1 ADD VALUE TO CHIPS
Don't get involved in many hands or in multiway pots (with more than one opponent), as in previous phases. Here, the stack-to-blind ratio is small, and we don't have room to waste chips. Remember that the objective of the tournament is to accumulate all the chips, of all the opponents, and when you lose a blind, you stop winning a blind by doubling your stack – and the opponent, who won your blind, will win a blind extra when folding. So, don't waste your chips with unnecessary calls.
2 RAISE, DO NOT CALL
Avoid paying raises. Bet more, be you the aggressor. Always have fold
equity (FE) on your side. The number of times an opponent folds to your raise or re-raise can transform hands with negative expectation (-EV) into hands with positive expectation (+EV). Having FE is one of the most important weapons at final tables.
3 KNOW THE ENEMY
Already at the semifinal table, take the opportunity to collect as much information as possible and make observations about your opponents. Put pressure on those who feel the pressure of the TF bubble. These are the ones who will play more passively and with a very low percentage of bluffs in their arsenal.
Online, you can search for each player in OPR or
sharkscope. Look at who is regular, recreational, profitable, and especially what their average buy-in is in relation to the tournament prize pool. Lower limit players (low stakes) feel much more pressured in the late stages of mid and high stakes tournaments, for example.
4 BEWARE OF HIGH VARIANCE PLAYS
Avoid plays where decisions have low EV. The TF long term is much more difficult to achieve. Thus, a play can be +EV relative to chips, but -EV relative to the prize pool. This can be calculated using the ICM (Independent Chip Model). A good example is an all-in against two opponents. In addition to the chips, when one of them falls, you jump to the next prize pool, which makes a big difference in the final profitability.
5 DEFINE YOUR TARGETS
Play pots preferably against medium stacks. They're not in a situation where they'd want to get all their chips in a hand, and when they feel they're behind, they're prone to folding. And abuse the short players. Most of the time, they will be playing tight, which gives us good fold equity.
6 PLAYING WITH FEW CHIPS
If you are short, avoid going all-in with weak hands against players with big stacks. The tendency is for them to call with a very wide range of hands.
7 DON'T PAIN
Start by playing tighter. Watch table and player trends. This will facilitate decision making.
8 AGGRESSIVE, NOT CRAZY
Play more aggressively, as I said, prefer to raise and reraise instead of just calling, but remember: aggressiveness is not synonymous with stupidity. Here, it bears repeating: fold equity, fold equity, fold equity.
9 BEWARE OF MOVES
At this stage, avoid trying to find spots against more than one player. There are high chances that your
bluff won't fold or that you'll run into an opponent with a value hand – since, at the final table, the game is a little tighter.
10 FORGET YOUR CHIPS POSITION
Never mind your current FT rank. Here, the most important thing is your chips in relation to the shortest and the average of the tournament.
11 ATTACKING THE BLINDS
Keep your focus on a good strategy for stealing blinds. This is necessary to keep our FE high.
12 TABLE POSITION
Don't play out of position. Rarely will the EV pay off the chip investment.
13 TOWARDS THE TOP
Always play to win, but remember that the more you get involved in situations where there is a risk of elimination, the harder it will be to win the title.
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