Today we’re going to discuss seven tips you can use when you’re playing long tournaments.
Let’s get into it.
1. However long you think it will take, it will take longer
I recently final-tabled a million-dollar guarantee tournament online. The site it was on is known for faster structures, so you would think the tournament would move a little quicker.
At the start of the final table, we had already been playing for 11 hours.
An 11-hour session is tough for anyone, but especially as you get closer to 40 or 50, that becomes rough.
Now take that idea to an event like the WSOP Main Event. Obviously, however long you think it is going to take to get anywhere, it is going to take even longer than that.
A lot of people run bad for an hour and think they should be picking up a hand any minute.
In reality, you might run bad for four hours, six hours, or an entire day.
However long you think things will take, expect them to take longer.
2. Most hands are not going to be exciting
Long tournaments are a lot like driving an 18-wheeler. It is hours of boredom with moments of sheer terror.
If you want to get deeper in long tournaments, you need to pace yourself. You cannot play like every hand is supposed to be dramatic.
If there is one sport I'd recommend watching to understand what a long tournament feels like, it would be boxing when a true artisan is working.
When you watch a defensively minded boxer, most of the exchanges are controlled and technical. There are very few fireworks, and when fireworks do happen, it is usually because someone made a mistake.
That is what a long tournament is like. Most of the time, you are making small, controlled, technical decisions.
Then, every once in a while, everything is on the line.
3. However much time you think you have, you have more
Almost everybody takes themselves out of long tournaments because they panic too early.
Remember, you are usually not as short-stacked as you think.
Just because you have eight big blinds and feel like you need to do something does not mean you should stack off with ace-ten offsuit after someone raises from early position.
If that early-position raiser is not opening too many hands, a lot of the time you are going to get it in behind.
You still have time.
Eight big blinds can still generate folds when you move all in.
Do not panic just because you are uncomfortable.
Take your time.
4. Your strategy depends on how much of the field gets paid
Let’s say first place gets 20% of the prize pool and only 10% of the field gets paid.
In that kind of top-heavy structure, you can take more risks because the lion’s share of the money is going to be in the top three spots.
Now let’s say 15% or 20% of the field gets paid and the structure is very flat.
At that point, you are much closer to playing a glorified satellite, and you need to pass on a lot of thin spots.
Thinking about a thin double barrel? You should probably check.
Thinking about a thin re-raise preflop? You should probably just cold call.
The payout structure matters. Do not play every long tournament the same way.
5. You do not need to do anything too fancy
I learned this the hard way.
When I felt like I was not doing enough in big tournaments, that was almost always when I was about to bust.
If I felt like I was not asserting myself, not paying enough attention, or that I needed to execute some big play, it was usually just a need for validation. And that need for validation was going to screw me at the table.
Do not try to create the moment. Let the moment come to you.
One strange thing I learned was that I actually did well in large tournaments when I was a little sick. There was a stretch where I kept getting sick on the road, and I would play large tournaments while telling myself, “Okay, no cowboy stuff. Stick to the plan.”
To my surprise, I kept cashing and running deep.
That is when I realized I had been taking myself out of tournaments by playing too many hands earlier.
The first time I cashed the Main Event, I was actually really sick. That was amazing to me because I had played what I thought was inspired poker in other years and gotten nowhere.
Now, that does not mean you need to be sick to play good tournament poker.
But often, we take ourselves out of the game by overextending ourselves.
6. Solid does not mean passive
There is a flip side to that.
Just because you like playing a little more solid does not mean you have a license to never bluff.
There are still great bluffing situations in no-limit hold’em.
After people have a lot of time invested in a tournament, they do not want to go out easily. That means you can re-raise people who open too much, and you can barrel multiple times against big blind flatters who are playing too many hands and do not know how to defend themselves.
It feels awkward when you have been sitting there for 10 hours, 10 days, or whatever it is, and suddenly you are risking your tournament on a thin spot.
But if you do not take enough of those thin spots, you are not going to get anywhere.
Think of how many thin spots Michael Mizrachi took to win the Main Event.
There is a reason he got so far.
7. Use larger sizings
If I could give you one piece of advice that has worked really well for me over the last year or two, it would be this:
Use larger sizings.
A lot of people are not prepared for them.
When you get deep in a tournament and use a slightly larger sizing than someone is expecting, fatigue will often cause them to fold out of confusion.
They do not want to sit there and solve a weird spot after hours and hours of play.
All those little orphan pots add up quickly.
You do not need to win every huge all-in. Sometimes you just need to keep picking up pots that other people are too tired or too uncomfortable to fight for.
I hope these tips are beneficial to you and your game.
Best of luck if you are playing any long tournaments right now, and best of luck to you if you are in the Main Event.
Alex Fitzgerald is a best-selling author published by D&B Poker. Check out Alex’s most recent book, ‘How to Beat Players Who Never Fold.’
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