Large Multi-Table Tournaments are tough

I am quite sure we can all tell stories about how we went deep in a poker tournament. But how about going deep in a large multi-table poker tournament? Now that is not only tough to do but also requires a lot of luck to get there. This past weekend I decided to try my luck in several of the larger online poker tournaments. By larger I mean 1500 entries or more. It just so happens that the tournament I played was a no limit tourney with 3997 players.

Yes, that is a whole lot of poker players and the odds are certainly against you but I went on to take down a few bucks and finished 225 after 4 hours of play. Strangely enough I tend to do quite well playing in large fields. I really believe the reason for that is a little more than just playing well. The reason is that I pick the right spots to get my money in when it matters most. I manage risk / reward better than most of the field in larger tournaments. A lot of players will take flush draws early for their entire stack or make big bluffs while I tend to lay back and wait for premium hands early. Once I double up I continue to play steady poker and accumulate chips. However, when I see an opportunity to double up against another big stack when the tournament is an hour and a half in or so. By doing so and winning those big flush draws I am then able to launch myself well above double the average stack and make a run.

The bottom line is that you must have a feel for the inflection points and not be afraid to get your chips in. Remember, in large online poker tournaments there is a lot of dead money early on. Take advantage of it and with a little luck you can make a nice run and maybe even take it down.