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Want to improve your end game? Want to build your
level of experience in playing final tables? Want to learn how to
'close the deal' and win an event? Play a single table satellite!
And when you do, pretend you are at the final table of the World
Championship. Remember, every chip is precious. Playing single-table
tournaments is great practice for the end game of multi-table
tournaments. The strategies are very similar; with the biggest
difference being single-table tournaments usually take less than an
hour to play, where the multi-table tournaments take over 4 hours to
play.
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A good basic strategy for the single-table
tournaments is to play solid, playing only premium hands in the
first three rounds. After that, open up and play more hands,
becoming more aggressive the higher the blinds get, and the shorter
handed the tournament becomes.
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Be a bettor, not a caller. Remember, the bettor has
two chances to win, the first being you might be able to show down
the best hand, and secondly, if everyone folds, you win an
uncontested pot!
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When your chip stack gets less than five times the
size of the big blind in a no-limit single-table tournament or a
multi-table tournament, consider moving all in with any two cards as
long as you are the first one in the pot. In these situations you
are just betting that no one has a hand that they can call you with.
If you do get called and have the worst hand, you might get lucky
and draw out on them. If you aren't the first one in, you are
joining a pot with automatic competition.
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In the late stages when you have a large stack of
chips and it's one or two spots from the money, it's easy to rob
players that are desperately trying to make the money. Play more
aggressive in that spot, reduce your starting requirements, and pick
up some extra chips!
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When you have an opponent who is overly aggressive,
use it against them. Let them think you have a weak hand when you
really have a strong one. Check into them so they will bet. You will
then have the option to checkraise and take advantage of their
aggressiveness. In the case of a real monster, check it a second
time, and then pop it up!
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Play Real Money games to practice for the early
rounds of multi-table tournaments. The play here is very close to
the same because you aren't under pressure from the blinds. So play
real money games anytime you have the time to improve your play for
the early rounds. Play solid poker.
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Have a game plan for your tournament. Decide if you
are going to start out playing tight in the early rounds, or if are
you going to play fast and try to accumulate chips early.
Consider adjustments you might make if you get short of chips, if
you get a large stack, or how you might adjust to different types of
opponents styles. Be prepared for everything!
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When you are playing, always observe your opponents
and pick out who will and who wont, defend the blinds. The higher
the blinds get, the more valuable this information becomes. Remember
the tight players are easier to rob. Be ready to take advantage of
them.
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Saved the best for last. Play your own tournament!
That's right, your own little event that starts and ends when you
want. You are the tournament director and can play any form of poker
you'd like. Sit in the smallest game you can find. The rounds are
20, 30, 40 minutes, anything you want, so set an alarm clock. When
the clock goes off, you must get up and move to the next highest
game. Keep going and see how much you can accumulate and how far you
can go. Get to the biggest game and you win the trophy. Of course,
in this tournament, you can quit at any time and cash in your
checkers. Good Luck! By the way, I know a guy who ran up a $100
buy-in into $17,000 one night at the Taj. How cool is that!
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