3 Reasons Why You Should Play Pre-ante Levels In Poker Tournaments

A good number of players still do not see the need for early pre-ante playing in as far as the overall outcome of the tournament is. But the truth is that early levels really count and if well strategized, can have a good effect on the overall results.

When you start early, you can identify weaker players who are likely not to make it to the middle of the game. This is a good point to start placing bets on chip accumulation. This is of benefit only if you place early ante.

Pre-ante levels helps a player in starting the tournament on a good place. You will however need to avoid certain tournament moves such as preflop if you want desirable results. While as the chips you win at this stage maybe not of much significant, they can count in the long run.

At pre-ante levels, avoid preflop betting. Minimize on the stacks at this stage. For instance with 30,000 chips, playing for 600 chip pots feels tedious but this will gain momentous as the game gets to the middle level, and you can start playing multi- hands as the tournament builds up.

It’s true, though: playing for a pot that at some point equates to the size of a small blind is inconsequential from a mathematical standpoint. It doesn’t matter whether you have 28,000 chips or 32,000 chips after the first few levels, whereas just getting one steal through at the 5,000/10,000 level can make or break your tournament.

Some of the benefits of playing pre-ante include;

1. Understanding your strategy
   Take advantage of the early time to master your strategy before the antes arrive. Understand the kind of opponents you will be dealing with as this will come in handy when the ante starts.

Avoid non-verbal communications as much as possible. Do not let your opponent get to see when you are nervous, afraid or excited as this can be used against you. Try to retain a neutral and calm look.

Pay close attention to your opponents. Spot the tight one at the pre-ante levels. Tease them with the preflop act to see their response, whether they remain sticky, fit or fold. This will help you in deciding your next moves as the tournament progresses.

Use the re-play hand carefully when you see a hand shown down.

1. Pretend to be vulnerable
   This is a defense mechanism to trapping your opponent and avoid being trapped. Play speculative hands while keeping a focus on the hands that you are playing. Small pocket pairs are great especially at the early levels. This is a good strategy to blinding and confusing your opponents.

1. Taking advantage of the deadest money
   Do not overlook the fish that looks weak as they might surprise you and catch you unawares when they take the deep run. While as many of MTTs do have a fair number of fish in them, it differs how bad the players are.

Look out for players who are ready to gamble every hand or risk any amount of big blinds when they have top pair. There is a high possibility that such players will bust early, and you need to be ready to collect their chips when that happens.

Take advantage of big fish who donate big blinds at the early stages as this is the level where you are likely to make big profits especially in turbos and other small live tournaments. Usually, at late levels, the edges aren’t as big.

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