Multi-table Limit Texas Holdem tournaments, as well as all Texas Holdem tournaments involve much luck and just a little bit of skill. Nevertheless, skillful players always have better chances against even the luckiest beginners. In order to win in this type of Texas Holdem tournaments, you should slightly change the strategies applied in Limit Texas Holdem ring games.

Generally, the most important change to your play involves the so-called gap concept. During the middle and late stages of a tournament, you should slightly change your style of play from just trying to win money in the long run to simply winning pots. Unlike ring games, where pot odds were you guiding force, tournaments require you to straight up win the pots you play. And since the size of blinds is quite large compared to the sizes of pots, you don’t want aggressive competition, because a simple blind steal can help you immensely.

Your goal is to start playing those hands, which just likely win. Hands like straight draws and flush draws lose in value, while high and middle pocket pairs rise in value. Starting hands like AK and AQ also rise in value, since they dominate most other hands such as AK versus A10 and AQ versus KQ. Throughout early and especially middle and late stages of Limit Texas Holdem tournaments you generally don’t want to confront with dominating hands, which means that you don’t want to have an Ace and Jack against an Ace and King, even though your opponent will pay off nicely, if you hit the flop.

You shall need to conform to this strategy and there are two steps to do this. First of all, if the game is generally tight, you should tend to go in on marginal hands in order to steal the blind bets. Always raise preflop, when holding these hands. If you’re two off the button holding an Ace of hearts and 9 of clubs, then you should raise in order to steal the blinds. However, the second change you should apply is to avoid dramatic confrontations. If one of your opponents already raised, then you should definitely fold the same hand (A9), if you’re one off the button. The essential concept here again is dominating hands, which means that you want other players to fold, because they are threatened by your domination and you should fold, if you feel that you can be dominated. For example, if you raise with A of hearts and 9 of clubs, then someone with A10 will definitely consider folding, since they’re threatened with possibility that you hold something like AJ, AQ or AK and therefore have them dominated.

The next situation to discuss is what you would do if you are dealt with a premium hand like a pair of Kings and one of your opponents raised? It is obvious that you cannot chunk such a hand preflop, because there are chances that your opponent holds AA. In this case, the better strategy would be re-raising to knock your opponents out. Raising and plenty of re-raising action is the key. Thus you send your opponents the message that you’re challenging them for all of their chips, if he dares to play against you in this hand. So, when you are dealt a nut, or near-nut starting hand like KK – you definitely want to make your stand.

Clearly, throughout all of this, you should always consider the strength of your opponents. Wise players understand the gap concept and will definitely fold, if they have borderline hands such as unsuited A and 10. Nevertheless, weak players will simply call. Poor players just play their hands, while good players play their cards considering their opponents’ hands. If there is a poor opponent playing against you at the flop, then he will most likely fold to your bet if he has no hit and will call you to the river if he has. Wise Texas Holdem players know that when they hold hands like unsuited A and 10 and there is another Ace in the flop, they may be finished because of a kicker, while a poor player will be happy he holds a top pair.