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 Dealing with the constant increase of the blinds in Online Poker Tournaments and live Tournaments.
Blinds and Antes are a major part of any online or live no limit poker tournaments. The blinds and antes will generally go up based on a preset time. Generally most poker tournament blinds run around 15 – 20 minutes. There are tournaments called turbo tournaments where the blinds are 3 minutes. I do not recommend these types of tournaments because 3 minutes does not allow for adequate time to use any kind of strategy. Some of your bigger tournaments like the WSOP will have blinds up to 1 hour per blind.
Antes are usually predominantly used in live poker tournaments hosted by casino’s. However a few online poker room’s use them in their bigger tournaments. Ante’s usually start after the 2nd or 3rd set of blinds. Antes are designed to push action and to build pots.
The difference between antes and blinds is quite simple. Blinds are mandatory to the two poker players to the left of the dealer and blinds everyone at the table has to post.
OK in any online poker tournament or live tournament you are going to face the blind clock ticking away at you. What this means is that there is constant pressure on you to build a chip stack in order to just avoid getting blinded out. Once you hit 5 times the blinds or below you are in desperate trouble. You will have to make a move before you loose any kind of power to apply pressure. So one of your main goals in tournament play is to keep your chip stack at 20 times the blind at minimum. Once you hit 10 times the big blind you are still ok but its time to start looking at making a move. One good strategy is to play tight early on in a poker tournament. This will make it easier to steal blinds later on when they are so high that just stealing the blinds will make for a good pot. Giving the image that you are a tight player will make this easier then if you had been playing loose. There are a couple of ways to look at dealing with the blinds. You will see some people that will just play tight and they will eventually get blinded out. Playing tight and only playing premium hands is a good strategy for poker tournaments early on in the tournament. However with the blinds increasing and the need to keep a decent chip stack once your stack hits about ten times the blinds its time to loosen up and become more aggressive. Strangely enough all of the sudden hands you tossed before will become quite playable. When you reach 5 times the blinds anything goes. You are going to want to push all in with Ax or Kx or any average hand like j9 suited q10 even 910 suited. What you are hoping to accomplish is to either steal the blinds or to double up. If neither one happen you are going to get knocked out anyhow. So it is imperative you take a chance while you still can. I see so many people sit there and be forces all in in the big blind. You have to make a move to stay competitive. At minimum if you are down to 3- 5 times the blinds. If it doesn’t work out you weren’t meant to make it, just move on to the next event. You can’t win them all.
Looking at blinds structure in online poker tournaments is vital to knowing what chance you have of winning by using good poker tactics verses just luck. The shorter the blinds the more luck you are going to need. Therefore look for the longest blinds possible to get a good skill based game that will give the skilled poker player the edge.
Obviously as the blinds increase and your stack in relation to the blinds starts to dwindle you will need to make a move. Lets talk about some general guidelines on what kind of hands to play and what to look for when making a move.
If you have 25-30 times the blinds or more you are in good shape to play any style and make any move you want. You should probably stick with premium hands here and pick up more chips when you see a player make a mistake. Now it does not hurt to use position or your chip stack on smaller stacks to steal some chips. This is ideally where you want to spend most of you poker tournament life. Just don’t waste chips and get to aggressive. Just realize that if you are pushing against a guy that is short stacked he is looking to make a move and might just decide that this is hand is the one to do it with. If you are on a steal attempt it is best to steal from stacks smaller then you but medium size stacks. These are the poker players that are still in ok shape and are worried about becoming short stacked. The bet should threaten there stack but not go over board. Always bet chips you are willing to leave at the table if you do meet resistance. Pretty much you are a fully functional poker player that can make any move he or she wants.
10- 20 times the blinds you are still in good shape but you should start looking at picking up some chips when the situation arises. You are still ok right now but it is generally time to start looking at taking down some pots by either using position or when you have a hand. You need to start improving to stay ahead of the game. You still have many moves available to you. Just remember that once you get more then a 3rd of you chips in the pot you are starting to commit yourself to that pot. Use good position and your read on the players to pick up some blinds when you can. Push on the stacks that are smaller then you. It is usually better to make a bet that threatens their stack and not just put them all in. A good size bet is more likely to get interpreted as a solid hand looking for action then all in. Short stacks know that they are going to get pressed. If you do make a big move try and do it against a smaller stack where you can survive if things go south or at least pick a stack that will be crippled if he calls don’t try to bully the big stack that can smash you with impunity.
5-10 times the blinds you will seriously need to get aggressive and make a move to either win a pot or steal some chips. At ten times the blinds you are still ok but its time to use position and your read on your opponents to make some moves. If you have a tight table image stealing should be easier at this point. If you showed down with some crap cards earlier it will be harder. People will remember that. So if you are perceived as tight and no one raises the pot and you are in late position make a move with Ax or Kx or suited connectors. If you are at ten times the blinds you can still be a bit choosier but if you get to 5 times the blinds pick any hand that you think looks pretty and give it a shot. Generally the best time to make a move is to find a spot where everyone before you has folded and there are just a few players in the pot. First of all its hard to get a lot of players to fold. Its easier to bluff one or two guys out preflop. Also watch the two guys on your left they are always going to be in the blinds when you are on the button. If they are tight and conservative you can steal blinds from them easily if they always defend their blinds aggressively you are going to need somewhat of a hand because the chances you will get a caller is going to increase. The best thing here is to look for a spot where no one has shown strength and where players in early position have folded. Just keep in mind that a smart player in early position will be expecting to call a raise with his hand if he is not hoping for one so he can trap you. Keep an eye on under the gun and second postion. If they fold your chances are much better.
Once you get to 2 times the blinds or less you just need amazing luck and hope that the poker gods favor you otherwise your out of here!
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