Ok, so you don’t suck. You are now making it into the cash fairly regularly. But for some reason, you're not winning, you're not even final tabling. It seems that you make it into the cash, but you just can’t seem to parlay it into a final table run. Well, here are a few suggestions about how to change your game that might allow you to make it a little deeper. Some of these may seem familiar, but some of them will hopefully be less obvious.

You make it into the money, but with a short stack: This one may be more obvious, but very likely you are missing opportunities to “chip-up” around the bubble. Say there are 50 players getting paid and 55-60 players left. This is the time when you will run into two types of players; those who play tight to make the money and those who take advantage of such tight play. These players should be fairly easy to identify. Watch how many pots your opponents are playing and watch what types of hands they are showing down. Within 10-15 hands, you should be able to see who is playing tight and who is being aggressive. You want to attack the tight players. If the tight players are in the blinds, this is when you want to raise. If they raise preflop, try reraising, they will often fold (but if they persist with the hand, be careful, its probably a monster). You want to stay away from the aggressive players, unless you have a big hand. This is also the time to pick on average stacked players. Large stacks can afford to call you and small stacks are liable to push all-in. Middle stacks can afford to fold, but can’t afford to make a move. This makes them ripe for picking! Picking up a lot of small pots this way, should allow you to gain some valuable chips for your final table run.

Note: You MUST be willing to bust during this period. You are almost ignoring your cards, you're playing your opponents and their stacks. If someone raises preflop to 1200 and you only have 7000 chips, you are going to have to move in. Sure, if they raised with a big hand, you're going to bust, but you’ll get a laydown MORE than enough times to make it worth it. And pay attention to pot odds. If that same player moves in for 1200 and you only have 4000, well you've got your 1200 plus their 1200 plus blinds and antes they are now getting better than 2-to-1 on their money…so you are much more likely to get a call. Think through your hands at this stage…I don’t care if you use your timebank for every action, its that important to think carefully about each move.

You make it into the money with an average stack: This is perfectly acceptable, most people in the tourney have the same situation (hence, average stack). Just make sure you are not passing up good opportunities to pick up chips around the bubble. IMO, the perfect stack to have after just reaching the money is slightly above average. This means that you had an average stack and picked up some smaller pots at the right times, just before the money, this is really the way you should be playing. You don’t want to take huge risks, just well-timed bluffs for small pots. If you find yourself making it into the money with an average stack, or slightly below, chances are you could pick up a few pots that you are missing around the bubble.

You are making it into the money with a slightly above average stack: Again, this is the perfect stack size to have and really indicates that you are playing good poker. So if you are making it into the money with this stack, but not making the final table, there is a real problem. The largest mistake I see players make is to loosen up once they make the money, because they feel everything from here on out is “profit.” This generally leads to losing large portion of their stack to bluffs or by calling too often. Try to really pay attention to how you were playing to get that stack and figure out how your play has changed once you reach the money. One adjustment to try is not to call. Once you start to get deep in a tourney, you really don’t want to be calling very often. You want to be the one raising or reraising. If you have an average stack, it can quickly dwindle if you're calling a lot preflop. Other players will notice you are calling and start raising to pick up your money. If you raise more and call less, you will find yourself picking up enough small pots to keep your stack healthy and growing all the way to the final table.

You make it into the money with a large stack: This could be an arguable point, but I feel that having a big stack actually does not mean you are playing well. There are really only 2 ways to get a big stack and both revolve around getting lucky. The first way is to get lucky by getting an abnormal number of good hands or hit an abnormal amount of flops. You pick up AA and someone else has KK or you are in the BB with 9-7 and the flop comes 6-8-T and someone else has TT. Things like that. The other way to get a big stack is to play incorrectly and get lucky. Say you are only getting 2:1, but you call all your chips off on a flush draw and happen to hit. My point? This article is about how to play when you make it into the money, but have a hard time making the final table. If you are making it into the money with a large stack, but not being able to take that stack into the final table, it is probably because you are gambling a little too much. Let me give you an example of something I used to do all the time with a large stack. The blinds are 800/1600, someone moves all-in for 4,500 and you have 27,000 and you have 8-9 suited. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen people call in this situation and double up the small stack. There is NO REASON you need to take that sort of a shot here. Now, if you're getting 3:1, that’s a different story, but just because a call is only 15% of your stack, doesn’t mean you should just throw that 15% away.

General Rules of playing “in the money”: If I had to guess at who was playing the “best” poker, based solely on stack size, I would say it was the ones who have the slightly-above-average stack. This is the person who is probably taking the best approach to the game. Doing things like playing mostly strong hands, but opening up when you need to. Winning small pots around the bubble, while knowing when to lay down a hand or give up on a bluff. These are actually the stacks to watch out for as you continue playing. If the average stack is, say $15,000, look out for the players who have $19k-$22k. These are generally sharp players who know what they are doing. Of course there are exceptions to all of this, but as general guidelines they hold true.

Generally, the remaining players are the ones who have some clue about how to play good poker (most, but not all..hehe). This makes changing gears much more important. Players now begin to really pay attention to how you play. Earlier in the tourney, there are so many players and you're being moved so often, that you will probably never see most of the people from your “old tables” again. But once you’ve reached the money, usually you are down to 3 or 4 tables and 25-35% of all your opponents are going to be at the final table, so its time to start paying attention. Turn off the TV, tell your friends to go away and concentrate. Pay attention to how your opponents are playing. Take a notebook and write down the hands you’ve seen them show down. You can even write down how often they raise from different positions. This information is all going to be valuable because someone who has only played 3 hands in the last 4 orbits and suddenly raises, probably has a good hand. Conversely, if they raise 3 times in one orbit, they are probably just stealing. This is how you keep that elusive above average stack. Also, constantly be aware of the next step up in money. You will almost always have people tightening up to make that extra money…take advantage of them. Steal their blinds, continuation bet against them, bet if they check. These are the people who build your stack.

Poker is a situational game. That is, for each of these general guidelines, there will be exceptions. Someone who is raising frequently, can still catch a good hand. Someone who is playing like a rock, is still capable of a bluff now and then. This is why its so important to be paying attention. Always be aware of what your opponents are doing. Specifically once you have reached the money, pay attention to all hands, even if you are not involved. Following these rules should get you much deeper in MTTs, but remember that no rule is absolute in this game. I wish you all success and luck in the future. I hope this advice helps you to get to many more final tables!

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