Tournament poker can be a great deal of fun, I play it all the time. As a tournament progresses and blinds grow, luck plays more of a role.  Even skilled players cannot win every time, but there are some fundamental approaches I take to the game to improve chances of winning. This is a in-depth poker article, learn poker at a more basic level under this link.

Early on, Tight Is Right

It’s a fundamental truth in tournament poker that you can lose a tournament in the first round, but you can’t win it. Keep this in mind. There’s no good reason to commit a lot of chips in the first round or two of a tournament without a monster hand. The blinds are so small that they are not worth risking a lot of chips to win. Play conservatively, observe your opponents and try to gather information for use in later rounds when the blinds are big and the pots are more valuable.

Bubble Play

As you approach the money bubble, you will have to make a decision. Are you going to try to sneak into the money or go for a big chip grab?  If you have a lot of chips, the bubble is the perfect opportunity to pick up more. Many poker tournament players with medium stacks won’t want to tangle with you because they don’t want to get knocked out right before the money. If a small stack calls you, it won’t hurt you that much. But here player information is very important, don’t call with a weak hand if your opponent have folded a large amount of hands recently.

Final Table Play

At the final table, you may find that everyone’s stack is small, relative to the blinds. If this is the case, it is a good time to make a deal and chop up the prize pool.
The fairest way to do this is according to chip count. If deal making is not allowed or if someone doesn’t want to, play on and don’t be afraid to get those chips in the middle. You’ve gone as far as your skill can take you and now it’s in the hands of the poker gods. Either way, making the final table is quite an accomplishment.