The following is a list of My Top 5 Poker Tournament Tips. Previously, I had difficulties playing poker tournaments. I would either be out of the tournament extremely early, make it for a while but get crushed, or get pretty far but never actually make it to the money tables. Once I learnt a bunch of poker tournament tips things got easier. So I decided to share the tops ones with avid poker players like you.
The thing is, if you're currently not experiencing the success in poker that you would like, it isn't your fault. The reason you are losing likely has nothing to do with you, its just the information you have been provided wasn't good enough. This isn't surprising seeing the sheer amount of bogus information available on the Internet these days. The great thing is, winning poker tournaments doesn't require hundreds of hours of practice time, complex strategies or memorizing charts and tables. You just have to follow some good guidelines like those outlined below.
Top 5 Poker Tournament Tips
#1 Aim For First Place
The single most important tip I can give you for success at a poker tournament is to aim for first place. Enter and play in the tournament with the plan, no, with the expectation that you are going to leave there winning first place. Don't let anything stand in your way and definitely do not settle for second best. Some of the most destructive things you can do to yourself is think 'If I can just get to a money table' or 'I'll be happy if I get in the top 5'.
#2 Be Careful What Cards You Play
You need to be extra careful what cards you do actually play in the tournament. For the most part, if you lose all your chips in a poker tournament you cannot buy back into the tournament. You are out, that's it. It's this fear that really strikes a lot of people because they are scared to lose. You just need to be a little more careful with what cards you do play. This gets less important at the final tables but for the start you want to be a little tight. And avoid coin-flip hands like the plague.
#3 Pay Attention To Everything
It's imperative you pay tonnes of attention to the game at hand from the start of the tournament right through to the end. Lazy players and those that get bored concentrating so much are not the types of players that take the first place cash prize. You're watching to notice players styles, characters, the moves they make, how they respond to actions like being raised when they are in the blind as opposed to not etc. etc. This information will be crucial later on when you are up against them at a different table.
#4 Steal Blinds Whenever You Can
Stealing blinds is the forefront way to get in a great position to win the tournament. If you concentrate on just doing this single act alone you will have 100 times the chance of winning compared to someone who isn't. Picking up blinds whenever you can, and ruthlessly stealing them from weak players is important to building your stack. And you're going to need a big stack if you expect to win at the final table.
#5 Don't Give Up, Ever
Its no doubt you'll have ups and downs in poker tournaments. You win some and you lose some. You will take bad beats, you will get unlucky and you will definitely be faced with a small stack sooner or later. The most important thing you can do is to never give up. If you stop playing tournaments all together you won't build up the experience to be able to win them. Remember, it is possible to come back from having a small stack to win a tournament!
