Pros and Cons of Tournament Style Hold'em

A lot of people world wide prefer playing heads up or even a 4 or 5 person table. However, the majority of people prefer playing a 9 person table because it provides a a greater variety. It also increases the money pool, as each player buys in a certain amount prior to sitting down at a tournament. Tournament style is the most sophisticated way of playing Texas Hold'em. It allows players to capture the true beauty of playing in tournaments and the joys that go along with it. Every player's tournament individually has a climax. Certain players begin tournaments better than others. However, a tournament truly is more about the journey than the finish line.

It's important for players to not get caught up in looking ahead to the prize of the rewards before they get through the tournament. In the World Series of Poker, for example, the majority of chip leaders on day one in the past few years failed to get to the Final Table. It's easy for a person to play more loosely when he or she has a lot of chips. A tournament is a game of stamina, and requires players to brace themselves for a long, grueling battle.



Most tournaments begin with a standard small blind and big blind. Blinds are expected to raise after pre-determined increments of time. In a lot of tournaments, the blinds raise every fifteen to twenty minutes. Therefore, players need to constantly be alert and active during tournaments. Tournament-style is not for faint hearted, conservative players; conservative players, or players who only play "good" hands, often times find themselves at a disadvantage. They won't often be dealt extremely good hands.

Conservative players are also highly predictable. Most tournament winners are players who are known to switch up the style if their play, manipulate their opponents, and play aggressively. According to Steve Badger from playingwinningpoker.com,"Your tournament actions should be dictated by one consistent goal -- maximizing your financial expectation". In other words, Badger is stating that the key goal to winning a poker tournament consisted of being efficient enough to maximize the amount of chips and money.

In order to do this, one must attempt to gain the most out of every winning hand. Joe Cada, who recently won the World Series of Poker Main Event, had less than one percent of the chips in play at one point during the tournament. However, he maximized his financial expectation, which enabled him to maximize his net gain in chips. Although tournament style poker takes some time to get used to, it's the most rewarding form of playing around the world.


Sources:
http://maltapokerevents.com/Portals/4/images/events/Monthly%20Tournaments%20-%20October/October%20Edition%20Main%20Event/aMRK_4755.jpg

http://www.playwinningpoker.com/poker/tournaments/winning/