Tournament Wisdom, Cont. Pg.3 By Mark Rossi Yesterday we looked at more tournament strategies for beyond the first two levels. Click Here to review that material.
Today we will be over-viewing strategies for the third day in. Opening Notes: Entering third day, even if its a 4 or 5 day tournament, be ready to start playing more like you would a cash game. Play looser than previously. Be prepared to take races more on close gambles in favorable situations. Notes: Remember, its impossible to play the entire tournament and always be a prohibitive favorite when the money goes in. There is a lot of luck involved and winning a major tournament is not easy to do. Having said that, if you have been playing correctly up to this point you should be at an advantage over the many other players who have made it to this point, but are short stacked and facing huge antes and blinds. Focus on how you will control your table, you can't help what is happening at other tables. Final Table Wow, to your surprise you have made it to the final table! What now? Think and act like a pro, if you want to be a pro. The good thing, your into the money but don't lose your focus. You came to win this thing, right? Power Tips: Evaluate your position. You need to be thinking about your chip stack and financial situation. If you have second place chips and there are several short stacks, you might try to avoid major confrontations until several players are eliminated. If you really need the money and you have a comfortable chip position, you can often assure yourself of a second or third place finish by playing carefully. That may still land you in some serious money. Yeah, your thinking right...You came to win! Than its time to change your play a bit. Get aggressive now, you need to take out the chip leader (and he's been watching you!) Its time to remember and utilize all you've learned up to this point. Keep cool, use deception to fool your opponent/s. It matters most now. Exactly how you will bluff or semi-bluff is up to you. Remember, your opponent is doing the same thing to you. Every second counts. If you want him/her to go all in than show hesitation even though you think you have the better hand. You may raise hesitantly, or check instead of going all in early. Be clever here. For a comprehensive on tournament strategy see tourneys overview.
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