There are several general strategies that players can use when playing in tournaments that can help to improve their chances of winning. To begin with it is always a good idea to know what kind of tournament you are entering as each carries a slightly different set of strategies, although most general ones will apply.

Major tournaments can be long lasting and may go on for anywhere from a week to a month and usually have large buy-in fees for entry.

Minor tournaments generally last for around three days and have cheaper buy-ins than their larger counterparts.

Guaranteed tournaments have set prize pools which are as the name suggests guaranteed not to go below regardless of the number of buy-ins.

Re-buy tournaments allow players to buy more chips at allocated times during the event. Buy-in rules differ for each event, so make sure you know what they are before entering.

Satellite tournaments are single table tournaments that award the winner with entrance buy-ins to a major tournament.

Free Roll Tournaments have no buy-in and are popular with newcomers learning the ropes.

These are the major groups or variations of poker tournaments that you are likely to come across so that you can plan your strategy effectively. So first off, be sure you are aware of the blind or ante structure of the tournament so you will be prepared for the frequency and amounts of the changes.

If you are entering a re-buy tournament, you’ll find that players will play more aggressively and loosely because they can buy more chips in the re-buy periods so you’ll need to adjust your game to cope with this. Alternatively, at tournaments where re-buys are not allowed, players will play more tightly and be more cautious.

In the earlier stages of the tournament blinds are still relatively low. On marginal hands, it’s sometimes worth risking a small percentage of your stack in order to see the flop for a chance at quickly doubling up if you are holding a medium to good pair. If you have a good pre-flop hand such as A-K, it is also worth flat calling. This will minimise losses if it doesn’t work out but more importantly will give you a good disguise if you hit it big post-flop.

Play post flop betting strategies tighter but bear in mind that you’ll need to keep your stack at a decent level to remain secure for the next rounds.

In the middle stages, blinds will be higher meaning the investment of more chips per round which will affect your style of play. If you have nothing to play with, your best option is to fold rather than risk an expensive raise or call on a weak hand. It is tournament suicide to waste chips playing weak hands during this particular stage and could cost you an early exit.

If you want to make it into the final round, you’re going to need to win at least one blind per round. Success here will place you in a highly critical position with the ever higher blinds which will entail some skilful and clever short hand tactics. The most productive strategy here is being aware of how close you stand to the final prize money and what you have left in your stack so that you can aim to start eliminating other players with aggressive play if you can afford it. If you are not so well endowed with chips at this stage, you’ll have to back off and only call if your hand is strong enough for it. Either way, you should be aware of what is possible with your remaining stack and adjust your play to suit.