Playing multi-table tournaments
What draws players to multi’s is the size of the prize compared to the stake – an investment of just $10 can pay off in the thousands. The thrill of taking on hundreds, or even thousands, of other players is also hard to match.
Of course that also means is that you’ll have to beat off a lot of competition to win – but with graduated prizes reaching down through the ranks, even a finish in the top 10 to 20 per cent is normally enough to win back your stake and more.
How they work
At first glance tournaments look just like a no-limit ring game and in a lot of ways they are. But don’t think you can sit down at a tournament playing the same style you do on a cash table and expect good results. Two key differences between the formats have major implications on style of play.
You have a limited stack
Some tournaments let you re-buy or top- up your chip-stack during the initial stages of a tournament. But regardless of the tournament type you play you will eventually get to the stage where the only way you’re going to add more chips to your stack is by taking them off other players.
The blinds keep going up
Blinds go up regularly in multi- table tournaments. On average, you’ll probably see between eight and 15 hands dealt between each raise in the blinds.
Chip-stacks that can’t be topped up, combined with ever increasing blinds, conspire to gradually increase the pressure on tournament players. Understanding how tourneys evolve over time is the cornerstone of any good tournament strategy.
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