Making the Money in Tournament Poker
By James Worth

Hurray! You have made the money in the tournament that you are playing. All that stress and anxiety drops away immediately when you hear the floor man announce, "Dealer's stop after the next hand, congratulations all, you have made the money."

The couple of hours leading up to the bubble in a tournament have to be one of the most enjoyable times in the event. Early in the tournament, everything seems to drag on without all that much drama or excitement. But, when you get close to the money, the blinds are generally quite high - even a little mistake can cripple you and keep you from making the money. The real excitement and adrenaline rush starts now. This is where the real tournament starts. This is where your instincts have to be their sharpest. It is where you have to use all the information that you have accumulated on your opponents to exploit any weakness in their game to your advantage. This is where you can set yourself up to not only make the money, but be a contender to win the tournament outright.

Manoeuvring within the money round

With the size of the fields increasing in most events these days, most tournaments are paying more than one table. With most payout structures, other than the final table, all players at a table will receive the same amount of money. This amount increases with each table closer to the final table. For instance, everyone on the third table might be paid $1000 and everyone from the second table paid $2000. Usually, you won't see an increase in the prize money based on each player eliminated until you have reached the final table.

Thus, when you are in the money but not yet at the final table, what happens is a series of bubbles as the prize money increases with each full table that is eliminated. For example, if they are nine player tables, typically 10th through to 18th place will pay the same. 19th place through to 27th place will pay the same, but less than the tier after and so on. You might be playing in a tournament that pays 5 tables total. The first bubble would be at 46th place, the second bubble would be at 37th place, the next would be at 28th place, the next at 19th place, and the final bubble would be at 10th place. From the final bubble to first place, the payout increases with each player eliminated.

A lot of things happen as soon as you make it into the first money round. You may have waited 30 minutes to an hour to bust that last person before the money round. Now, all of a sudden, you will start to hear, "Seat open, seat open, seat open," as players who have hung on for dear life to make the money will now risk their stacks in an effort to double up and stand a chance at making the next money tier. If you are one of the short stacks that just squeaked into the money, this will be your time to start to gamble. Waiting any longer will mean certain death as the blinds and antes eat through your stack. This will be the time that you use the reads you received on your opponents to isolate who you want to go against to create your opportunity to steal their blinds, or even double through. You might gamble on that pair you are looking at or that ace staring back at you, when you find the players have folded to you pre-flop. Or, you might throw out that old football play - the Hail Mary Pass - praying for a miracle double to happen to your stack. There is only one way to survive blinds that are horrifically high compared to your stack: take initiative and create your own opportunity. Unless you go on a heater of great cards at just the right time, this is the point where you can really gamble as you have made the money and no long fear walking away with nothing.

For the mid position stacks, making the money allows you to be a bit choosy in your starting hands. You can no longer steal with virtual immunity, as the shorter stacks don't have the same fear and anxiety level they had before the bubble. Now, you can relax a bit and go back to doing what you were doing before the bubble time. Sometimes, smart stack management at this point will allow you to move up through the money levels almost by default as the shorter stacks gamble it up and bust out when they miss. You must play the game you played through most of the body of the tournament.

The short stacks, now taking leaps of faith, might give you the opportunity to add a good amount to your stack without busting out. The only draw back is, short stacks typically see all five cards on the board because they will usually bet all in pre-flop, frequently reducing your ability to protect your starting hand. As players reduce in number, the play changes because most players go back into survival mode, trying to make the next money tier.

This is, again, the opportunity to chip up and get over the hump. Here's where you can put the pressure on by entering a pot for a raise. Your opponent will think hard about calling when the next money level is in sight. All he has to do is hang on for a couple of more players to bust to make more on his tournament day. Most players, again, start to play scared.

This, again, opens the opportunity to increase your stack size by stealing more than your share - enter pots raising.

The bigger stacks at each table now have a wonderful opportunity to call against a charging fearless short stack without much fear of hurting their position too badly. The aggressive blind stealing time is over against the shorter stacks for a while, but the opportunity is there to make a call against a shorter stack that you feel is now gambling. Bigger stacks have a great chance to really increase their stack size and eliminate the charging all-in small-stacked bettors.

On the other hand, there is another style of big stack play. There are many players that masterfully stay out of the way of the charging players and let the shorter stacks bust each other out. They play possum and lay low until the next bubble and then use their stacks to play aggressively. They will use this opportunity to chip up, playing off the player's fears and anxiety.

These players will stay out of the way of the gamblers and wait for the players to start playing more cautiously. Both styles of play work well and shouldn't be ignored to potentially maximize your chip position. Again, based on the information that you should have received by now on your opponent's styles of play in different circumstances, you should be able to choose the correct path to take.

The different bubble times that you find yourself faced with should not be viewed as a feared, stressful time. It is probably one of the best opportunities you have to set yourself up to potentially win the tournament.

Enjoy the adrenaline rush, use the reads that you've accumulated on your opponents, and go after the big prize. Your opponents aren't going to hand you the victory, it is up to you to go after and take it. Knock 'em dead.

Knock Em Dead

Jim *KrazyKanuck* Worth