At the beggining of a multi table Texas Holdem Tournament, the blinds are low in relation to the total amount of chips you have at the table, and a lot of players think it is a good idea to see a lot of flops. Some players on the other hand think that you should play even tighter at this stage of the tourney. The debate will likely continue to go on and on but I believe that from a players perspective that during the small blind stage of the tournament that you should be extra careful not to blow it and go all in with a marginal hand against a monster hand. Just sit back and watch people go nuts.

Because the blinds are small early on, do not waste any energy regarding blind stealing preflop, and do not try to make huge bluffs, as it would be pointless to make a 400 chip bluff at a 30 chip pot. Since you may find yourself playing a few marginal hands preflop just make sure if you find yourself with an inside straight draw and someone bets heavily into you just fold it right there. Do not get lulled into calling when you miss the flop. Fold immediately unless you catch a piece of the flop. By a piece of the flop I am referring to two pair or more.

As the tournament moves along try to pace yourself accordingly and keep two things in mind:

1 - what are the blinds are in relation to my chip count, and the chip counts of the players at your table. Keep in mind that you want to have more than 20 times than the big blind at all times. This will not always happen, of course, but as the tournament progresses you should attempt to retain a nice 20 X BB chip count if possible. You do not need to go into panic mode if you are below 20 X BB at any point, but when your stack gets below 10 times the big blind you need to start worrying about making some kind of move so as to accumulate chips. If you are playing at a tight table it may be the case that the blinds are going up and nobody is really accumulating chips, and as such the entire table is getting weaker relative to the field. It that is the case then just wait for a table change, continue to play premium hands, and look for a chance to use positional isolation to grab a pot or two.

2 - keep an eye on the average stack as defined by the software. The average stack is where you want to be but if you ever check the average stack you will see that most of the players are below the average stack. So a target of keeping your chip count around the average is a good target.

For the first couple of hours of the tournament play your position flawlessly. In other words only play cards from positions 6,7,8,9,D. Do not forget that in the first hour there is little chance of winning the tournament but you can lose it in a heartbeat. Remember that in multi table texas holdem tournaments there are almost always 8-10 people at your table, meaning you should have the opportunity to win approximately 10% (or more) of the pots played at your table. Please note that at the beginning of the tournament on you should see roughly 15-25% of the flops (more if you like at very low blind levels). As a result if you go through a dry spell for 20 or 30 hands that is ok. You will make it up on the next 20-30 hands. You do not need to win every pot, or even every fifth pot. Just wait for your chance and be sure to keep track of how the other players at your table behave while you wait for your rush. Do they bet in position? Do they raise every time they get a chance? Do they often bet more than the pot itself? Are they intimidated by an all in bet? Are any of them calling stations? What types of hands to they play in what position? Do they trap?

Multi table texas hold’em tournaments are about survival. To survive, you must play a risk adverse style of play and avoid big risks often. As a result of this philosophy you should avoid bluffing too often as you will note that as the blinds increase to 100/200 or more you will be looking for pocket pairs and AK, KQ, and KJ. For example if you play K-10 off suit out of position for 200 chips preflop and the flop a K as the top card in it without a flush or straight draw, and if you are betting this hand to the river with at least one caller you are putting yourself at risk. You will usually lose this hand to K-J, K-Q, or A-K, or a set. You have to wonder what your opponent is calling you with. As the blinds increase and players are eliminated you will notice that the players remaining are not bluffing to the river on a draw. Every time you play a marginal hand like KT os and bet it to the river, you are basically banking on the chance that your opponent is bluffing. This is not considered the best way to survive in a texas holdem tournament.

Now presuming you have lasted in this multi table texas holdem tournament for two hours you should have noticed that your chip count (or stack) is well below the average (say 4K with the average at 7.5K) and the blinds are starting to be a major problem (say 400-800), you need to start looking for a hand to go all in with. At this point, you should go all in from any position with QQ, JJ, or AK. You hope you get called by a hand that you are well ahead of (if you have QQ or JJ, you hope you're getting called by 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, or 7-7; if you have AK, you hope you're getting called by AQ, AJ, or KQ), and you can double up. Your odds of winning in these situations are 70-80%, depending on the situation. You almost always want to take these odds. At worst, you are in a coin-flip situation 90% of the time, the times that your caller does not hold AA or KK (presuming you hold QQ or JJ or AK). Another key element here is to see in the texas holdem tournament main lobby when the next big tournament (same size as your’s or bigger) is about to go off and watch out for playing middle pairs out of position (early) … this could be a setup hand that you are about to be pounded out of the tournament in.

Another important thing that you can do in these situations is steal blinds from late position with more marginal hands. This is particularly true when you are getting short stacked, are in late position, and everyone has folded in front of you, you should go ahead and push all in with hands like A-Q, A-J suited, 10-10, 9-9, and even 8-8, if stealing the blinds increases your stack. If you are on the button or small blind, short stacked, and everyone has folded in front of you, you should push all-in with 7-7, A-10 suited, and, if really short stacked, A-9, A-8, K-Q suited, and even 6-6 or 5-5. I have even gone with suited connectors or any K X. It also depends on the chip count of the player on your left but basically you want to take chips from the players on your left as often as possible – particularly if you are on the button or the #9 seat and nobody came into the pot ahead of you.

One of my favorite tactics if short stacked is timing the blinds. You have to time your play (and of the table) such that the blinds change when you are on the button or one right of the button. If you can do this when you are relatively short stacked then you will have an advantage for that round of betting that is equivalent to (BB1+SB1/your stack – BB2+SB2/your stack) where BB1 and BB2 represent the blinds pre and post blind change. Believe me when you are really up against it you have to time the blinds to save enough chips to make it worth your while on that next round of cards to make the most of your eventual all in. Very few if any players time the blinds and during a tournament it can add up as big a difference as stealing blinds a few times.

If you manage to make it down to the final two tables, almost regardless of your stack, you need to tighten up again (unless you are extremely short of chips – ie having enough chips to last three rounds or less). Expect to win the blinds preflop with hands like A-K, A-Q, Q-Q, or J-J, if you are betting 3 X BB or more preflop here, thereby not allowing your opponents to hit a flop for cheap. As your table gets smaller (7 or 6 people), loosen up a bit, but never forget your goal of making the final table. This means that when someone goes all-in in front of you, do NOT make the call with 5-5 or K-Q hoping for the coin-flip, because at BEST you have a coin-flip, while at worst you are way behind. Also at this stage of the tournament you should have the other table open on your screen so you can keep an eye on how the others are playing and who if anyone looks to be in a bad position such that they have to go all in soon. This is particularly important when there are 11 players left. Next one out doesn’t make final table.

Once you have survived to the final table, TIGHTEN UP even more. Since the payouts are top heavy (which means 1st, 2nd, 3rd pay well while 8th, 9th, 10th are relatively low in comparison, just do your best to hang in there as long as possible. Make sure that if you are pushing with marginal hands it is against smaller chip counts than you and if you are the short stack be careful to pick a good spot to go all in. I was short stacked in an online Texas Holdem Tournament once so severely that I was the butt of jokes the entire tournament. Well I managed to finish 2nd in that tournament and won 170 X my fee for the tourney, and if you are the smallest stack, do NOT make loose all-ins, continue to pick your spots carefully.

Once you make it to the final three players, just play good poker. If you get the cards and can trap your opponents into making huge stabs (which will happen a lot with huge blinds and big pots), you have a very decent chance of winning. If not – second place is ok too.