How to play at the final table?

whowantwhat

whowantwhat

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I've been doing very well in tournaments recently, finding myself as chipleader at the final table with 3 players remaining in 50% of the tournaments I've played in the last 2 days.

But then, I crap out and lose at 2nd or 3rd place. Is there a strategy for this? I'm always start out 1.5 or 2x the 2nd place in chips but end up losing.

I find myself calling lots of all-ins with mediocre hands and that seems to be my downfall :creep:

In general, is it better to play looser or tighter? Better to call shoves or not? Bully the others with your huge stack?anything else?
 
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NickFurlano

NickFurlano

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i always like to treat a final table like a sng. you cant win the tourney til its heads up dont try to gain a big stack early as you can do this with 3-4 people by stealing blinds. if your table image is tight in the early stage of a final table its real easy to steal the blinds
 
Michael Paler

Michael Paler

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Number one death of chip leaders the world over has got to be opening up the range too much, feeling "safe" with a big stack. In reality, it only takes a few losses, doubling up others, to kill you quick. Do not start chasing all draws just because you "can afford it"; you will not for long.

What I use to determine how LAG/TAG I am depends on the table. If they are playing tight, I loosen up - if they are loose, I tighten up. You know, if someone is raising every hand and still getting several callers at this point, I'll sit back and let them take each other out, unless I got a good hand.

Also, think about calling those hasty appearing all ins. If you have yet to see one guy play a single hand at your final table who suddenly shoves his stack, look out - especially if one or two others come along for the ride. Many would gladly call with AK suited, but get real - a 3, 4 way pot? You are going to be facing at least one pair, probably big, plus another ace who might pair his crap kicker...ask if this is really a good spot to risk xx% of your stack - 10%, sure. 30-40? No way. Wait for a better spot.

I would also seek to curb my preflop all-ins (shoving and/or calling) as short stacks might be desperate enough to call with goodness only knows what, and suck out with it. I see that the most. Sure, your big ace looks great, until the shorty with J5 suited looking to get lucky does so - at your expense. They might fold to a bluff on the flop where as if all in, you have no control. It's far easier to shove preflop not knowing than to actually look at a flop where you might be drawing dead if you call.
 
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floweryhead

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As the final table whittles down you need to adjust your strategy to a shorthanded one. As a lot of players never make it to the final table they have little experience in shorthanded or heads up play. A lot of people can't adjust to the almost maniac style of shorthanded play. There's a Jon Vorhaus book on shorthanded play that may help and I've read some Heads Up strategy books too but can't remember which ones at the moment
 
Jacki Burkhart

Jacki Burkhart

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depending on the table, it is fine to play "looser" provided that you're also aggressive...but you rarely want to be calling all ins unless you have a monster.

The one big advantage of having the big stack is that you can put their tourney life on the line with 1 hand, and they cannot do that to you. Leverage their tourney life against them by always keeping the pressure on with bets and raises, but very few calls unless you've got a strong hand.

They will find it frustrating that whenever they hold a mediocre hand, you put them all in, but whenever they hold a big hand you just fold.

pretend the "call" button doesn't exist the next time you find yourself in this situation and see if your results improve (exception, if you hold the nuts or close to it and they jam on you, then you can call... like AA or KK preflop, or you flop a flush and they jam into you...)
 
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joe777

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I tend to observe the table dynamic first and use position

and will usually go very aggressive with the hand like AJ+77+

against those constant raiser.But keep in mind ICM should be the most

important thing here and dont need to get entangled against more than 2

players without premium hand.
 
maik357

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If it is like you say you have almost double more than the second placed person, you need to let them try and knock each other out until you have a not mediocre hand but very strong, and throw some punches then. Trying to steal or bully with such an advantage usually backfires on you and then a person tends to play silly trying to recapture the lead that they once had. It makes no sense to call with middle hands with such a strong lead. Being second is defiantly better as being third, as they try and knock each other out, but in between you will catch a couple of MONSTERS and join in with the fight. It is almost like the joke about the two dogs fighting over a bone and the third dog walks by and scoops it up as they fight. :D
 
PapaC

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I'm already a tight player, and the closer I get to the final table, the tighter I play. I see a lot of chip leaders try to bully other players just because the have smaller stacks, but there is one think for sure, those low stacks are going to catch a hand sooner or later, and then they double up. When I see a chip leader making wild bets and getting caught, I just think they must have got the stack like that in the first place. By getting lucky. Also when you get to the final table, most likely you are there with the best players.
 
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nygmen2007

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I find that I get so many chips early on, and I play well, and then when I go deeper I get sucked out on lose. I have made final tables and I have won a couple tournaments but I find that I lose early on, and Can not figure it out as well... There is no strategy to playing these situations you just have to make your move and hope it works out!!
 
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mycophile

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I find that I get so many chips early on, and I play well, and then when I go deeper I get sucked out on lose. I have made final tables and I have won a couple tournaments but I find that I lose early on, and Can not figure it out as well... There is no strategy to playing these situations you just have to make your move and hope it works out!!

Soundtrack to my life. I'll often get a good stack early on, then tighten up WAY too much when it gets close to the bubble, ultimately short-stacking me once it finally does break. Can't count how many times I've hit coolers (99 vs JJ, etc) and lost just before making the money.

Playing solid poker is really all you can do
 
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