
Introduction
MTTs are tournaments with multiple tables, each holding a certain number of players. As the tournament progresses, tables consolidate as players are eliminated, eventually leading to a final table with the remaining players. To perform well in multi-table tournaments, you must understand various playing styles and know when to adjust your strategy according to the table dynamics.
MTTs allow players to win big by defeating hundreds of opponents. Success on the tables requires an in-depth understanding of MMT Poker strategy, skill, and patience. This article will cover some ‘game-changing’ strategies to help you improve your tournament skills and win big.
What is a Multi-table tournament in Poker?
Multi-table tournaments are significant poker events that comprise a massive number of players and substantial prize money. In these tournaments, all the players pay the same buy-in to join the game and begin with the same amount of chip stacks. The stakes, or blinds, increase at a pre-determined level until only one player is left. As the blinds increase and the number of players decreases, your approach towards the game must change to keep up with the tournament flow. Depending on the number of entrants and the pace of the tournament, MTTs can take several hours or even days to complete.
Multi-Table Tournament Strategies
Poker MMT strategy involves tactics for success in tournaments with large player fields. Unlike cash games, MMTs require adjusting strategies based on various stages of the tournament, from early to late.
The following outlines a general MMT Poker strategy, broken down by stages.
Early Stage Strategy
In the early stages of an MMT, blinds are low relative to stack sizes, and the primary goal is to accumulate chips without risking your stack unnecessarily. Players tend to be more conservative early on, which allows you to apply pressure with a wider range of hands.
Tips to Play from the Early Stage:
- Tight but Aggressive: Play solid hands, but when you enter pots, do so aggressively. You want to build your stack without being too reckless.
- Position Awareness: Position becomes crucial. Play tighter from early positions (UTG, MP), and expand your range in late positions (cutoff, button).
- Avoid Big Risks: Avoid big all-ins unless you have a premium hand or a strong read. The goal in this phase is survival.
Example:
- Early Position: You are in early position with 77. Most of your range should consist of premium hands like AA, KK, AK, etc., but with pocket 77, you can still play, especially in a 10-handed tournament. Raise a standard amount, but consider folding if you face a re-raise (3-bet).
- Late Position: With 87s on the button, you can raise or call a small raise from an early position, as your hand has the potential to connect with the board (flushes, straights). Be aware of your opponent's tendencies before making this play.
Middle Stage Strategy
As the tournament progresses, blinds increase, and players tighten up to avoid elimination. Here, you should focus on accumulating chips to give yourself a strong stack for the late game, but also avoid overcommitting with marginal hands.
Tips to Play from the Middle Stage:
- Increased Aggression: Increase aggression to accumulate chips, especially in blind-versus-blind situations. Many players will be focused on survival, so this is a good time to steal blinds and antes.
- Steal and Re-steal: In a late position, open-raising with a wide range of hands (like suited connectors or one-gap connectors) can force your opponents to fold weaker hands. Conversely, if an opponent is frequently stealing, look for opportunities to re-steal with a strong hand or a well-timed semi-bluff.
- Pot Control: In medium-stack situations, control the pot size to avoid committing your stack with marginal hands.
Example:
- Middle Position: You have QJo, and there's an open raise from an early position player. You can confidently call this hand in the middle position, especially if you believe the original raiser has a wide range. You are looking to hit the top pair or a straight.
- Late Position (Blinds steal): You are in the cutoff with 65s, and the hijack player raises. You can call to set mine or re-raise to steal the blinds in this spot. If the original raiser has a weak range, an aggressive re-raise will likely force them to fold.
Late Stage Strategy
The late stage of an MMT is where the game shifts drastically. The bubble (the point at which players will soon start to cash) is approaching, and players with medium stacks must decide whether to take risks to build chips or play conservatively.
Tips to Play from Late Stage:
- Shove/Fold Decision Making: With rising blinds, it is often better to push all in with hands that have decent equity rather than limping or calling raises. This strategy helps you take advantage of fold equity.
- Stack Size Consideration: Players need to adjust based on their stack size. Short stacks will have to play aggressively, while players with larger stacks can afford to be more patient but still capitalize on situations where they can eliminate opponents.
Example:
- Shoving: You are on the button with 15 big blinds and pocket 99. The blinds are high, and many players at the table are in the same position (looking to protect their stacks). You can shove your 99 confidently to get called by worse hands or steal the blinds.
- Bluffing: In a similar scenario, if you are holding suited connectors like 56s, this is a good spot to attempt a steal by shoving. The fold equity in the late stages is strong, and a shove could force even premium hands to fold if you are seen as a constant aggressor.
Final Table Strategy
There is more pressure at the final table with a smaller field remaining. Here, you must switch to a strategy that balances aggression with caution, as any mistake can result in elimination.
How to Play at Final Table:
- Adjust to Opponents: Pay close attention to your final-table opponents' tendencies. If some players are ultra-tight, steal more from them. If they are aggressive, be ready to trap them with premium hands.
- Situation on the Final Table: The first few hands after you reach the final table are important. There are often a lot of tentative players, so you can pick up pots easily. But don’t get overconfident – understand the value of your stack and position.
Example:
- Bluffing at the Final Table: You are in the small blind with a stack of 20 BB and K9o. The player in the big blind is a weak player who folds too often. You can shove your K9o to steal the blinds, knowing your opponent is likely to fold, but be aware of any player behind you with a strong stack who might call your shove.
- Survival vs. Aggression: In the final stages, with 10 big blinds, you should double up with hands like A9o. You want to push when you have fold equity, but don’t get reckless. If you are in the middle of the pack, survival is key until you reach a favourable spot to accumulate chips.
MTT Strategy Summary Chart
EARLY |
MIDDLE |
LATE |
MONEY |
---|---|---|---|
Open range to include speculative hands |
Tighten up range |
Small stacks – tighten up, play premium hands |
Emphasis on blind defence and stealing |
Keep pots small |
Stop limping |
Big stacks – play aggressively |
Table image and position are important |
Avoid disaster |
Focus on position |
Put pressure on small stacks trying to cash |
Patience is key |
10 Steps to MTT Poker Success
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Navigating the Initial Stage
Identify and focus on weaker players at the beginning of a poker tournament and play a few hands with them. Targeting them helps you acquire more chips early on in the game. When choosing the starting hands to play, you must not call raises with hands including A-J, K-Q, or K-J, as they can often be problematic to play with and manage. Instead, focus on small pairs (like 3s, 4s, 7s, etc.) and suited connectors (like 5♠ 6♠, 9♣ 10♣) as they are easier to play in the initial stage of the tournament. If you make a three-of-a-kind with a small pair, you will likely have the best hand most of the time. Once you are confident about your hand, you can work on building the pot to win more chips.
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Keep it tight
It is always wise to play fewer hands until antes are introduced in the tournament. High-ranked unsuited hands such as K-Q, K-J, A-J, and A-T should be folded from the early positions. Some lower-ranked, suited hands, like 7-8, 6-7, etc., can be used to bluff at times, but with caution. If the stack-to-pot ratio is much higher, the players can take some liberty in widening their hand range.
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No set, no bet
One common mistake many players make is overvaluing their pocket pairs in a multi-table tournament. Stack sizes are crucial in deciding whether to play or let go of a hand, and they are usually relatively low in online poker tournaments.
So, while playing against an early raiser, low-ranked pocket sevens might not be profitable in the long run. Even if you call, the pot odds may not justify it, especially since you could be priced out of the pot after the flop.
To become profitable with pocket sevens, you should not only hit a set (Three-of-a-Kind) when the flop opens, but you should also be the strongest hand on the table when the river round kicks in and not get against an opponent with a flush, straight or an over-set (another set that is higher than yours). Therefore, hitting a set in the early stages of a tournament is better when the pot is still multi-way, and when you have a low-rank set, chances are you might have the strongest hand in the table.
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Raise the raiser
When the bubble is about to burst, many players start playing cautiously in the tighter range. It creates opportunities for aggressive players to take advantage of this situation.
In these stages, some players build their stacks by raising with a wider range of hands. The players should try to revert to these aggressive players by re-raising their raises. It will force them to think about how to proceed further in cases where they are raising with weak hands. It can prove effective because those players may not be ready to risk their entire tournament for a weak hand, especially at the bubble.
If you are holding a deep stack, you can simply flat-call against these raisers instead of re-raising them. The strategies discussed above help players accumulate some chips against players who are either playing very loose or have gone over-conservative and are focused on survival.
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Read the dynamics of the table
The decision to play loose or tight depends on the texture of your table. If your table is playing loose, you should play tight and vice versa. One factor to consider is to see if there are no players who have smaller stacks with them, as such players can often go all-in with a much wider range of hands. Another factor to observe is how much the table respects the raises from early positions like Under The Gun. If the table respects by either folding or flat-calling early position raises, then it will be easy to grab the blinds without much dispute. If there is some player who does a lot of flat-calling, and if you are able to play a good game post-flop, then this strategy will work for you.
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Analyse the draw moves
Although post-flop gameplay in a multi-table tournament is not as crucial as in a high-stake cash game, it holds significance in devising the strategy. Here, it becomes important to analyse the community cards and, based on the pre-flop and post-flop moves, try to define a hand range for the opponents. Understanding this is the key to making informed decisions. Differentiate between how an opponent behaves when they hit the draw versus when they miss hitting a draw. If the opponent plays slowly on a draw, you can build pressure on them by betting further in the turn round. This way, you can adapt your strategy by observing their behaviour once the flop hits the board.
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Know your neighbour
You need to know more about the players sitting at the table's left and right sides. If you know more about the players sitting beside you, you can adapt your playing style accordingly. With every hand, you must handle late position bets and blind battles. If you are able to read these players, you can win some easy hands against them. If the player to your right likes to open from the late position but hesitates to go all-in in response to an all-in, then you can bluff with them with not-so-good hands. You might win some pots. On the other hand, if this player is aggressive and has a stack close to 25 BB, you can avoid playing with wide poker ranges with them to save some chips.
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Learn to build pressure on your opponents
You must learn to build pressure on your opponents if you want to see a drastic improvement in your game. Profitable and successful players are quite good at doing this. On dry flops where straights and flushes are impossible, suppose a flop A-5-2, all of the different suits, you can keep building pressure by raising the pot sizes and then observing how your opponents react to it when they don’t have such strong hands. Smart players force their opponents to make mistakes and keep winning lots of small value pots against them to build pressure. Then, they capitalise on those mistakes once they get some good, unbeatable hands.
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Adapt quickly to table dynamics
When you are at the final table and notice a player with a significantly small chip stack, this is an opportunity for you to exert pressure on your opponents. Currently, your opponents will mainly be preoccupied with moving up in the prize pool, so they may hesitate to challenge you directly, hoping instead to see the player with the short stack get eliminated. Once that player is gone, expect the table dynamics to shift; remaining players often become more aggressive in their gameplay. In response, consider changing the tempo of your game, as your previous aggressive actions will have impacted how others think of you. Skilled MTT players adapt their playing styles, responding effectively to the changing dynamics at the table.
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Don’t get fixated on prize pool
Getting fixated on the prize pool and payouts during a tournament is a sure-shot technique to distort your judgment and influence your decision-making. You should always focus on playing to win and trust your intuition while playing a tournament. If you are not occasionally taking risks in poker, you are likely not engaging in enough strategic play. It can make you an easy target for your opponents. When others think you can make unpredicted moves, it makes you a more challenging competitor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best opening hand strategy in the early stages of MTTs?
It is best to play a tight-aggressive style in the early stages, focusing on strong hands like high pairs and premium-suited connectors. Since blinds are low, avoid speculative hands unless the pot odds are favourable. Observe opponents to plan for later stages.
How do you adjust your Poker MTT strategy as blinds increase?
As blinds increase, you need to open up your range and become more aggressive, especially if you have a medium or large stack. Look to steal blinds and antes to maintain a healthy stack while playing tighter if your stack is short.
How to play on the bubble?
On the bubble, many players tighten up to secure a cash finish, creating opportunities for aggression. If you have a healthy stack, use this stage to steal blinds from cautious players. If you are short-stacked, choose strong hands to go all-in.
How do you get better at MTT poker?
To improve at MTT poker, study various tournament strategies, practice regularly, analyze your gameplay, and review your hands. Focus on understanding different stages of the tournament position play, and learn how to adjust your tactics based on opponents' behaviours to enhance your overall performance.
What is the MTT format in poker?
MTT in poker stands for Multi-Table Tournament, a poker format where many players compete at multiple tables. Players buy in, and as they get eliminated, tables consolidate until a final table is reached, determining the tournament winner based on total chips won.
Conclusion
Poker MMT strategy requires an adaptable mindset, where you shift your approach based on the tournament stage, stack sizes, and the playing style of your opponents. The early stage requires a solid, conservative approach, while the late and final stages demand increased aggression. Properly applying these strategies will increase your chances of going deep and winning the tournament.