Online Poker Tournaments – How To win

People who think the luck factor is huge in tournament poker are not only oblivious to the clear evidence to the contrary presented by the fact that there are consistent winners, but they are just plain wrong! It is possible for one to win a poker tournament-online or live--where one experiences a little bit or even a lot of bad luck and no particular good luck. We've done it and we'll tell you how. You won't win every single time, and bad luck may play a factor sometimes in your demise, but overall, if you follow our advice, you will win your share of tournaments. Although we will oncentrate here on online tournaments, many of our strategies do apply to live tournaments as well. In both online and live tournaments, if you remember nothing else, remember this, your prime directive:

MAKE GOOD BETS AND DO NOT MAKE BAD CALLS

Playing online is like playing against a whole table full of people wearing hoods and sunglasses. Their betting patterns, chatter, pauses, starting hands, position plays, and raises will tell you as much about them or more than any tell you can get while sitting at a live poker table. In fact, it is easier to win an online tournament because there is just far more information at your disposal than in a live game, and you don't have to have a good memory to keep track of every single thing. Just use the resources available to you-most notably, note taking.

When you are not making your own plays, investigate everything and take notes. Here are some of the things for you to make note of about each and every player at your table:

Whenever there is a showdown, take note of what each player started with and how they bet their hand and position. Do they only play good cards? Who bets with what? What size bets do they make with good cards? Which players bluff? Which players always pretend to have the ace that flopped? Which players won't bet unless their hand hits the flop? Which players are running on testosterone? Which players will not bet or raise unless they are in last position? Which players always raise to steal the blinds or take the button? Who gives up their big blind? Who defends his little blind? How well is each player building or maintaining their chip stacks? Who is the chip leader at the table? Who has the smallest stack?

Noting stack size is extremely important in any tournament, but knowing people's exact chip stacks, not only at your table but in the whole tournament, is something you can do easily when playing online while it is usually impossible in live play.

Your goal in any poker tournament is to build a big stack and then play your big stack against all shorter stacks in position. You don't need cards or luck to play a big stack. You only need to make good, aggressive bets not only at the right opportunities but at every opportunity. You need to do that more often than the other good players. Don't try to win the tournament in the first hand or in the first hour. Just don't let your foot off the gas when you have a chance of winning a pot or a tournament. The only players that have to rely on luck in a tournament are the ones who get short-stacked when the blinds represent a high percentage of their holdings. You will find those players going all in more often and can call them with a big stack with hands that are not good enough to call anyone else's all-in (hands like jack/queen or ace/jack). When someone's all-in bet is truly tiny and you are the big blind or have an enormous stack, you can call with any two cards-that is, if doubling up that player will not make them wealthy.

If you want someone to call, make the maximum bet you think they'll call.

If you want to make someone fold, bet an amount that they would be foolish to call without the nuts. Betting half of their short stack is a good bet if you want them to fold. If they go over the top all in, you can fold if you think that they have you beat.

When you're playing in a tournament, the numbers (stack size and odds) and your position matter far more than the cards you're dealt. In fact if you can identify the players who are ?aiting for a hand,?those will be the easiest players to steal chips from. Just raise their big blinds or re-raise them when you're sitting after them, and bluff them when they don't hit the flop. Develop a tight image at your starting table and at any new table to which you're moved. Then use your tight image as a license to bluff.

Try to note what the other players think about you. Who folds when you reraise? Who thinks you're tight? Who did you successfully trap or bluff? Who thinks you're a big bluffer? Only bet the nuts against that person.

Incidentally, how much do you like the flop? How compatible is your hand with it? So many people see aces and just keep barreling along until they reach the river, oblivious to who is calling and what the flop and turn look like. That's just plain bad play.

In an online tournament pay a little attention to the chat, but don't chat yourself. If someone says to another player, "You moron, how can you call with queen ten," then you'll know that this player would never call with queen ten or at least would have to eat a lot of crow if he were caught calling with queen ten. When someone bemoans the worst hand winning all the time, you'll know that player thinks the best hand should always hold up, which is a frustrating philosophy for anyone who adheres to it. The best hand does hold up most of the time, but not that much more of the time than other hands-especially if there are more than two people seeing the flop. Take lots and lots of notes about the hands, about what people play in what position, about what they raise with or go all in with or how often they release their blinds or re-raise. When their hand is visible at the showdown, note what their starting hand was in which position. All of this will help you play each player. How lucky you feel when you sit down to play a new tournament and find that you already have notes about that bluffer in the number 7 seat and the tight player in the 5 seat. You sit down with an advantage that others don't have, and the fact that your memory is not exceptional is inconsequential. This holds true later on in a tournament when you're moved to a new table. If you already have notes on even one player at that table, you have an advantage that you wouldn't have in a live tournament.

There are so many more resources available to you when playing in an online tournament than just taking notes about the players at your table. Use every single statistic that is at your disposal in an online tournament. For example, the ?ournament lobby?which you may be able to keep open on your screen beside the poker table is a godsend to true players. You can see what's going on around the whole tournament. You don't have to be sitting in your seat to be dealt cards as you do in a real casino. Here is some of the information available to you at a glance:

How many people are left in the tournament?
What is the average chip stack and how does your stack compare to the average?
Who is leading the tournament?
Are the tournament leaders building a stack and staying at the top of the heap or have they appeared out of nowhere? (You can open up another window to the tournament leaders and watch how they play their hands. Are they tight or loose? How do you think the leader got to the number one position? The answer can inspire you and also give you information about her in case you get to the final table and find yourself playing against her.)
What players are consistently in the top ten?
How much time is left before the break?
When are the blinds increasing?

Use time to your advantage. Check the tournament clock. How close are you to making the money? Is your chip stack large enough to guarantee you a payout? How many people have tightened up to ensure a money win? Do you have enough chips to pick up some blinds and take advantage of players who are avoiding going out on the bubble? How big are the prizes? Will you be happy with one of the lower amounts which is probably not much more than your original buy-in, or do you need to make third place to be satisfied with your win? Based on the answers to these questions, you can decide how many risks you wish to take on the bubble and thereafter.

Some sites allow you to check your own stats. How tightly are you playing? Do you see the flop 12% of the time or 45% of the time?

Keep remembering that once your stack is large, you should not have to rely on luck. Short stacks take chances. The big stacks don't have to. They just ?lay the big stack,?steamrolling over the little stacks like a waiter cleaning up the crumbs. Just keep playing well. Make good bets against the right players and make good folds, and foremost, do not make any bad calls. Try not to call at all-except when you set a trap with a set or the nuts. Keep that up until the tournament is over and you'll get your prize.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR REBUY TOURNAMENTS

Don't sit down in a rebuy tournament if you can't afford to immediately double your stack with a rebuy and, after an hour, spring for an add on. You should also be prepared to pay for at least one or two rebuys.

Know that in a rebuy tournament it's everyone's aim to end the rebuy hour with more chips than can be bought with a rebuy and an add-on so that the players who are bent on winning can begin the ?eal tournament?with as big an advantage as possible. Some people play like maniacs during the rebuy tournament and then settle down to be very tight or even too-tight players.

General Tournament Strategies:

Pre tournament -dress comfortably. Be alert. Drink water and no alcohol. Watch everything. Who seems to know the ropes? For example, who rebuys immediately upon sitting down? Who waltzes into the tournament late? Who is chatting about prior games and using expert language? Who seems confused.

Big stack warning late in tournament: don't double up the short stacks. Especially don't double up the medium stacks!

Early tournament strategy: Develop a tight image and generally play tightly. Balance that with your knowledge that there are bad players at almost every first table. Figure out who they are, and get as many chips as you can from them while the other people are sitting back and waiting for a hand.

Late tournament strategy: Maintain tournament standing and chip stack and let them take each other out.

Try to build a stack to play big your stack against short or timid stacks in position.
DON'T MAKE BAD CALLS
Don't rely on luck unless you have to.
Make good, aggressive bets to get chips.
Try never to call unless it's you setting the trap.
Pay attention to: position, players' personalities, chip stacks, time, your chip stack, where the button and blinds are, who bluffs too much.