So I'm just getting into online poker after playing with friends for years, and I love MTT's and prefer to play them over cash. I just don't think you can have a greater feeling in poker than making a deep run in a huge tourney. Anyways, onto my question. I have searched online for micro MTT strategy and I'm getting mixed results. How an MTT differs from a cash game which basic strategy will bring you success when to play what cards. The differences between a cash game and a MTT. In a MTT you purchase a certain amount of chips with your entry fee. If you lose all your chips, you're eliminated from the game.
- Reddit Poker Mtt Strategy Poker
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Currently, MTT players only check-raise the flop in this situation around 7-8% of the time, when closer to 20% is a more optimal strategy. On certain flop textures, check-raising close to 25% of the time is an extremely profitable strategy.
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The middle stage is characterised by the decreasing relation of the stack size to the blinds and the ante. In contrast to the early stage, the game in the middle phase has much less in common with the classic cash game. The average stack is often only around 30 BBs. Decisive here is playing the right game for the various stack sizes.
Why steal the blinds?
As the size of the blinds increases, stealing them automatically becomes more interesting. This is particularly the case with the large ante at PokerStars, which is approx. 1/10 of the big blind. This substantially increases the number of chips we need per orbit (round).
- Example 1
Blinds: 100/200, no ante
Every player has to pay 300 chips in blinds per orbit.
- Example 2
Nine players, blinds: 100/200, ante: 25
Every player has to pay 525 chips in blinds and ante per orbit.
This is at the same time the number of chips already in the pot before the action has even started. By comparison with the previous example without an ante, this is an increase of around 70%! Stealing the blinds is thus much more lucrative. However, the increased bring-in is also a disadvantage because it means that we have to bring in correspondingly more chips in every orbit, which can quickly put us under pressure.
We must now adjust our strategy so that we attack the blinds more aggressively than the other players. In order to keep our stack constant we have to win the blinds and the ante only once per orbit on average. And if we manage to do it twice, we'll win 525 chips per orbit!
Tips for stealing the blinds
The classic blind steal is a raise from the late position, best of all from the button. The position is important for two reasons: firstly, because we have position on both blinds and secondly, because there are fewer players after us who could be holding a premium hand.
If we attack the blinds with a weak hand from a middle position we have the following disadvantages.
- Players in the middle and late position can call our raise. This would lead to difficult situations on the flop because we would usually be holding a weak hand while being out of position.
- Another player could decide to re-raise. In this case we would normally have to fold our hand.
The small blind is also suitable for stealing the blinds, but we would have the decisive disadvantage of not having position post-flop. If we are the small blind and the other players have folded, we have various options:
- Fold: as a rule we should simply fold weak hands here.
- Call: we can also just complete the small blind, which makes sense particularly with marginal hands.
- Raise: with stronger hands we should usually raise. Calling with a strong hand can make sense against an aggressive opponent because we can re-raise the probable raise from the big blind.
What is important for us in the small blind is that we raise more than normal, which again is dependent on position, and that we're only playing against the big blind. With a normal raise, the big blind would have such good pot odds that he could call with a large variety of hands; from a mathematical point of view, he would actually have to call. For this reason we should raise by least three times the big blind (in other words we should raise to 4 BBs).
- The strength of our own hand is important for a blind steal but not decisive. We can attack the blinds with a wide variety of hands, especially in late position. These include all Broadway combinations, pairs, suited connectors (also with a gap) and good suited king-queen combinations.
- Decisive for a blind steal is that no other player is in the hand ahead of us. If we are the first to enter a hand and we do so with a raise, it is known as an open raise. When another player has already called then we need a considerably stronger starting hand if we want to raise than in the situation where all the other players ahead of us have folded. This is because an open raise often wins the hand before the flop, so the strength of our own hand itself is irrelevant. However, if another player has already called, that player will generally also call a raise, and then we're going to have to hit a strong hand on the flop. The quality of our own hand in this case is therefore more important.
- Another important aspect is the size of the blinds' stacks, in particular that of the big blind. If one or both blinds have very small stacks, there is an increasing probability that they will very often go all-in. Big stacks defend their blinds more often because they don't like being 'pushed around'. Difficult situations can arise in both cases if we try to steal the blinds with very weak hands. Ideally, both the small blind and big blind have medium-sized stacks and are known for often surrendering their blinds.
Why raises are smaller from the middle phase onwards
In the middle phase of a tournament, players change from a normal raise size of 3 BBs plus 1 BB per limper to the slightly smaller raise size of around 2.5 BBs. At first sight this may appear pointless or at least irrelevant, because the pot is larger thanks to the addition of the ante. The idea behind this was that it would lead to bigger raises. In practice, however, exactly the opposite occurs.
Because of the high blinds and the ante, the players have stacks that, measured in BBs, are relatively small, as rule between 5 and 30 BBs. If we now raise a hand like 77 in a middle position and with a stack of 25 BBs, it makes (almost) no difference to the players after us whether we've raised 2.5 or 3 BBs. But if a player re-raises us, we will often be forced to fold. A raise of only 2.5 BBs would save us 0.5 BBs! The smaller our stack, the greater the effect of this 0.5 BB.
Here's another advantage: in that we now risk fewer chips – the raise doesn't have to be successful as often in order to be profitable.
Reddit Poker Mtt Strategy Poker
- Example
Nine players, blinds: 500/1000, ante: 100
We're holding 77 in the middle position.
Four folds, Hero raises to 2,500, everybody folds
In this example we win 2,400 chips from the pot. Because we bet only 2,500 chips, our raise has to win the pot straight away only once in every two attempts in order to be profitable in the long term. In those cases in which we don't win the pot before the flop, we win additional chips after the flop if our hand improves and becomes the strongest one.
Another advantage of this minimal reduction in the raise is that if we are called, the pot is correspondingly smaller. We thus have less difficulty folding weak post-flop hands if our opponent shows strength.
It is a disadvantage that players who enter the pot after us get good pot odds. This applies particularly to the big blind. In the example above, the big blind only has to put 1,500 into a pot of 4,900, giving him worthwhile pot odds of 3.3:1.
Defending the blinds
In the above sections we have seen that we get very good pot odds, especially as the big blind, thanks to the ante and the smaller raises. In general we shouldn't defend our big blind against raises in earlier positions when we're holding marginal hands.
Faced with raises from middle and late positions, we should usually re-raise when we're holding strong to very strong hands. Especially against players who often attack the blinds from late positions, we should also defend our blind with marginal hands such as 55 or [qhth]. When we do so, the important thing is to select cards that give us a chance of hitting a good flop. Hands that are easily dominated, such as low ace and king combinations, should be folded. This will enable us to avoid problems if we hit top pair without a kicker.
If we only called in the big blind we should very often check the flop to the pre-flop aggressor and then raise, call or fold, depending on our hand and the flop structure. An exception may arise when the flop is good for us but very draw-heavy. In this case it makes sense to bet ourselves and thus deny the pre-flop aggressor a free card.
Starting hand selection
Starting hand selection in the middle phase is quite different from that of the early phase. Because the average stack is now only around 30 BBs, the implied odds are no longer adequate for many speculative hands.
The first to lose their value are the small pairs and the suited connectors, both being dependent on high implied odds. With these hands it isn't profitable (any more) to call raises purely on their set value or to hope that the flop will turn the connectors into a monster.
There are other ways of playing these hands. One way would be to re-raise both types of hand instead of just calling. The advantage of this is that we could win the pot before the flop. There are two reasons for this:
- our opponent has either a weak hand, or
- a fairly good hand, but one that he doesn't want to play against an aggressive opponent because he misses the flop too often.
Another advantage of the pre-flop raise is that we represent a very strong hand and a continuation bet on the flop can often be sufficient to push better hands into folding.
It is a disadvantage that we will have built up a big pot with a weak hand, and we risk a lot of chips.
An alternative way of playing speculative hands would be to call the pre-flop aggressor when we're in position, and not fold right away if we don't hit our set, two pair or strong draw on the flop. On the other hand it can be enough to grasp the initiative on the flop as soon as we think we're ahead of our opponent's hand range.
If the flop looks as though our opponent very probably missed it, then a bluff attempt also has good chances of succeeding.
However, there are certainly good arguments for simply folding speculative hands and concentrating on those hands that increase in value in the middle phase: middle to high pairs and aces with high kickers. These hands are strong enough for a pre-flop all-in, and they can also be played well post-flop if we didn't go all-in beforehand.
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(This article is a follow up to 'Bubble Tournament Strategy')
The late stages of a tournament begins when the money bubble bursts, and ends when players reach the final table (or final few tables, if it is a really large tournament). Your play during this stage of the tournament should change drastically, as you have now made the money and have the opportunity to climb in the payouts.
During the late stages, blinds will be placing immense pressure on almost everyone's stack, save for the chip leader. Once again, the most important factor in determining your correct style of play is your stack size, so we have written guides for playing the late stages with a short stack, an average stack, and a large stack.
Reddit Poker Mtt Strategy Hack
You can finally see the finish line, so make sure to follow the strategies below to reach the final table and win a huge pay day:
Playing the Short Stack in the Late Stages
At this stage in the game the short stack is actually the simplest stack to play, because you only have two moves: all-in or fold. A short stack is any stack that only has ten or less big blinds. You can only last one or two rounds without making a play, so you need to be on the lookout for opportunities every single hand.
Although you only have two plays, you can use them in strategic ways to build your chip stack. When you are in late position, you should be pushing all-in whenever the table folds to you in order to steal the blinds. Also, if a couple players limp in you can try a squeeze play by raising all-in with the hopes that everyone folds. And it goes without saying that you are pushing all-in with any pocket pair or any two face cards, regardless of position.
In this example we win 2,400 chips from the pot. Because we bet only 2,500 chips, our raise has to win the pot straight away only once in every two attempts in order to be profitable in the long term. In those cases in which we don't win the pot before the flop, we win additional chips after the flop if our hand improves and becomes the strongest one.
Another advantage of this minimal reduction in the raise is that if we are called, the pot is correspondingly smaller. We thus have less difficulty folding weak post-flop hands if our opponent shows strength.
It is a disadvantage that players who enter the pot after us get good pot odds. This applies particularly to the big blind. In the example above, the big blind only has to put 1,500 into a pot of 4,900, giving him worthwhile pot odds of 3.3:1.
Defending the blinds
In the above sections we have seen that we get very good pot odds, especially as the big blind, thanks to the ante and the smaller raises. In general we shouldn't defend our big blind against raises in earlier positions when we're holding marginal hands.
Faced with raises from middle and late positions, we should usually re-raise when we're holding strong to very strong hands. Especially against players who often attack the blinds from late positions, we should also defend our blind with marginal hands such as 55 or [qhth]. When we do so, the important thing is to select cards that give us a chance of hitting a good flop. Hands that are easily dominated, such as low ace and king combinations, should be folded. This will enable us to avoid problems if we hit top pair without a kicker.
If we only called in the big blind we should very often check the flop to the pre-flop aggressor and then raise, call or fold, depending on our hand and the flop structure. An exception may arise when the flop is good for us but very draw-heavy. In this case it makes sense to bet ourselves and thus deny the pre-flop aggressor a free card.
Starting hand selection
Starting hand selection in the middle phase is quite different from that of the early phase. Because the average stack is now only around 30 BBs, the implied odds are no longer adequate for many speculative hands.
The first to lose their value are the small pairs and the suited connectors, both being dependent on high implied odds. With these hands it isn't profitable (any more) to call raises purely on their set value or to hope that the flop will turn the connectors into a monster.
There are other ways of playing these hands. One way would be to re-raise both types of hand instead of just calling. The advantage of this is that we could win the pot before the flop. There are two reasons for this:
- our opponent has either a weak hand, or
- a fairly good hand, but one that he doesn't want to play against an aggressive opponent because he misses the flop too often.
Another advantage of the pre-flop raise is that we represent a very strong hand and a continuation bet on the flop can often be sufficient to push better hands into folding.
It is a disadvantage that we will have built up a big pot with a weak hand, and we risk a lot of chips.
An alternative way of playing speculative hands would be to call the pre-flop aggressor when we're in position, and not fold right away if we don't hit our set, two pair or strong draw on the flop. On the other hand it can be enough to grasp the initiative on the flop as soon as we think we're ahead of our opponent's hand range.
If the flop looks as though our opponent very probably missed it, then a bluff attempt also has good chances of succeeding.
However, there are certainly good arguments for simply folding speculative hands and concentrating on those hands that increase in value in the middle phase: middle to high pairs and aces with high kickers. These hands are strong enough for a pre-flop all-in, and they can also be played well post-flop if we didn't go all-in beforehand.
Join us on our Discord channel.
(This article is a follow up to 'Bubble Tournament Strategy')
The late stages of a tournament begins when the money bubble bursts, and ends when players reach the final table (or final few tables, if it is a really large tournament). Your play during this stage of the tournament should change drastically, as you have now made the money and have the opportunity to climb in the payouts.
During the late stages, blinds will be placing immense pressure on almost everyone's stack, save for the chip leader. Once again, the most important factor in determining your correct style of play is your stack size, so we have written guides for playing the late stages with a short stack, an average stack, and a large stack.
Reddit Poker Mtt Strategy Hack
You can finally see the finish line, so make sure to follow the strategies below to reach the final table and win a huge pay day:
Playing the Short Stack in the Late Stages
At this stage in the game the short stack is actually the simplest stack to play, because you only have two moves: all-in or fold. A short stack is any stack that only has ten or less big blinds. You can only last one or two rounds without making a play, so you need to be on the lookout for opportunities every single hand.
Although you only have two plays, you can use them in strategic ways to build your chip stack. When you are in late position, you should be pushing all-in whenever the table folds to you in order to steal the blinds. Also, if a couple players limp in you can try a squeeze play by raising all-in with the hopes that everyone folds. And it goes without saying that you are pushing all-in with any pocket pair or any two face cards, regardless of position.
If you are in the small blind and everyone folds to you, you should be going all-in the majority of the time because the big blind is very likely to fold. By stealing in late position, occasionally squeezing, and stealing from the small blind, you can pad your stack and build back up to an average-sized stack.
Playing the Average Stack in the Late Stages
Playing an average stack during the late stages of a tournament is a lot more difficult than playing an average stack at the start of a tournament, because the enormous blinds and antes will place far more pressure on your stack. Players with an average stack can steal, re-steal, and squeeze, but should avoid going all-in from the small blind, as you don't need to do that yet. In addition, average stacks should look to get all-in preflop in favorable situations.
Playing coin flips against smaller stacks is a good opportunity to build your stack. Short stacks will push all-in with marginal hands, so you can make calls with a wide variety of hands and still be ahead. If a short stack pushes all in, feel free to call them down with any pocket pair, or any two big cards. You will almost always either be ahead or be in a coin flip situation, so it is a profitable move overall.
Playing the Big Stack in the Late Stages
Big stacks should follow a similar strategy to the middle stacks during the late stages: steal from late position, re-steal occasionally, squeeze when it is appropriate, and call all-ins when you think you are ahead. However, with a big chip stack you can do all of those things, but more aggressively.
Depending on how badly you need a big pay day, you can vary your aggression. If you want to go for the win and can afford to place outside of the final table, go with a super aggressive approach and try to become the overall chip leader of the tournament. If you really need a final table finish and don't want to take a risk, you can take a more passive approach that will guarantee you a nice score.
Regardless of your approach, you should never be limping in as the big stack - either fold or raise. If you are going to call another player's all-in, make sure that you can comfortably afford to lose the hand. If the other player has big chip stack you better have a solid hand, because you are basically gambling with your tournament life.
Reddit Poker Mtt Strategy Rules
Now that you know how to play the late stages, learn how to play the final table.