Chasing the dream of winning a large amount of money is on the mind of every lottery player. But the odds of catching those 7 numbers are really, really low. Tournament poker, on the other hand, is a more viable option — you can boost your chances of winning through learning the game. And although a lot of luck is needed to win a single tournament, having the proper skillset can actually make you into a profitable competitor while playing in tournaments.
In this how-to guide created by professional poker players of BeastsOfPoker, you will learn 5 important tips to guarantee success during poker tournaments. Whether you’re just starting out in the game of poker or already know the ropes, simply study these tips, and it will make you a force to be reckoned with!
Beginners’ tips that can help to win more 2.1. Learn poker hands ranking and positions 2.2. Don’t take risks at the beginning of your poker journey 2.3. Choose one table to play 3. Poker tournament tips: point checklist 4. Frequently asked questions about poker 4.1. How to become better at poker? How to win in poker? DLY Prime Tournaments WKND Prime Tournaments Daily Poker Tournaments Schedule VIP Tournament Final Table Series Final Table Series Satellite Schedule Destiny 17.0 Promotions DIY Poker Party Welcome Bonus 108% Rakeback 6 Lacs GTD Depositor Freeroll Fireworks FORTUNE 100 6 Card PLO Refer A Friend Program VIP Poker Rewards Frequently Asked Questions. All major professional poker players in the world started with freerolls Play freeroll tournaments and up your poker skills at Tip 3: Experiment with different games/formats Now that you have understood the basics of the game and have gained some confidence, you could move to experimenting with different formats of poker. Beginners Guide to Poker Tournaments. Playing a poker tournament for the first time is a surreal experience. The intensity of games, agro-maniacs, and jumping blind levels can be too much to handle for many TAG cash game players. Passive players in particular need to adjust their game before dipping their feet in the tournament fields.
1. Adjust your strategy for beginning, middle and late stages of the tournament
Every tournament has three stages: beginning, middle and late. It’s important to understand that you don’t want to play each stage with the same strategy. For example, during the beginning stage of the tournament, there is not much pressure from the blinds to the stacks at play, and there is simply no need to risk your chips to win these rather small blinds. Instead, you should wait patiently for good opportunities in the early stage. This means to ramp up your aggression and raises once the antes are in play and the fear of busting begins to affect how your opponents will play their hands. Only waiting for premium hands in the middle and late stages will ensure that your chip stack is quickly blinded out unless you get very lucky! But you shouldn’t solely rely on luck.
2. Revert to push/fold strategy with under 15 big blinds
When you’re at a stage where your current stack is less than 15 big blinds, you should only consider two options in a hand: folding pre-flop or raising all-in. If you just call or raise small, someone else has the option to put you to the test by rearising, and that’s something we want to avoid. Basically, we want to give ourselves multiple chances to win: if you raise all-in with a small stack you either scoop the blinds without a contest if everyone folds or you get called to have a chance to win at showdown. The closer you are to the button, the more hands you can profitably start to push with a small stack.
3. Use smaller bet sizing (just enough to get the jobdone!)
Whether you raise pre-flop or post-flop,you should aim to risk the minimum amount to get the job done. Usually raising2x-2.2x of the current big blind pre-flop in the middle and late stages of thetournament is enough, and in post-flop play, you can get away with a small bet thatis 25 to 30 percent of the pot.
4. Stay aggressive to stay alive!
Poker is all about statistical edges. After all, no one has ever won a pokertournament by being passive. If you just call with your hands, there’s only oneway to win the pot, which is by having the best hand at the showdown. Now, ifyou’re the one making bets and raises, the situation becomes completelyopposite: your opponent needs to have the best hand if he decides to just callyou. You can either win the pot by making your opponent fold or having thebetter hand at showdown.
5. Make final tables by stealing the blinds at everyopportunity
Once there are a few tables left, people will start to play somewhat cautious pre-flop due to the prize jumps. The largest prizes are awaiting those who make it to the final table. So, how should we take advantage of this? By stealing the blinds every chance we get! Successfully stealing the blinds at the late stage of a tournament will make the difference between finishing in 10th place or winning the trophy. Look for spots where the players in small and big blind have consistently played very few hands, as they are most likely afraid to enter a pot without having a good starting hand – this translates into a high chance of taking down the blinds without a fight.
The bottom line here is that making a lotof final tables needs timely aggression, which will reward you in the long run.Remember this and the other tips the next time you play in a real tournament –you will notice that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity!
So, you’ve decided that playing poker with your buddies in the garage every other Wednesday night isn’t enough. You want to explore some online alternatives.
Online betting can seem like another world to folks who have no experience in it. You might find that an online poker tournament is different from what you’re used to, but some simple advice will make you feel a lot more comfortable if this is your first time.
Here are my seven best strategy tips for your first online poker tournament.
1 – Research
This one may seem like a dead giveaway, but many people just go online, punch their card info in on some website, and enter whatever online poker tournament they see first. Take some serious time and do solid research.
Become familiar with different poker variants and terminology. Make sure that you have a basic understanding, not only of the game but also how the website that you are using works. There will be a multitude of new terms, rules, and features you are unfamiliar with.
Buy books, read blog posts (like this one), and constantly seek to improve your knowledge of poker and gambling in general.
Poker Tournament Tips For Beginners Tricks
2 – The Fewer Opponents, the Better
While this is a simple concept, it’s often overlooked in the world of poker tournaments. Sure, if more people are playing, the prize pool is likely going to be larger, but the odds of you winning are dramatically decreased.
If you’re playing against fewer people, you have a higher chance of actually winning. What good is having a $100,000 pot if you have no chance of taking that money home?
My uncle, who enjoys playing lottery games, often uses this logic and has managed to win two fairly decent jackpots. He always buys the more expensive scratch tickets because fewer people buy them and the rewards are usually better.
He also only plays the smallest state lottery using the same idea.
3 – Start With Low-Stakes
Playing online poker is different from playing cash games. When first beginning to play online, you should play games with lower stakes, even if you’re used to playing for large sums of money at a table. The main reason for this is to familiarize yourself with online poker and gambling platforms.
As a beginner, this allows you the opportunity to play online with a relatively small bankroll. A smaller bankroll offers less reward but also causes less stress.
Think about longevity here. You want to continue to play online poker for years and continue to get better right? Getting turned off to playing online can happen fast if you blow a ton of money in your first tournament.
Start small and work your way up. Just because you’ve played your buddies for a ton of cash before or won a large pot at a casino doesn’t mean you should get in over your head. Take your time, and soak up all the knowledge you can and always practice bankroll management.
4 – No Distractions
In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded by stimulation from outside sources. Think of the following scenario, and tell yourself honestly how many times this has happened to you.
You’re working on a project on your computer or reading. You’re trying to focus, and *ding* you get a text message. You pick up your phone and respond to the text. Then, you go to the home screen of your phone and open some form of social media like Instagram or Facebook. You scroll and “like” for a few minutes and *ding* the person you texted has now responded.
You reply again, then go back to Instagram or Facebook, scroll and like, then *ding*… You repeat the process until the next thing you know, it’s 40 minutes later, and you have absolutely no clue how you just burned through the better half of an hour, but you did.
Don’t have any other tabs open, leave your phone in the kitchen, turn off the TV, and tell your family that you can’t be bothered until you’re finished.
This advice can be applied to any other time in your life where you need to have absolute and total focus. Cut out the distractions and get better.
5 – Don’t Play Drunk
This may not be an issue for many of you, but I’ll still address it. Gambling and drinking often go hand in hand, no matter how badly they shouldn’t.
They just do. I’m not your doctor. I will not dive into the multitude of issues that overconsumption of alcohol brings, but I will tell you that gambling drunk is a bad idea. Getting too loaded at a casino and stumbling over to a blackjack table or even slot machines can end in catastrophe.
The same goes for playing poker in the comfort of your own home. I can think of a time or two where one too many beers caused me to wake up embarrassed of a silly purchase I made online. I cannot imagine waking in the morning hungover, checking my bank account, and seeing that I blew thousands of dollars playing in an online poker tournament.
If you enjoy having a drink while playing online, that’s fine. But try to limit yourself to one or two drinks. You will not only be more fiscally responsible, but you will make better calls while playing.
6 – Avoid Tilt
Tilt is just as real in the online poker world as it is at a brick and mortar casino. This is the mental or emotional confusion and frustration that will completely throw you off your game. Players will toss all strategy out the window and start becoming overly aggressive.
While the signs that someone is experiencing tilt may be less obvious online than face-to-face, your ravenous actions and playing style will be noticed by other players who can capitalize on it.
Stay calm, breathe, and don’t let a loss ruin your time. Luckily, dealing with tilt behind your computer screen is easier than at a physical table.
7 – Play Tight, Not Aggressive
This one goes hand in hand with avoiding tilt. It’s your first online poker tournament. You need to be testing the waters and getting the hang of all of the new aspects of playing online.
Poker Tournament Tips For Beginners For Beginners
Making big bets against people who have been at this a while may end in disaster. You will have plenty of time in your life to enter more tournaments and play as aggressive as you want, but for now, let’s just take it easy and play it safe. There are instances when aggressive play is less profitable, so be careful.
Conclusion
Poker Tournament Tips For Beginners Drills
Now that you’ve got a few different suggestions for what to do or NOT to do, get out there and do your research. Immerse yourself in learning for a week or so before you even enter a tournament. Learn all there is to know about online poker, then get out there and win big!