(also see Improving Your Tournament Poker Game, Part 1)

I found it very difficult to write this article. Particularly because a lot of how I play in the late stages of a MTT is based on feel. How do I describe that I “feel” when someone is going to fold? What does that “feel”….well, feel like? Before I get into that, let’s actually define “late-stage tourney play”. I consider a tourney to be in the “late stage” from 8-10 people out of the money, all the way to the end. Now, before we talk about specific late-stage and final table strategy, there is a very important aspect from my first article that carries over into the late stages and becomes even more important. This concept is Position.

In late stages of a tourney, position is just about the most important thing in the game, even more important than your cards. You are going to be winning many pots, regardless of your cards, because of your position. Now onto some new concepts that are specifically important in late tourney play.

#1) Make a read- Whereas in the early and mid stages of a MTT, you can simply be patient and play your cards, in the late stages, you MUST make reads of your opponents. You must replay the hand in your head and really try to put your opponent on a hand. This is not overly difficult, it’s just something you must condition yourself to do. For example, you limp with 7-8 of spades (in position of course), your opponent in the BB checks…the flop then comes 8-2-A. Your opponent bets out…replay the hand in your head, would your opponent have checked an Ace? Would they have checked an overpair, like 99 or TT? It is very unlikely, so in this case, I would assume my hand is best and reraise. Now, if he comes back over the top, I might consider laying down, but based on his preflop play, you can safely assume that your reraise will win the pot.

#2) It is rarely correct to slowplay. - You want to bet your hands in late stages of a MTT. If you hold A-K of clubs and the flop comes out 10-J-Q of clubs, I'm betting out. Why? Because in the long run it will pay off. If people think they can get you off of hands, they will raise or reraise you, making it difficult to steal pots. But if you bet out whenever you have a good hand, than a) you will be able to steal a lot of pots and b) you will tend to get action on your big hands.

#3) Never check around on the turn- If you are in position, and the flop is checked around and the turn is checked to you, you MUST bet. At least 90% of the time you will win the pot.

#4) Use your table image- The entire tournament you have been playing tight, only according to your cards, now you can take advantage of this tight image. You still don’t want to play a lot of hands, but, you can use your image to steal blinds and antes. Say you’ve only played 2 hands this rotation, when it gets to you on cutoff, raise…regardless of your cards, you will likely win the pot. **Note: This varies depending on buy-in. Lower buy-in tourneys will have players that don’t pay attention to table image. The higher the buy-in, the better the players (for the most part) and the more likely they are to notice your tight image.

#5) Reraise your brains out- Probably 75% of the time you reraise an opponent, you will win the pot. What people make the mistake of doing is raising or rerasing a pot with 3 people in it. When you are heads up with one other player, and he has raised, you can reraise almost regardless of your cards. Why can you do this? Because you have spent the whole tourney building a tight image. You wouldn’t reraise without AA, KK or AK, right? Riiiiiiiiiiight..haha! Also, of the 25% of the time you get called the other guy will check the flop to you about 60% of the time. If the flop gets checked to you, you’re going to win a nice pot by betting.. This brings you to winning the pot pre- or post-flop about 85% of the time you reraise. That being said, you cant do it too often, just enough to keep a nice stack, maybe once every orbit or two.

#6) Don’t be afraid to revert to your old strategy- if you are down to 15 or 20 people and you find your stack dwindling…don’t be afraid to revert back to your old “tight” ways of playing. This will build up your stack and hopefully put you in a good position to make the final table.

#7) You cannot be afraid to risk a lot of chips- This is arguably the most important point. You CANNOT be afraid to bet half your stack on a bluff. Every bet you make, should be saying “go ahead, call me…raise me, you stay in this hand and its going to be for all your chips”. None of this minimum betting stuff. If the pot is 5000 and you only have 8k, move in…no one is going to fold to your measly 1k bet into a 5k pot. In fact, a 1k bet into a 5k pot is likely to get you raised.

#8) Think before you bluff- I see so many players bluff off all their chips when it is CLEAR they are going to get called. Lets say you have AK and the board is Q-7-9 and your flop bet has just been called. The pot is now 5000, you have 1900 left and your opponent has 4000. Unless he is a complete moron or on a stone cold bluff, he has you...he is GOING to call your last 1900. Think before you bluff. Think about what you have done, how your betting has gone, throughout the hand…does your play LOOK like a bluff? Did you check before the flop, then check the flop, now all of a sudden you are reraising the turn? Reverse the hand in your mind. If you were your opponent, would you smell something fishy, or would you think you have a hand?

I have tried to lay out my late stage tourney play here. It is very hard for me to tell you how I get through the late stages of a tourney, because so much of it is subconscious. If nothing else, use it as a guide, to help you tune up your own game. I really hope these two articles help your MTT game. Thanks for the opportunity to write!