Live poker tournaments provide an amazing opportunity to invest a relatively small amount of money in order to win a bigger prize payout. In recent years, poker tournaments have seen a great increase in popularity, and the credit goes to its exciting, lucrative and invaluable factors that promise an ultimate gaining experience. Poker players make numerous mistakes while playing poker tournaments because the action on the tables is fast, and they consistently encounter new situations and difficult decisions. Following are some key tips that you should follow while playing tournament poker:

You should focus on adjusting your play throughout the tournament. There is more than one winning playing style of tournament poker. Moreover, you should keep in mind the stage of the tournament and your stack of chips. For example, while you play loose in the beginning and accumulate a lot of chips, you should consider slowing down in later stages to preserve your chip lead and let other players get knocked out.

Be aware of the chip counts of your opponents on the table. This helps you know where you stand relative to the other players, particularly in later stages of the offline tournament.  For instance, if you want to push someone with a short stack all-in , or let other players knock each other for a while.

Always play the player and the stack. You should always use judgement and choose your spots, even if holding a big stack. Further, keep track of players who have loosened up and those who have tightened up to survive to the final table. And, the ones with short stacks will sometimes raise with less than premium hands, so you can comfortably call them, if you have a big stack.

Never leave a player with short stack with only one or two remaining chips when you can put him all-in. These few chips can multiply quickly in the later stages of a tournament because of the high limits. So, don’t be kind and not put a player all-in when you have the opportunity to do so cheaply.

Be careful while making decisions related to the blinds. Correct decisions on your blind hands can often spell the difference between the success and failure in a tournament. Playing the blind correctly requires extreme prudence and discretion.

You should take full advantage of tight play. When everyone else is playing tight in the later stages of a tournament, you can take more chances and be more aggressive.

Bluffing plays an important role in No Limit Hold’em. It can be very powerful – the larger your stack, the more intimidating your bluff.

It is important to study your opponents. You must read your opponents and analyze their play especially when you are not actively involved in the hand. This will give you a sense of how loose or tight they are, and can help you in future game play.

Invariable, just learn to survive. Learning how to survive long enough to give yourself a chance to get lucky is essential. Anyone who has won a tournament has been lucky during various stages of that event. However, to maximize your opportunity to win, you must hone your survival skills.

Always stay calm, cool and collected. You are going to get some bad beats in a tournament. So, maintain a tough mental attitude and not go on tilt. Many players lose a few hands and get affected as such that both their discipline and their stacks begin to crumble. Don’t be that type of person, however do take advantage of that type of player.

So, next time you are gearing up yourself for the tournament poker, do keep this important tips in mind and implement them in your game play.