Late Stage MTT Tournament Strategy

It’s great that you’ve outlasted 90% of the competition to get this far but you still have a lot of work to do. The late stage of the MTT begins when the bubble finally breaks and everyone still left in the tournament has officially made it into the money. From here on out, it’s a battle to see who gets the highest payouts and who goes home with a small consolation prize.

Making the money is a great thing but this is not your final goal. You’re going to have to make it to one of the top 3 places in this tournament to get a big payment. You are here to win this thing, not take home a little bit of chump change.

We can break up the late stage of an MTT into three separate parts: after the bubble, final table and heads up.

After the Bubble Strategy

You can almost hear a sigh of relief when the bubble finally breaks. That one last person has finally been knocked out and everyone remaining knows that at least they won’t go home empty handed.

Even though you’re glad to be in the money, there is still no time to waste. Remember – you’re still going to have to win every single last chip to take first place. You cannot become complacent in just making the money. You should play the rest of this tournament to take first place.

You’ll often notice that the play loosens up considerably after the bubble has broken. You might be forced to tighten up for a bit as the players who are just happy to be in the money start playing loose again.

At this point the blinds are going to be huge so you’ll be seeing lots of desperate all-in moves as the short stacks give it one last valiant effort to stay in the tournament. This point of the tournament is going to require a deft touch because you’re still going to have to steal every blind you can to stay ahead.

Keep your eyes open for tight players and steal from them as often as you can get away with. The medium-stacked players are still the best ones to go after because they know they can make it deeper into the money if they just sit tight and wait for the short stacks to bust out.

You’ll want to avoid stealing from the short stacks and big stacks unless you notice them playing extremely tight. The big stacks won’t fear you and will often times call with sub-par hands just to try to knock you out. You don’t want to be getting in all-in coin flips at this point. You want to steal the blinds and get out.

The short stacks are also bad targets to steal from because they will be getting desperate. These players will call you with a wider range of hands than the medium stackers.

As more and more players get knocked out, you might notice a “second bubble” in which the players tighten up again in anticipation of reaching the final table. If you notice the players tightening up, this is a great time to open up your game even more and steal as many blinds as you can.

Don’t forget that selective aggression is the key here. You won’t win any tournaments by playing like a complete maniac. You will need to look for legitimate opportunities and attack them when they present themselves.

Final Table Strategy

Making it to the final table is an awesome achievement but don’t forget that you’re still in this thing to take first place. If you make the right moves, pick your spots correctly and catch a couple of decent hands, you can very easily win the entire tournament.

The shortstacks will be feeling all kinds of pressure as the massive blinds and antes take them down quickly. You’ll usually have a couple of shortstacks and they’ll be fighting like mad to stay alive. Avoid these players unless you have a huge stack or a monster hand. They’ll knock each other out soon enough.

There will still be a few average sized stacks in here. They’ll probably be playing pretty tight in the hopes of outlasting the shortstacks. If you can spot a tight medium stack, you should attack his blinds as often as you can.

The big stacks will either be playing aggressively to increase their chip leads or they’ll be playing tight and letting the other players knock each other out. You will definitely want to avoid the aggressive big stacks but if you spot a tight big stack, you should take his blinds every chance you get.

Your goal is to be as selectively aggressive as you can. Like I said earlier, you need to play the final table with a deft touch. You’ll find yourself in plenty of difficult spots and there’s not always a way out. The only thing you can do is make the best decision possible given the circumstances. If you get knocked out at this point, you shouldn’t feel bad at all. You can’t win every tournament without at least a little bit of luck shining over your shoulder.

The last thing I want to say is always be ready to adjust your strategy to each opponent. There will be tightwads, tight-aggressive players and maniac. Study each opponent and adjust your play to match each playing style.

Heads Up Strategy

Well, you’ve finally made it to the final test on your journey to that elusive first place finish. From here on out, you’re going to be battling for a 1st place finish that could mean the difference between thousands of dollars in prize money.

The proper strategy for playing this portion of the tournament depends on your chip count, the playing style of your opponent and the size of the blinds. The goal here is to dance as close as possible to the line between aggression and recklessness.

The blinds are going to be absolutely massive by this point so you’ll want to steal as many pots as you can. When you have the button, you should raise almost every time unless your opponent is calling all the time.

If you’re up against a tight opponent, you can easily make small raises to whittle his stack away bit by bit. If your opponent is more skilled than you and aggressive, you’ll want to lean towards pushing all-in often to make it more of a coin flip.

Your pushing standards and calling standards will depend completely on your read of the opponent. Against an opponent who’s willing to call with lots of hands, you’ll have to go all less often and with stronger hands. If you’re up against a tight opponent, you can turn the aggression up all the way.

If all else fails, remember this one key piece of advice: it is better to go all-in yourself than it is to call an all-in bet. You can go out fighting with a chance or you can play timidly and let the blinds eat you away. Me; I’d rather go out in a blaze of glory. By playing with selective aggression, you give yourself the best chance to win the entire tournament.