Mastering The Fundamentals: Preflop Tournament Strategy

This poker video from the Mastering The Fundamentals series covers everything you need to know to play preflop perfectly in poker tournaments.
It is important that your preflop ranges and the way in which you play will drastically change depending on how many big blinds you have.
Jonathan discusses the adjustments that you should make when playing from the small blind depending on who your opponent is in the big blind. Some players will fold far too often and some players will raise your limps from the small blind too often. Try to quickly determine what their tendencies are and then adjust accordingly.
Looking to up your preflop tournament game? Look no further than this comprehensive guide on mastering the fundamentals of preflop tournament strategy. In this video, Jonathan will cover everything you need to know about the essential building blocks of solid preflop play, from hand selection and position to raise sizing and table dynamics.
With Jonathan’s expert insights and practical poker tips, you'll be well on your way to dominating the preflop game and winning more poker tournaments than ever before. So whether you're a seasoned poker professional or just getting started in the world of poker, you should watch this poker video to learn perfect preflop tournament strategy.
0:00 - Intro
0:48 - Tournament Structure
1:28 - 25 Big Blinds - Preflop Strategy
3:58- 25 Big Blinds - Preflop Raising Ranges
10:09 - 25 Big Blinds - Facing A Raise
12:11 - 25 Big Blinds - Preflop Ranges vs A Raise
24:26 - 25 Big Blinds - Facing A Non-All-In 3-Bet
31:02 - 25 Big Blinds - Facing An All-In 3-Bet
36:30 - 15 Big Blinds - Preflop Strategy
37:32 - 15 Big Blinds - Preflop Raising Ranges
41:01 - 15 Big Blinds - Facing A Raise
47:54 - 15 Big Blinds - Facing An All-In 3-Bet
51:39 - 10 Big Blinds - Preflop Strategy
52:48 - 10 Big Blinds - Preflop Shoving Ranges
55:00 - 10 Big Blinds - Facing An All-In
On this Poker Coaching channel we cover a weekly poker topic to help improve your poker strategy!
In order to take your poker game to the next level it is vitally important you learn all the nuances of the game.
Do you know what ranges of poker hands you should be playing from each position? When should you 3-bet, call or fold? When is the right time to make a hero call or a huge bluff? Do you know how to play preflop, flop, turn & river effectively and how should your poker strategy change depending on the street? What difference does it make if you are playing multi-way vs heads-up?
#preflop #pokerstrategy #learnpoker

[@PokerCoaching]

What stack size do YOU struggle with the most when playing tournament poker? 🤔

[@jamesjones2675]

I struggle once I get a tough beat and end up within 10% of the field. I know what I’m supposed to do….. but I tend to make bad plays after that. I’m working on it though. 🤣

[@AtownOriginal]

I actually struggle the most with the chip lead/top 5 stack. I know in these spots I'm supposed to bully the smaller stacks, particularly on the bubble, but my natural tendency is to protect my big stack and tighten up. It's something I'm working on.

[@ZachBZera]

30-40 BBs

[@lawrencejacobs2236]

40-60🤷🏾‍♂️

[@gcraigen78]

Medium stack 20-30 bb can get tricky/boring.

[@reecekimber9422]

Hi John, I started playing online poker less than 5 months ago and have been watching your videos since, last night finished 1st (for the first time) in a tournament of 2000 people after late registering and nursing a short sack throughout (something which has normally been a weakness of mine). I cannot tell you how grateful I am and how great your videos are!!!!!

[@timlindsay6363]

Excellent video, Thanks.

[@diggz-he4fk]

i appreciate the videos. thanks very much

[@jaredcarrick3468]

One of the first topics of this video, Jonathan claims most people shove far too wide once they get down to around 15 bigs or less in their stack. I think more study needs to go into GTO shallow stack depth strategies. If you try to make standard opens preflop from EP or MP with almost no chips, if you are at a table which isn’t incredibly soft, the medium-bigger stacks really widen their ranges and go out of their way to come into pots against shallow effective stacks like that as a form of “collusion” to make it statistically the least likely for the effective stack to realize their equity against that many opponents. If you are that shallow and use a standard open size when you have the option in good position preflop, it’s going to look incredibly strong to the few remaining players yet to act and they likely won’t give you any action unless they have a premium, in which case you will just have to open/fold without a premium because they will make you play for your stack OOP with a premium at that point. Seems to me like the highest EV play with a stack depth of 15 bigs or less would be to shove pre with any suited ace, any pocket pair, any suited king, and a smattering of suited connectors that will be live against paint cards and still have the best odds at cracking over pairs. It will narrow it to heads up most of the time if you do get called, which will give you the most equity possible, while you will be taking the blinds and antes the rest of the time, which is still a big deal as that will at least allow you to hover around the same stack depth without getting blinded/ante’d off until maybe someone finally decides to call your shove in the wrong spot and then you get the double up.

[@jaredcarrick3468]

I didn’t mention including premiums into your shoving range at a stack depth of 15 bigs or less, as I figured it would have been obvious, but maybe not so much for newer players who don’t understand strategy. With a stack depth of 15 bigs or less, it’s not time to get cute with AK or pocket pairs Js or bigger….. even aces. You know exactly what’s coming if you do decide to get cute with those hands making a standard open in EP or MP with them. The 678 flop after 4-5 other players call, and at that point, you know even overpairs are already smoked or are getting smoked on the turn or river, as your effective stack is so shallow that good draws for middle-bigger stacks aren’t folding the flop to your shove. And if you do it IP pre when you have the option, it’s going to look pretty strong and you will be folding out anything except hands you have coolered. With this said, IMO, the highest EV play with 15 bigs or less is to rip pre with any suited A or K, any pocket pair, and a smattering of suited connectors which have the best odds of cracking overpairs…. although I would only rip at a shallow stack depth like that with those types of middling suited connectors if I was fairly certain my opponent would be willing to call off wide. But you need to balance said jam range at said stack depth with premiums, including AA, as skilled opponents will figure out what your jam range looks like/what you are doing at your stack depth and once that’s the case, they may be willing to call off extra wide and give you a dream scenario where you have them crushed for the double up.

[@brandonalan8884]

That is some META thinking sir. Well done.

[@gcraigen78]

Of course you have to adjust to the oppenents. This strategy is a baseline strategy. You never want to play strictly GTO cause then you can be exploited very easily. I use a similar strategy as he is explaining but will deviate depending on how my oppents are playing and what position I'm in.

[@timblakely5015]

@@gcraigen78 exploited by playing GTO. Now that is a take.

[@nickl.20]

He’s always said you need to adjust to your opponents. What a boring take you have.

[@kaisaarnio7208]

Lots of good stuff, lets see if i could apply some of it tonight for my tourney game 😎👍

[@jameslandon9626]

This is really well put together and explained, thanks so much for making it available. I learned a lot. Even just the idea of making a gto table more implementable by picking specific hands to always follow a strat w/ is so much easier.

[@PokerCoaching]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gianmarcocioci9846]

Great content, support from Italy 🇮🇹

[@Jermo484]

These charts are so interesting. I know it must be right, that's the entire point, but it's wild to me to jam 25 bb over a 2 bb open from UTG with multiple people to act behind me with QJs. I can't imagine I'll ever actually do it, given that I'm just playing weekly $250 tournaments and stuff, not real big stakes against legit players.

[@ApiolJoe]

The whole "point" behind this is that even if you get called you still have a decent amount of equity in the pot AND because you're allin you are guaranteed to realize it if it materializes (contrary to deepstack lose play where you could fold the better hand because it looks weak on the board vs aggression).

[@BigD751]

Those tournaments sound juicy!

[@jaredcarrick3468]

Just started watching the video, but as far as the chat question goes, I struggle the most with those “in-between” stack depths (30-50BB) where you have enough chips to still be able to play 1-2 post flop pots, but all it takes is for you to lose 1-2 of those post flop hands and you will then be shallow enough to where it’s time to find a hand to push and pray with preflop. I tend to feel the pressure most when faced with decisions with that specific stack depth, as I understand the consequences of losing a pot or 2 playing post flop at said stack depth, and it leads me to narrow my preflop ranges too much, as well as me making too many hero moves (big bluffs or hero calls) on turns and rivers in those spots to try catapult myself up into a top 10-20 remaining stack. If I get ahold of that many tournament chips anywhere near the money bubble, it’s about 90%+ I’m at least semi-final tabling.

[@truthorsin1991]

I will suggest to Use the 25 BB strat, but trget players with 15BB or less

[@YTSparty]

Good info.

[@adean4146]

there have been multiple tournaments I've almost one coming back from 1 or 2bb, just from luck... once even folding all the way to the big blind and tripling up, then doubling... all luck shoving 89s K4s have helped me win, shoving Ads JJ, QQ have helped me lose

[@user-zt4cm5zx5k]

speaking of stack depth are those regarding our stack size or effective stacksize?

[@jorgegargurevich3615]

Hi Jonathan, a simple question, does this ranges are for a 5max? or you mean BTN as the CO ranges aswell, or how does this extrapolate for a full ring MTT?

[@theNfl_Esq]

Who are the top 5 tournament players in the world right now in your opinion? Who are the top 5 cash game players? Who are the top 5 players in the world today including cash n tourneys? Some of my top players include Chidwick, Nick P, Fedor (although he’s not playing as much anymore the run he went on will probably never be replicated), Patrick Antonious, and JasonKoon, Foxxen, and of course Ivey n DNegs.. curious to see other people opinions

[@hyperbole5726]

At 15:00 you see the BTN 3bet range vs HJ is JJ+,AQs+ and a tiny amount of bluffs. In your scenario at 25:16 you say LJ raises, BTN 3bets, in the SB you should 4bet allin tightly and say a range of 99+, AQ+ which is wider then BTN 3bet range. Did you assume BTN would have no allins and instead 3bet the other hands seen at 15:00?

[@u2damoney]

where can I get the pdfs for charts?

[@conephompany]

for the 'facing a raise' part of video, we assume villian's stack size is what?

[@savior4134]

I should use the 2/2,25bb raise size when i am 25bb deep, or also before, when i am 100bb deep?

[@chrishamill9272]

You're a winning player Jonathan, has your win rate actually improved after adapting to GTO ?.. Seems it introduces more variance to me.. and i just dont run good.. ever. Can't see me ripping 25bb from BB vs BUT open very often Edit (with A2o)

[@dhruvgupta498]

Struggling with pre flop ranges and action. Suggestions?

[@BaneWilliams]

So I've always thought about this - If you are supposed to shove from the SB with only pocket 2's 3's, 4's and mid offsuit aces, aren't you just playing those hands face up if the opponent suspects you're playing GTO strategy, and shouldn't you call that shove with just about any pocket pair if you're in the BB and you know your opponent is playing GTO? Like this is good 'in theory' but it seems super exploitable.

[@Shagrat31]

Uh, how is that an exploit?

[@ApiolJoe]

The whole point is that the range is balanced to not allow exploitation by specific hand. You could literally tell your range to your opponent (not your hand, your range), and there's nothing he can do about it.

[@BaneWilliams]

@@ApiolJoe Yeah but that is the problem with the GTO approach shown by the solvers here. There is no balance. You are ONLY shoving 2's, 3's, 4's and mid offsuit aces.

[@ApiolJoe]

@@BaneWilliams Her's a good exercise then: find ranges that exploits the charts shown. If you can't, it means they're right. If you can, you're rich.

[@marcusecom]

how can I apply this to microstakes? 2-10$ BI Mtts? it feels very wild to shove/call with those ranges...

[@jamesbochichio9467]

Hey John I'm playing in a $15 tournament on ignition nine-handed, I was under the gun with pocket queens and under the gun plus 2 raises the pot 3x and it folded around to the button who four bet huge not all in, I called and had half about half my stack left, under the gun plus 2 then went all in and the button called, I decided it has to for sure be Kings, Aces or AK and I folded. It ended up being Kings and nines and I would have for sure lost. Do you think this is a good spot to do this in or should I be calling it off in spots like this sometimes. Alis should i have just folded to the 4 bet or should i be re shoving sometimes?

[@Xaros103765]

Super late but i think that from middle possition you want to fold Q Q from 4 bet shove tbh

[@michaelschend8785]

I only play live tournaments hence I can't sit there with charts without getting laughed out of the room, nor do I have a photographic memory. Any memory tips for those of us with the memory of a donkey. (I assume that's why they always refer to me as the donkey at the table)

[@maliekmiles992]

Medium stack

[@Shagrat31]

I am missing 10BB push/fold chart facing a 2BB open. I imagine the ranges are going to be much tighter especially in late positions. Actually if anyone have these can you paste a link?

[@Shagrat31]

Great video though, I need to rewatch it multiple times to soak it all in (pun intended).

[@MrMrPopols]

There is literally no difference between A3s and A2s. So how can that be a fold on utg with 25bb? Ace with street and flush draw and a 3 calls but the same story does fold with 2… 0 logic

[@TheOnlyToast]

So talking exploits - when the miss lots of the Ax Bluffs with their 3bets, their range gets way more valueheavy -> we call way less wide?

[@blurry6346]

How am I supposed to be hyper aware of my opponent’s strategy and how often they shove if I just met bro and I’ll never see him again

[@sebastiendansard8586]

These charts are only relevant when opponents play according to the same charts. Which almost never happen online.

[@mariuszzamrzycki928]

I understand that this video is about playing GTO, so you shouldn't use microstakes?

[@seanbehnken8197]

Gto theory should be used at all stakes. By understanding the concepts u can adjust to what ur opponent is doing wrong. In micro stakes opp Cbet to often don’t 3 bet enough for easy exploits.

[@sylvesterjacala1564]

can u teach us actual online tournament so that we can see how u play your cards

[@malcolmdore-boucher4066]

lets say in a tournement with 15bb I have pockets 8s UTG and I open with a min raise and then i get 3 bet by the button. I have a hard time calling or even pushing all-in cause more then half is range is an over pair and in best case its a flip (ace/king, Ace Quenne)... I feel like its a bad spot either way if I call the 3 bets

[@jaredcarrick3468]

It’s still a 4 bet rip at your stack depth. If it were the LJ or HJ I would say at least half their range contained bigger pocket pairs, but BTN was going to have plenty of suited broadway connectors. 8s are still a pretty strong hand. Your opponent’s range was going to have a small percent of smaller pocket pairs you were crushing, as well as a small percent of suited wheel aces you were 2-1 against going to the flop. Once you are under 15 BB, what are the odds you are picking up a better hand than that before being blinded and ante’d down to under 5 bigs, where your stack depth won’t even allow you the protection of at least being heads up if you get called? And if you are running that bad with pocket pairs, there’s a chance your ranges are a little too narrow compared to GTO and simply aren’t playing them in the right spots. Sometimes with the way the table is playing it feels like 2 suited overs is going to end up being the nuts against any pocket pair, but each hand is a random event (at least when playing live) and you have to embrace variance and realize that running deep in tournaments requires winning a lot of flips. There will be times where the 8s are crushed when getting it in for your last 15 bigs as a 4 bet pre, but 8s is strong enough at that stack depth to not feel bad about going with it, unless you are on the money bubble and you care about the min cash.

[@manfredullrich483]

How often are antes being applied in tournaments? Is it standard, quite typical, or more a rare thing?

[@MrSickosBeast]

Online and in bigger live tournaments most certainly, but playing only live small stakes pub tournaments in Australia there’s NEVER an ante

[@AcesH1gh]

​@@MrSickosBeast 888 used to have antes in their pub poker tournaments, mind you this was over 10 years ago.

[@manfredullrich483]

@@AcesH1gh when I used to play in Vegas, 100$ to 200$ buy-in tournaments, approx 10-15 years ago, there were no antes. Not in Harrah's, not in the Bellagio not in Golden Spike.

[@manfredullrich483]

@@MrSickosBeast Antes are not too bad, as they will lead to a looser play....which might be more fun.

[@AcesH1gh]

@@manfredullrich483 the casino I play at in the UK has a bb ante

[@Knucklesmd]

Thought this guy was going to touch on some strategy… Not read charts back to me like an accountant.

[@lecsooos1]

THX!