Understanding Poker Tournament Stages

Lately I have been reading Poker Wizards by Warwick Dunnett. Warwick has been on the poker scene for a number of years and has gathered some of the best poker minds together to contribute to his book. One of the things that kind of stood out to me is the consensus that each of the players came to regarding playing the tournament in stages. Almost to a man each player identified pivotal points in the tournament where it was necessary to take risk even if it meant busting out.

Clearly the idea in playing a poker tournament is to accumulate chips as you progress until you have them all. I believe we all understand that. However, that is an overly simplified explanation of the journey. What I took from the book is that there is a natural speed to a poker tournament and that speed is not necessarily the same for each player at the table. Your chip count and the blind structure of the poker tournament will likely determine just how fast or slow you must play.

At the same time your eyes should always be looking toward the Final Table and having a competitive stack when you get there. Some poker players suggest that poker is a game of survival. There is a lot of truth in that statement but if survival means squeaking into the money then it really doesn't do a whole lot for you. The early stages of a poker tournament you are usually playing small pots and looking to determine who the weaker players are so that you can target them. The middle stages of the tournament you have likely accumulated some chips and are looking to grow your stack one pot at a time.

By the time the late stages of the tournament come around you either have a competitive stack, a monster stack or you are looking to get your chips in to gain some traction in hopes of making a run at the Final Table. By understanding where you are in relation to the players left and the stage of the tournament you are in we can all make better risk assessment judgments as we continue to play the tourney. The more understanding you have of this concept the better off you are going to be.