Ariston and on - MTT Series - The Final Table

Ok, you will now be greeted by a message saying "congratulations you have reached the final table".

Take a second to look at the prize structure and leader board. If you are sat in 3rd position in chips at that moment, it is the worst position you should be looking at. Do not allow yourself to finish any lower than where you are currently sat. The money is very heavily weighted towards the top 2/3, so don’t go committing suicide in the first few rounds. This is the time to sit back and allow people to cut each others throats. You will usually find you will be down to six players in no time as the short stacks go mental. Sometimes the big stacks step out of line and need re-raising. If you suspect a large stack is raising too much and trying to run over the table simply re-raise all-in with any 2 cards, this will slow him down (obviously only do this if you have enough chips that he can pass. Sometimes it is mathematically correct for him to call you with any 2.

Similar to the previous stages of the game; if you are stealing the blinds then steal hard. Do not give anyone the option of re-raising you to make you pass. The blinds are huge by now and you need to steal or win at least one set of blinds per round. Do not always do this from the cut off or the button as the blinds will eventually get bored and call you. A steal from up front is just as effective as people tend to respect it a little more. A re-steal like the one above is one of the strongest moves in poker - it doesn’t just win you the blinds, it also wins you all the original raise. Because of these extra chips, you may only need to use this once every few rounds.

Manage your stack carefully. As players get knocked out, your stack size should be raising gradually. Do not allow yourself to ante away and become a short stack. If you are card cold simply play rags very aggressively, AA is worth exactly the same as J3 if no-one calls your all-in. If you are a large stack, try to avoid too much confrontation with the other large stacks. They will be doing the same which will allow you to get away with the odd re-steal but do it at the wrong time and there will be an accident. Pick on the short stacks with any 2 cards. It doesn’t matter too much if they wake up with a hand as it wont hurt you too much if you lose the pot (then again your rags may get lucky).

When you get 4 or 5 handed, the game changes completely. You can sit and wait for a hand to double up with or you can pound away. The problem with waiting for a hand is that by the time you get one you may be so low, one of the big stacks calls and outdraws you. I will raise all-in with any 2 pictures, most aces, any pair and quite a few suited connectors. Note I said raise all-in, I will only call someone all-in with certain hands. If the all-in call is against a big stack, I need a monster. If it is a short stack I may call with any junk.

You are not playing your cards or playing a player anymore, you are battling stacks. Get lucky! Online you will need some luck at this stage because everyone will be raising with all sorts. If you call an all-in with AK and find he beats you with 78 don’t complain. The odds aren’t really that much against him and remember he stuck his chips in - you were the one that called. You will need to get lucky with your bad hands and will need to be lucky that your hands stand up. I have lost count of how many times I have been told how lucky I am when I hit someone with a strange hand. It is better to be lucky than good but you will make your own luck by how you play.

If someone is constantly putting in baby raises, they can be easily picked off using the stop and go play from the blinds. I wasn’t going to include this play in the article but as it has been commented on so much by the commentators in the BPO I feel you probably all know about it now anyway. Simply call the initial raise from the BB or SB and bet the flop whatever falls. He only improves his hand between 30 and 40% of the time on the flop so it makes it difficult for him to call (obviously this play is designed to make him pass so check if you flop a monster).

When 3 handed or heads up then everything you have read in books goes out of the window. The blinds and antes are now so big, aggression is the only option! Get your chips in the pot first and hope to get lucky when called. Heads up any ace or pair is huge and even most kings/queens are worth getting busy with. Try sitting at home with a deck of cards and some chips. Deal each person a hand face up and decide your bet before the cards are dealt - could the other person have called? You will now see how much junk gets dealt and how unlucky the aggressor will have to be to lose. Never be afraid to lose and get knocked out, to win one of these things you have to be willing to go broke. This may seem a strange concept but I don’t think I have ever won a tournament without being at risk of being knocked out at some stage.

With a bit of luck you now have enough basic knowledge to win one of the MTTs on Betfair Poker. There are obviously a lot more intricacies to the game but everyone has to start somewhere. I promise you the first tournament you win will just make you hungrier to win more and more. Once this game has a hold of you it never lets go.

Ariston