Surviving the Middle Stages of a Tournament
Navigating deep into a big multi table tournament is one of the best feelings you can experience in tournament poker. The exhilaration of outlasting 80% of the field gets the juices flowing and makes tournament poker so addictive. For many players though, the mid stages of a tournament is where they record the most number of busts, so working on surviving the mid stages becomes a very positive value skill.
The mid stages of a tournament is where most of the field are gone and where big stacks, mid stacks and short stacks are well defined. The big stacks are bullying the mid stacks to keep chipping away and looking out for the win, where as the short stacks are looking to aggressively double up, and do not fear death. Clearly, the toughest position is the mid stack.
Good use of the mid stack means willingness to take gambles, and restealing against big stack stealers. Big stacks themselves do not want to be eliminated or crippled so if they start stealing with a wider range, the mid stacks have to threaten with their chips to cripple the big stacks. Look for big stacks that are willing to fold to resteals and continually make pounds at their steal attempts with hands that have post flop potential and premium hands to disguise your hand strength.
If you are a short stack look for timid mid stacks to push all in so that they have to wait for premium hands before they call your all in push. Again push with hands that have post flop potential and premium hands to increase your aggression. Just taking the blinds allows you to survive a few more orbits of the table and keeps your chip stack at a respectable height.
If you are lucky enough to be a big stack, look to steal against timid players and bully the mid stack players who look like they just want to make the money. Aggression is the key and pick your spots when you call in, there is no need to gamble your chips away with marginal hands.
Surviving the middle stages of a tournament will ensure plenty more cashes and plenty more wins.
