Adjusting play for Turbo Blinds
When playing in a tournament structure possessing turbo blinds, one is wise to adjust their overall tournament strategy. The blinds will begin pressuring the tournament field earlier. As a result, you will want to play in fast forward mode. By making the necessary adjustments, it is possible to be successful within the turbo blind structure.
Strategy Early on for Turbo Tournaments
In a PokerStar.com turbo tournament, you should begin by adopting a passive overall posture. However, because the blinds increase quickly, you will want to be a bit more selective in your starting hands than you would in a normal tournament. While the majority of your money will come from post flop play, you do not have the luxury of time on your side to make a recovery in the event you have a chunk taken out of your stack. In addition, you will observe that many of the players will be playing a far more aggressive style of play preflop, due to the perceived pressure of the blinds in the turbo structure. As a result, you should tighten up slightly with your calling standards, and feel free to raise the top 10% and bottom 10% of your playable hands preflop.
Strategy Mid-Turbo Tournament
When the blinds increase, and the average stack shrinks in relation to the blinds, you will want to turn the pressure on. Starting hands matter more. You should be willing to move all-in preflop and on the flop with your top hands when the average stack’s M is low (for more information on M, see the poker glossary). In addition, you should note that during these middle stages, many players will take on risk they should not really be taking on. In fact, many players will move all-in with rubbish from the under the gun position to try to “buy the blinds.” Be aware of this and stand ready to make calls as appropriate.
Strategy for the End Stages of a Turbo Tournament
When getting to and through the bubble of a turbo tourney, be the contrarian. If the table is tight and weak, be loose and aggressive. If the table is full of LAGs, be tight and passive. By taking a contrarian’s approach, you will stand the best shot of getting your fair share of the prize pool.