Poker Tournament Strategy
Jan 13, 2021 What are the top Texas Holdem Official Rules? BUY-IN - In a cash game, there is a minimum buy-in to enter, but you can reload or buy more chips at any point outside a hand. In a tournament you buy-in once, with the possibility of re-entering. Nov 04, 2020 Know each and every one of the Texas Hold 'Em card combinations and their hierarchy. Hand ranks low to high - High Card (no pair), One Pair, Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind, Straight Flush. Play tight but aggressive. Many amateur players make a huge mistake of playing too wide and opening too many Texas Holdem hands. The key when you are starting out is to play only your strongest hands to keep your VPIP poker stat at a lower side and avoid many tough decisions post-flop.
Whether you’re playing micro stakes tournaments or the Sunday Million – you need to know what you’re doing to have a chance at winning. That seems obvious right? But trust me, there are too many players entering tournaments with no clue. That’s great news for you though cos it mean’s poker is not dead, despite what you hear. This article is going to give you with eight poker tournament strategy tips that can be used to increase your ITM rate, final tables and wins.
1: Don’t Stop Stealing the Blinds
Tournament poker regs seem to nit it up and count on making it deep with premium hands. Don’t be one of them. Stay active, keep stealing the blinds from late position and don’t give up. A lot of poker sites are advocating the slow down approach but that’s what your opponents want. Regs are playing too many tables, not paying enough attention and missing profitable spots to steal the blinds. Tournament poker will always reward those who are able to consistently steal blinds and keep their stack alive. The fact that people are defending their blinds loosely should not make you fold more often in late position. Why? You have position. You have the advantage in a hand, even if your hand is weaker. Never forget that.
2: Pre-Flop Bet Sizing
Consistency is very important when it comes to raising pre-flop. It’s fine if you want to make it 2.5x then stick with that. Please don’t change it based on hand strength. It’s 2020 and even the most basic of poker players will notice and instantly tag you. If you are a poker training video membership member, you’ll know my preference re’ pre-flop bet sizing but I will re-iterate it here non-members.
Early Position Min Raise
When I’m raising from early position, I lack information on the rest of the table. I want to open raise if I play but I also want to steal cheaply and/or keep the pot smaller against my opponents that flat in position. I also have no problem with it folding to the big blind and them calling a min raise. In fact, I welcome it. I will have position, a better hand and have increased the pot a little. My hand range is likely to be stronger than theirs and I have the pre-flop aggression.
Middle Position 2.2x
With fewer opponents behind us, I am happy to increase the sizing a bit and play a slightly bigger pot against the blinds. I don’t want to raise too much as I am still potentially acting first post-flop if someone in position calls. I am also dissuading the blinds to call which is no bad thing in tournaments. I am likely to have a wider range from here so I have no problem with them just folding.
Late Position 2.5x
This may seem counter intuitive to some. Why raise more with a wider range? I want to play bigger pots when I have positional advantage. Sure, sometimes I will be light but sometimes I will be strong too. I want to charge the blinds more than the minimum to play against my wider range. By making it 2.5x I am also protecting myself against 3 bet bluffs a little more. Consider a min raise from the button. The big blind is far more likely to 3 bet bluff that than a bigger raise.
Notice that my pre-flop raise size changes based on position NOT on hand strength. I am staying logically consistent raising 2.5x from late position with A-A, 7-8 and K-6s.
3: Defend The Big Blind
Everyone and their dog are loving the small ball approach these days. The standard small raise is popular and with good reason – it works. One of the results of this is that you have to defend your big blind more. It means calling raises with hands you won’t necessarily want to but pot odds and solid poker tournament strategy dictate you must. Let’s look at a quick example to illustrate this.
Blinds – 600/1,200 (antes 120)
Player A- 42,500
You – 36,900
It folds to Player A on the button. He is a capable tournament player. He raises to 2,500. The small blind folds and the action is on you. Before even looking at your hand, let’s do some quick poker maths.
The pot is 5,380 (1,080 antes + 1,800 in blinds + 2,500 raise).
It costs 1,300 to call the raise.
We need 24.2% equity to call (1,300/5,380).
As you can see, we need defend pretty wide in this spot. Few matchups in Texas Hold’em have hands greater than 76% equity. There are additional factors like effective stack sizes and calibre of opponent to consider of course. But a capable player will defend wide here as we can ill afford to fold many hands when we offered these odds. If you win the pot greater than 1 in 4 times post-flop, it’s profitable to defend.
4: 3 Bet with 30 bbs +
Tournament poker is often playing shorter stacks and less “poker” playing but that doesn’t mean you must play shove or fold poker. You don’t want to 3 bet bluff with short effective stacks cos it means the 4 bet from your opponent will always be all in. With slightly deeper stacks though (30 bbs+), you can afford to 3 bet bluff and take away a lot of pots. Poker tournament strategy is usually to attack short stacks. Screw that, 3 bet bluff the bigger stacks. I find that the big stacks are just as protective as the shorter stacks, if not more. It also means you can potentially get the last bet in if they decide to 4 bet. Good spots for 3 betting are when the raise has come from middle or late position.
CAUTION – Avoid 3 bet bluffing when they are raising from under the gun or UTG +1 as their range is likely to be tighter.
5:Learn Continuation Bet Strategy
This article is dedicated to poker tournament strategy, not continuation betting but the fact is, c betting is an important part of tournament poker. You need to understand which boards favour your perceived range and what favours your opponent. A lot of players waste chips throwing out foolish continuation bets. You need to appreciate board texture, number of opponents and stack sizes when choosing whether to continuation bet or not. If you want more help with continuation betting, take a look at our course. It’s the most in depth c-bet course anywhere.
6: Isolate the Limper(s)
An oldie but goody – the iso raise. Raising over a limper or limpers is still a very profitable play. It’s crazy to think there are still players that adopt this limp in mentality, but it’s great for us. If people want to try and limp into the pot with pocket 3s or A-9 offsuit, that’s fine, we will take their blinds all day. In some scenarios, it may seem prudent to over-limp but most of the time, just raise it 4x and win it. If they call, you can often just win it with a flop bet anyway. It’s a great way to build a stack in tournament poker and is also good for your table image. This might help you get paid later in the tournament.
7: Practice Heads Up Poker
Many tournaments end in deals being done but what if yours doesn’t? What if you’re against a tough player or someone unwilling to deal. You need to know how to play 1 on 1. After all, if you want to win the tournament you have to beat the last opponent. Heads up is a great poker format. Some basic heads up tips are below:
- Raise every button
- Bet most flops
- Check raise more
- Bluff catch 2nd pair down
- Stay on top of your opponent, don’t let up
- Don’t show bluffs
8: Join Poker Training Video Membership
I hope you enjoyed this article on poker tournament strategy tips for 2021 and beyond. A final tip is a little plug for our training videos. If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more, you can. By joining as a member you can gain access to almost 1,000 minutes of poker training videos. I give more tips, secrets and advice beyond this article. You can see how I play tournaments, cash games, SNGs and strategy lectures designed to help members make money.
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Table Of Contents
Ultimate Texas Hold’em is one of the most popular live and online casino games for poker players.
One big reason is that if you know what you are doing, the game will feature one of the lowest house edges of any casino game.
Half the battle is just knowing the basic rules of Texas Hold’em, particularly the hand rankings which are common in most poker games.
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About Ultimate Texas Hold’em
Ultimate Texas Hold’em was developed by Roger Stone of Shuffle Master and similar formats are also known under other names including Heads Up Hold’em distributed by Galaxy Gaming.
If you have learned the basic rules of Texas Hold’em, you will quickly pick up on how to play Ultimate Texas Hold’em with the hand rankings and each player holding two hole cards being the same in both games.
As this is a casino, the house will have an edge. Players should experience plenty of winning sessions, but unlike regular Texas Hold’em, players are competing against the house and not a player.
What you might not know about Ultimate Texas Hold’em is that if it is played correctly it has one of the lowest house edges among any casino game at around 2%.
Reasons to play Unlimited Texas Hold’em
- Low house edge of around 2% when following basic strategy
- Fun to play alone or with friends
- Similar to Texas Hold’em
- Can play for just a few minutes
- Potential to win big
Read on to learn more about the rules of Ultimate Texas Hold’em and how to optimize your play to reduce the house edge to almost nothing.
How to Play Ultimate Texas Hold’em
Usually, you can play Ultimate Texas Hold’em at a casino with up to six players and a dealer (also known as the house).
The game utilizes a standard 52 card deck. Although online, you will find many heads-up games where you will compete one-on-one against the house.
Each player must post an ante and a blind before each hand begins. You will see posted minimums and maximums. Keep in mind that your bet must be the same for both of these and that it will also serve as a base for other bets as the hand progresses.
Therefore, we recommend when first getting your feet wet to bet as small as possible to further the power of your bankroll. You can always adjust with higher bets once you feel comfortable that you have optimized your game.
There are also optional side bets which can vary from casino to casino including the Trips bet you can place before the hand is dealt which we will get into later.
Two cards are dealt to each player and the dealer after the initial Ante and Blind bets are placed.
Remember, hand rankings are the exact same as Texas Hold’em.
Check out our detailed description of how to play Texas Hold’em to brush up on Hold’em hand rankings.
Texas Hold'em Poker Tips
You can decide to bet three times or four times the Ante and place the bet into the Play box or check before the flop comes.
A flop is then dealt and you will have an option whether to bet two times the Ante bet or check once again.
The turn and river are dealt one after the other and you will have one last option on whether to place a bet equal to the Ante in the Play box or to fold the hand.
There is a bit of basic strategy that you should either memorize or have a chart with you while playing to best optimize when to bet in the Play box, when to check, and when to fold.
Players that folded after the river was dealt will automatically lose their Ante and Blind bet.
Those remaining in the hand will turn over their cards as will the dealer. If you have a better Texas Hold’em hand than the dealer you win the Play bet for the same amount as bet.
The Blind bet can also only be won if you have won the hand. Assuming this is the case, it is paid out on a sliding scale and can be worth as much as 50 to 1 for a straight flush. However, if you don’t have a straight or better, you will simply just get your bet back as a push.
Here is a look at the potential different payouts of the Blind bet which can vary slightly from casino to casino.
| Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 500 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 50 to 1 |
| Four of a kind | 10 to 1 |
| Full House | 3 to 1 |
| Flush | 3 to 2 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 |
| All Other | Push |
The Ante bet is a bit trickier. If the dealer doesn’t qualify with at least a pair, you will get your Ante refunded as a push. This is the case whether you had a better hand or not, as long as you didn’t fold your hand.
If the dealer qualified with a pair or better, you will need to beat the dealer in order to win this even money bet.
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Best Ultimate Texas Hold’em Strategy
You should quickly get the hang of the rules of Ultimate Texas Hold’em by reading the rules above and potentially watching a few hands being played.
However, we don’t recommend that you hop right into Ultimate Texas Hold’em until you learn some basic strategy as it could turn out to be a nightmare to play based on gut feeling.
For example, if you decide to blindly bet four times your bet in the Play box every hand, you will be subject to a house edge of around 14%. Likewise, if you aren’t betting at the right times, you will also increase the house edge.
You should always bet the maximum allowed in the Play box before the flop when you bet. The following chart should serve as a guide to when you should place a bet in the Play box and when you should fold preflop.
| *A | K | Q | J | T | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2* | |
| A | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B |
| K | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | S | S | S |
| Q | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | S | S | C | C | C | C |
| J | B | B | B | B | B | S | S | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| T | B | B | B | B | B | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 9 | B | B | B | B | C | B | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 8 | B | B | B | S | C | C | B | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| 7 | B | B | S | S | C | C | C | B | C | C | C | C | C |
| 6 | B | B | S | C | C | C | C | C | B | C | C | C | C |
| 5 | B | B | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | B | C | C | C |
| 4 | B | S | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | B | C | C |
| 3 | B | S | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | B | C |
| 2 | B | S | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
- B = Bet four times in Play box
- C = Check
- S = Bet four time in Play box if suited, otherwise check
The strategy gets a little easier if you didn’t bet preflop. You should bet two times on the flop in the Play box if you have two pair or better, a hidden pair, or a flush draw with a hidden ten or better. A hidden pair means that there isn’t a pair on the board and you are using one or more of your hole cards to create that pair.
River strategy can be particularly tricky. It is easy to memorize what to do but not always easy to make the optimal play in real-time.
Place a bet of equal to your Ante bet if you have a hidden pair or better or the dealer has less than 21 outs to beat you. After some practice, determining how many outs the dealer has to beat you will become more second nature but take your time at first as it’s your money and the game typically doesn’t have a time limit with the exception of some multiplayer online games.
Side Bets
Side bets are usually a way for online and live casinos to extract a little extra money per hand, spin, or dice roll at extremely bad odds.
This isn’t necessarily the case in Ultimate Texas Hold’em with its optional Trips bets that you will see on just about every table.
It all comes down to the odds that they are paying on the Trips bet as it could be an under 1% advantage for the house under optimal conditions if you can find them.
Your Trips bet can be a different amount than your Ante and Blind bets and is only paid if you wound up with trips or better. In just about every case you are paid 3 to 1 for trips or a set and 50 to 1 if you nail down the elusive Royal Flush.
What you should be looking for if considering to place a Trips bet is a bet table similar to below which gives the house less than a 1% advantage.
| Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 50 |
| Straight Flush | 40 |
| Four of a Kind | 30 |
| Full House | 9 |
| Flush | 7 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Trips/Set | 3 |
| All Others | -1 |
Other payout tables might look similar with a Royal Flush paying 50 to 1 and trips paying 3 to 1. However, some smaller differences in the middle of the pay table can make a big difference.
For example, the pay table below would give the house a more than 6% advantage and should be avoided at all costs.
| Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 50 |
| Straight Flush | 40 |
| Four of a Kind | 20 |
| Full House | 7 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Straight | 5 |
| Trips/Set | 3 |
| All Others | -1 |
There are other side bets that online and live casinos make available including hole card bonuses and bad beat jackpots.
In general, any side bet that isn’t the Trips bet gives the house a huge house edge and therefore should be avoided.
One exception might be in the case of progressive jackpots where the jackpot is high enough to make the house edge low and, in some cases, even give the player an advantage. One pitfall even here is that the jackpots are few and far between and thus will likely cause you money unless you hit at least one jackpot in your lifetime.
Conclusion
Ultimate Texas Hold’em is a fun online and live casino game that can be played whether you have a few spare minutes or want to grind a long session.
The rules are easy to learn and before long it is possible to master the strategy of the game to reduce the house edge to approximately 2% in the base game.
While it isn’t likely you will become a long-term winner in this game without a bit of luck, it is more likely than many other games to have winning sessions and go on runs to win a chunk of change.