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
For example, if someone raises from middle position
For example, if someone raises from middle position and you have Q-10, A-8 or 9-6s in the small blind, you should usually fold if there are no other callers. If there are callers between you and the raiser, you can call with 9-6s if everyone is deep-stacked. You should certainly fold hands like A-8 and Q-10 because the likelihood you are dominated rises as more players see the flop.
If there is a raise from middle position, someone calls,
If there is a raise from middle position, someone calls, you call in the small blind and the big blind folds, you now have relative position. If you check the flop, the initial raiser will usually bet, and you will see what the caller does before you have to make a decision. Because of this, calling out of the blinds in multi-way pots, especially with hands with high implied odds, is almost always a good thing. Notice though, that if the big blind calls pre-flop, that player now has both relative and absolute position on you.