Many amateurs have had success playing Texas Hold'em in recent years, especially in big tournaments where no names have won millions of dollars. Most of them winning the fee to the tournament by entering one of numerous satellites that most online poker rooms have. But most of these amateurs disappear from sight after their first victory, never to be heard from again. Some players though, seem to consistently appear at the final tables of the big events. How do they do it? What are the strategies of the top Texas Hold'em players concerning big tournaments?

As with many competitive endeavors, top strategies can vary from player to player. Different pros have developed different styles that they are comfortable with, and what works for them does not necessarily work for the next player. What is important is that whatever their style is, they usually stick to that style. Of course, if the situation warrants it they do adjust their playing style, for instance, when they reach the final table and there are just a few players left in the tournament even the tightest pro plays more aggressively. A word of warning, the strategy a certain pro employs when he plays live poker doesnÂ’t necessarily have to be the strategy he use when he plays poker online, there have been many occasions when pros playing a solid live game have been playing very loose when playing tournaments in an online casino.

Tight and Preserving Players
Players like Phil Hellmuth and T.J. Cloutier advertise that a super tight strategy is right. They feel that the key, especially early in tournaments, is to survive. They are not interested in getting their chips in with small edges, as a bad beat will end their tournament lives. They would rather wait to trap an opponent for a lot of chips when they have a monster, and are not afraid to lay down big hands in order to avoid potentially devastating confrontations in the early and mid-stages of a tournament.


Aggressive and Risk-Taking Players
Players like Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, and Erick Lindgren, advocate the exact opposite strategy. They are
playing to win, not just to get into the money, and they feel the only way to do that is to amass a lot of chips early. They are willing to gamble it up in order to build their stacks. If they lose, they have saved a lot of time that they can now use to play in cash games or get rested for the next tournament. These players feel that to play conservatively for five hours only to get busted just out of the money, or after winning little more than their buy in, is a waste of valuable time. On the other hand, these are skilled big stack players, and if they get hold of a lot of chips early, they are able to use these chips aggressively to bully their more timid opponents and give themselves a great chance to win.


Somewhere in the Middle
Top players in between the above mentioned styles advocate a “changing gears” strategy. They like to play conservatively for the first few rounds and then change up their game, moving chips aggressively. This can be effective, as players who have been paying attention will not expect these players to bet with anything but a very strong hand, and they can get much more value from bluffs or semi-bluffs. It’s also more important to steal blinds in the latter stages of a tournament than early on. This is probably the playing style most semi-good players abide by. And to be honest it’s seems to work rather well since many players with this style ends up “in the money”.

The thing all of these top players have in common is that they have a great deal of experience. They played in many tournaments over many years to learn what worked for them. Whatever style you think will be best for you, try it out with smaller tournaments and see if you are comfortable. If it feels like it is working, go ahead and move up. If not, you may want to adjust your style.


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