How to Play When the Poker Tournament Stakes Raise in Value

Raising Stakes In Poker Tournaments

As the poker tournaments advance, the stakes increase. This influences how you play in the poker tournament, and should make you change your strategy accordingly. The Poker Tournament stakes influence your various factors such as playing strategy, as played before and after the Poker Tournament stakes are raised.

Let's take an example of a player that is getting nearer to the end of the poker tournament, with a smaller stack than the other players. This player has enough chips to play on this level, but as of the next one, when the tournament stakes rise, he will be at a position where he might lose it all in one hand.

Would you recommend this player to play before or after the tournament stakes are raised? The correct answer is that the player should actually wait, and bet only after the stakes are raised.

There are several reasons to play with a short stack only after the raise in the stakes:

If you play a tight game before the stakes are raised, you are creating a certain Player's impression on your opponent. Once the stakes are higher, you can use the same impression to win for larger stakes after the raise, using the most basic bluffing techniques.
With the higher stakes, you have a larger shot at leveling your stack with your opponent's stack, while before the raise in stakes, even a win might mean you are still behind your opponents with profits.
If you wait until the Poker Tournament stakes are raised, it might mean you will have to play an all-in tournament game, and this can be a great tool to confuse your opponents, that are not used for such a bet. They might think that it means you have a greater hand and not bet against you.

Matthew Dorst
Web Publisher

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