Tourney Plan

    The plan that you make,
    that's the one that you rely on,
    The bed that you make,
    that's the one you gotta lie on             Dire Straits

   I've played little else but tournament poker since the beginning of December, and prior to that I played in at least one live tourney every week for the last half of the year. This may be a guaranteed way to jinx my results but I'm beginning to have the feeling that I'm learning how to play effectively in poker tournaments. Although there are a lot of important factors involved in deciding how to play, I believe that the most important thing of all is stack size. By stack size I mean the ratio between my chip stack and the size of the big blind. In other words, the number of big blinds (BBs) in my stack.
   I always think in terms of the number of big blinds when I consider the starting stack in a tournament. It doesn't matter to me whether the starting stack is 2,000 or 50,000; what matters is how this number compares to the size of the blinds. So a 50K stack may look like a lot, but not if the starting BB is 1000; that amounts to a starting stack of just 50BB. In comparison, a starting stack of 2K with blinds at 20 gives you 100BB to start with. This should be blindingly obvious to anyone but I am constantly amazed by how often people in live games simply can't see the connection. I always prefer to play in a tourney with at least a starting stack of 100BB, preferably more.

   I think of tournaments in terms of stages, which are defined almost entirely by the number of big blinds that I have. In the early stages, when I am deep stacked and the blinds are low, I play pretty tight. I'll fold a lot and only play premium hands, or drawing hands if I can limp in with them from late position. In other words, what is generally considered to be 'ABC poker' ; a basic cash game strategy. With the big cards or big pairs I'll generally raise, but not too much, and be prepared to fold if the flop doesn't help me. With small or medium pairs, suited connectors or Ax suited I'll try to limp in, hoping to hit trips, a straight or a flush. I will even call a small raise with one of these types of hands, although I'm becoming increasingly disenchanted with the winning potential of suited connectors.
  Another important part of my strategy involves  adjusting my play to the type of table. If the table is populated by loose passive players (typical of the Friday night live tournament) then I'll limp in with more marginal hands and from earlier position than normal, hoping to flop a monster. If I hit AA or KK then I'll push hard, very hard (see 'The OMG Hand'). I'll do this for the first couple of levels, while the blinds are still low, then tighten up a bit. If I'm at a tight table, with players who are capable of folding, then I'll look out for opportunities to steal the blinds by raising from late position. But I won't take this too far, the idea being to maintain a reasonably tight table image.
   This is essentially the way I'll play for much of the tournament, as long as I've got 20BB or more. If I end up with a big stack then I'll generally tighten up even more. I'm well aware of the possibility of getting too cocky with a big stack and blowing off a lot of chips unnecessarily. If I get down to 20BB, that's when I'll look to get more active, especially if I'm approaching a big increase in the blinds. The idea is to stay above my 'red line' stack size of  12BB. So I'll try to limp in more, try to steal more, and be more inclined to push big hands from late position  depending, of course, on the circumstances.
   If I get down to 12BB, that's my 'all-in or fold' level. At that stack size, I'm folding everything until I hit a pre-flop hand good enough to go all-in with. Which hands I'm willing to push with depends on the circumstances; how many blinds I have left, my position, how many players are already in the pot, whether the pot has been raised and so on. As a general rule of thumb, in good circumstances I'll push all-in with any Ace and any pair. Obviously, if the situation gets more desperate then my pushing range will get wider. I've noticed that, especially in the live games, many players will try to hang on towards the end even though their stacks are getting shorter and shorter. Although it's tempting to try and limp in and see a flop, I don't do this for one simple reason; fold equity. If you have, say 4BB left and go all-in, you have no fold equity; medium to large stacks are not going to be afraid of calling 4BB. But with a larger stack, you have a much better chance of winning the pot uncontested.
   The exception to my 12BB rule is when everyone is short stacked. Sometimes as you approach the end of a tournament the average stack size can actually be 12BB or less. If I'm still above the average despite my short stack  and we are near the end then I'm inclined to just play a tight game, try and limp in to a few big pots, maybe even steal the blinds from late position if I think I can get away with it. In general I'll try to pick up a few chips here and there and let the other short stacks fight it out.
   If I make it into the money then I tend to just wing it. Or to put it more correctly, I don't play with a set plan; I let the circumstances dictate my style of play. Nevertheless I keep in mind my position regarding stack size compared to other players and also in terms of the number of big blinds that I have. I am also constantly aware of the way that the value of starting hands change as the number of players at the table reduces.
   Essentially, I approach tournaments in the same way that I approach cash games, and if I end up with a short stack then I adjust to that circumstance as far as it's possible to do so. I'm not inclined to panic if my stack size drops below the critical level. In fact, at that point the pressure comes off because the all-in-or-fold stage is pretty simple to navigate. And if I manage to double up then it puts me well and truly back in the game. One thing that I found particularly relevant from my recent tournament strategy study was the idea that you can't win the tournament in the first hour, but you can lose it. Another was the principal that you are not playing the whole field, but the players at your table. So that's the way I look at my position in a tournament these days. It's not about where you stand in relation to the whole field, it's about the table you're sitting at and how many big blinds you have to play with. In other words, keep it simple.