Multi-Table Tournament Strategy: Middle Blind Levels

Playing a tournament is a lot like walking on a minefield. You need to avoid as many tight situations as possible by playing the best hands. Unfortunately, you can't wait all day long for premium hands unless you're a big stack. This article will discuss how to proceed with playing hands according to your stack size.

Large Stack

We all love playing with a large stack. Although it might seem easy, there are a few things you need to know before you start loosening up. First, evaluate the current status of your table. If it's really tight, you'll need to put that big stack to use and double shorter stacks' blinds as frequently as possible (with decent hands, of course). If the table is really loose, you'll need to keep playing premium starting hands. Another pointer is to raise blinds only when you're in good position. I'll talk about this more towards the end of this article.

Average Stack

This is where most of us will be in the tournament. You want to loosen up a little here, adding hands such as A-Q and JJ to your starting hand list. When you decide to raise, you probably want to bet the flop regardless. If you spot a tight player next to you, raise his blinds double with any two cards and bet the flop. You'll need to pick it up a little here, but for the most part remain tight.

Small Stack

The small stack must become aggressive in the middle rounds. When you spot weakness bet all-in. Go out of the tournament with a bang. Never get blinded out. Raise blinds by going all-in with decent hands. You want to add any pair to your list of starting hands as long as you're in late position to raise the blinds. If you have a pair such as 9-9 or 10-10, don't be afraid to go all-in from any position. You need to double-up to become a threat in this tournament.

Advice on Raising Blinds

I'm frequently asked questions about raising blinds. I believe the good players are separated from the bad players when the blinds get higher. I always choose my opportunities to raise blinds wisely. You should only raise a player who you know is really tight. In the late stages of a tournament you may need to raise any player, regardless of his image, with decent cards. But in the middle rounds you want to spot a tight player and lean on him hard. Toward the end of the middle rounds, you might want to lean on the blinds harder than normal. You should be getting closer to the money, and people will start playing really tight.

For example, say a tournament has 500 people in it, and it only places the top 80. When there are about 100 people left you'll see everyone tighten up. This will probably be around the end of the middle rounds or the beginning of the late rounds. This is when I make all of my money, and I'll share this strategy with you in the next article, Multi-Table Tournament Strategy: Late Blind Levels.