How To Best Navigate The Early Stages Of Tournaments

Craig Tapscott: Tournament strategy is always evolving, especially now that players have begun to study solvers. Can you share your basic strategy at the beginning levels of any event?

João Vieira: It kind of feels like a cliché answer, but it really depends on what the table gives me. The old concept of playing “tight at a loose table, loose at a tight table” is still quite accurate. I´d still play somewhat around fundamental preflop ranges, but for sure you have a little bit of room to stretch some of the charts around if the table is not giving you that many problems.

During the early stages I´ll try to play very structured to start, and as the day goes by, I start to scout the table for tendencies and profiles. How good are they? Who’s a pro and who´s not? How loose are they playing? What´s the vibe of the table? And then, I´ll look to try to exploit some possible weaknesses that I see. I like to take my time early on and try to see in which type of ring I´m jumping into.

I´ll try to create a large stack, if possible, but it´s a misconception that you must create a big stack early on to win a tournament. Sure, I´ll take a big stack whenever I can get my hands on one, but I´m not in a rush. Tournament poker is a marathon, not a sprint.

Maria Konnikova: I’ll begin by saying that I mostly play live, so I’ll assume here that we’re playing a large-field live event, with at least one re-entry allowed. I’m a big believer in arriving on time, or at least as close to on time as I can be while still getting enough sleep! Those first levels have all of the satellite winners, all of the amateurs, all of the weaker players still in the mix, and if you play well and patiently, you will often be rewarded with a massive chip stack going into later levels.

It can be difficult to play 200- or 300-big blind stacks, and players will often make massive mistakes, overvaluing their hands, getting too ambitious, playing too quickly. Those are the types of errors I look for. It’s incredibly valuable to be on the other end when they occur. You simply won’t get those kinds of gifts in later levels. 

When I first sit, I take a page from something Erik Seidel taught me early on. It’s okay to just sit back and watch for a while, to get a feel for the table before you start playing. So, I’ll often begin by doing a whole lot of folding while I watch how the players around me are interacting. That way, yes, you do learn where you can be exploitative, where the less profitable spots are, and how you should adjust to the table dynamics at hand.

I start out with my pre-set ranges, that I’ve studied off the felt, and I play my pre-set strategy. But as I observe the table, I absolutely will begin to deviate based on what I’m seeing and on how people are playing against me. In the sorts of events I play, those deviations and adjustments are where the money is, at least in the earliest levels.

That, and patience. I’ve seen too many pros take the “go big or go home” mentality too literally in the opening levels. There’s no need for that, in my mind. Big moves are for day two and three, not the opening levels of day 1.

Craig Tapscott: What are the main factors that you consider when playing in a rebuy event during the early levels? How much do you expand your opening ranges and calling ranges, etc.? 

João Vieria: Playing rebuy or re-entry tournaments does give you a little bit of extra room to take more risks. Usually, you want to win as much chips as possible, while preserving your stack. It´s the number one rule that distinguishes tournament poker from cash game poker. The chips that you win, are worth less, than the chips that you lose. You want to take calculated risks. 

When you´re playing a tournament in the rebuy stages, you can take more aggressive risks, because busting doesn’t mean you´re out of the tournament, granted that you will use that rebuy option. In some of those spots that you´d probably choose and pick low variance routes in a freezeout tournament, you can probably go for them far more aggressively in a rebuy stage.

But it´s also very important to keep in mind that other players might be going for those spots too. Your fold equity might be smaller, and they might be also more inclined to gamble. The adaptation could actually be to play a bit tighter than usual. It could be a slippery slope.

Maria Konnikova: I do not subscribe to the “pedal to the metal” mentality in rebuy events. I don’t take it as a point of pride to be in for multiple bullets. I’d rather play well and get there in one go. To me, unlimited rebuy events are far more akin to gambling than to the skill game that is poker — and all of the reasons I love poker are the same reasons I have zero desire to gamble it up to amass chips.

That said, early levels in these events do tend to have weaker players who do not play particularly well post-flop. So, yes, I’ll absolutely open up my ranges depending on the table. I may up my three-bet and four-bet frequency (again, depending on the table), and I’m far more likely to call more speculative hands, when I’m confident that I’ll have the skill edge heading to the flop. To me, that’s just a solid adjustment to table dynamics.

The key is to constantly be adjusting. Your table may change. Your image may change. Players may get frustrated. My job as a player is to be constantly aware of these shifting factors and change my play accordingly. Maybe I’ll actually have to tighten my ranges back up or shift my approach entirely. And that’s absolutely fine. I think being able to completely shift your strategy in a matter of minutes is a huge edge in these events.

The key is to study those shifts in advance so that you don’t make big mistakes. For instance, I know what my regular opening, calling, three-betting, etc. ranges are. But I also know exactly what combos I’m going to add as I open up, and which will be the first to go if I’m tightening my range back up. I think it’s important to know all of that before you sit down and to not overestimate your ability to adjust well on the fly with no prior study.

Craig Tapscott: What are the most common mistakes you see many players make during the early levels? 

João Vieira: The biggest mistakes I see players making early, is actually playing a little bit too loose. Especially loose and passively. These days tournaments usually start with a lot of chips, quite deep, and I believe it gives players a false confidence that they have a few extra chips to spare. They kind of give it away trying to splash and play hands in situations that simply will be a losing play. Those chips cost money. That 20 percent of your stack that doesn’t seem all that relevant but could actually be a lifesaver later on.

I also see way too many 7-5 suited hands at showdown, way too many offsuit Broadways being played, especially played passively. Yes, I know, the High Stakes Poker show was cool to watch and for sure made Sammy Farha look cool playing those hands for hundreds of thousands. I also enjoyed watching Brad Booth shoving $300,000 in a 35,000 pot with 4 2 and bully Phil Ivey out of there with pocket kings on a 7 6 3 flop.

But this is tournament poker. It´s also 2022, and even though that sexy style of street poker is very appealing, allow me to be the romance crusher: solid structured poker will win at the end of the day.

Maria Konnikova: I see three types of mistakes most often in the earliest levels of play. First, people overvalue hand strength. Many players are far more used to playing sub-100 big blind stacks and fail to properly account for the differences when they suddenly find themselves with far more than that.

So, they’ll give too much weight to hands like top pair or even bottom set on a wet board – and they’ll put too many chips in the middle. Pre-flop, the exact same thing happens. They’ll be willing to risk 200 or 300 big blinds with A-K or Q-Q, not realizing that when you’re that deep, there’s really no need for that kind of action.

And the same thing happens multi-way. In early levels, there tend to be many more multi-way pots. People feel like they have lots of chips, they came to play, they want to see flops and splash around. But multi-way spots play very differently from heads-up spots, and many mistakes happen when you fail to adjust for that difference and end up calling hands that really need to be folded.

The second mistake is a related one: playing too loose because you have lots of chips, and you have the “I came to play, not to fold” mentality. People are often not patient enough for the early levels, and that can get you in a lot of trouble. Even many pros often have a “well, it’s a rebuy,” mentality and just blast off, hoping to accumulate a lot of chips. I don’t think that’s good play. And if it were up to me, I’d limit all non-freezeout events to a single rebuy or re-entry so that skill is truly at a premium, not your appetite for gamble.

The third mistake is the exact opposite: playing too tight because you think you have lots of time. I’ve seen many players wake up a few levels into an event and not understand how they’ve suddenly found themselves with, say, 30 big blinds. That’s not patience. That’s just being way too cautious and not understanding ranges, tournament dynamics, and the like properly.

Those same players will then often massively punt off with crazy hands because they’ve gotten sick of being “patient” (in quotes, since again, I don’t think it’s patience) and they now have the “how could you call me, I’ve only played one hand this whole hour!” mindset. Which, again, is not conducive to good play.

In my mind, all of these mistakes stem from two things: a failure of preparation and study and a failure of emotion management and mental game preparation. You have to do the work in advance if you want to see results in the moment. ♠

João Vieria has long been one of the most dominant players on the online high-stakes tournament scene and is one of the biggest winners in history. The Portuguese former professional basketball player has also proven himself on the live felt, with another $7 million in earnings. This summer, he won his second career bracelet in the World Series of Poker $50,000 High Roller along with $1,394,000. You can find the Winamax Team Pro on Twitter and Instagram @Naza114_oficial.

Maria Konnikova is an author, most recently, of The Biggest Bluff, a New York Times bestseller. Her previous books are the bestsellers The Confidence Game, and Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, an Anthony and Agatha Award finalist. While researching The Biggest Bluff, the Harvard and Columbia University graduate was taught by nine-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel, and along the way became a top player. In 2018, she won an event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. You can find her on Twitter @mkonnikova and Instagram @grlnamedmaria.