Early Tournament Strategy

Opinions are split on how to play early in a tournament. However, if your goal is to get as deep as possible, I think the correct attitude is to play a tight aggressive style.

Pro's Opinion.

For a professional poker player that also plays cash games, and is playing in a tournament that is comfortably within his bank roll, then almost always, that player will be a very aggressive bully-type player early in a tournament. They will play a multitude of hands and will depend on the Novice Player's passivity to build a stack. If this backfires and they are knocked out early, then there is always the cash games. There are a few events that this does not hold, the WSOP final event, the WPO Championship, etc. These are events that the pro has a keen interest in doing well. Not only do they have bigger prize pools, but they also provide the pro an opportunity to get more exposure on TV and thus increase the off-table money he can earn.

However, in the generic $1,000 entry fee event, then it is almost a given that a well-known pro will play a hyper-aggressive style. Hell, even The Grinder, Michael Misrachi, said it best: "I play in the smaller events to crush dreams." He is not there to grind out a cash. Give me chips or get me out quick. The cash games are waiting and there are fish to be had. If they do not get chips early, then they have wasted a day when they could be cashing in on soft competition in the cash games.

Now the rest of us:

Novice's approach.

Now that this the pro's version is out there, let's talk about the rest of us. I am of the firm belief that there is no reason to go crazy in the first few levels of the tournament. Now, that doesn't mean you do not play your strong hands accordingly. What it does mean is that you should not be out making risky aggressive plays trying to pick up the blinds. Why risk your tournament life for 75 or 150 in chips? A player cannot win a tournament in the first hour. In fact, event if a player builds a very nice stack during the first hour, that does not mean that the player is a favorite to go deep any more than he was already a favorite before the tournament started, regardless of who that player is.

A talented player can set up a very tight image early in a tournament by folding ALOT. This can easily be translated as a solid player later in the tournament, when the chips are worth stealing. Further, and regardless of your stack size, in a tournament, it is almost never a good idea to steal blinds with a nothing hand until the antes begin. There is just not enough up side to stealing without a solid hand without antes.

A good caveat to this rule is when a weak player or two has limped or a predicable player has raised a small amount early in a tornament and you have position and an image. These hands are different. Now you have sufficient reason to steal the pot. A reraise will typically when a pot if a player is weak and predictable. There is some risk to this move, but a good time to pick up some soft money with less risk.

The downside to this strategy is the large field events where the tables are breaking, and you get moved. These situations produce bad situations where your created tight play will not pay off as new players do not know that you are playing tight.

When do you stop this image and attack with power and verocity? That is up to you, your goals and the situation. Read my blog entries from July 2005 regarding the $1500 NL event last year at the WSOP. I turned it on the minute I made money and got lucky a couple of times, and just plain got paid off with my big hands.

As for this week. I leave Thursday night and will be at the WSOP for five days. I cannot wait. I will post more thoughts on that later. Until next time,

Good Luck and See you at the WSOP Felt..................