1. Tournament Play

Early Stage

At the beginning of the tournament blinds are still low relative to the stack size, and there is a long way to go. There is no interrest to steal the blinds since they are low and its still a long way to go so not worth to try it. Survival is the goal and u shouldnt take big risks.

People who paid the entry fee dont want to get kicked out at the beginning, so if there is a raise and you haven´t got a real good hand, just fold. Remember if you loose half of your stack will affect your further play pretty much and puts you in a very bad position, but if you double up in early stage will not improove your situation that much.

In Freerolls is it very common that players go all-in in early stage with less than a premium hand on the flop in hopes of doubling up. I suggest to avoid these big bets in early stage, even if your hand looks strong. There is a good chance to get tempted to call an all-in and get drawn on the river.

Your main target is to survive and to get on to the next stage with a reasonable stack of chips.



Mid Stage

At this point about half of the players should be gone, and the blinds gain in value. This means its woth stealing the blinds. First of all your bet to steal the blinds doesnt have to be  that big in relation to the blind than in the beginning. I suggest to raise about 4-5 times the big bling the keep people away from calling. In the early stage u need to raise much more to steal the blinds. Second reason is that all the poor players who tend to call everything are gone already and the more skilled and thight players are easier to bluff with a bet in late position.

At this point of the tournament you need to evaluate where you are. If you have around half the average stack size, you need to make some moves. If your stack size is even lower, like 5-6 times the big blind or less, you must look to double up within the next hands, otherwise the blinds will eat your stack.

If you want to go all in, you should try to have an Ace or King with a decent kicker or try to get a decent pair. At the very least also with KQ, QJ, JT or so.

Late Stage

If you made it this far and you are approaching the in-the-money positions, you have done well. What now?

It depends on your stack size. If you have a large stack,and you are very close to being in-the-money, you should do a lot of raising against small-medium stacks. These people are holding very thight to sneak their way into money, and will avoid risks if they can.If you are raised or receive a large bet from these people, beware. A very small stack on the other hand, will likely be looking to make a move to survive. Be prepared for an all-in if you bet into them.

If you reach the final few tables payouts tend to increase exponentially. If you have a good size stack, don't feel the need to push people around with mediocre hands. You can sometimes easily check your way into bigger money.

To win, you must take some chances. This is the time where making the even-money calls can make sense. In addition, you must know your strengths.Are you one of the weaker players at the table, take bigger risks pre-flop with all-ins and steal blinds. Much of the edge professionals have is taken away if you limit the game to pre-flop play. Are you a very strong player? Avoid risk, and play as many hand as you can against your opponents. Take their money from them slowly but surely.

And now you know all the basics to play a tournament and only thing you need is that    LADY LUCK is playing on your side.


2. Sit and go Tournaments (10 players)

One of the hottest and intresting ways of playing poker is Sit´n go´s. And its comming up more and more, the good deal is that u can play em 24/7 online and no fixed starting times or so.

At the early stage (10-6 players) a lot of players play to loose and since there are  always some action junkies, you will end up very soon in a betting war and very likely uyou will catch a bad beat , since a lot of players go all in very early even with open ended str8 or flush draws. So rule 1 is keep cool, you want to survive the early stage. Bet only with top hands and bet em hard, since u dont want 5 callers, and you will very likely find one caller even if you got a monster hand, they want the action.

At the mid stage when about half of the players are gone (4-5 players), you should start stealing blinds, if you got some chips push the short stacked players around, they usually want to stay in desperatly to finish in the money. so if you gor some short stacked players on your left raise them preflop and dont let em see a cheap flop, but be careful with the chip leaders try to stay away from major confrontations with them.

Later when you are down to 3 players (in the payouts) be very agressive and try to steal blinds. Take control of the game, doesnt matter if uyou finish 2nd or 3rd, you take control and you should aim for the 1st pos. PLAY TO WIN




                                                                                                     
3 Texas Holdem Preflop Strategy

It is very important to get your initial decision right in your Texas Holdem game. Preflop strategy ensures that you only play hands with a good likelihood of winning. The biggest mistake beginners make is simply playing too much hands. At a table consisting of good players, the number of people seeing the flop should be between 20% and 30%, or roughly 2-3 people each hand with 10 players.+

Your Position!

First you determine what's the weakest hand you are willing to play. To do this you must figure out what position you're in. In every Texas Holdem game, there are several positions.

The Dealer has the button in front. This will be the last person to bet during Post-flop play.

The Big Blind sits 2 seats to the left of the dealer. This person has one bet already committed to the pot, and will be the last person to bet in pre-flop betting.

The Small Blind sits directly to the left of the dealer. The small blind posts half of the bet to start, and may call it when their turn comes.

Under the Gun, yhis person sits to the left of the Big Blind. Considered under the gun because they are the first person in the game to be able to make a bet.

In pre-flop play, "early position" consists of the UTG player, and the two people to their left. The next four players would be considered in "mid position". The final 3 players (includes the blinds) are considered "late position".

After the first round of betting, however, the person directly to the left of the dealer is the first to act, and all positions rotate acordingly. (the dealer becomes the last to act instead of the (Big Blinds).

Hands you should play!

These starting hands  will vary depending on the type of game you're playing. Generally positions are more important in no-limit games, since its easier to "steal the blinds" or to  "buy the pot".

Early position

AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ

Mid position

AJ AT KJ KT QJ QT Q9 JT J9 J8 T9 T8 99 88 77 55 and all adjacent cards above 5.              
If u play suited cards there shouldn't  be a gap of more than 2 cards.

Late position

44 33 22 K and A with any suited kicker and all adjacent or suited cards.