General Casino Tournament Strategy

Tonight I'm going to be going to the casino, which I go to every couple of weeks for tournaments. Generally, we get about fifty runners.
My strategy is usually tight agressive until the first break, I try not to play many hands and like to stay with a fairly averge chipstack. Then I try to open up a little more and start stealing, raising in position and raising pre-flop with hands like AJ.
I usually bubble or finish 5th, going to the final table low stacked. I've attributed to sucess to winning a race somewhere in the tournament, usually calling an Ak all in with tens.
If there anything else I'm missing? Is there any pointers I can be given?

Thank You

I like to get a big lead early if possible; rivering a straight-draw while the blinds are cheap. Get a big lead early and keep the pressure constant. I like to pick out the passive players early on, players that are going to let you hit that back door flush draw when it also brought them the straight that they were hoping for. That way when you have a massive stack you can sit back and snipe the people who have been putting off a little neccisary gambling and whose stacks had been eaten alive by the blinds and antes just waiting for a big pair; they pick up their J,J, you happen to have Q,Q. A nice 3bet and they will be happy to throw in the rest of their stack for you.

I like to play tournys in 4 stages:

Early - slightly loose/aggro
Middle -tight aggro
Money Bubble- Sit back and wait for K/O opportunities.
Final Table- Tight Agressive and add Pressure to the short stacks

and avoid coin flips unless your gunning down a short stacked player

What Naytes said about changing gears as the tournament progresses is certainly worth bearing in mind during any tournament. Just don`t overdo the loose when deepstacked style and trap yourself with second best hand. That`s usually where less experienced players fall down. When stacks are deep, position is of greater importance. Therefore, loosen up from late position but stay careful when out of position.

Also, one of the key differences between online and live is that you have additional opportunities in a live game to observe your opponents, to learn about their playing style, and to adjust accordingly.

For UK readers, the current (July) issue of WPT Poker Magazine has a useful article on that subject by Eric "Rizen" Lynch.

NayteS said:

I like to play tournys in 4 stages:

Early - slightly loose/aggro
Middle -tight aggro
Money Bubble- Sit back and wait for K/O opportunities.
Final Table- Tight Agressive and add Pressure to the short stacks

Click to expand...

don't do this ^

real brief > play according to stack size (your's & the other's) & learn to play varying stack sizes. Pick your spots. Apply pressure as you're approaching bubble play. Adjust your play to the others who are on your table.

My apologies. I shouldn't have been so vague, That is just my own generalized tourny recipe that I've found to work for my specific style of play. I realize everyone has their own style of play and tournament structures & opponents are all different. A tournament should be viewed as each hand being its own unique situation & opportunity.