Early Stage MTT Strategy

Early stage MTT strategy has a contradiction, while there will never be more inexperienced opponents at the tables - these same opponent's 'crazy' plays can increase your risk and variance considerably. You also have deep chip stacks in relation to the size of the blinds, affecting your hand selection as well as post-flop play. This article examines each of these factors in turn to help you get the most from the early stages of online poker tournaments. Inexperienced opponents make poker a dangerous game. They will not see your cleverly constructed bluff, will chase against the odds and play hands which a knowledgeable player would laugh at! It will do you no good to complain when your chips are gone, instead you need to adjust your own strategy to maximize your gains. Firstly you should play more hands which can hit well disguised strong hands on the flop. These include small pairs and suited connectors. A good way of looking at this is that a hidden set (3-of a kind) is more valuable if there are inexperienced players willing to give you their entire stack with one-pair type hands than against more savvy opponents. Position is key in all forms of poker. In the early stages of MTTs, playing last after the flop is extremely powerful. Since many players will play loose pre-flop and then 'fit or fold' after the flop, you can often win a pot with a small bet after everyone checks the flop. Acting last also gives you the opportunity to build a big pot those times you are strong and to semi-bluff the flop with your draws. Play premium hands strongly against inexperienced opponents, every time they chase with weak holdings you gain in the long run. There is no need to get tricky with aces, bet them and expect to get called rather than scaring off your opponents with a scary check-raise. Conversely, unpaired high cards go down in value in the early stages of these games - fold the weakest of these to action and wait for a hand which will give you the opportunity to take someone's entire stack. Key to the early stages is to build your stack. While the risks are large, taking chips from inexperienced players is going to be far easier than taking them from skillful opponents later in the game!

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