Today Texas Hold’em Strategy is about what to do in the early stages of an MTT. With the L.A. Poker Classic Texas Holdem tournament and the Aussie Millions right around the corner, there are a lot of satellites and other associated events. In other words there are a whole lot of tournaments being played at this time of year, and a lot of poker players will benefit from some Texas Hold’em strategy advice about getting through the first stages.
The truth is that poker strategy that you employ at the start of an MTT should be much different than that you will use when are in the middle and later stages. This is because of lot people at the poker table will be playing like maniacs after the starting gun sounds. They will be in “chip up or die trying mode”. This is a double edged sword. Gamesmanship such as going all-in before the flop from early seat with middling cards won’t work here as a means of stealing the blinds. There are simply too many players who will see inventory of chips in the center of the table, and recognize an opportunity to double their stack size. Bluffing at this stage of a Texas Holdem tournament is nearly useless. Instead, take advantage of the over aggressive tendencies of many of the other poker players, and make your good hands pay off. When you get a good pair of hole cards, go all-in and play the odds. You are almost sure to get one or two callers and you will dramatically increase you stack quickly.
In the past you could simply sit at the poker table, playing good solid poker, and letting the storm around you rage as the maniacs take each other out. The reality is that too many of the players will walk out of these early stages with the sort of huge stacks that will crush a more conservative player. You need to play aggressively when you have the odds on your side, and recognize that it will not always work out in your favor. That is just the way of the game.
That is the poker strategy for today.
