Take the above into account with every game you play. This is no truer than when you’re playing a multi table tournament (MTT) and you get to the bubble (the money).

When I first started playing MTTs I would often get bullied of pots and fold hands just so I didn’t lose my chips, soon enough I found myself down to a few Big Blinds (BB) and getting blinded out completely and without any power to attack the other players chips, they would just see my all in for 200 and show J7 suited (The Jester) or K8, or 2, 3 which is infuriating if your playing the best hand you’ve had all night. If you win its not even that great as you still have only 400 chips and the blinds are 50/100 and there are 5 other players all waiting to see you knocked out!

As with the opening few hands within a MTT you often see other players going all in with complete abandonment, almost throwing their chips at you, is this a trap or a bluff? It is normally far to early to tell who is playing good hands and who is a maniac. For example, you’re holding AK and another player goes all in, what do you do? You have a good drawing hand but is it worth putting all your chips in against pocket 2s? However “playing not to lose” also means keeping your chips is a winning tactic, if it feels right keep your chips with you until you have a better hand or a better read on the other player, chances are someone else is going to see the all in and then you can see who was playing the better hand. However, AK first hand with an all in, I would fold, keep my chips and take theirs later on! I have gone all in with AK first hand and lost to AA, KK, QQ and mad hands like 87 suited that hits its flush or straight. Watch out for players who seem to go all in every 3 or 4 hands, believe it or not, some players think it’s a winning tactic.

Watch to see the players who fold early on, 10 or 20 chips might not seem much, what do you do when there is a raise to 30? And then that is raised to 60? Don’t get drawn in, play good cards raise when you want to raise and fold when you think your behind but don’t just “see” what happens if you call the 150 bet because you have already put in 80 chips, sure you might find yourself flopping a straight or a set and I know there are times I should have played my pocket 2s and would have flopped quads, but I made the right play, that is the key, make the right plays. Later on, when you have that killer hand you can take down a much larger pot.

I have played single table tournaments and reached the bubble and only played five or six hands and doubling up when I beat some maniac. Of course I have also played games where I seem to be involved in every hand, just play the hands you get. Yes, I have also played games when my better starting hands are beaten almost every time by some drastic calls from other players and I was that drastic player once.

Don’t forget that position is so important when playing tournament tactics, is your king high hand any good when the player 3 positions after you raises it to 10x the BB? And then the Button goes all in for 2500? On the other hand if you are on the button with King high and no callers, do you put in a small or large raise? Also you never want to show weakness. Weakness will kill you off, a table full of poker player is like having vultures circling overhead, all ready to feast on your bones when you are injured and weak. Bet well, bet with commitment but above all even if you have a lot of chips in the pot, if you feel you have the losing hand, get ready to throw it away as if it is the black death, if you get married to a middle pair and an Ace or King comes down on the turn and then the other players liven up a bit you should probably run like the wind! I have finished in the money after making a comeback with less than 100 chips, it can be done, a little luck is needed and some outrageous bluffs on my part.

Right, you’re now within one place of hitting the money. What do you do? Wait for all the other players to take each other out and project you into the money? No! This is what most of the other players think (“I don’t need to be involved”).

Sure, this is fine if the player goes all in and your only holding a picture card or suited connectors, but now you have pocket nines (Defman’s favourite), what do you do, not play it because you don’t want to risk your chips? The tournament has been going for 2 hours and everybody at the table wants to make the money, play the cards you have as if you were playing any hand, your nines are as good here as they were 20 minutes ago, play to win and don’t play not to lose. If you get caught against another pocket pair aces, kings queens, that’s just bad luck, but to another mid pair or 2 over cards you are favourite and Id put my money on you!

As with any game I play making the money is always my 1st aim and with that getting back the entry fee, make that your first goal and abandon any thoughts that not losing is your aim, winning is the aim.

A student of the game, darKPlay continues to improve his poker knowledge. He shares his ideas, thoughts, and progress through his blog, Killed on the River and is in the process of building a new comedic site called Sherbertdip .

As in any tournament the main aim is to finish in the money, this has to be your number 1 target, but when you are in the money and you have stopped congratulating yourself for getting to the money you then have to start changing your style of play, the value of your cards has changed and the level of the blinds should now be in the area that you should start to defend your chips with ferocious tenacity.

The next stage of the game is HU, you have managed to stay in the game long enough to finish at least 2nd, most of the time I feel I have done better then I have expected as 3rd was my aim (in STT or SnG) and I’m more than happy to have finished in this position. Although I have played HU after playing in a STT of SnG I still found that I struggled if I had the advantage and was chip leader. This was because the other player, who had fewer chips, has picked his game up and become more aggressive and he needed to defend his chip stack and attack mine. I became very passive and checked or folded to any signs of strength. This is not the right way to play.

What is the right way to play Heads Up?

Now, I think it is universally agreed that your aggression level will need to rise and the value of your hand will need to be lowered. For instance any Ace or picture card is a good starting hand, a raise is almost automatic. Pocket pairs are very strong and are worthy of a raise as are AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ and QJ which are all hands that should play themselves. If you get cheese throw it away. Especially at the early blind levels when you are establish your tight table image. Don’t show bad cards, it will not help you later on. Suited connectors are also very attractive when HU, more so than when playing 4 or more players. I do play these but I like to limp, if they hit you usually get paid!

If there was a set formula to play we would be winning more games, but there isn’t, your trips can still be beaten and your straight can still be broken, you have to judge each hand for its own value and the player you are playing against.

It is not unusual for a HU match to last half an hour and its not unusual for the game to end before the 2nd level of blinds have kicked in. For instance I had AK and 2 Kings hit the flop, I bet heavy, my opponent bet heavy, the river was a rag, I go all in, he goes all in and he shows a K high hand and I hit an ace on the river winning with a full house! Now my opponent must have been thinking to himself “I have this game won, look he’s gone all in and I have 3 Kings, he can’ beat me…oh shit, a full house!”

I played a HU game the other day and every time I had a hand with a 10 or higher in it I raised the preflop bet to 3x the big blind or higher and my opponent folded. Every time I saw a flop and didn’t bet the opponent put a min bet in, I saw this pattern and started to see the flops regardless and then put a bet in after his flop bet, then he would fold. When he worked this out it was nearly time for an all in to any bet and the game had ended. I have to stress that I was rarely bluffing and only played cards I thought were winning.

However, I played another HU and my opponent waited until the timer was almost out of time before making any action every hand and then put a massive raise into the pot, this started to get to me and I only saw his raises when I had a good hand, even if I put a large raise in my opponent would also put a re-raise in and make me think hard about my Q high hand or my low pocket pairs. Then I held KJ suited and decided that the bullying would stop. A raise of 250 should show I have a good hand and good to form the large re-raise came so I push all in and my opponent sees the all in and shows what was probably the best hand he had played during the whole game, AA and I had lost my discipline.

Discipline is key, stay calm, don’t get drawn into hands your not going to win, fishing for flushes and straights are costly so don’t get caught chasing unless it is cheap. As a wise man once said to me, “Play good cards and the rest will sort itself out.”

I am currently winning 3 out of 4 HU matches at the $10 and below level and found the quality of player is very variable. I have played very fishy players who have gone all in with an Ace high hand and played with others who are as tight as they come and only play top 10 hands, I on the other hand am becoming more tight and aggressive with every match, I am looking to move up to the $20 level as soon as I have built my bankroll up to 10x the buy in.

I don’t consider myself a good poker player, but at these levels I think I am better than average. It is excellent practice to play these HU matches and I think I have improved my game ten fold over the last 6 weeks thanks to the PokerPlasm guys for their help and support with all things poker!

One last note: I wouldn’t go from playing a HU match straight into a 1500 seat tournament without a bit of a break, having to change speed the quick could give you whiplash!

All my best and I hope this helps!

A student of the game, darKPlay continues to improve his poker knowledge. He shares his ideas, thoughts, and progress through his blog, Killed on the River and is in the process of building a new comedic site called Sherbertdip .