Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
Be willing to bet even if you miss the flop,
Be willing to bet even if you miss the flop, such as on 9-5-2, hoping to pick up the pot. In both instances, bet around 11BBs into the 20BB pot. Keep your bets small so you can fold when bluffing. You should still bet around 11BBs with A-A or 8-7 in this situation, assuming you re-raised pre-flop. While I seem to be suggesting that you bluff when you are close to putting a large stack of your chips in, I am actually suggesting a standard continuation bet after you re-raise. If you take a standard, unexploitable line, your opponents will have a hard time playing against you, winning you many pots that more timid or fancy players would miss.
This concept also applies to throwing out large bluffs,
This concept also applies to throwing out large bluffs, as discussed earlier. Poker tournaments are no place to throw out large bluffs because you will be out of the tournament if even one of them fails. Setting yourself up to lose whenever your opponent gets stubborn and calls is not a winning strategy.