The 4 Phases of a Tournament

1. Early Stage (Deep Stack)

Everyone has lots of chips (100+ Big Blinds). Play this like a cash game. Speculate with suited connectors. Try to make big hands and bust weaker players.

2. Middle Stage (The Minefield)

Stacks get shallower (30-50 BBs). Antes kick in. Stealing blinds becomes crucial. You can't afford to limp-call speculative hands anymore.

3. The Bubble (Fear Phase)

The "Bubble" is when one person needs to bust for everyone else to make the money. Big stacks should bully the small stacks who are terrified of busting with $0.

4. In The Money (ITM) & Final Table

Once the bubble bursts, people go crazy (gambling to build a stack). At the Final Table, pay jumps are massive (ICM pressure). Every decision is worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Key Takeaways

• Play tight early, aggressive late.
• Abuse the bubble if you have a big stack.
• Tighten up massively at the Final Table where pay jumps are huge.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

• Playing too loose on the bubble with a medium stack.
• Nit-folding when short-stacked in the middle stage.

Worked Example

You are the chip leader on the Bubble. A short stack raises.

You can shove All-In with a very wide range, because they can only call with absolute monsters due to the fear of busting.

Knowledge Check

Test your understanding to complete this lesson.

Question 1 of 5