Introduction

• How to master the various phases of the final table
  
• How your stack influences your play
  
• Your strategy when heads up
  

What are your goals at the final table? Are you set on taking 1st or was just making it to the final table a success in and of itself?

If your only goal is winning the tournament, you should play aggressively and take risks.

You may, on the other hand, not be as concerned with taking 1st place as with making it as far as possible, as each elimination results in a (often steep) increase in prize money. In this case, you should avoid heavy confrontations and wait for the other players to eliminate each other.

This article will help you find the golden middle between risk taking and risk avoidance. You can't play too passively, and you can't be overly aggressive, either. The way you play depends heavily on the number of opponents remaining and the respective stack sizes. You will often not be able to play the way you would like to simply because the conditions (or stack sizes) don't allow it.

And now it's time to learn how to play in the various phases of the final table.

The early phase, 9-7 players

As an average stack, you should simply play your cards in the early phase of the final table. One of the biggest mistakes players make is trying to pull off a tricky move. Setting traps and/or trying to bluff opponents out of the pot is simply not appropriate play.

With so many opponents remaining the danger of one of them having a very good hand is simply too high. The important thing is to keep patient and play your cards. As far as chip distribution goes, you are in the middle of the pack and have nothing to worry about at the moment.

Don't get caught in any battles with the chip leader or other aggressive big stacks - it's simply too dangerous. Your goal should be to play against the short stacks and other mid stacks and to put them under pressure.

Here is a perfect example hand in which a lot of players would tend to make a wrong decision:

You are on the BU with 16 BBs. Everyone folds to you. You look at your cards and see 73o. The SB and BB are both short stacked with less than 8 BBs.

What do you do?

A lot of players think this is a good spot to push and take down the blinds, but this is a mistake.

Start by asking yourself which hands would call. You're pretty much an underdog against any single one. Now, a lot of people say it's important to put the short stacks under pressure. This certainly isn't wrong, but the key word is 'selective' aggression.

Put pressure on the short stacks when you have a good hand. You want to be the one picking the situations you play in and do not want to allow yourself to be forced into any tough spots.

If you were to try stealing and got called, you will usually lose with your trash hand. Not only that, but you won't get any respect for your raises in the future. And that's the worst thing that can happen to you: Losing a large portion of your chips and being short stacked yourself while giving yourself the image of a maniac. With all this in mind, folding is the only correct decision in this example hand.

Don't start taking any big risks until a few short stacks have busted out and you're in the top 4 or 5. When you're an average stack (ca. 15 BB), having a tight image is very important. Otherwise your opponents won't take your raises seriously and will frequently force you to make an all-in decision.

Wait for a good hand and attack the short and mid stacks. If you have a big stack behind you and know he likes to resteal, you may want to go directly all-in instead of making a standard raise when you have an Ax or pocket pair hand. Getting re-raised would only force you to make a difficult decision.

Being a big stack at the final table isn't as easy as it sounds. A lot of players think it's their job to control the action at the table and eliminate the short stacks from play. Controlling the table, however, means creating pressure with mediocre hands. And this is the wrong approach to take. Your best weapon is your stack - don't throw it away on a daredevil move. Once again, the key word is 'selective' aggression.

Don't take any unnecessary risks. You decide when you play and you play when you have a good hand. The last thing you want is to give up your chip lead and double up a short stack on one poorly played hand.

Stacks&Stats
UTG+1 15 BB
UTG+2 13BB
MP1 21 BB
MP2 23 BB
MP3 15 BB
CO 19 BB
BU 30 BB (Hero)
SB 12 BB
BB 25 BB

Pre-flop: Hero is Button with A, Q
UTG raises to 4 BB, Hero???

What should you do?

UTG raised with a big stack in the BB, a sign of a lot of strength. You will hardly be able to generate any fold equity by pushing. You're usually slightly favored to win with AQo, but you will end up in a lot of coin tosses when you push against a pocket pair. All in all, your opponent's range is too strong and your chances of winning the pot too small.

You fold, hard as it may be. Remember, you decide when to play and you put your opponent under pressure when you do.

Now let's see what happens when we make a small change to our example hand:

Stacks&Stats
UTG+1 15 BB
UTG+2 13BB
MP1 21 BB
MP2 23 BB
MP3 15 BB
BU 30 BB (Hero)
SB 12 BB
BB 9 BB

Pre-flop: Hero is Button with A, Q
MP3 raises to 3 BB, Hero???

The situation is similar, but some decisive factors have been changed. This time the raise is from MP3 and only 3 BBs, and the player in the BB is a short stack. This raise will often prove to be a blind steal. You are well ahead against his range and can also generate a decent amount of fold equity. And since his raise was small, he won't be getting very good odds to call, either. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect to generate a good amount of fold equity when your re-raise is at least five times that of your opponent's raise.

Resteals, or re-raises (usually all-in) with a medium strong hand like A5s, for example, are an option when ...

• ...your opponent's raise looks like a steal
• ...your opponent's stack at the start of the hand was app. 5-7 the size of his raise
• ...your stack is clearly larger than your opponent's
• ...your hand has halfway decent chances against his calling range, meaning you won't be dominated all too often (for example: AQ+, A2s+, 45s-KQs, 22+ against a JJ+, AQs+, AKo calling range).

Having a big stack is important. It's your insurance against getting busted by a monster. Needless to say, you shouldn't get too carried away with your resteals, but they are a very effective weapon for winning tournaments and intimidating opponents.

You are a short stack when you have less than 10 Big Blinds. You can't afford to wait too long before you make a move. You do need to act and your goal should be to steal the blinds at least once each round. Of course, this doesn't mean you should make the mistake of pushing with any two; the rounds in the early phase are long enough for you to wait for the right spot to make a move.

Wait for good, playable hands like medium strong Ax hands and KQ/KJ. When you pick up a playable hand, you should go directly all-in. There is no point in playing around with 3 BB raises. Putting 1/3 of your stack in before the flop commits you to the hand, so you're best off putting it all in.

Going all-in is often enough to get better hands (like pocket pairs) to fold and to take down the blinds. If you do get called, you're usually in a coin flip or a (small) underdog. It should also be said that you should generally only make such a move when everyone has folded to you. You have to be more careful once someone has limped in in front of you and need a very good hand if a raise was made in front of you.

Here is a list of the important aspects to keep in mind in the early phase of the final table. As a big or mid stack you should raise/re-steal; as a short stack you should push all-in.

• Your cards - Pay attention to calling ranges. 78s is usually better than A3o, since it is less likely to be dominated.
• Your position - How many players behind you could have a monster?
• Your image - If you just raised two hands in a row, folding A8o should be obvious.
• The blinds' stack sizes - Attack mid stacks and short stacks; they are the ones you can hurt.
• The blinds' playing style - Try to attack passive/tight opponents.

Note: Always pay attention to these aspects no matter how big or small the stacks may be.