Now, let's discuss a home poker tournament blind structure. Generally, you'd like your tournament to work like a daily tournament at a casino. Most home poker tournament players want the action to wrap up in three hours. You can simply grab a structure sheet from your local casino which deals with similar field sizes, and duplicate it. The Internet's most comprehensive poker source: poker news, poker videos, poker tournaments, poker player results, poker blogs, poker odds calculator, free online poker and deposit bonuses, and a.
- Poker Tournament Payout Chart
- Texas Holdem Payout Chart
- Home Poker Tournament Structure
- Poker Tournament Payout Scale
How to run a NL Texas Holdem Poker Tournament
Poker tournaments are the most popular form of home poker games. Here, I will teach you everything about Poker Tournament Structure, various poker tournament styles, and more.
If you haven't decided whether you should host a poker tournament or poker cash game read the Cash vs. Tournament Poker page.
Home Poker Tournament Setup
To run a poker tournament you should pay attention to many different factors. Following are most important notes to learn.
Sign Up
Before the tournament starts, every player must sign up and pay the entry fee. It's best to write down the name of players and mark their names off as they pay.
When each player signs up, you should tell him his random assigned seat too. (refer to the Seating Players section)
Chips Distribution
Before the tournament starts, every player must have poker chips. Since every player will have exact same amount of chips, it doesn't make much difference as what that amount is. That is because it's the same for everyone.
The most common starting chips amounts are 100, 1000, 2500, and 10000. This amount can be given in any denominations. However it is good to choose the denominations wisely.
I personally prefer to give 1000 starting chips in my house games. You can give 5 black chips (worth $100 each), 15 green chips(worth $25 each), 25 red chips (worth $5 each).
Any color can be given any value. However certain colors are known to be used for certain values. Almost all casinos follow this color convention as it makes it easier for players to remember the values without any numbers written on the chips. Following is a list of the most common chips colors and their values as well as sample chart for starting chip distribution.
I didn't suggest 'Blue' chips in the above example, because most people don't have blue chips in their chip cases. However if you have them, you can use them. They are worth 50.
Buy In – Rebuy
Buy In: is the entry fee that every player must pay in the begriming of the tournament in order to be able to play.
Rebuy: happens when players are allowed to buy chips once they loose their chips.
Different buy-in amounts can affect the tournament. Rebuys also affect the tournament in different ways depending on how it is used. These concepts are all covered in the Buy-in / Rebuy page.
Seating Players
To insure a fair poker tournament players should be seated randomly. This can be accomplished different ways such as using marked cards, numbers and more. Seating & moving players page explains the most common methods and how to use them.
Blind Period/Structure
To ensure that the tournament ends in a reasonable time blinds rise every certain number of minutes. For example starting blind might be $10/$20, but after half an hour it will go up to $20/$40. Two factors affect blinds: 1- Blind structure, and 2- Blind Period.
Blind Structure: is the structure that blinds go up based on. Typically the first big blind should be 1/50 of the starting chips amount. Blinds usually double after each blind period. Deeper explanation of this topic can be found in the Tournament Blind Structure page.
Blind Period: This is the time period that blinds are raised at the end of. For example if the blind period is one hour, it means that after each hour through the game blinds should go up based on the blind structure.
Moving Players
In your poker tournament there will be times that players need to be moved from one table to another. Such times arrive when players bust out of the tournament and the tables don't have the same number of players seating at them. If table A has two, or more players more than table B, a random player has to move from table A to table B.
Check out the Seating & moving players page for more info.
Tournament Payout
Payout: is the prize paid out to the winning player/players at the end of the poker tournament. A payout structure should be decided before the game begins. The payout structure is mainly decided based on the number of entrants.
The Payout Structure page covers this topic in full and includes a table with the most common payout structures.
Final Tips:
- The best form of tournament to use in House Poker Tournaments is rebuy tournament with one or unlimited rebuys.
- You can always hold two smaller/shorter tournaments than two long ones. That would suit a house game better as players don't have to sit out for a long time and watch other play.
- Use the Tournament Director software. It will make your life much easier.
There are many different forms of poker tournaments. The most common form is the Freezeout tournaments. That is the form of WSOP and most of the tournaments shown on TV. In this form (as you read below), once a player loses his chips, he is out of the tournament. This might not be the most preferred method for a friendly home poker tournament. Read on to find out why.
Freezeout
In a Freezeout tournament, players are eliminated once they loose all their chips. There are no second chances. once hosting a freeze-out tournament you should try to make all tables with approximately same number of seated players players. Refer to the seating/moving players page for instruction to achieve that.
Freezeout tournaments are the most popular home poker tourneys. However you should consider Rebuy tournaments as well as they have great advantages for house games. That is because players can rebuy certain number of times. Therefore once they lose their chips they still have a second chance and don't have to sit out and wait for everyone else to lose (perhaps for a new tournament to start.
Rebuy
As the name states, a rebuy tournament allows player to rebuy chips. Rebuy happens when a player looses his all of his chips or has less than a certain amount of chips left. In such a case the player can buy chips again (if rebuy is allowed). Refer to the Buy-In/Rebuy page for more info.
In a rebuy tournament:
- The rebuy period has to be limited and specified before the game. For example players might be able to rebuy during the first hour or the first 3 blinds and such.
- Players might be allowed to rebuy if they haven't lost all their chips but have considerably low amount of chips left. For example if everyone started with 1000 chips and the player has less than 100 or 50 chips.
- A rebuy tournament can allow unlimited rebuys during the rebuy period or a limited number of rebuys for each player.
Shootout
Shootout tournaments style can be used in multi table tournaments. In a shootout tournament, every table plays until it is down to one player. Then all the players from different tables advance to the final table and compete for the prize.
In a shootout tournament usually all the players who make it to the final table win a prize. This prize can range from the buy-in amount and up.
Free Roll
Freeroll tournaments are free to enter. However, almost all of them have prizes. These tournaments are most common in online poker websites.
Most of the online poker websites offer weekly/daily freerolls, free rolls for the new members, and free rolls for members with certain number of points.
Recently there has also been a rise in free poker tournaments at local bars to attract customers on slow nights.
Guaranteed Payout/Prize
Guaranteed payout tournaments have guaranteed payouts (if it needed explanation). For example the tournament might have a $109 buy in but guarantees $50,000 prize pool. Therefore, even if there are 250 people playing (meaning $25000 real cash paid for entrance) the prize pool is $50,000. As you might guess, this doesn't happen very often.
Guaranteed prize pool tournaments are mostly held at online poker websites. While they look very tempting, they mostly end up having more players than what was guaranteed. However, you can find tournaments that doesn't fill up in less popular online poker rooms.
Poker Tournament Payout Chart
For example in a $50,000 guaranteed, $109 buy in(the $9 is the tournament fee) tournament there are usually over 500 players. This makes the tournament no different than if it did not have a guaranteed prize.
Poker tournaments in Omaha. You can find a big number of poker tourneys in Omaha. Tournaments are legal as long as no real money is paid out, but the prize is a non-cash prize. In Omaha and the surrounding region there are frequent poker tournaments. Upcoming tournaments. The Big O Texas Hold'Em Poker League - Omaha, Nebraska. Big 'O' Poker League. September 14, 2020. Big O poker check the website for all the tournaments coming up. It's your responsibility to see when and what time and where we're playing. Hope everyone makes it that qualifies for these tournaments. After reading this introduction to Omaha tournaments we would advice you venture over to the Omaha MTT strategy section. Omaha tournaments are offered in the same formats as Texas Holdem poker tournaments, with both scheduled tournaments with larger entry fees and bigger prize money, and sit and go poker tournaments, which take less time to complete, are generally limited to a single table, and start as soon as the table is full, unlike the bigger tournaments. Play omaha poker.
Heads Up
Heads up tournaments are held between two players at a time. Following are the instruction to host a heads up poker tournament:
- Certain number of players sign up for the tournament.
- Players are divided in groups of 2.
- Heads up games are held between each group of two players.
- The winner advances to a higher level where he paired up with another winner. This continues until the tournament is down to two final players. They play against each other and the winner is determined.
Satellite
Satellite tournaments offer seats to higher level tournaments. For example, 10 players can play a $20 buy-in satellite tournament where the top two winners get tickets into a $100 buy in tournament.
In a satellite tournament, prizes are usually the same. For example the top 3 players in a satellite tournament might get an entry into tournament 'X'. If there is still any money left but it is not enough to pay for another entry to the tournament 'X', that money can be given as a cash prize to the next position (in this example the 4th position).
Some larger satellite tournaments offer seats at higher level tournaments for the let's say top 3 players and cash for the let's say fourth and fifth position. However the cash prizes is less than what the higher level tournament tickets are worth for.
Bounty Tournaments
A common practice in regular home poker games is having a Bounty. A bounty tournament can be any type tournament mentioned above with the bounty prize.
The bounty is a prize taken out of the the tournament prize pool. It is usually on the winner form the previous week/game. If player A takes out the winner from last week, he would win the bounty. That is regardless of the position that player A ends up at the end of the tournament. So player A could possibly win both the bounty and the first position prize.
Laws Related to Home Poker Games:
In most of the U.S. States it is legal to host a home poker game as long as you don't take any rake (make any money for the house).
Make sure to check your states's (or country) gambling laws before hosting or participating in a house poker game.
Poker players are also required to pay tax on their income.
Some of the top professional poker players are able to
consistently win while playing both Texas holdem ring games and
tournaments. But most players focus on one or the other to
maximize their skills and chances for overall profit.
While the basic game and rules are the same, the strategy and
skill set is slightly different between the two types of play.
You need to learn how to be a winning Texas holdem player by
studying the rules, learning starting hand strengths, learning
about pot odds and other basics before you should start trying
to use the advanced tournament tactics on this page.
But once you're ready, the tips and tricks listed below can
help you transition from an average player to a consistent
winner.
Structure
In order to develop the best strategy for Texas holdem
tournament play you need to understand the structure of the
current tournament.
The structure includes the following details:
- How much it costs to buy in
- How many places get paid
- How many players are entered in the tournament
- The size of the starting chips stacks
- How big the blinds are and how often they go up
- How much each place gets paid once you get into the
money
How fast the blinds go up is one of the most important things
to keep an eye on. In tournaments where the blinds go up quickly
you're often forced to take more chances early to avoid getting
into a position where the blinds are too high in comparison to
your stack.
One way players track their progress is by figuring out how
many big blinds or total blinds they have. Once you reach a
point where you only have enough for a few circuits you need to
start looking for an opportunity to get all your money in the
pot for a chance to double up.
On the other hand, tournaments with large starting stacks in
comparison to the blinds and a slow blind structure let you sit
back and play a slower game.
Your playing style and preferences may help you do better in
a fast tournament or a slow tournament, or maybe at this point
you don't know. As you improve your skills you'll be able to
play both types.
on the current situation.
Of course structure can also refer to no limit, pot limit,
and limit play, but the majority of Texas holdem tournaments are
no limit. For this reason most of the advice on this page is
designed for no limit poker players. Most of the same concepts
are easily adapted to limit play.
Small Pots
Texas holdem tournaments are made up of pots of all sizes.
Many small pots are spread between the big ones where player
push their chips all in.
One mistake that many inexperienced tournament players make
is focusing on small pots. While it's true that many small pots
add up to the same amount as a big one, the amount you have to
risk is often not equal.
So to win
$1,000 you have to risk $1,000.
But in order to win a small pot you almost always have to
risk more than the amount you can win.
If you make a raise to steal the blinds you have to bet at
least twice the amount of the big blind, and usually more. So
you might have to bet $100 to win $45 in blinds.
Or you have to pay to see the flop and then fire a bet after
the flop. Even if everyone folds after the flop you risk a bet
half the size of the pot or higher.
From a simple risk versus reward ratio it often costs too
much in possible risk for the reward of a small pot in a
tournament. You have a limited number of chips and you only have
to lose a few of these situations before you end up losing more
than you hope to win.
You usually need to win some small pots along the way if you
hope to win a tournament, but you have to learn when to take a
shot at them and when to avoid the temptation of risking too
much.
You should only try to steal the blinds when you have a
decent hand that has a chance to win if it has to see the flop.
Hands like middle suited connectors and small pairs played from
late position when you're the first one in the pot can be
profitable. But remember that the blinds have the same chance to
land a big hand as you do.
Another situation where small pots can be worth going after
is against individual players. It's often hard to get a solid
read against opponents you don't know, but sometimes pots are
ripe for picking.
Almost any hand where no one raised pre flop that has a
non-threatening board is worth considering making an aggressive
wager. Often the first player to show aggression takes down the
pot.
Doubling Up
How many times do you need to double up to get into the money
or reach the final table?
In order to answer questions like these you have to break out
your math skills. Don't panic though. These are pretty simple
math problems, and you can use the calculator on your cell phone
to help.
It's simple to calculate the average chip stack needed to get
into the money or to reach any other point in the tournament.
Here's an example:
- If 100 players enter a tournament
- Rach player starts with $3,000 in chips
- The total amount of chips in play is $300,000.
The next thing you need to know is how many players get paid.
- When 15 players get paid, the average chip stack will be
$20,000 when you reach the money. - If 10 players get paid the average chip stack will be
$30,000 at that time.
You can use the same method to calculate the average stack
size for any tournament and or reaching any point in a
tournament.
It's the same simple process even if you're playing in a huge
tournament.
Here's an example:
- A tournament with 893 entrants pays out the top 80
entrants - Each player starts with $10,000 in chips.
You want to know what the average chip stack will be to get
into the money, to get in the top 20, the top 10, and the top 3.
The first thing you need to do is find out how much the total
amount of chips in play is. You multiply 893 entrant times
$10,000 each for a total of $8,930,000.
Then you divide this amount by the remaining number of
players at each point.
- $8,930,000 divided by 80 = $111,625
- $8,930,000 divided by 20 = $446,500
- $8,930,000 divided by 10 = $893,000
- $8,930,000 divided by 3 = $2,976,667
So why is this information important?
One of the key skills that winning Texas holdem tournament
players possess is the ability to understand where they are and
where they need to be at every point of the tournament.
If you know you need to double your starting chip stack eight
times to get in the money you might decide it's not worth
risking 25% of your stack fighting over the blinds that
represent 3% of your stack. I realize that for the most part
this is good advice in any situation, but risking too much too
many times is a sure way to an early exit from the tournament.
This information also gives you a solid idea of where your
stack needs to be to reach any point. In the example above with
893 entrants, you need to have around $100,000 to feel pretty
safe of being in the money. You need almost a million to feel
safe about reaching the final table.
Harm's Way
Most poker players have been taught that they need to get in
situations where they're the favorite to win. If you do this
over and over you'll win more than you lose in the long run.
But in Teas holdem tournaments there's a dark side to this
that you have to understand if you're going to be a long term
winner.
In a big tournament you'll be forced to put your tournament
life at risk numerous times. Of course you always want to enter
these situations as a favorite, but even if you do eventually
the odds will bite you.
If you get all in before the flop you're never a 100% lock to
win. Even pocket aces lose to any other random hand sometimes.
When you play pocket aces against a single opponent they win
around 85% of the time.
Do you see the problem with winning only 85% of your all in
decisions in a tournament?
Even with the best hand possible if you get all in 10 times
during a tournament the odds dictate that you're going to lose
between one and two times.
the tournament.
And the truth is that most of the time you're going to be
required to get all in as a smaller favorite than pocket aces.
So how does anyone win a Texas holdem tournament? Is it all
luck after all?
If you ask most players if they'd call an all in bet with A A
pre flop 10 times in their next tournament they'd quickly say
yes. And the truth is you have to be willing to do this because
you know you have to double up numerous times to win and this is
one of the best opportunities to do so.
But if you want long term success you need to focus on
getting your money in when it won't cost you your tournament
life if the odds catch up with you or in situations with
stronger chances of winning.
I know some of you are saying that there aren't any
situations better than pocket aces. If you think about it for a
few minutes and take your blinders off you'll start seeing what
I mean.
You won't find a better situation pre flop than
getting all in with pocket aces against a single opponent, but
you can find numerous better situations later in a hand.
When you have a full house against an opponent's flush you
might be able to get all your money in with 100% chance to win.
Other hands can play out where you might have over a 90% chance
to win.
If you have a bad run of short term variance you won't be
able to always avoid risking your entire stack, but the best
players do a good job of not getting in situations where they're
forced to go all in against a bigger stack.
When you get heads up against a player with a smaller stack
even if your all in bet with the better hand loses you'll still
have some chips.
Every Chip Is Important
Have you ever heard the saying a chip and a chair?
What it means is you still have a chance to win a Texas
holdem poker tournament as long as you have a single chip and a
seat in the tournament. You can probably even find a few stories
about players who've been able to come back and win a tournament
after being down to their last chip or few chips.
While it won't happen often, you can go on a streak of
doubling up 8 or 10 straight times. If you double up 10 straight
times the single chip turns into over 1,000 chips. Most
tournaments don't use $1 chips, so if your last chip is worth
$100, you'd go from $100 to $100,000.
you want to give yourself the best chance to win.
It's not important that you ever get low on chips and hit a
lucky streak and get back in the tournament. What's important is
that you never waste a single chip in tournament play.
In ring game play you might risk a chip in a poor situation
to set up future play or to keep an opponent honest. If you use
certain strategies correctly you'll probably be able to get your
chip and more back in the future.
But a tournament has a limited future and most of the times
you can't afford to build a long term play in a tournament.
I know this may sound opposite of the advice I gave you above
about not fighting for blinds and small pots, but it's not. You
always have to weigh the risk versus the possible reward. It's
true that the blinds you steal add a few chips to your stack,
but you only need to be called by a better hand every once in a
while to lose a large portion of your stack.
Exploiting the Bubble
When a tournament gets close to the cut off between finishing
out of the money and in the money aggressive players can often
take advantage of players who're just trying to sneak into the
money.
In an average tournament when its gets close to the cut off
over half the players can probably fold every hand until they
reach the money. Many of them start playing this way, but the
truth is that almost no one can look down at pocket aces, kings,
or queens and fold them.
The big stacks can afford to play their good hands and some
of the smallest stacks are forced to play any decent hand
because the blinds are going to put them all in soon anyway. You
don't want to pressure either the small or big stacks without a
good hand, but many of the medium sized stacks are in perfect
position for you to steal their blinds and small bets.
You still don't want to have poor hands, but above average
hands are usually good enough to be played aggressively against
the medium stacks on the bubble.
It's important that you get away from any hand where
an opponent plays back aggressively unless you have a real
chance to win the hand. Remember the reason you're playing
aggressively. You want to take advantage of your opponent's
desire to sneak into the money, not risk too much by fighting
with a less than stellar hand.
Guaranteed payout tournaments have guaranteed payouts (if it needed explanation). For example the tournament might have a $109 buy in but guarantees $50,000 prize pool. Therefore, even if there are 250 people playing (meaning $25000 real cash paid for entrance) the prize pool is $50,000. As you might guess, this doesn't happen very often.
Guaranteed prize pool tournaments are mostly held at online poker websites. While they look very tempting, they mostly end up having more players than what was guaranteed. However, you can find tournaments that doesn't fill up in less popular online poker rooms.
Poker Tournament Payout Chart
For example in a $50,000 guaranteed, $109 buy in(the $9 is the tournament fee) tournament there are usually over 500 players. This makes the tournament no different than if it did not have a guaranteed prize.
Poker tournaments in Omaha. You can find a big number of poker tourneys in Omaha. Tournaments are legal as long as no real money is paid out, but the prize is a non-cash prize. In Omaha and the surrounding region there are frequent poker tournaments. Upcoming tournaments. The Big O Texas Hold'Em Poker League - Omaha, Nebraska. Big 'O' Poker League. September 14, 2020. Big O poker check the website for all the tournaments coming up. It's your responsibility to see when and what time and where we're playing. Hope everyone makes it that qualifies for these tournaments. After reading this introduction to Omaha tournaments we would advice you venture over to the Omaha MTT strategy section. Omaha tournaments are offered in the same formats as Texas Holdem poker tournaments, with both scheduled tournaments with larger entry fees and bigger prize money, and sit and go poker tournaments, which take less time to complete, are generally limited to a single table, and start as soon as the table is full, unlike the bigger tournaments. Play omaha poker.
Heads Up
Heads up tournaments are held between two players at a time. Following are the instruction to host a heads up poker tournament:
- Certain number of players sign up for the tournament.
- Players are divided in groups of 2.
- Heads up games are held between each group of two players.
- The winner advances to a higher level where he paired up with another winner. This continues until the tournament is down to two final players. They play against each other and the winner is determined.
Satellite
Satellite tournaments offer seats to higher level tournaments. For example, 10 players can play a $20 buy-in satellite tournament where the top two winners get tickets into a $100 buy in tournament.
In a satellite tournament, prizes are usually the same. For example the top 3 players in a satellite tournament might get an entry into tournament 'X'. If there is still any money left but it is not enough to pay for another entry to the tournament 'X', that money can be given as a cash prize to the next position (in this example the 4th position).
Some larger satellite tournaments offer seats at higher level tournaments for the let's say top 3 players and cash for the let's say fourth and fifth position. However the cash prizes is less than what the higher level tournament tickets are worth for.
Bounty Tournaments
A common practice in regular home poker games is having a Bounty. A bounty tournament can be any type tournament mentioned above with the bounty prize.
The bounty is a prize taken out of the the tournament prize pool. It is usually on the winner form the previous week/game. If player A takes out the winner from last week, he would win the bounty. That is regardless of the position that player A ends up at the end of the tournament. So player A could possibly win both the bounty and the first position prize.
Laws Related to Home Poker Games:
In most of the U.S. States it is legal to host a home poker game as long as you don't take any rake (make any money for the house).
Make sure to check your states's (or country) gambling laws before hosting or participating in a house poker game.
Poker players are also required to pay tax on their income.
Some of the top professional poker players are able to
consistently win while playing both Texas holdem ring games and
tournaments. But most players focus on one or the other to
maximize their skills and chances for overall profit.
While the basic game and rules are the same, the strategy and
skill set is slightly different between the two types of play.
You need to learn how to be a winning Texas holdem player by
studying the rules, learning starting hand strengths, learning
about pot odds and other basics before you should start trying
to use the advanced tournament tactics on this page.
But once you're ready, the tips and tricks listed below can
help you transition from an average player to a consistent
winner.
Structure
In order to develop the best strategy for Texas holdem
tournament play you need to understand the structure of the
current tournament.
The structure includes the following details:
- How much it costs to buy in
- How many places get paid
- How many players are entered in the tournament
- The size of the starting chips stacks
- How big the blinds are and how often they go up
- How much each place gets paid once you get into the
money
How fast the blinds go up is one of the most important things
to keep an eye on. In tournaments where the blinds go up quickly
you're often forced to take more chances early to avoid getting
into a position where the blinds are too high in comparison to
your stack.
One way players track their progress is by figuring out how
many big blinds or total blinds they have. Once you reach a
point where you only have enough for a few circuits you need to
start looking for an opportunity to get all your money in the
pot for a chance to double up.
On the other hand, tournaments with large starting stacks in
comparison to the blinds and a slow blind structure let you sit
back and play a slower game.
Your playing style and preferences may help you do better in
a fast tournament or a slow tournament, or maybe at this point
you don't know. As you improve your skills you'll be able to
play both types.
on the current situation.
Of course structure can also refer to no limit, pot limit,
and limit play, but the majority of Texas holdem tournaments are
no limit. For this reason most of the advice on this page is
designed for no limit poker players. Most of the same concepts
are easily adapted to limit play.
Small Pots
Texas holdem tournaments are made up of pots of all sizes.
Many small pots are spread between the big ones where player
push their chips all in.
One mistake that many inexperienced tournament players make
is focusing on small pots. While it's true that many small pots
add up to the same amount as a big one, the amount you have to
risk is often not equal.
So to win
$1,000 you have to risk $1,000.
But in order to win a small pot you almost always have to
risk more than the amount you can win.
If you make a raise to steal the blinds you have to bet at
least twice the amount of the big blind, and usually more. So
you might have to bet $100 to win $45 in blinds.
Or you have to pay to see the flop and then fire a bet after
the flop. Even if everyone folds after the flop you risk a bet
half the size of the pot or higher.
From a simple risk versus reward ratio it often costs too
much in possible risk for the reward of a small pot in a
tournament. You have a limited number of chips and you only have
to lose a few of these situations before you end up losing more
than you hope to win.
You usually need to win some small pots along the way if you
hope to win a tournament, but you have to learn when to take a
shot at them and when to avoid the temptation of risking too
much.
You should only try to steal the blinds when you have a
decent hand that has a chance to win if it has to see the flop.
Hands like middle suited connectors and small pairs played from
late position when you're the first one in the pot can be
profitable. But remember that the blinds have the same chance to
land a big hand as you do.
Another situation where small pots can be worth going after
is against individual players. It's often hard to get a solid
read against opponents you don't know, but sometimes pots are
ripe for picking.
Almost any hand where no one raised pre flop that has a
non-threatening board is worth considering making an aggressive
wager. Often the first player to show aggression takes down the
pot.
Doubling Up
How many times do you need to double up to get into the money
or reach the final table?
In order to answer questions like these you have to break out
your math skills. Don't panic though. These are pretty simple
math problems, and you can use the calculator on your cell phone
to help.
It's simple to calculate the average chip stack needed to get
into the money or to reach any other point in the tournament.
Here's an example:
- If 100 players enter a tournament
- Rach player starts with $3,000 in chips
- The total amount of chips in play is $300,000.
The next thing you need to know is how many players get paid.
- When 15 players get paid, the average chip stack will be
$20,000 when you reach the money. - If 10 players get paid the average chip stack will be
$30,000 at that time.
You can use the same method to calculate the average stack
size for any tournament and or reaching any point in a
tournament.
It's the same simple process even if you're playing in a huge
tournament.
Here's an example:
- A tournament with 893 entrants pays out the top 80
entrants - Each player starts with $10,000 in chips.
You want to know what the average chip stack will be to get
into the money, to get in the top 20, the top 10, and the top 3.
The first thing you need to do is find out how much the total
amount of chips in play is. You multiply 893 entrant times
$10,000 each for a total of $8,930,000.
Then you divide this amount by the remaining number of
players at each point.
- $8,930,000 divided by 80 = $111,625
- $8,930,000 divided by 20 = $446,500
- $8,930,000 divided by 10 = $893,000
- $8,930,000 divided by 3 = $2,976,667
So why is this information important?
One of the key skills that winning Texas holdem tournament
players possess is the ability to understand where they are and
where they need to be at every point of the tournament.
If you know you need to double your starting chip stack eight
times to get in the money you might decide it's not worth
risking 25% of your stack fighting over the blinds that
represent 3% of your stack. I realize that for the most part
this is good advice in any situation, but risking too much too
many times is a sure way to an early exit from the tournament.
This information also gives you a solid idea of where your
stack needs to be to reach any point. In the example above with
893 entrants, you need to have around $100,000 to feel pretty
safe of being in the money. You need almost a million to feel
safe about reaching the final table.
Harm's Way
Most poker players have been taught that they need to get in
situations where they're the favorite to win. If you do this
over and over you'll win more than you lose in the long run.
But in Teas holdem tournaments there's a dark side to this
that you have to understand if you're going to be a long term
winner.
In a big tournament you'll be forced to put your tournament
life at risk numerous times. Of course you always want to enter
these situations as a favorite, but even if you do eventually
the odds will bite you.
If you get all in before the flop you're never a 100% lock to
win. Even pocket aces lose to any other random hand sometimes.
When you play pocket aces against a single opponent they win
around 85% of the time.
Do you see the problem with winning only 85% of your all in
decisions in a tournament?
Even with the best hand possible if you get all in 10 times
during a tournament the odds dictate that you're going to lose
between one and two times.
the tournament.
And the truth is that most of the time you're going to be
required to get all in as a smaller favorite than pocket aces.
So how does anyone win a Texas holdem tournament? Is it all
luck after all?
If you ask most players if they'd call an all in bet with A A
pre flop 10 times in their next tournament they'd quickly say
yes. And the truth is you have to be willing to do this because
you know you have to double up numerous times to win and this is
one of the best opportunities to do so.
But if you want long term success you need to focus on
getting your money in when it won't cost you your tournament
life if the odds catch up with you or in situations with
stronger chances of winning.
I know some of you are saying that there aren't any
situations better than pocket aces. If you think about it for a
few minutes and take your blinders off you'll start seeing what
I mean.
You won't find a better situation pre flop than
getting all in with pocket aces against a single opponent, but
you can find numerous better situations later in a hand.
When you have a full house against an opponent's flush you
might be able to get all your money in with 100% chance to win.
Other hands can play out where you might have over a 90% chance
to win.
If you have a bad run of short term variance you won't be
able to always avoid risking your entire stack, but the best
players do a good job of not getting in situations where they're
forced to go all in against a bigger stack.
When you get heads up against a player with a smaller stack
even if your all in bet with the better hand loses you'll still
have some chips.
Every Chip Is Important
Have you ever heard the saying a chip and a chair?
What it means is you still have a chance to win a Texas
holdem poker tournament as long as you have a single chip and a
seat in the tournament. You can probably even find a few stories
about players who've been able to come back and win a tournament
after being down to their last chip or few chips.
While it won't happen often, you can go on a streak of
doubling up 8 or 10 straight times. If you double up 10 straight
times the single chip turns into over 1,000 chips. Most
tournaments don't use $1 chips, so if your last chip is worth
$100, you'd go from $100 to $100,000.
you want to give yourself the best chance to win.
It's not important that you ever get low on chips and hit a
lucky streak and get back in the tournament. What's important is
that you never waste a single chip in tournament play.
In ring game play you might risk a chip in a poor situation
to set up future play or to keep an opponent honest. If you use
certain strategies correctly you'll probably be able to get your
chip and more back in the future.
But a tournament has a limited future and most of the times
you can't afford to build a long term play in a tournament.
I know this may sound opposite of the advice I gave you above
about not fighting for blinds and small pots, but it's not. You
always have to weigh the risk versus the possible reward. It's
true that the blinds you steal add a few chips to your stack,
but you only need to be called by a better hand every once in a
while to lose a large portion of your stack.
Exploiting the Bubble
When a tournament gets close to the cut off between finishing
out of the money and in the money aggressive players can often
take advantage of players who're just trying to sneak into the
money.
In an average tournament when its gets close to the cut off
over half the players can probably fold every hand until they
reach the money. Many of them start playing this way, but the
truth is that almost no one can look down at pocket aces, kings,
or queens and fold them.
The big stacks can afford to play their good hands and some
of the smallest stacks are forced to play any decent hand
because the blinds are going to put them all in soon anyway. You
don't want to pressure either the small or big stacks without a
good hand, but many of the medium sized stacks are in perfect
position for you to steal their blinds and small bets.
You still don't want to have poor hands, but above average
hands are usually good enough to be played aggressively against
the medium stacks on the bubble.
It's important that you get away from any hand where
an opponent plays back aggressively unless you have a real
chance to win the hand. Remember the reason you're playing
aggressively. You want to take advantage of your opponent's
desire to sneak into the money, not risk too much by fighting
with a less than stellar hand.
You also need to realize that there's no reason to play
aggressively if you're safe and can fold your way into the
money. Don't take chances if you're not comfortable. Sit back,
wait for your best hands, and take advantage of someone else's
aggression if you land kings or aces.
Don't make the mistake of assuming other players don't have a
hand when they play aggressively on the bubble. It may seem like
they're pushing you around, but just because they're aggressive
doesn't mean they have a poor hand. They might have a strong
hand.
Are you willing to bet your tournament life on an average
hand?
Should You Ever Fold Pocket Aces?
This is a common question when talking about getting into the
money in a tournament and it's fairly easy to construct a
situation where folding them is the best play. The actual
question should be should you ever fold pocket aces pre flop?
I've never folded them pre flop and probably never will
because any situation I can come up with where the correct play
is to fold isn't very realistic.
Usually if you finish just in the money you win somewhere
between one and three times your buy in. While this is much
better than a loss, if you're able to win the entire tournament
you can win 100 times your buy in or more in a large tournament.
The prize money for winning, or even reaching the final table,
is often many multiples of your buy in.
The World Series of Poker main event is a good example. The
entry fee is $10,000 and most years if you reach the final table
you're guarantee close to a million.
Folding aces pre flop isn't the way to give yourself the best
chance to win. Even if it assures you sneak into the money, the
long term advantage of the times you're able to double up
outweigh the reduced amount you get from just finishing in the
money.
at all?
Texas Holdem Payout Chart
Here are a couple situations where the correct play is to
fold pocket aces.
Scenario 1
The next player to exit the tournament won't win anything but
after that everyone finishes in the money. An early player at
your table moves all in and a second player calls. Both of these
players have bigger stacks than you. In addition, you used your
mortgage payment to enter the tournament and you'll lose your
house if you don't finish in the money.
Home Poker Tournament Structure
Your odds of winning against two random hands are less than
75%, so one out of four times your tournament life will end if
you call.
If the payout for finishing in the money is twice your buy
in, from a strictly pot odds type discussion you should call
every time. You double your money 3 out of 4 times is exactly
the type of math you're usually looking for.
Poker Tournament Payout Scale
But what you're ignoring is you have the chance to win much
more than twice your buy in if you move deeper into the money.
The best way to improve your chances to win the tournament is
triple up. This is an excellent chance to improve your chances
to win.
If you hadn't done something foolish like risk your house for
a poker tournament you need to make the call in this situation.
The results will suck roughly one out of four times, but the
other three times will more than make up for it in long term
winnings.
Scenario 2
An actual straightforward situation where you're
mathematically correct to fold pocket aces on the bubble is if
five or more opponents are all in. You're no longer a favorite
with pocket aces against five opponents.
I've never seen this happen on the bubble in a tournament and
doubt I ever will.
But if I'm ever in this situation I'm going to call because
when I win my chip stack will put me in a strong position to win
the entire tournament.
Summary
Once you master the basics of solid Texas holdem play the
thing that sets you apart from most players is your ability to
add small things to your game and outthink your opponents.
Most of the details on this page involve outthinking your
opponents. Once you learn to play smarter than most of the other
players you'll quickly see an improvement in your results. Focus
on what you've just learned and never stop looking for the extra
edge.
