CHAPTER TWENTY

TOURNAMENT STRATEGY:
LATE STAGES AND FINAL TABLE

“ everybody’s in the money

Now we’re past the bubble point:
and you’re going to see the entire dynamic shift. What you
saw before—all this pressure that was available to put on
short stacks—is gone….What’s going to happen is these
short stacks are going to open up their game.
“

MASTE RCL ASS

 CHAPTER TWENTY

Tournament Strategy:
Late Stages and Final Table

SUBCHAPTERS

• IN THE MONEY
• LATE STAGES: TAKE RISKS TO BUILD
YOUR STACK FOR THE FINAL TABLE
• LATE STAGES: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF • THE FINAL TABLE: ACCOUNT FOR
BEING THE FIRST TO ACT BEFORE PAY JUMPS
THE FLOP
• THE FINAL TABLE: TIMED
AGGRESSION

TERMS

open the pot (v.): To make the shove over the top (v.):
first voluntary bet preflop—either a call To shove all in over the top of another
or raise. bet or raise.

pay jump (n.): The difference steal situation (n.): When

between the prize amount for the next you are in late position and no other
player out and that for one place higher. player has entered the pot.

CHAPTER REVIEW

he dynamics of the tournament will shift once
T all the remaining players are in the money. During
the bubble stage, the big stacks are able to apply pressure
because they can threaten to knock out the medium-sized
stacks that are almost guaranteed to cash in if they play
conservatively. Once the bubble stage finishes, the short
and medium stacks that survived will change their
approach and play more aggressively with the intention
of fighting to get back into contention for the win. You
must adjust your strategy to take into account this new
dynamic.
When the final table stage approaches, you must be
prepared to take more risks to build the biggest stack
possible. When the bubble stage ends, the jumps in pay are
negligible, which is why the dynamics shift so noticeably;
but at the final table, the jumps become significant. At this
stage, a big stack is a powerful weapon to be feared by your
opponents. Winning a poker tournament will require you
to risk coin flip situations.
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During the short-stacked late stages of a tournament, it is
sometimes an advantage to have the opportunity to make
the first voluntary bet before the flop when you are in late
position. This is because you can profitably open shove all
in with a wider range of hands than you can call or shove
over the top of an open raise with. When you are short
stacked, winning the blinds will increase your stack by a
significant percentage, and is therefore crucial to building
your stack back up. Take full advantage of these spots
rather than playing cautiously, because they don’t come
around too often, and they are key to fighting your way
back into contention. Allowing your stack to dwindle by
playing conservatively is a poor strategy.
Once you reach the final table, however, you must also
factor in how ranges change with ICM at play and the
extreme pay jumps. ICM increases in significance as the
pay jumps grow larger. The more ICM becomes a factor in
your decision, the more conservatively you must play.
 CHAPTER TWENTY / TOURNAMENT STRATEGY: LATE STAGES AND FINAL TABLE / DANIEL NEGREANU

Big stacks have the opportunity to apply pressure on
medium stacks while there are still short stacks almost
out of chips. If you are a big stack and face aggression from
a medium stack you must factor in the knowledge that
their range will be stronger than usual. If you are a short
stack then you have no choice but to play aggressively if
you want to win the tournament. When you shove all in,
your opponents need a stronger range to call than what
you can profitably shove with. This concept rewards
aggression and is much more successful than calling off
your remaining chips. When your opponents fold to your
shove, you will increase your stack by a considerable
percentage, giving you a better chance of getting back
into contention.

UP YOUR GAME

Use an ICM trainer to master how the concept

affects your strategy in the late stage of a tournament.
Tournament players must have a deep understanding
of the ICM concept, otherwise regularly challenging for
the top places in an event will not be realistic.

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MASTERCLASS