinds. This is where Sit & Go tournaments transition into a push-fold game, where your decisions should be to either shove all-in or fold. This approach reduces the chances of getting trapped in difficult post-flop spots and maximises your fold equity.

Turbo & Hyper-Turbo Sit & Go Poker Tournaments (SnGs)

Turbo and Hyper-Turbo Sit & Go tournaments are high-speed formats where blind levels increase rapidly, forcing players to make decisions much more quickly than in standard tournaments. In Turbo SnGs, blinds increase every 3-5 minutes, while in Hyper-Turbo formats, they rise even faster, typically every 1-3 minutes. This accelerated structure forces players into short-stack situations earlier in the tournament, making push-fold play crucial.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Focus on Survival and Stack Management

In Turbo and Hyper-Turbo formats, the blinds escalate so quickly that you’ll often find yourself short-stacked after just a few levels. The early stages should focus on managing your stack while avoiding unnecessary risks.

Middle Stages: Transition to Push-Fold Play

Once the blinds have escalated to the point where most players are under 15-20 big blinds, the game essentially becomes a push-fold format. At this stage, it’s all about preserving your fold equity and picking the right spots to shove all-in or fold.

Late Stages: Maximise Fold Equity

In the final stages, players’ stacks are often very short, and almost everyone is in push-fold mode. The key here is to maximise fold equity—shove all-in in situations where your opponents are more likely to fold, preserving your chances of stealing blinds and antes.

Heads-Up SnGs

Heads-Up SnGs are a one-on-one poker battle where two players compete directly against each other. Unlike multi-player tournaments, this format tests your ability to read and outmaneuver a single opponent, often rewarding aggression and adaptability. With only two players, every hand is a duel, and psychological warfare becomes a significant aspect of play. The objective is simple: eliminate your opponent and win the match.

Recommended Strategy

General Play: Aggression is Key

In Heads-Up SnGs, aggression tends to be the most effective approach. With only two players, marginal hands like K-high, Q-high, and even some suited connectors gain significant value compared to multi-player games. The goal is to apply constant pressure, forcing your opponent into tough decisions and mistakes.

Adjusting to Your Opponent: Adaptability is Crucial

The key to success in heads-up poker is adjusting your strategy based on your opponent’s tendencies. Heads-Up SnGs require you to make quick reads and capitalise on your opponent’s weaknesses.

Hand Range Adjustments: Widening Your Range

Since you’re facing just one opponent, hands that you’d typically fold in a full-ring game become playable in a heads-up format. It’s essential to adjust your range to account for the wider ranges your opponent will also be playing.

Psychological Play: Reading Your Opponent

Heads-up poker is more psychological than multi-player formats. Every decision matters, and being able to read your opponent’s tendencies is critical.

Jackpot Poker SnGs

Jackpot Poker Sit & Go tournaments are a unique, fast-paced three-player format where the prize pool is randomly multiplied just before the game begins. This creates an exciting dynamic, as the prize pool can range from modest amounts to massive jackpots, often up to 10,000 times the buy-in. The high variance and quick blind levels make these tournaments particularly appealing to thrill-seeking players who enjoy fast-paced, high-risk poker.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Aggressive Play is Essential

In Jackpot SnGs, the random prize pool can significantly alter your approach, but regardless of the prize size, the fast pace demands immediate action. With only three players at the table, aggression is key to building a stack early and surviving the rapid escalation of blinds.

Middle Stages: Focus on Short-Stack Play

As the blinds increase rapidly, players will inevitably become short-stacked. At this point, the tournament becomes a push-fold contest where the goal is to maximise your fold equity and avoid losing chips unnecessarily.

Late Stages: Maximising Fold Equity and Calculated Risk

The late stages of a Jackpot SnG are often dominated by short-stack dynamics, where one all-in can determine the outcome of the game. At this point, stack management is crucial.

Poker Freerolls

Poker Freerolls are free-to-enter tournaments where players can compete for real money or other prizes without risking any of their own bankroll. These tournaments are often used as promotional tools by poker sites, attracting both new and experienced players. Due to the lack of a buy-in, freerolls usually have large fields of players, many of whom are beginners, making the early stages chaotic and filled with loose play. Freerolls provide an excellent opportunity for beginners to practice their poker skills, build a bankroll from scratch, and gain valuable experience in a risk-free environment.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Play Tight and Avoid the Chaos

The early stages of freerolls are usually characterised by loose, reckless play from beginners and inexperienced players. Many players treat freerolls as “practice,” making wild bets and calling with poor hands. Your goal in the early stages should be to avoid getting caught in these chaotic situations and to conserve your chips until the field thins out.

Middle Stages: Gradually Open Up Your Range

As the tournament progresses and the field narrows, the quality of play generally improves. By now, the more reckless players will have been eliminated, leaving you with more opportunities to play solid poker. At this point, you can start opening up your range and playing more aggressively to accumulate chips.

Late Stages: Aggression and ICM Awareness

In the late stages, the tournament will often become much more competitive as you approach the money or the final table. At this point, aggression becomes key, especially if you want to build a stack capable of competing for the top prize.

Poker Tournament Satellites

Satellite tournaments provide players with a unique opportunity to win entry into larger, higher-stakes events, such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) or other prestigious tournaments, for a fraction of the cost. These low buy-in events allow you to compete for a ticket to big tournaments without having to risk significant bankrolls. Satellites typically focus more on survival rather than chip accumulation, making patience and chip preservation the keys to success.

Recommended Strategy

Early Stages: Focus on Chip Preservation

In the early stages of a satellite, it’s essential to focus on survival rather than taking unnecessary risks. Since the primary goal is to win a ticket rather than amass a huge stack, you should play conservatively, avoiding large confrontations unless you hold a premium hand.

Middle Stages: Start Building a Competitive Stack

As the blinds increase, you’ll need to start building a stack to ensure you can handle the escalating blind levels. However, satellite strategy still calls for caution—there’s no need to risk your tournament life on marginal hands when you’re still far from the qualification zone.

Late Stages: Survival Mode and ICM Considerations

The late stages of a satellite are where the real tension begins, especially as the bubble approaches and players are closer to securing a ticket. At this point, it’s all about survival—your goal is no longer to win every hand or chip up but to ensure you don’t lose your stack unnecessarily.

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All Around Tournament Strategy Tips From The Experts

  1. Pick on the Bully: Target aggressive players, particularly those getting out of line. Use 3-betting and re-stealing to gain control over the table and accumulate chips.
  2. Use Your Big Stack: Apply pressure to smaller stacks and take advantage of their caution. Widen your range and use your stack to dominate the table.
  3. Defend the Big Blind: Defend a wider range of hands, especially against late-position raises, as the pot odds are more favourable. Focus on leveraging poker positions for maximum profitability.
  4. Re-steal with Small Stack: Look for re-steal opportunities against loose openers when you’re short-stacked, but avoid confronting big stacks unnecessarily.
  5. Change Gears as Needed: Adjust your strategy based on your stack size—whether you’re short, mid, or big stacked, ensure you adapt your approach accordingly to stay competitive.
  6. Laddering at the Final Table: Prioritise pay jumps by avoiding unnecessary all-ins and picking on players who aren't fighting back. Consider ICM and adjust your aggression based on how close the bubble is.
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Poker Tournaments FAQ

In online poker tournaments, all players begin with a set amount of chips. The objective is to outlast all of your opponents. Players are eliminated once they lose all their chips. Poker tournaments typically follow one of three formats: freezeouts, rebuys, or re-entries. Tournament payout structures are fixed, with only the top 10% to 20% of players receiving a payout. As the tournament progresses, the blinds increase at regular intervals, adding pressure and speeding up play.

To enter an online poker tournament, register via the poker lobby. The buy-in and fee for the tournament will be clearly displayed, along with the prize pool, number of players and any other relevant information.

The duration of an online poker tournament varies based on the number of participants and the structure of the blinds. Standard freezeout poker tournaments with 50-100 players might last 4-5 hours. Turbo tournaments with faster blind levels can conclude much sooner.

Online poker sites offer a wide range of tournaments across various formats and buy-ins. To find the best tournament options, check our recommended online poker sites for Aussie players.

Satellite poker tournaments are special qualifiers that allow players to win entry into larger, high-stakes tournaments, often with a much lower buy-in. These tournaments are a popular way to secure a seat at some of the biggest live poker events in Australia without paying the full entry fee. By winning a satellite, you can earn a spot in prestigious events like the Aussie Millions Poker Championship or the WSOP Asia-Pacific, as well as many of the regular poker tournaments in Melbourne or big poker tournaments in Sydney.

Winning a satellite tournament can grant you entry into events with prize pools worth millions of dollars, as is the case with APT poker and WSOP poker events.  While the satellite itself might not offer a cash prize, the value lies in the seat you win, which could lead to significant winnings in the larger tournament.

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Emily Turner
Emily Turner Content Writer
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Emily is our seasoned content writer. She writes easy to read and helpful game guides, so you can quickly understand the rules of each game and get some useful tips that can help boost your chances of winning.

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Last updated: 22 October 2024
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