How do you adjust your strategy as the tournament progresses?

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a lot of MTTs lately and wanted to start a discussion about adjusting your strategy throughout the various stages of a tournament. I feel like the start, middle, and end of the game (especially the ICM-rich spots) all require very different mindsets and approaches.

A few questions to stimulate discussion:

How do the ranges on your hands change from the early to the late stages?

Are you loosening or tightening the bubble?

What are your favorite tactics for accumulating chips in the middle stages without looking back?

Any ICM tips for the latest table game you swear at?

I would like to know how you are all navigating these changing dynamics. Let's share what thoughts and sharpen everyone's borders!

GL at the tables!

Hi! I will try to input my ideas as best I can do!

- "How do the ranges on your hands change from the early to the late stages?"

They vary a lot. Basically in early stages you should adopt a tight strategy playing a very narrow range avoiding risking your tournament life early. (But on the other hand early stage is a good spot for fishing for chips against loose opponents since there is a lot of them in early stage of a tourney.)
And in late stages you should play more hands with wide range and fight for blinds.

- "Are you loosening or tightening the bubble?"

I dont know if I understood properly but I think you meant if I'm playing more loose or tight on the bubble. If so, my way of playing is according to my stack. So if I have +45bb and I'm CL or close to CL I'm definitly putting pressure and playing very loose with a wide range, on a lot of positions, even UTG, UTG+.
But if short stack, tight is the way.

- "What are your favorite tactics for accumulating chips in the middle stages without looking back?"

being a "calling station" with bluff catchers. Letting them try to bluff me xD


( funny observation: the way I responded your post sounded like I'm a pro famous player giving a live interview to a magazine xD xD)

anasslaaleg said:

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a lot of MTTs lately and wanted to start a discussion about adjusting your strategy throughout the various stages of a tournament. I feel like the start, middle, and end of the game (especially the ICM-rich spots) all require very different mindsets and approaches.

A few questions to stimulate discussion:

How do the ranges on your hands change from the early to the late stages?

Are you loosening or tightening the bubble?

What are your favorite tactics for accumulating chips in the middle stages without looking back?

Any ICM tips for the latest table game you swear at?

I would like to know how you are all navigating these changing dynamics. Let's share what thoughts and sharpen everyone's borders!

GL at the tables!

Click to expand...

I disagree with that you should tighten up early. Early in the tournament you should generally play ChipEV, the normal ranges. As ICM pressure rises (there are two main spot where ICM is the highest: on the bubble and at the beginning of the final table, though ICM pressure also increases near the payout jumps in the money) your strategy changes depending on your relative stack to other tournament players (shortstack) and the players at your table (big stack and mid stack).

If you are the smallest stack on the bubble or at final table, you are basically playing ChipEV but somewhat a bit tighter. If you are a short stack, but there are people who are much shorter than you, you are going to technically be a midstack, in other cases you also play a slightly tighter version of ChipEV.

Midstacks, on the other hand, as the ICM preesure rises, should nit a lot, especially against other midstacks and big stacks. They are basically the ones who are the most negatively affected by ICM, as they can't afford busting before the shortstacks but still have a big chance to bust or become shortstacks if the collide against other players.

If you are a big stack, especially if the other bigstacks on your table folded, you play very agressively, capitalizing on the fact that midstacks should nit by the rules of ICM, and you have barely any chance to bust against anyone. Technically, you may consider avoiding busting the shortstacks, because if they bust, midstacks can get looser and you won't be able to steal pots easily. But you still need to generally avoid colliding against other big stacks. If you by some chance collide with them, do not be too agressive and play more cautiously.

All of that may look a bit too exploitable, but if you ignore that, the real person exploited will sadly be you, as playing ChipEV as a midstack under ICM pressure or playing too agressively against other bigstacks, you will be just giving out free money to unrelated shortstacks, who will be able to cash / survive payout jumps more easily.

Also, I might add, as the final table progresses, ICM pressure falls drastically. When there are 2 players left, there is no ICM pressure left, as you are basically playing an all-or-nothing game.

Adjusting your strategy is a necessary process to improve your results and adapt to different situations at the table. This involves analyzing your own play, studying your opponents' strategies, and making changes to your approach.They say poker is easy to learn but difficult to master.Poker is a mathematical game, and it is a game of incomplete data.