Middle Stages Tournament Strategy

The middle stages of multi-table poker tournaments are probably the most difficult to navigate through. Rapidly increasing blinds and a broad mixture of short and big-stacks mean that your opponents objectives are often more important than the cards that you hold. This article will look at the middle stages of poker tournaments by assessing how your stack size, and those of your opponents, affect the flexibility in your play – and the adjustments you should make to succeed in this environment.

We will start by looking at the objectives of your opponents relative to the stack size they hold. Next we will look at the proportion of your own stack in relation to the blinds and antes and suggest how this affects the flexibility in your play. Finally we will frame the discussion in the context of your objective for the tournament as a whole – to reach the final table.

Observing your Opponents

While many of the very inexperienced opponents you find in multi-table tournaments will bust out during the early stages – there will always be some left during the middle stages. Some will have big-stacks having got ‘lucky’ early on. A big-stacked inexperienced opponent is a danger at the poker table, yet at the same time can be a good source of chips.

Look for players who over-value hands such as medium pairs and aces with weak kickers and play in such a way as to isolate them. Getting your chips in as a solid favorite does carry the risk of being out-drawn, however compared with the difficulty in winning chips from a solid opponent this can be worth the extra risk.

Many opponents will come into the middle stages with a short stack, often having less than 10 times the big-blind. While individual players will have different styles you need to take note of where these players sit at the table. Raising before the flop with a small stack yet to act can easily commit you to calling their all-in re-raise (due to irresistible pot-odds). Make sure you have some ‘showdown’ value in your hand in these circumstances.

Your Stack Size

The size of your own stack in relation to the blinds and antes has a big influence on how you will play. With 25 Big blinds or more you have a good deal of flexibility to play a variety of hands. As this goes down to 20 blinds your implied-odds reduce, meaning that hands such as small pairs and suited connectors are no longer profitable.

At 15 blinds you are in a situation where calling a re-raise before the flop would commit you to the pot (the pot would be bigger than your stack meaning 2/1+ on post flop bets).

Avoid raising all but the strongest hands here while increasing your number of re-steals. At 10 blinds or less you have lost all the flexibility to play post-flop, since any raise you make would commit you to the pot an all-in play may well be the best move – since this maximizes your chance to win the blinds and antes uncontested.

Your objective for the whole tournament is of paramount importance. Positive aggressive play should predominate to ensure you keep the maximum level of flexibility in your stack that is possible. Taking positive expectation risks will allow you to reach the final table more often – even if you bust out of the tournament on this occasion.

To summarize, stack sizes are the most important aspect of successful play during the middle stages of poker tournaments. They influence your opponent’s objectives and the level of flexibility in your own play. Positive poker will allow you to reach the final table more often and should be your primary objective during the middle stages.

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