Advantages of Tight Playing in Poker Tournaments

There are some situations in poker tournaments, where playing loose games is the recommended method, while other times when it is better for you to play tighter.

Loose play occurs when you are making more raises, placing larger bets, and playing riskier games in general.

Tight play happens when you play it safe, and refrain from games that have a higher risk of losing.

The advantages of playing it tight has to do with several factors that will be discussed later on in the page.

Loose play risks your tournament ranking - Why risk everything over one bad move? That is a basic beginners mistake.

This means that those players before you may have earned an edge over you, simply by not participating in games or by not wagering large sums. This is why playing tight games can improve your final rank and the prize you get in the end of the tournament.

In loose play you may lose it all in one go - Let's say you're one of the leading players in the tournament, and the game is approaching the final tournament stages. If you decide to walk into a game, where you have a good chance of winning, but you also have to risk everything you've won, you may be making a huge mistake.

Choosing games with different stakes, might mean that in the case you do lose, your money is not entirely lost, and you can still play more games. Remember that in online poker tournaments, you usually play until you run out of cash and go broke.

Playing tight as a long term strategy - When you play tight in tournaments, you are improving your profits in the long run. Because poker tournaments have a series of games which are played, it is important to think about the long term outcome. If you play it tight in most tournament games, you are improving your profits, because the games you will eventually play will be more profitable to you. Tight play will keep you funds safer and allow for a more stable money management strategy

Not playing poker tournaments tight enough is the most common mistake beginners make. This may occur because the player is not accustomed to the fact it is a tournament game and not a ring game which he is playing. Learning the risks of playing loose games can help you prevent making such mistakes in tournaments.

Todd Sanders.
Senior Editor

Share This...