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Going far in a tournament is a lot like starting a fire. You have to grind out the early stages and get some momentum, then push your advantage like a wildfire once you have chips. You can never have enough chips in a tournament, so do not get comfortable and stop doing what got you those chips in the first place. Here are some tips to help you along the way on how to win at Hold’em No-Limit Poker Tournaments.

General tips

Singles & Doubles vs. Home Runs: Getting into huge pots is a much better idea with 3 of a kind or better. Know this when choosing what hands to play and how to play them. Hands like AK, AQ, or even KQ will usually win by getting top pair, so you want to be in against one or two opponents, and want the hand to be over quickly. Raise these hands pre-flop, and if it is checked to you, bet on the flop to quickly take down the pot and hit the “single or double” to use a baseball analogy.

Drawing hands like smaller suited connectors (i.e. 8-7 or J-10 suited) or small pocket pairs (88 or below) usually win by improving on the flop and making big hands, or “homeruns”, a small amount of the time. Unlike singles and doubles, you don’t mind multiple players and want to see the 4th and 5th cards so you make your hand. Since these hands hit a small amount of the time, you need to get paid off big when they do or it is not worth it. Do not play these homerun hands with less than 20 big blinds in chips. Even if you get all in and double up with that size stack, it is not worth it.

With homerun hands, you either want to win big or not at all. Do not get stuck in the middle and put a lot of chips towards a mediocre hand like top pair with an average kicker when you are obviously beat. Learning to fold in these situations is one of the easiest ways to improve your game.

Position: Boost your winning percentage by almost always playing in position, or where you act last in a post-flop situation. You get the advantage of more information by seeing what your opponents do first. This means you can get a sense of whether they have a hand, and take a shot at stealing the pot if they show weakness.

Generally, you should play a wider range of hands in later position and be tight from the first few pre-flop positions. Keep in mind this is usually true of your opponents hands as well in relation to their positions.

Bet Size: Generally, most bets should range from half the pot to the size of the pot. Before the flop, a typical raise is 3 times the big blind, but tables will often take on their own identity as far as what pre-flop raise becomes standard. It is not worth over-betting the pot and risking losing a huge part of your stack to win a pot that would not even grow your stack that much.

Analyzing the table in general: Each table will take on its own style, and you generally want to play the opposite it. If the table is loose and playing too many hands, tighten up and punish them when you hit a big hand. If the table is tight, get aggressive and pick up a lot of small pots with small bluffs.

This also applies to your image at the table. If you have won a lot of pots without having to show your cards, the table might think you are bluffing a lot and be looking to catch you in a bluff. When you get this sense you should play tight and only with good hands so that you will get more action when you make a good hand. On the other hand, if you have not played many hands, the table will see you as tight and you would be set up for making a believable bluff at the right time. Remember to try to be playing the opposite of what the table is playing, and also the opposite of what the table thinks of your game.

Analyzing Specific Opponents: Compare players’ actions in similar situations. For example, a common move is the continuation bet, where a player who took the lead in a hand with a pre-flop raise then fires a bet on the flop to try to win the hand. Often it makes sense to do this with or without a hand. Observe how often an opponent does this when a situation presents itself, and you will know if he is tight or loose in those situations. This also applies to pre-flop re-raises, and other situations that come up often.

Also, observe how much a player will defend his big blind. If you notice a player folding his big blind a lot, make note of this for later when the blinds get big and it makes sense to steal the blinds. You will know who to target.

Pay attention to opponent stack sizes. If you raise the big blind of an opponent with a small stack size, he might go all in for not much more and you would be getting great odds to call. You would be forced to put in much more chips than you wanted to because you were not paying attention to the opponent’s stack size. On the other hand, if an opponent with a small stack raises your blind, he might be desperate and playing a wide range of hands. Opponents with big stacks often play a wide range of hands as well, but they have the chips to push you around without much risk to them, so be careful. Opponents with medium sized stacks, around 15-20 big blinds, will be picky with their hands in general and you might be able to push them out of hands easier. Keep in mind these are rules of thumb and you must pay attention to individual players to confirm them or decide that the player is unconventional.

Early Stages

In the early stages of tournaments, there is little pressure on players from the blinds. The starting stack is often more than 50 times the big blind. This means 2 main things. First, there is not much to gain by picking up the blinds, so do not make a lot of pre-flop bluffs and attempts to steal the blinds. The reward is not worth the risk. Second, you and other players have huge stacks compared to the blind, so going for home runs, as discussed above, is worth it in the early stages.

Generally, you want to play tight (not much worse than AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ, KQs) and grow your stack by quickly winning small to medium sized pots (singles & doubles). Take occasional shots at homeruns, but do not risk too much chasing these.

Later Stages

In the later stages blinds get huge, so even the bigger stacks are under pressure. You must adjust and play more hands, and go after the blinds, especially when you are in later position. It is worth it to just pick up the blinds.

When doing this observe who has not adjusted and is still playing tight. They might not realize how much of their stack the blind is, or they might just be trying to move up the money ladder. Look to get in hands with them more and go after their big blinds, but be careful if they show too much resistance. They probably have something and can damage your stack.

If you have a chip lead or a big stack, get aggressive! If you play tight, people will catch up to you. You must use your advantage and bully the table to run away with the tournament. Also, be aggressive right before the money payouts kick in or increase. Everyone will be playing tight, and you can pick up a lot of pots by being aggressive. You might also see this tightness right before a break, but not always. Be sure to observe your table and adjust.

When you get some experience going deep in tournaments, you will be able to pick up on these styles like second nature and use them to your advantage. Hopefully some of these tips will help you along the way.