The Middle and Late Phases

The middle and late phases of a tournament are the most complicated phases. When should you go all-in, when should you get out of the way? At some point you will also have to take the time to become familiar with the Independent Chip Model (ICM), the mathematical basis for the strategy used in these phases.

On the other hand, the ICM is a complex matter and can be pretty confusing at first. You therefore probably want  something more concrete like you have for other poker formats.

This article will help you develop a solid strategy to follow once you've made it past the early phase. We will place less emphasis on example hands and more on basic principles that every good tournament player should apply in his game.

The middle and late phases of a tournament

The individual phases of a tournament tend to flow into each other. As a basic rule of thumb: The middle phase begins when the average stack size is between 40-50 BBs.

You enter the late phase when you reach the bubble. This is the phase in which all players are close to being in the money; only a few more will be going out empty handed. The short stacks start playing extremely tight and the big stacks exploit this with relatively loose play.

Once the bubble bursts and everyone is in the money, the short stacks will wake up and try with all their might to get back in the game. This usually results in quite a few players being eliminated within a short time.

The blinds are even larger and the stacks smaller in relation to the blinds in the late phase. Most players will only have about 20 BBs left. This has a big impact on the flow of the game.

You have to focus on a goal. This will depend in part on the size of the tournament. Do you want to survive as long as possible or do you want to play for 1st place? You'll have to play tighter to reach the one goal, and looser to reach the other. In general, you should play to win. You will end up being eliminated (relatively) early sometimes, but with a bit of luck you can more than make up for it.

One reason why this can be more profitable than trying to survive as long as possible is the prize structure. A lot of players get a small share of the prize pool; once the final table has been reached, the difference in payout for each place explodes. The further you make it at the final table, the more you win, and the difference is a dramatic. Therefore you should still play tight in the late phase, but still be aggressive while seizing the opportunities that present themselves.

Difficulties when playing with a middle stack

The ratio between blinds and stack sizes is smaller in the middle and late phases. Antes, which increase the overall pre-flop potsize also come into play.

The average stack size is between 25-40 BBs. This is too much for a direct push and too little for effective post-flop poker.

This is why you should play tight. Don't let loose opponents tempt you with heavy action; wait for the good starting hands and play them aggressively.

The real challenge in the middle phase is playing well with a middle stack. Every raise is costing you (at least) 10% of your stack. You can't afford to play too loosely. On the other hand, you can't be overly cautious either, or the blinds and antes will eat away at your stack and you will generate less fold equity each round.

You shouldn't be calling raises anymore; you will usually face a continuation bet on the flop and only hold a marginal hand. This is particularly problematic, as a call on the flop basically commits you. The pot will be about as large as your stack on the turn.

Adjust your play according to stack sizes and start leaning more heavily on the M system. And remember, you can only win what your opponent has in his stack.

How should you play on the bubble?

The bubble is the phase in which everyone is close to being in the money. The so-called 'bubble boy' is the unfortunate soul whose elimination puts the remaining players in the money. It's the most bitter title you can earn in a MTT.

Good players exploit their opponents' fear and steal blinds frequently, as most other players do not defend their blinds effectively. The pressure of making it to the money isn't as big in MTTs as it is in single table SnGs. Whereas making it to the money is extremely important in a regular SnG, MTTs are all about the big payout. Many who make it to the money in a MTT only get two buy-ins in prize money.

How you play on the bubble depends heavily on the size of your stack. When you have a large stack, you aren't in danger of being eliminated before making it to the money. This allows you to put the pressure on the smaller stacks. Attack the passive mid stacks trying to hold out until they are in the money and avoid confronting other big stacks.

If your stack is large enough, you can start re-raising active stealers (app. 25 BB stacks) and make them decide if they really want to play for their tournament life. They will even fold very good starting hands fairly often hoping to get a better opportunity later.

This is not an option when you have a small or mid stack. You would be putting your own tournament life , and your chance at making it to the money, at risk. Play tight and don't try stealing too often when you see a lot of re-steals being made at the table.

Find out more in the following article:

The M Factor According to Dan Harrington

How should you play before the flop?

Once antes come into play, the pre-flop pot starts increasing in size. This is when the game moves from post-flop to pre-flop play. A lot of pots are won without a flop being seen. Here's why:

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 100/200, Ante 25 (9 handed)

Pot without ante: 300 Chips
Pot with ante: 525 Chips

Example 1 shows that the pre-flop pot is nearly twice as large with the antes as it is without. This has several consequences:

• You have to pay more each round and are blinded down more quickly
  
• Blind steals become more appealing
  
• The battle for the blinds is fought more aggressively
• Re-steals are more profitable due to the loose stealing
  

Your strategy is basically to play smart poker, keep a tight image and win as many pots as possible without going to the showdown. It's all about pre-flop play. In other words, you don't just play your hand, you play your position and stack, as well. Steals and re-steals become your most important weapon.

Speculative hands like suited connectors and small pocket pairs are no longer profitable. The stacks are too small for you to have the right implied odds.

Blind steals

The classic example of a blind steal is a raise from late position made with the sole intent of taking down the blinds. Stealing blinds is profitable in the middle and late phases, since the pre-flop pot is already fairly large in relation to your stack size.

Keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Stay tight and throw away weak hands
• Steal now and then when you are first-in and in late position
• Observe the table and identify the active stealers and passive opponents
  
• If someone raises behind you, only stay in the hand with a very strong starting hand
• If you steal from the small blind, make your raise larger than if you were stealing from the BU to offset your positional disadvantage

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 200/400, Antes 50 (9 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t3400)
UTG+1 (t9000)
MP 1 (t21000)
MP2 (t3660)
MP3 (t6752)
Hero (t13756)
Button (t11306)
SB (t7647)
BB (t8531)

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with K , T
5 folds, Hero raises to 985, 3 fold

You have a nice sized stack for the middle phase. You have a tight image and decide to try stealing the blinds first-in from the CO. You consider this to be a good spot to steal for several reasons:

• You are first-in.
• You have a nice sized stack.
• You have a tight image.
• You have more chips than the players behind you.
• The players behind you are not short stacked.
• The opponents behind you are not particularly active.

You should refrain from stealing when you were very active in the previous hands, when you have short stacks behind you, when you have aggressive opponents behind you, and when your own stack is smaller than 20 BBs. You should only play very strong hands in such situations. Save the 2.5 BBs for a better hand.

If you succeed in stealing the blinds, great, but you'll have to fold your hand if someone raises behind you.

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 200/400, Antes 50 (9 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t3400)
UTG+1 (t9000)
MP 1 (t21000)
MP2 (t3660)
MP3 (t6752)
Hero (t13756)
Button (t11306)
SB (t7647)
BB (t8531)

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with K , T
5 folds, Hero raises to 985, 1 fold, SB raises to 7647 (All-in), 1 fold

The unfortunate case has arisen: the Small Blind went all-in in response to your attempt to steal. He's been tight and still has a fair amount of chips. He probably doesn't think your bet is a steal, either, since you've played the last few hands tight. He probably has a very good hand.

You can easily toss your KT to the muck. Focus on your image for the next few hands. Everyone at the table saw you trying to steal the blinds only to fold to the action behind.

A lot of players will make a note of this and then try to make a move against you in the future. This has several negative effects for you. You have to pay more attention to your image. You also won't know if your opponent is making a move on you or if he really has a hand.

The worst thing that can happen to your image is having to fold after a first-in raise several times in a row. Your raises won't get any more respect, which is the worst thing that can happen to you in the late phase. Now you really do have to sit back and wait for a strong starting hand and play noticeably tighter.

Odds call

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 200/400, Antes 50 (9 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t3400)
UTG+1 (t9000)
MP 1 (t21000)
MP2 (t3660)
MP3 (t6752)
Hero (t13756)
Button (t11306)
SB (t2047)
BB (t8531)

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with K , T
5 folds, Hero raises to 985, 1 fold, SB raises to 2047 (All-in), 1 fold, Hero?

Once again, you're in the same situation as in Example 3, only the SB has fewer chips. He is short stacked and pushing all-in. There are 4,082 chips in the pot and you have to pay 1,062 to stay in the hand. With 4:1 pot odds, you can't fold.

This example should show why you have to be careful stealing from a short stack. They are much more likely to push all-in and you will usually have to call and risk losing chips.

The following chart gives you a guideline for making odds calls. The examples provided are reference points to help you understand certain probabilities.

Pot odds and equity Pot odds Equity Examples 1:1.5 40% Flush draw + Overcard 1.8:1 35.7% Flush draw 2 :1 33.3% OESD 2.25 : 1 30.7% Any 2 vs. Top 8% Hands 2.5:1 28.6%   2.75:1 26.67%   3:1 25% Top pair vs. Two pair 3.5:1 22.2%   4:1 20% Gutshot 5:1 16.67% Any2 vs. AA

As you can see, folding can be costly. You can even make a profitable call against a tight re-stealing range (88+, ATs+, KTs+, QJs+, AJo+) after stealing with any two when you are getting 2.25:1 pot odds or better.

Re-steals

Re-steals are profitable in the late phase. The reason is simple. Blind steals are more attractive in the late phase and your opponents are trying to attack the blinds to get the large pre-flop pots. These steals are being made much more loosely and you shouldn't let yourself be pushed around. The most effective way of defending yourself is to re-steal.

The so-called Re-steal Chart tells you when you should go all-in after exactly one player raises in front of you. Calling is out of the question. The decisive question is: Do I fold or go all-in?

And the answer can be found in the Re-steal Chart. The chart differentiates between three possible situations:

• You are not one of the blinds
• You are the Small Blind
• You are the Big Blind

The column on the left shows you all playable starting hands. At the top of the chart you see the position of the player to enter the hand first-in. Below you see the max number of Big Blinds you can have in your stack to profitably go all-in with the corresponding hand on the left.

These charts give you basic guidelines to follow. You can stray from the chart and rely on your read when you have one. If, for example, you know that your opponent has folded the past 100 hands and is now raising from UTG, you really shouldn't try re-stealing with 99. You are behind against his range and can't generate any fold equity by raising. If you were facing a looser opponent, on the other hand, re-stealing with the same hand could be very profitable.

Keep an eye on the table and adjust your play accordingly. This is something you should be doing in any poker game, by the way, not just in MTTs. You won't make it very far in MTTs often simply because of variance. Making a mistake and being eliminated is particularly frustrating when it also costs you a shot at the big money. Keep the prize structure in mind. If there is about to be a large increase in payout, you might want to fold that marginal hand.

Once again: The positions in the first row of the Resteal Charts indicate the position of the player who first entered the hand.

The charts for the middle and late phases of a tournament

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 400/800, Ante 50 (10 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t6543)
UTG+1 (t34000)
UTG+2 (t22453)
MP1 (t12540)
MP2 (t25886)
Hero (t13897)
CO (t13767)
Button (t8997)
SB (t12030)
BB (t12260)

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A , Q
4 folds, Mp2 raises to 1689, Hero?

You are in MP3 with AQ and an opponent raises from MP2. Your hand is strong enough and you should go for a re-steal. You have a tight image and an ideal stack size for re-stealing. Since the raise came from a middle position, it could be an attempt to steal with a number of possible hands.

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 400/800, Ante 50 (10 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t6543)
UTG+1 (t34000)
UTG+2 (t22453)
MP1 (t12540)
MP2 (t25886)
MP 3 (t13897)
CO (t13767)
Button (t8997)
Hero (t12030)
BB (t12260)

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with K , Q
4 folds, Mp2 raises to 1689, Hero?

This time you are in the small blind with KQs when the very active player in MP2 raises. Once again, your hand is strong enough and you should try re-stealing. You have a tight image and an ideal stack size for re-stealing. Your opponent has been very active in recent rounds, which is why you treat his raise as if it came from late position and re-steal for value. In this example you can see how specific reads can change the way in which you use the re-steal charts.

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 400/800, Ante 50 (10 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t6543)
UTG+1 (t34000)
UTG+2 (t22453)
MP1 (t12540)
MP2 (t25886) (LAG)
Hero (t13897)
CO (t13767)
Button (t8997)
SB (t12030)
BB (t12260)

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with 9 , 9
4 folds, Mp2 raises to 1689, Hero?

In this example you are in middle position. The opponent to your right has been very active and frequently stolen the blinds. Your hand is very strong against his range and you should try re-stealing. You have a tight image and an ideal stack size for re-stealing. Your opponent will not be able to make an easy call - losing would cripple his stack.

The combination of fold equity and absolute hand strength make this move very profitable in this example hand.

Push-or-Fold

You can play according to the Push-or-fold Chart when you have less than 13 BBs in your stack. This chart is used when everyone in front of you has folded and either you or all opponents behind you have 13 BBs or less.

The chart is pretty simple: The first column shows you all playable hands. The top row shows you your position. Look for your hand under your position.

You will see a number between 4 and 13. As you may already imagine, these numbers tell you the maximal number of BBs you must have to go all-in with your hand from your position. If, for example, you see a 5, you should go all-in when either you or all opponents behind you have 5 BBs or less. If not, you should simply fold.

The charts for the middle and late phases of a tournament

No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Blinds 400/800, Ante 50 (10 handed)

Stacks & Reads
UTG (t6543)
UTG+1 (t34000)
UTG+2 (t2453)
MP1 (t2540)
MP2 (t5886)
Hero (t3897)
CO (t3767)
Button (t897)
SB (t12030)
BB (t3260)

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with 9 , 8
5 folds, Hero?

You are in MP3 and all opponents fold to you. You are under pressure to win chips and build up your small stack. You also have a good pushing hand. If you get called, you will probably be facing two overcards and still have decent equity. The Push Chart shows that you should push with 98s when you have 6 BBs or less. You only have 5 BBs, so you push all-in.

How large should your raises be?

A lot of players change the size of their raises in the late phase. Whereas 3-4 BBs is the standard early in the tournament, 2.5 BBs becomes the new standard. This might seem strange at first. The pot is larger due to the antes, so why should you make your raise smaller?

The reason is relatively simple: The high blinds and small (20-30 BB) stacks. You lose 0.5 BBs less if you have to fold to a re-steal. The pre-flop raises will rarely be called. In most cases you will either take down the blinds or your opponent will push all-in.

If your opponent does decide he likes the odds and calls, you are not disadvantaged. You will usually be playing in position and can take down the pot with a continuation bet, which can also be smaller in size.

A lot of opponents make the mistake of calling because the pot odds are so good. The pot will then be between 7 and 8 BBs in size and a continuation bet puts them in the difficult decision of having to decide whether or not they want to play for their entire stack.

If you or your opponent has a small stack of 20 BBs or less before the flop, a flop bet will be about 1/3 the size of your/your opponent's stack. The problem: You only hit the flop app. 30% of the time, and even when you do, you often don't want to play for your entire stack. If you call a flop bet, the pot will be much larger than your remaining stack and you will no longer be able to fold with such good odds.

You will be playing for your entire stack with a hand that wasn't strong enough to raise with before the flop. Keep this in mind. If you feel tempted to call a pre-flop bet, ask yourself if it would be better to re-raise or go all-in. If not, you should fold your hand.

• Once you reach the middle/late phase, your standard raise should only be 2.5-3 BBs.
• Add one BB for every player that limped in in front of you.
• If there was a raise in front of you, re-raise 2.5-3 times the amount of the original raise.
• If raising would cost more than 1/3 of your stack, go all-in.

How should you play after the flop?

Post-flop play falls into the background in the late phase. As we said, the game is dominated by aggressive pre-flop action. Most showdowns are the result of an all-in made before the flop.

You shouldn't call any raises if you don't have a large stack. If you do end up seeing a flop, it should usually be because someone called your raise. Position becomes very important in this phase, since being in position allows you to control the pot and the action much better.

Let the following thoughts go through your mind before you make your decision:

• Are you playing for a raised pot or an un-raised pot?
• Are you in position or out of position?
• Were you the pre-flop aggressor or was it an opponent?
• Are you heads up or in a multi-way pot?

Always consider these aspects before you start thinking about how to play your hand.

After going over the basic aspects, you should ask yourself how you got into the situation that you are in on the flop. A few specific points to consider are:

• What kind of hand do you have?
• How did you hit the board?
• Is the board draw heavy or dry?
• What kind of hand could your opponent have?
• What kind of opponent(s) are you facing?

You pre-flop play basically determines the kind of hand you have. Once you see the flop, the question is: How good is your hand on this board?

After considering all these aspects, you have to decide if:

• your opponent is likely to have hit the board
• your opponent is likely to have a weak/strong draw
• you can make your opponent fold a medium made hand or draw
• you are still ahead with your hand

Conclusion

This article introduced you to tight play for the middle and late phases in MTTs. In general, playing tight is very profitable. The resteal charts should give you a good impression of how aggressive you should be.

LINKS
PDF: The starting hands chart for the early phase of a tournament The charts for the middle and late phases of a tournament Related Articles: MTT Bankroll Management The Early Phase of a MTT The M Factor According to Dan Harrington Discussion Forum: Discuss this article in the Forum