Poker Tournaments are Two Games in One

The reason many cash poker players fail to do well in tournaments is the two tiered game. Not only are you required to play poker well you must also make calculated plays based on your position in the tournament, the second game. The converse is also true. Many tournament players fail to do well in cash games, because they make plays that, although correct in a tournament structure, are foolish in a cash game.

In one of our local home games, we use a tournament structure. One of the regular players is a horrible poker player, but he understands the structure and uses it to his advantage. He is a consistent winner. When the fields are small, proper play of the tournament game can overcome poor poker skills. Dan Harrington gave us the best analysis of the tournament game in his three books, “Harrington on Hold ‘em,” but his explanations seem to be confusing to some. The tournament game is all about your position in the tournament, and it can quickly become more important than your cards. Most of you have probably reached that point where you had to pick two and push.

1. The percentage of your stack represented by the blinds and antes. Of course for the advanced player you will notice that your “M” is also a good indication.
2. Your stack size at the current level is indicated by the last green number. In this case it is 10200, and must be updated as the levels progress. Also notice that the spreadsheet continues to calculate a predicted stack size as the levels progress.

3. This is your “M,” (Stack/(blinds + 1 round of antes.) For the current level it equals 59, but as the levels progress, you can see the effects of the increasing blinds and antes. The spreadsheet high lights when you enter the different zones as described in “Harrington on Hold’em.” On this spreadsheet the yellow zone is 8.5-16 and the red zone is 0-8.5.
4. This column is the number of players remaining. Like your stack size, this column must be updated at the beginning of each level. The spreadsheet does predict a number remaining for each subsequent level.
5. The average stack size calculated on the number of players divided into the total number of chips in play. Note the 10th level is highlighted in green. This gives you an intermediate goal, throughout the tournament. Although of little value in small tournaments, in larger multi-table tournaments it can be quite useful.
6. The average “M” allows you to adjust your play to your opponents situation in the tournament. As the Average “M” decreases, all players will become slightly more desperate, and you should be prepared for them to make desperation calls or bets.
7. Simply put, the Antes, which if present, are a serious impact on your stack and “M.”
8. I actually added this as an afterthought to draw your attention to some of the sheets developed for different Sit & Go Tournaments at Full Tilt Poker and one for a Party Poker single table.