Tournament Strategy - In the Money

When the bubble of a multi-table tournament bursts - so does the strategy of almost all of your opponents. This can be a dangerous time of the tournament and requires you to make several strategy adjustments of your own. This article covers the adjustments required to succeed in the late stages of multi-table tournaments.

We will start by looking at the adjustments that your opponents will be making in the context of their stack size and play at the bubble. Next we will ask the question of the counter-adjustments that you can make. Finally we will look at payout-jumps before the final table and the influence of these on the game.

Your Opponents

Short and medium-short stacks may well have been holding on desperately at the bubble – waiting for rivals to bust to get them into a paying position. As the bubble bursts there is a collective ‘sigh of relief’ combined with the realization that their stacks are not viable candidates for going much further in the tournament! For this reason the late stages of multi-table tournaments are often characterized by wild all-in moves and big pots.

Conversely the big stacks will lose most of the ‘fold-equity’ that allowed them to bully the table at the bubble and may well switch to a more conservative style. They may well be waiting for solid values or table position before making a raise.

Adjusting Your Play

How you adjust will largely depend on your own stack size. Your overall objective of reaching the final table should have influenced your bubble play towards accumulating more chips – even at the risk of busting before the money places. Your later stage play should have the same objectives, however based on your opponent’s tendencies this needs to adjust once again.

From the desperate small stack’s perspective a lot of hands are going to look like candidates for an all-in move. All pairs, most aces and even high-card hands. If you have these players comfortably covered then you are in a great position to isolate them (by re-raising to discourage others entering the pot) with strong hands and increase your stack further. The large blinds and antes at this stage provide an excellent overlay for your bets – further increasing your expectation.

Since there will be many players in need of chips, multi-way pots will be more common just after the bubble. Avoid these without a very strong holding. Your chances if winning a pot against multiple opponents will reduce exponentially.

Reaching the Final Table

Keep an eye on the payout structure of the tournament, there are often jumps in the money as more players are eliminated. This can lead opponents to tighten up again at various stages. Focus on accumulating chips by taking advantage of the periods when opponents get tight.

Once down to 3 tables it is important that you watch all of the players still in the tournament and take notes on their playing styles. This will become valuable information at the final table.

The final ‘bubble’ will happen when only a couple of players need to bust before the final table is formed. Again, referring back to bubble strategy, you must take advantage of those players who tighten up to make the final table by stealing as many blinds and antes as possible.

To summarize, the bursting of the bubble leads to a complete change in many opponent’s play in the late stages of multi-table tournaments. You can use this to your advantage by isolating small stacks with reasonable holdings – using the blind money as an overlay. Payout jumps and the ‘final table bubble’ both lead opponents to tighten-up again, resort to stealing blinds at these critical strategic points in the game.

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