Mastering MTTs

While none of the moves discussed here are guaranteed winners (when is anything in poker ever certain?), by simply adding some of these tournament techniques to your multi-table arsenal you should see yourself going deep time and time again.

1. Pay to hit a set

In the early stages of most multi-table tournaments you have a lot of chips relative to the blinds, so losing a few of them early doors isn’t going to do much damage to your tournament chances long-term. In that case paying over the odds with small or medium pairs in the hope of hitting a set is an absolute must.

You’re about 8/1 to hit trips on the flop, but when you do hit, you’ll be in a great position to win a big chunk of chips from someone with an overpair. Your implied odds at this stage of the game are so big that it can be worth investing as much as five to 10 percent of your stack to try and hit a set. Pay over the odds, especially when you’re in position, as you might be able to take the pot by betting out on the flop even if you miss.

Hands
2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9
Tournament clock
Early
Your stack
Average

2. Fast-play monsters

At the start of low stakes tournaments there are a lot of fish. These aquatic types will call huge bets down with top pair/top kicker because they’re blind to the fact that someone might bet two-pair or a set so hard. You’ll also get some terrible calls from players paying way over the odds for drawing hands, so make sure you punish them.

Hands
A-A, K-K, sets, flushes and straights
Tournament clock
Early
Your stack
Any

3. Push the flush

You’ve put in a healthy raise with two suited face cards and have got one caller, only for the flop to bring rags. But all is not lost – you’ve flopped a big flush draw. If you’re first to act and have your opponent heavily outchipped, try checking the flop to incite your opponent to bet, which they’ll do more often than not whether they’ve hit it or not. Now take this opportunity to hit them hard with a check-raise, pushing your entire stack in.

If you find yourself short- stacked or it’s the middle-to-late stages of a tournament then you’re usually best shoving your chips in as first to act on the flop when a pot-sized bet accounts for a third of your chips. If your opponent calls with an overpair to the flop (but which is lower than both your hole cards) you’re actually still a slight favourite to win. Combined with the fact that you’ll often make a player drop their hand this semi-bluff shove is a powerful weapon to have in your arsenal.

Hands
A-Ks, A-Qs, A-Js, K-Qs, Q-Js
Tournament clock
Any
Your stack
Medium to large

4. Stop-and-go

The stop-and-go is a great move to make when you’re in the blinds and starting to run low on chips and ideas. The tactic involves you calling a late position raise – hopefully targeting a serial raiser – and whatever the flop comes you move all-in.

You’re not making the pre-flop call on the odds it will help you (if it does it’s a bonus), but on the fact that two live cards will connect with the flop only a third of the time.

Is it a gamble? Yes. Is it a gamble with the odds in your favour? Also yes. You do, however, need to have enough chips left so that it’s not an automatic call for the raiser. It’s a great move to pull with a low pair if you think an all-in pre-flop would get called because you’re forcing someone who probably hasn’t hit to a tricky decision if they want to see the final two cards. If they’ve hit already then they would have hit by calling your all-in anyhow. But by pulling this move you’ve got an extra chance for survival.

Hands
Any
Tournament clock
Middle to late
Your stack
Small to medium

5. UTG raise with rags

Everyone knows that a minimum raise from under the gun is often a sign of strength. It’s not likely to be respected in the first few levels when it costs so little to see a flop, but in later levels, when the blinds are larger and most of the fish have already been knocked out, a minimum raise from under the gun will be respected if you’ve been playing tight.

If you meet some resistance, in the form of a big raise, then you know you’re usually up against a genuine hand, in which case you can just fold. So although stealing from UTG is a ballsy play it’s potentially profitable providing you don’t do it too often. You’re also more likely to get it through as a low or medium stack as the raise will look extremely suspicious, as if to say, ‘I want action!’ Scott Fischman calls this move ‘storytelling’, and you should add it to your game.

Hands
Any
Tournament clock
Middle to late
Your stack
Any (but preferably medium to large)

6. Short-stack shove

Tournaments are all about survival, but there’s no bigger sin than blinding yourself to death. So when your total stack is down to around seven to 10 big blinds it’s time to take a deep breath and stick your chips in the middle. And it’s even more important to look for the right spots to do this.

Always make sure you’re the first into the pot (unless you have a monster) so that it puts the decision onto the other players at the table and they have no chips already invested. If the action is folded around to you be prepared to push with any Ace, any pair or suited connectors, where you think you’ll have live cards if someone calls. The closer you are to the button the looser you can be with your hand, purely on the basis that there are fewer players to get past.

Likewise, if the players in the blinds are sitting on medium-sized stacks you should be pushing with any two cards. They’ll be loathe to risk half to three-quarters of their stack with anything but a big hand. And even if they call, 7-9os will beat A-K suited a third of the time.

Hands
A-x, suited connectors, any pairs
Tournament clock
Middle to late
Your stack
Low

7. Pre-imperilled shove

Tournament players have become so accustomed to the short-stack shove (see Move 6) that they are far more likely to call with a weak Ace or a couple of high cards than ever before, which is great if you have a genuine hand. The only problem is that once your stack is running low you can’t guarantee that you’ll pick up a marginal hand let alone a premium one.

Therefore, an all-in move with a stack of over 10 big blinds will be a lot more respected than a standard short-stack shove as most players appreciate that short-stacks will push with any two cards if they’re given a chance. Although your risk-to-reward ratio is higher you will be more likely to get your hands through.

This move is important to throw in if the blinds are about to jump up a level because it will effectively cut your stack, and chance of making other players fold, in half. Picking up the blinds, or doubling through, will keep you in the race at the higher blind levels.

Hands
A-K to A-10, K-Q, K-J, Q-Js, 10-10 to 7-7
Tournament clock
Middle to late (when the blinds are about to change)
Your stack
Low to medium

8. Beat the bully

There’s always one player who will raise every time from the button or late position if it’s folded to them. And after a few rounds it’s quite obvious who they are. Target these loose-aggressive individual(s) with selective re-raises when you have position on them or when you’re battling from the blinds.

You should invariably be raising rather than calling if you don’t believe someone’s pre- flop raise is genuine. This way you’ll give yourself the chance to either take the pot down there and then, or your perceived strength should enable you to take control of the pot with a confident continuation bet after the flop.

Of course, you may find yourself getting re-raised pre-flop, at which point you might have run into a genuine monster, and on these occasions it’s best to fold. But don’t let it put you off – if the aggressive player knows he can steal your blind every time, he will.

Hands
Any
Tournament clock
Any
Your stack
Any

9. Big stack pressure

If you’ve never been the big chip leader in a tournament before you’ve got something to look forward to. You can use your stack to put pressure on your opponents with smaller stacks, pushing every edge and generally being an all-round meany. Use frequent testing bets and raises when you get close to the money.

Short-stacks will be in shove-or- fold territory while the medium-sized stacks will be all too aware of the fact that you have them easily covered. You’ll frequently get your raise through scooping the blinds and antes, which will slowly turn your big stack into an enormous one. What’s more, it’s great fun winning loads of pots with rags.

Hands
Any
Tournament clock
Middle to late
Your stack
Large

10. Squeeze play

Why do you raise in late position with marginal hands? To steal the blinds. So what do you do when there have been lots of callers behind a single raiser? Raise, of course. Make sure you put in a big enough bet that you’re not giving ‘value’ to any of them to call. If you get past the initial raiser then you’ll almost always get past everyone else. If they had a truly premium hand they would have probably re-raised rather than called.

Punish their weakness! Usually you need to make a pot-sized bet to scare others off. So if the blinds are 100/200 and there’s been a raise to 600 and one caller, the pot will be 1500 before your call. Make it 2000 to go and watch their hands hit the muck.

Hands
Any
Tournament clock
Any
Your stack
Medium to large