Playing a Multi-Table Tournament

  Many players are intimidated by multi-table tournaments, simply because there are just sooooo many tables. For most inexperienced tournament players, and number over three tables makes their hands and feet sweat. Well this article will give you some tips that will help guide you through this frontier of untamed tables.  Im sure we have all heard the term there are other fish in the sea, well this is true when it comes to tournament play. Fish are all over the place. Most of them go all-in early in an attempt to double their stacks up. While these players are committing a form of suicide, you should be doing the opposite. Play tight and let natural selection eliminate the weak players. There is an exception to this though. Big bets are not a bad idea early when you are holding a premium hand like AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or AK. Try to avoid situations where there are more than one player all-in, unless you hold AA or KK.  Avoid bluffing in the early rounds as well. The players you are up against are still a mystery and probably unlikely to fold in the face of your bluff. This will just be wasted time, energy, and money.  Use these early rounds to study your opponents; chances are you will be facing these same folks later in the tournament. Some key observations may make the difference between victory and a crash landing. For example, will they throw away a hand in the face of a bluff? Will they call with the second best hand? Will they chase unprofitable draws like a ferret down a rabbit hole? If you have answers for these questions, you hold a distinct advantage in later rounds.  Position is a huge factor in tournament play. Seeing a cheap flop is always to your advantage, especially when your cards are questionable. When somebody moves all-in, you dont want to throw good money after bad, calling on a hand you will just wind up folding. If you have cards that you want to see an inexpensive flop on, make sure you do this from a late position.  Know your pot odds. Dont chase draws when your opponent is making it unprofitable for you.   In the middle stages of the tournament you can loosen your play up a bit. Most of the fish are now flopping on the sidelines so you are now playing against better players. This is where your earlier observations come into play. Use the info you gathered against these competitors.   The same players you were taking mental notes on have probably been taking the same sort of notes about you. By now folks see you as a tight, solid player. They will be right, because this is how you have been playing from the start of the tournament. Throw them a curve ball now. When the blinds are high - this is when you can start stealing pots. Be very careful and if you get caught, you may not be able to try again for a while.   Avoid playing marginal hands against the Big Stacks and players who can bust you. Target the short stakes, they are probably playing desperate and might go all-in when you have a good hand.   The head table is where you want to be. Once you are there you will find out that its more about how many chips you have than the cards that you are getting. If you have the chips you can loosen your play up and take chances by pushing people around. If your short stacked you might have to wait for your spot to move all-in.   Another final table strategy is try not to get involved in multi-way pots. If you have a great hand by all means play it but think before you get involved in a hand. Let the other players turn the guns on each other, then you can pick off the short stacked survivors.   Tournament play is not as intimidating as it may seem at first. Play smart and tight. This will enable you to stay above the fray while the other players perform a form of genocide on each other.