Playing Freeze Out Multi Table Tournaments (MTT’s)

Playing no limit holdem freeze out muti table tournaments has become the game of choice for more and more poker players.

I think a lot of it has to do with the tournaments shown on television.  People see the big payouts, the ‘life changing money’ that is won and think, “that could be me!!”

Well, it is possible but I it takes a lot of things to go right for you to win a multi table tournament.  Some you have control over and some you don’t.   There is an old saying that I heard several times when I first started playing poker years ago that I thought perfectly describes playing poker.  “It’s a tough way to make an easy living.”  Never were truer words spoken !  Poker players suffer the lowest of lows and revel in the highest of highs.

There are three stages that you go through when playing a mtt.  The early, middle and late stages.  Each requires an adjustment in play.  Lets go through them one by one and talk about different ways to play them.

Early Stage

I’ve witnessed and played a couple of different strategies when playing in the early stage of a mtt.  Each has its strong and weak points.

One strategy I have used is to be extremely tight but aggressive in the early stage.  Many players think this is the time to be loose as the blinds are so low.

My thinking is that at this time in the tournament there are many weak players entering hands with junk making loose calls or raises and even pushing all in with suspect hands.

I think a good strategy is to let these players bust one another out while you play only premium hands knowing they are betting a draw or some much weaker hand that allows you to double up with the nuts.

The hard part of this strategy is you don’t play a lot of hands.  You have to fold the majority of your hands.  For players who like a lot of action this is very hard to do, but you must do it.

All you have to remember is that only a small percentage of the top finishing players get paid and that must be your goal.  How many times have you seen someone(maybe yourself) enter a pot with a pair of 9’s and a weaker player at the table calls his raise with 2 5 and hits the flop with a set or 2 pair or straight draw and answers your bet with an all in !!

I would enter a pot early with JJ, QQ, KK, AA and AK.  I have to admit though, if I can enter a pot without a raise with Ax suited I usually see the flop looking for a flush.  Even if I hit the ace but there is no flush draw I will fold more often than not. One other thing, in the early stages NEVER bluff.

There are just to many weak players who will call you down.  I mean how many times have you seen 2 players go all in on the first hand of a game.  One has AA and the other K9 !!  It always amazes me and yet I see it over and over.  So to sum up this strategy, play ultra tight and don’t bluff.

The other strategy I wanted to mention is not as tight, but aggressive.  Some professional players like to play a lot of hands early.  When the flop hits them hard they look to clean up, even double up with aggressive play.

Weaker players at this stage of the tournament will accommodate them more often then not and they will clean up and build a big stack they can bully other players with in the later stages of the tournament.  I noticed that this strategy works better when you start with a bigger stack of chips than normal.  For example if you start with a stack of 2000 as opposed to 1000 or 1200 this might be a style you might want to try.

Middle Stage

As you enter this stage I think it is important to recognize that a little change in style is needed, a change in gears if you will.  A lot of players at this stage tend to play tighter as the thought of making the money approaches.  At this stage I like to start stealing a blind or two when the opportunity presents itself because you have to be constantly thinking of building your chip stack.

In my opinion, you cannot just simply play super tight through the 3 stages because more often then not you will just bleed off chips as the blinds become bigger and bigger.  Before you know it you will have to push all in when you are a coin flip at best.

I usually like to loosen my starting hand requirements to include medium to high pairs, suited connectors, AQ, AJ and QK.  That is not to say I play these hands all the time but rather when the opportunity presents itself I will play them.  Some examples of these ‘opportunities’ are when I’m on the button or in the cut off.  When everyone has folded to me and I’m in middle position.  Position plays a big role on when I play these hands in the middle stage.

In summary, when entering the middle stage of a mtt I like to loosen up my super tight image(a bit) created in the first stage but still maintain the folding discipline when the flop does not go your way.

Late Stage

If you’ve arrived at the late stage of a mtt and have a short stack you must be willing to push all in on a decent hand.  Any ace with a good kicker, pairs and high suited connectors are good examples.  The blinds are so high at this stage chip power becomes greater than card power in many cases.  If you have a short stack don’t be content to just fold and try to slip into the money.  In most cases you will bleed off your chips until you are forced to go all in with 2 8 or some junk hand.  The majority of the time you will not make the money.

However if you have the chip lead or are near the chip lead you can loosen up even more than the middle stage and take advantage of all the players who are just waiting to make the money.  You can usually steal a lot of blinds, bully the middle stacks and put the short stacks to a decision for their tournament lives.

This is not to say play super loose thinking no one will call you but rather keep your folding discipline when you think you are beat.  Do not get involved in multi way pots.  If you have a big stack flex your chip muscle but stay disciplined.

If you are at the final stage with an average stack you might want to pick your spots to try and steal a few blinds.  Don’t get involved in a multi way pot unless you have the nuts.  I also don’t advocate being super tight just to make the money.  The blinds are high so to just sit there and bleed of chips is not the way to go.

I feel to be a successful poker player you must be willing to change your style from stage to stage, from tournament to tournament.  A number of things should determine your play.  Among them are what the other players at my table are doing, are there a lot of players entering flops, is it a loose table, is it a tight table?  You cannot pigeon hole yourself into just one way.

To me that’s the attraction of poker.  Each hand is different, each stage of a tournament is different, each time you play a hand there are many things to consider in a short period of time.  Never let someone place a lable on you.  You have to be a chameleon  when you play mtt’s, always changing the color of your spots !