Obviously the goal in any game of poker is to win chips but in tournament play it is imperative that you build your stack continuously in order to survive the ever-increasing blinds and antes. Many players will spend their entire tournament sitting back and waiting for one of the top ten starting hands to show up in their possession, only to walk away later wondering why they were the short stack the entire time.
The best tournament players understand that you need to chip up constantly, even if it is just a little bit at a time.
Here are three ways to quickly chip up in a tournament:
1. Steal the Blinds
Aggressively trying to steal the blinds isn’t the best method of chipping up in the early stages of a tournament where everyone has a lot of chips, but later on it can be a great way to add to your stack when there are antes in there as well. Look for opportunities in late position to try and push the small/big blinds off of their hands, especially if they are weak/timid players that do not like to call pre-flop raises with anything less than big pocket pairs or hands like AK.
2. Continuation Bets
You can’t win a lot of pots by checking and you can’t always hope to have the best hand, but that is where a continuation bet comes in.
If you made a pre-flop raise but end up not improving your hand on the flop, you can make a continuation bet to maintain your image of strength and hopefully induce folds from opponents that either missed the flop or have marginal hands. To learn more about mastering continuation bets you can read our in-depth article on the subject. (Continuation Bets – Advanced)
3. Slow-Playing
In the instances where you do hit the flop big, you can take the opportunity to slow-play your hand and rely on the other player(s) to build the pot for you. This is particularly effective against opponents that will bet with any two cards after being checked to. Slow-playing works great in tournaments since players are only risking their initial buy-in amount as opposed to cash games where every dime on the table is their own.
Key Points
• Steal the blinds, especially against weak opponents, in the middle and later rounds of a tournament.
• Make continuation bets during instances where you feel your opponent has missed the flop.
• Build the pot by slow-playing big hands and inducing other players to bet.
Chris
- Chris Laquinta is a magazine editor, content specialist and poker fanatic with 10+ years writing experience and over 1,500 published articles. Chris is a naitive of Southern California, where he spent his entire life learning gaming concepts and theories from relatives that had been former professional gamblers. He currently resides in Torrance, CA where he works as a professional content writer and part-time SNG professional.
