MTT Poker Strategy
MTTs, short for multi-table tournaments, are well-known poker events held worldwide. They offer big winnings and exciting poker play. MTTs consist of several tables, each seating 9 to 10 players aiming for a spot at the final table. Various poker games are played, but Texas Hold’em is the most common. Both amateur poker fans and seasoned pros should learn MTT rules. There are many types of MTTs, like turbos, freerolls, freezeouts, and short-handed pot limit Omaha. Before entering an MTT, players should choose out of their preferred poker variants like those available on BLITZPOKER. This article on MTT Poker Strategy will help you elevate your game and maximise your chances of success.
MTTs are fascinating because they evolve throughout the tournament. Your strategy must adapt as the game progresses and you must adjust constantly to stay ahead of your opponents. It’s crucial to understand their possible moves better than they understand yours. You must frequently reassess both your table and your approach.
How Do Multi-table Poker Tournaments (MTTs) Work?
In Multi-table Poker tournaments, players pay an entry fee, typically 10% of the buy-in, to get a set of poker chips. Each player gets to begin with the same number of chips. If a player loses all their chips, they are out of the game, and the remaining players compete for the prize pool. To re-enter, you will need extra money.
These tournaments start with many players. As players get eliminated, tables merge until one champion remains. Usually, the top ten per cent of players receive prizes, depending on the tournament format.
Play in Multi-table Poker tournaments, including satellite or other online poker events, only if you aim to play at an advanced level and win big. You can’t win in the early stages, and developing a strategy takes time and practice. Hundreds of hours of effort are needed to win. However, a good start can increase your chances of going far in the tournament.
MTT Poker Strategy
This section covers MTT Poker Strategy, offering essential tips and tactics to help you navigate the complexities of multi-table tournaments so that you can outlast and crush your competition at MTTs.
Defend Your Blind Often
In today’s MTT poker, most players make small raises. The usual open raise is between 2x and 2.5x. This makes defending the big blind important since the calling odds are very favourable.
Imagine you’re in the blind with 50,000 chips. The blinds are 1000/2000 with a 2000 ante.
There’s already 5000 in the pot. The button raises to 4000, so the pot now has 9000. You need to call 2000 to win 11000, needing about 18% equity to make a profitable call. Any two cards can have that much equity against a button’s opening range. This means, theoretically, you could call with any two cards.
But, because of your positional disadvantage, you should play tighter as you might not realise all your equity post-flop. Against late position opens, call with almost all suited hands, connected off-suit hands, and high cards like an Ace or King, no matter the other card. As the opener’s position gets earlier, call less. However, suited connectors, pairs, and off-suit Broadway hands should always be called against a single raise in the big blind.
When 3-betting, use a polarized range. This includes your strongest hands and some weak bluffs while flat-calling everything else.
Know Your Opponents
GTO strategy has been popular recently. Some players swear by it. But you don’t always need GTO poker to beat most MTT players.
At lower levels, play exploitatively. Opponents make big mistakes you can exploit. Stay focused in a tournament. Watch how each player at your table reacts in different situations.
Identify nits, maniacs, or solid regs. This helps you make plays that you couldn’t in other situations. Spotting a nit allows big folds when they’re aggressive. Even with a good hand, it may not be enough against them.
Know which players bluff too often. You can stack them off with mediocre hands or trap them with strong ones. Each poker player is unique. Understanding your opponents is key to exploiting their tendencies.
Practice ICM Scenarios
The Independent Chip Model (ICM) helps determine the value of tournament chips in real money. It’s a vital tool in tournament poker. MTTs have payout structures that don’t give all the money to the winner. Chips in tournaments aren’t worth as much as in cash games.
Chip value decreases over time. At the final table, it’s often less than expected. ICM strategy helps decide if calling an all-in at the final table is profitable or if it’s better to fold and wait for a pay jump. Though it may seem cowardly, playing safe is often the best strategy near the final table.
ICM can’t be calculated on the spot. Use an ICM simulator to practise common scenarios for real tournament play. Mastering ICM improves your final table results and increases your overall ROI over time.
MTT Poker Strategy: Get Aggressive in Later Stages
In later stages of a tournament, increase aggression. Stealing blinds becomes crucial.
In the early phase, stealing small blinds with a big stack isn’t significant. But with a dwindling stack, successful steals are critical.
Get aggressive in later positions. Target weak players who don’t defend their blinds well, common in lower-stakes tournaments.
Besides raising in unopened pots, learn re-stealing to add more chips to your stack.
With a 20 to 30 big blind stack, find good hands to 3-bet bluff against mid and late position opens. Force folds from opponents.
Against strong players who 4-bet often, use hands like A8s, K9s, or KQ. These block strong hands and can force folds. Fold if you face a 4-bet.
Against softer players who call 3-bets but 4-bet monsters, add hands like AQ, KQs, or 99 to your 3-betting range. Focus on value more often than bluffing.
Learn How to Play Heads Up
Payouts in poker tournaments are top-heavy. You’ll play big heads-up matches occasionally. It’s crucial to master heads-up play. Be ready for one-on-one when it comes.
In heads-up matches, ICM is irrelevant. It’s a direct competition with significant money at stake. Often, the match is worth hundreds of average buy-ins. Mastering heads-up play gives an edge over many opponents who aren’t strong in these situations. You don’t want to rely on luck against a better opponent.
Study heads-up strategy and practise in smaller stakes heads-up games. Keep your heads-up skills sharp for when it matters.
Be Aware of Position at All Times
Positional awareness is vital for success. Adjust your play based on your seat and the tournament stage.
Play tighter in early positions, looser in late ones. Understand the difference between small blind and big blind. As the tournament progresses, adjust your cutoff and button ranges. Steal as many blinds & antes as you can from those positions. From the big blind, you’ll play many hands due to the favourable price for defending.
From the small blind, avoid getting too involved. 3-bet more to counter the positional disadvantage and eliminate the big blind. Learn various tricks for different spots. Always be aware of your position, your opponent’s position, and what it means for both ranges.
MTT Poker Strategy: Challenging the Raisers
Top multi-table tournament players often target the ‘final table bubble’ and the ‘in the money’ bubble. Although bubble play online isn’t as profitable as it used to be due to aggressive strategies, there are still ways to exploit it, especially in smaller tournaments. One effective method is to re-raise players who raise with a wide range of hands or to flat-call in position and play post-flop, particularly if you have a deep stack.
Mastering Post-Flop Play
Post-flop play is crucial in MTTs, even if it’s not as critical as in deeper-stacked cash games. Evaluate flops and put your opponent on a range to determine how likely they are to have hit the flop. This helps you decide whether to continuation-bet. Notice if a player plays their draws fast or slow. If they play draws fast and just call your flop bet, you can represent the draw. If they play draws slowly, you can price them out by betting again when the board is a brick.
Keeping Up the Pressure
Many online players excel at getting inside their opponents’ heads and forcing mistakes. To do this, keep your opponents under constant pressure. Win smaller pots without strong hands, such as raising their bets on dry flops like an A-8-2 rainbow. The key is to recognise when they’ve had enough and then pick up a good hand to hold. This skill can’t be taught; it comes with experience.
Adjusting Your Strategy
At a final table, if one player has a much shorter stack than the others, you can apply pressure on your opponents. They will likely wait for the short stack to bust to move up in the money, avoiding playing back at you without strong hands. Once the short stack is out, players will be more willing to gamble. At this point, switch gears and slow down, as your image will be loose. The best MTT players can change their strategies seamlessly.