Speed Poker Tournaments
Speed Poker Tournaments are becoming increasingly popular among online poker tournament players. The fast paced blind structures and quick decision times mean that tournaments finish in a much shorter space of time, perfect for online poker players looking for a quick game. Blinds in Speed Tournaments are often increased every 3-5 minutes and decision times are usually cut to between 6 and 10 seconds, which clearly favours experienced poker players who can make fast on the spot decisions.
Speed Tournament Strategy
Speed tournaments are a great way to earn some quick cash, but many players don’t know how to play these formats properly. Many players assume that because it is a speed tournament that you simply push all in and hope for the best with a wide variety of hands. The trick with speed tournaments is to play your legitimate hands in a more aggressive manner than normal and to take calculated risks at key points in the tournament. These calculated risks need to be made when it is either forced upon you or you believe you are ahead in the hand. The points at which you need to make these risks are outlined below :
- You need to take risks when the blinds force you to get your chips in. The speed format puts substantially more pressure on you to make a move. The blinds will increase every five minutes instead of the usual fifteen minutes. With this is mind you will have to play your position at the table with great care. You want to limit the possibilities of getting your chips in with a worse hand. One of the ways you can do this is to play from late position. The players behind you will have a tough decision to make and the blinds are more likely to have a weaker hand than you. This is a much better situation to be in than to push from early position with someone calling behind you with a monster.
- Early on, you need to position yourself so the blinds don’t put as much pressure on you as the other players later on. You can do this by playing your premium hands more aggressively in the first hour. Many players will be playing looser than normal poker so you can take advantage of this by betting more than you normally would. You will get called a lot more and the aggressive bets won’t seem that big in this speed format.
- Make sure you are aware of what is happening at the table and play smart. If there is a big stack behind you and is calling everyone down then don’t continue to bet against him with weak hands. Work out what type of players are on the table and play accordingly. You will have to aware of this when you have to make a tough decision. Take the information available to you from previous hands into consideration when deciding to make a move or not.
- Use you chip stack to your advantage. With the sharp increases in the blinds you will have a great opportunity muscle players around at key times. Your opponents know they can’t bluff you out of a hand so they will naturally play tighter against you at certain times. It can also work against you because your opponent will know that you are more likely to call if they push all in. If you do accumulate a large chip stack it is imperative that you use it as a weapon because it has a huge advantage in these tournaments.
Bodog Poker offers Turbo Sit And Go Tournaments around the clock. Instead of the standard 10 minute blind level increases Bodog offers 5 minute blind levels in these tournaments.
