Mid Stage Tournament Strategy

Mid Stage Tournament Strategy is different than other stages because this is the time where you should know your table well enough to pick up small pots and chip away at your opponents stacks. Playing the middle part of tournaments you should start to pick up aggression, but not go overboard with aggression. The aggression you want at this stage of the tournament is called “selective aggression.” This means that you want to pick on certain players blinds and play hands in position. Also, you want to play pots that you feel that you can win after all is said and done. If you are picking good spots to chip up; this is ideal.

You should know who is at your table from observing throughout the early portion of the tournament, and be capitalizing on all of their mistakes to get the most value out of your poker bonus amount. This is the time of the tournament where you can begin to pick off the overly aggressive players and trap them in pots. If you pick a hand up like aces against an aggressive player you can even just flat call them before the flop, and pick up aggression on the flop or turn. The aggressive players will build pots for you to win at this stage and the key if you do get aces or kings is to build a pot up. If you make a big re-raise before the flop against an aggressive player most of the time they will lay their hand down, and you will only get their original raise returned to your stack. If you can trap them to making two bets at the pot that is the best situation for you because you are collecting two streets of equity along with what you picked up calling their raise before the flop.

The middle stage of tournaments you should also be opening your range of hands up from the button and cutoff position. If players perceive you as being a tighter player this is the time to take down pots that other players don’t want. The blinds are significant enough to pick up at this point, and that is what you should be doing. Of course, from the button the game should be easier especially if the action folded around. Most players if they do get a big hand will make a big raise before the flop to your opening raise, and you can throw your hand away not losing much. That doesn’t happen too often because if you have a tight image most players will just call rather than make a raise. A lot of the time you can win small pots from the button and they do add up. If you do get caught in a bluff you can still give the hand up and not lose a good deal of your stack. Losing the least and gaining the most is something to stay focused on throughout the tournament, but more so this stage of the tournament. At this stage you want to build your stack and you can’t do that by making a big audacious bluff at a pot. Semi-bluffing is alright at this stage because you can disguise your hand well enough if you do hit it to get paid off and double through.