Basics of Poker Multi-Table Tournaments
MTTs (multi-table tournaments) is where the big money is at – We’ve all seen players on television winning millions in one of such tournaments. You can win many times over the amount you invest with just a very small buy-in.
The difference between a cash game and a MTT
In a MTT, you purchase an amount of chips along with your entry fee. However if you lose all your chips, you’re instantly eliminated from the game. In a cash game, you can buy your way back into the game at any time once you’ve lost your stack. Rebuy tournaments are an exception as they provide you with the opportunity to buy more chips for a limited time.
Once you’re taking part in a tournament, you’re not able to stop so you have to continue playing until you’ve lost or won the tournament. You have to keep this in mind as the game might go on for a long time with the normal length of such tournaments lasting between four or five hours.
The main difference between a MTT and a cash game is that the blinds in a cash game will most certainly stay the same which means you can easily wait for good starting hands.
In the tournament however, the blinds will increase as the tournament gets under way. Sooner rather than later you will be forced into becoming active. The chips of your opponents will also grow as soon as people become eliminated from the game.
Early Stage
The early stage of a MTT is characterised by small blinds, very big stacks and chip stacks that are distributed evenly.
Middle Stage / Late Stage
During the middle stage, the blinds go up while the stacks get considerably smaller as the game gets underway. Due to a good number of players being eliminated, very few players have more chips. It is at this stage that different strategies have to be adopted according to the side of your stack.
In the late stage, the blinds would have increased and the average chip stack would have grown smaller in comparison. The game tends to be similar to the classic push or fold strategy best practised and known from Sit & Go tournaments.
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