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Early Level MTT Strategy - Cash Game Principle #2- Defending Your Button and Not Your BlindsIn a tournament setting you must defend your blinds as the stacks get shallower. The nature of the game means that those who never defend will slowly lose their chips, and those who defend too often and with too many chips will get trapped at some point. Blind defense in Multi Table Tournaments is an important skill all of its own! Cash Game players do not need to defend their blinds so often (again you can not never defend), this is because the deep stacked nature of these games mean that the blinds are a small percentage of their potential wins / losses. Here the advantage given by having position on your opponents for the duration of a hand mean that defending your button becomes a bigger priority. Early in a deep stacked online poker tournament the button is a valuable weapon. Remember that flops will miss player’s hands 2/3rds (66%) of the time. This means that being last to act can allow you to pick up many small pots that others are unwilling to fight for – and those extra chips can become very valuable later in the MTT! Early Level MTT Strategy - Cash Game Principle #3 - Deep Stacks Mean Higher Implied OddsTournament play often dictates folding (or re-raising!) hands such as suited connectors or small pairs when the stacks are shallow. You can no longer flat call with these and hope to hit a big flop as the number of times you will hit are too small compared with the stack / blind ratio – you simply do not have the implied odds to play your hand over multiple streets. Early in a deep stacked game the opposite is true – high implied odds hands become not only playable but can be more profitable than the ‘big’ hands such as high pairs. The reason is that when you do hit a flop hard your hand will be well disguised, allowing you to build a pot and potentially stack someone holding that premium pair. Do not be scared to call raises with high implied odds hands early in the tournament – those raises may well indicate that your opponent has one of the hands that could lead to the loss of their entire stack
Early Level MTT Strategy - Cash Game Principle #4 - Float The Flop – Bluff The Scare Cards!Floating is a common practice in cash games. This involves calling an opponents continuation bet on the flop (usually though not always in position) then raising or re-raising to take the pot away on the turn should your opponent show any sign of weakness. This is particularly effective when the flop shows a number of draws (especially with a straight-forward opponent who only raises high cards) – whether the turn makes a flush or a straight possible you raise, often taking down a reasonable pot immediately. In shallow stack tournaments Floating is not such a viable option – you risk too many chips to win a medium sized pot if your opponent does have a real hand. However this is not the case in the early stages of a deep stacked multi player online poker tournament. Be careful you choose the right opponents for this move – and if possible have position, floating does not work against opponents with ‘no fold button’. Early Level MTT Strategy - Cash Game Principle #5 - Bring Your Thinking To The Second Level!Multiple level thinking is a key skill for winning at any form of poker. This involves seeing your actions from the perspective of your opponents. Instead of working out what cards your opponent may hold you look at what your opponent thinks you may have. Once you have a range of hands that your opponent puts you on it is possible to look at their actions in the light of this… for example if you think that your opponent puts you on a weak holding then there is a higher likelihood that his raise is a bluff than if he thinks you may have a set. Once again late in a tournament the blind and stack sizes, followed by opponent tendencies and then the cards are the important factors. However in the earlier stages, especially in a deep stacked online poker tournament moving your thinking to the second level can help you determine your next move based not only on what you think your opponent has – but what you think he thinks you have! Where To Find The Best Deep Stacked Online Tournaments To Use This Information?SNG Planet recommend Pokerstars for the best selection of poker tournaments featuring deeper starting stacks. Whether you are bankrolled for the Sunday Million, or prefer smaller buy-in tournaments there is something in the Pokerstars tournament schedule to suit you. What is more you can claim a match bonus on your first 3 deposits at Pokerstars (within 90 days to a total of $600) by using Pokerstars Marketing Code PSP3108 when you register and then Pokerstars Bonus Code STARS600 when you deposit. If you are not already playing at Pokerstars then take action now and check them out - this site is the world's most popular for some very good reasons!
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