Poker tournament strategy requires weighing the value and importance of many considerations and balancing them against one another, often with only seconds to wade through all the information and one chance to get it right.  Tournament Strategy, more so than a cash game strategy, is very fluid, always adapting to a myriad of factors to stay ahead of the ever-increasing blinds.  The rising blinds and antes, the fundamental structure difference between a tournament and cash game, necessitates many changes to your poker tournament strategy.  Some of these adjustments are well-noted such as playing very tight early and loosening up as blinds increase, but others, such as clock management, receive little attention in poker lessons offered in strategy books and online lessons and strategy articles.  Clock management is the focus of these poker lessons, in which we will discuss some tactics to help you manipulate this factor effectively as part of your poker tournament strategy, and how it affects your betting strategy.

Managing the clock as part of your betting strategy and tournament strategy can be done two ways:  by taking more time to make betting decisions, especially preflop, or by taking betting action more quickly than usual.  These actions produce opposite effects: the first slows your table down, while the other speeds it up.  Taking more time on the preflop betting round means seeing fewer hands, while making betting strategy decisions quickly will translate to seeing more hands.  Either can work to your advantage, depending on your poker tournament strategy and the stage of the tournament. Recognizing the opportunities to manipulate any aspect of the tournament to your benefit is a huge advantage in your poker tournament strategy.

Managing the clock can accomplish several goals:  it can earn you favorable position at the new and higher blind level;  it can put a shortstack in a disadvantaged position when the blinds increase; it can put others on tilt;  it can allow you to see more or fewer hands depending on your action and goals; and it can increase the amount of time you survive in the tournament.  With so many benefits and effects on your poker tournament strategy, it is hard to fathom why so few poker lessons are available on the subject.  The first several goals enumerated above are all accomplished by taking more time than usual to make betting strategy decisions.  Taking your full alotted time on each betting round obviously reduces the number of hands being played at your table, and can earn you a higher place finish by allowing players at other tables to get knocked out while you drag your feet.  This can be a very valuable tool in both your betting strategy and tournament strategy.   Using the “game-clock” to your advantage can  help you put pressure on opponents while betting less (such as a late tournament min-bet to bully short-stacks), or can force players to make hasty decisions because they are angry at you for taking so long preflop (tilting), or can force players to take higher blinds at a new level, effectively limiting the number of hands he sees and thus decreasing his chance of picking up a premium hold em poker preflop starting hand.  You have also eliminated post-flop play and betting strategy for that player, forcing him to either move in preflop or fold, and since you reduced the chance he will find a premium preflop hand to push, you have made his tournament demise more likely.  All of these effects can be an advantageous edge in your poker tournament strategy.

Making betting strategy decisions in no limit hold em poker, preflop particularly, can require weighing many factors before taking action.  Your No Limit Hold Em Poker strategy is dependent on making good betting strategy decisions, and, in tournament play, your stack is always on the line if you make a poor betting decision.  Therefore, it usually makes sense to take a moment to consider the many variables of tournament play.  Preflop this is of unique importance, since often a player goes broke with a weak hold em preflop hand he should not have been playing to begin with.  Taking your allotted time (preflop) can also help you spot weakness in an opponent’s poker betting strategy or poker tournament strategy.  If you notice an opponent to your left who seems to be auto-folding behind you, this could be a sign that he lacks a proper poker betting strategy and bases his preflop strategy decisions only on the strength of his hold em preflop hand, or it could signify he is new to the tournament setting and lacks a poker tournament strategy.  Perhaps he doesn’t understand the value of positional play in tournament strategy.  Since, in no limit hold em poker strategy, the value of your preflop hand changes considerably depending on the betting before you, someone who is constantly auto-folding is probably not thoroughly evaluating preflop betting action and therefore is probably playing poor tournament poker.  Preflop play requires consideration of many factors, including the preflop betting before action gets to you, so someone who is auto-folding is not exercising a winning poker tournament strategy.  This is a weakness in his poker betting strategy by not stealing, and a weakness in his poker tournament strategy by not using position wisely, both of which you can exploit to gain an edge in your poker tournament strategy.

No Limit Hold Em Poker strategy is very complex, and any edge is vital to winning.  The lessons and poker tournament strategy tips offered here can help you recognize and even create favorable scenarios to exploit with your poker tournament strategy and thereby increase your winnings.  Using these lessons in hold em poker  preflop can improve your poker tournament strategy and recognize new ways to utilize your winning betting strategy.

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