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How to run deep at an EPT Tournament

05-10-2017 12:19:04 AM

Modern day tournaments are hardly won alone. Despite poker being an individual sport and everyone competing for the top spot, it is an endurance sport and not unlike a cross country or triathlon race. The best players in the field can't expect to win every or any tournament. There are a plethora of variables; some controllable and some not.

1. Size of the field
It goes without saying that in multi-table tournaments, the smaller the field, the earlier you will get to the final table with small enough blinds, and the greater your chance of winning. Tournament structures typically are made to account for the size of the field so that you don't show up at the final 2 tables to a shove fest. But the structure of EPT (turbo) tournaments, have never changed. So when there are multiple tournaments running daily simultaneously, it is absolutely in your favor to pick the location with a history of the smallest field.

2. Type of players
The amateurs have knowledge about their own hands and the board and that's it. You meet them all the time at the EPT. They play their cards face up: calling when they are on a draw, raising when they have the nuts, and folding when they have nothing. They never bluff or know how to bluff. And most telling of all, these rookies love to show the winning hand.

Good players have the added info of knowing the range of their opponents' hands and their style of play, which is an invaluable resource. I never go into a tournament with a set strategy. I adapt to the type of players on my table. After sitting down to a few hands, you should know when to tighten up against the loose aggros and hope to get all of your stack in on premium hands, and when to bully and steal the blinds against recs who limp/check around to you.

3. Characteristics of a winner
That said, those who have won tournaments would tell you that they were typically 1) fairly aggressive, 2) lucky, and 3) respected.

Aggression is important, especially when it's early. One night I won two key hands before dinner break and maintained a comfortable stack of 50k from that point 'til the final table.

Luck goes without saying. Getting dealt premium hands allow you to make more plays. Winning coin flips is crucial.

When you have a great table image, your raises become uncontested by mediocre hands that might suck out on you. It's much better to win smaller pots than to lose big ones. This is why I love to play at Lowell. On the contrary, if you chose the wrong tournament where nobody is respected and the players are very unpredictable, then it comes to simply who got lucky with the board. And this is why I stopped playing at N Shore.

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Results so far:
LWLL Highest finish: 4th, Average Pts: 60
CMA Highest finish: 4th, Average Pts: 52
NSHR Highest finish: 5th, Average Pts: 37
CHAR Highest finish: 7th, Average Pts: 44