End Game Strategy with Texas Hold'Em Poker
There comes a point in every Texas Hold'em
tournament when it comes time to change strategies. The
early stages of the game are about building up your chip
stack and learning your opponents’ idiosyncrasies.
When the end phases of the game role around, the goal changes.
Now it’s time to take as many opponents out as you
can as fast as you can. However, you need to do this in
an intelligent manner. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.
So what kinds of risks should you take and what kind should
you not take? For starters, the prospect of going all in
should get easier as the game goes on. Going all-in is a
risky business, but in the latter part of the game it should
become slightly more frequent. For example, if you hold
a decent pair and a good position, an all-in bet can buy
you the blinds without the trouble of playing any unnecessary
betting rounds.
One thing to avoid is bluffing all-in. While it is possible and can be profitable, it is
also a large risk. That brings us to the subject of calling
all-in bets. First of all, if you have the opponent’s
chips covered, the decision should be slightly easier, but
not by very much. Calling an all-in opponent always entails
some risk, and most of the decision should come from reading
the tells you discovered in the earlier stages.
Also, in the latter parts of the game, relative pre-flop hand strength increases. For example, a pair of tens or
low faces may not be worth very much in the beginning of
a tournament, but in the latter stages with only a few players
it may be the best hand pre-flop. Further, the final hand
strengths change considerably. With less than five players
on the table, a decent pair can often win the pot. However,
higher hands such as straights and flushes do come up from
time to time, and if you aren’t careful you’ll
be caught off guard.
The most difficult part of the end game is commonly called
the showdown. When the game
is down to the last two players and they battle it out for
the two highest money seats, things can get very strange
very quickly. Checking all the way through betting rounds
is ridiculously common at this stage, and most bets that
are made are relatively high given the availability of chips.
The best chance you have of winning is a high pocket pair
pre-flop. You bet the hand cautiously, and if a decent flop
comes up, you go all-in. If your opponent has a decent enough
hand, he should call and you should have him (unless he
gets lucky, which you just can’t avoid sometimes).
A few things to remember about this stage of the game:
draw hands are worth almost nothing, a decent two pair usually
wins the pot, and most hands end in a fold. The best thing
to do here is just relax and do the best that you can (in
most tournaments second
place is decent money anyway, so don’t be sweating
bullets over this one). Play your best and you’ll come
out in the money consistently.
We recommend Everest
Poker as a great place to play in and you can test
your poker strategy with the free games on offer.
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