By David McClary
Televised poker has brought a
tidal wave of new players into the game. Not only are more people playing but
also frequently these televised events have players that qualified through an
online event. Last month Josh Zach profiled Buffalošs own Tom Sartori and his
online path to the main event of the World Series of Poker. If you havenšt
tried a tournament yet, let me offer a few hints that could improve your
success.
While there are tournaments
for most kinds of Poker, No-Limit Holdšem is by far the most popular. For those
that are not familiar with tournaments, we should talk about the basic forms. A
standard poker tournament begins with all players paying an entry fee. In
exchange the players receive a pre-determined amount of tournament chips. These
chips are only valid during the event and cannot be exchanged for cash or used
in other games. Players are assigned a seat and begin to play poker against the
other players seated at their table. In order to stimulate action the forced
bets and minimum wagers are then raised at pre-determined intervals. As a
result, most players that are unskilled or too conservative are gradually
eliminated. Since the players that are eliminated lose their chips to players
that are still in the game the tournament, in theory, continues until only one
person is left and has all the chips. As the last few players are knocked out,
they are given an increased share of the prize pool with the largest portion
going to the winner.
A version of tournament poker
that is quite popular online is the Sit and Go. This is a tournament with one
or possibly two tables that lasts for about an hour. The prizes for these
events are known when you sign up because registration stays open until all
seats are full. One important feature of a single table sit and go is that the
minimum bets usually increase after a certain number of hands and not a time
period. This removes the ability of players to stall or drag out a few hands in
order to apply extra pressure to a short stack just as the betting level is
about to increase.
Another poker tournament that
is popular both online and in brick and mortar cardrooms is the satellite. This
is a low cost event where the prize is almost never cash but is instead an entry
into a more expensive tournament in the future. Satellites provide regular
players with access to high profile events and often gives much needed
tournament practice as well. Larger satellites may offer more than one entry
into the main event, but usually only the winner gets one. Keep this in mind
when playing because, unlike other tourneys, second place is the same as last
place. This structure also means that the prize pool canšt get chopped unless a
player pays others out of their own pocket. Major events have hundreds if not
thousands of satellites. If you do win a seat you are welcome to continue
playing in the satellites as often as you like. If you are able to win a second
satellite you may be able to get paid the cash value of one entry. If you canšt,
you are able to sell your seat at any amount you can get for it.
Successful tournament poker
isnšt totally unrelated to winning cash poker but there are a few important
differences. The most important is the time pressure. If you only play solid
hands the ever-increasing blinds will cause you to run out of money. The other
big factor is chip position. Having the most chips give you more time to be
selective before the increasing bets paint you into a corner. Keep in mind
though that being the chip leader at the beginning of a tournament is no where
near as important as when approaching the end. Making a very big move in the
first few rounds will never win a tournament but it will lose plenty of them.
When I play tournaments online I use a common technique which is to sit out the
first few rounds of the tournament altogether. I may be in another room loading
the dishwasher or cutting the grass or whatever. The one thing I am not doing
is thinking about pushing all in with pocket kings only to find five other
players in the hand with me.
If online tournament poker
isnšt your thing you still donšt need to catch the next plane to Vegas. Live
poker tournaments are held nearly every day of the week at the Seneca Gaming
cardrooms here in Western New York. They also have satellites for the larger
events that are held about once each month. Details are available by phone or
on the Web.
I referred to łChopping˛
above but it is worth explaining. While a tournament organizer will establish a
pay schedule for prize money, the last few players may choose to chop the pool.
The players take the total prize money for all remaining players and divide it
in any way that they can agree upon. A tournament organizer does have the right
to set the maximum number of players still contesting an event before the
prizes may be chopped. Furthermore, the pool may not be chopped if every player
does not agree to do so. If you are playing near the end of an event and are
considering a chop, be sure to think about your chip position. If you are one
of the leaders, you should get most of the money. Those that are short stacked
should only chop if they can get more money than if they are eliminated in the
next hand.
Tournament poker is
relatively inexpensive and a fun way to see a great deal of action. I would
recommend it to anyone that is familiar with the basic mechanics poker. With
some practice, and a bit of luck, you may be the sitting at the next
high-profile final table on TV. If you are, make sure you bring your suitcase.
Not only will the winner get up to several million dollars, they get it in
cash.