Basic preflop poker strategy

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The game on the preflop determines the further course of the hand. Preflop is the foundation of poker, but most players do not pay enough attention to learning this most important section of the game. 70% of the success of a novice poker player playing tournaments up to $33 depends on the quality of his preflop game. To win in microlimit poker, you need to play preflop correctly and not make gross mistakes on the postflop. The best thing you can do for your development and rapid increase in winrate is to study in detail the optimal preflop range. You can purchase a video course from Exan13 
"Optimal preflop range Level 3" and then do not miss the chance to fast increase the quality of your game.

In addition to this opportunity, you can also access the free video course for beginner MTT players "Fundamentals of preflop and postflop games", which also provides preflop range, the most basic, but they are enough to start your career at microlimits.

1. Features of preflop poker at different stages of the tournament

 The vast majority of hands in multi-table tournaments are played in three main effective stacks:

1. In the middle stack (30-50 bb);
2. In a small stack (23-35 bb);
3. In the restyling stack (15-23 bb).

At the beginning of the tournament, when the stacks are deep, players have room to maneuver on the flop, turn, and river. With a decrease in effective stacks, the main actions in the distribution are shifted to the initial stages of trading. Therefore, it is extremely important to work out the strategy of playing preflop in shallow stacks, since the success of the MTT player largely depends on this aspect.

Early Stage

At an early stage, pots with three or more players are very often played in deep stacks. On a pre-flop, you'll get a lot of calls from opponents who want to see a weak-handed flop for a small fee. In this regard, the range played at this stage should be more tight than at other stages of the tournament.

A common mistake is to assume that larger stacks make it possible to play more hands. 

Preference should be given to combinations with stable equity – the ability to preserve equity against the spectrum of the opponent on most turn and river cards. These include pocket pair, high suited connectors and suited aces. If we catch a set on the flop, the hand in the opponent's range will be quite difficult to drag us on the turn and river turn. With a one-masted connector, we will rarely be waiting for difficult decisions if we collect a straight or flush. 

Hands from these categories have good playability, and they are easy to get rid of if the flop doesn't suit us at all. Medium broadway hands, for example, or being in the top pair on the flop, may be ahead, but their equity is not sustainable. It is easy to beat such hands by getting, for example, two pair, as well as in case a card falls that gives the higher pair or the top pair with the best kicker to the opponent. 

Middle stage

In the middle stage, players play wider range and do it more aggressively. Low and medium depth stacks predominate here. The "theft" of blinds and 3-bet begin to bring significant profit on preflop. If at an early stage after a successful 3bet you received only a slight gain compared to the stack size, then at the middle stage of the game a few “stolen” small pots can give a good increase to your stack. The range played increasingly depends on the strategy of the opponents at the table.

​​​​​Late Stage

The peculiarity of the game in the late stage of the tournament is the great influence of the ICM factor, as a result of which the mathematics of decision-making on preflop and postflop changes. The structure of the distribution of prize payouts makes us play less dispersive. The value of tournament life is growing. Players often refuse mathematically advantageous actions if there is a high risk of being eliminated from the tournament. Excessive Tight style at this stage becomes fatal for many. 

This is one of the most common mistakes poker players make:

1. Playing only the strongest hands, such players become predictable, which makes them an easy prey for more loose and aggressive opponents.
2. Extremely Tight style does not make the game less dispersive, as most beginners and inexperienced players believe. On the contrary, it leads to an increase in dispersion.

The scheme is as follows: a secret game reduces the overall winrate of the strategy, which leads to a faster drop in the stack size, which in turn leads to an increase in variance.

1. The main factor in the growth of variance in the game and its dependence on luck is the depth of the stack. The deeper the stack, the less reliance on luck.
2. In addition, there is a second factor: too secretive style leads to the fact that opponents begin to take your entry into the hand very seriously, and therefore your strong hands remain unpaid. This also causes the winrate to drop.

It turns out a double drop in winrate and a negative game in the late stage due to logical misconceptions that the pocket strategy is more dispersive (that is, it depends more on luck).

Final Stage

When the last 2 tables remain in the game, the prefinal stage begins. At this time, the ICM influence on the mathematics of the game and on the psychology of the players increases even more. Most novice and infrequent players, as well as recreational players, are so rare in this stage of the game that they want to maximize their enjoyment of being in it; they start playing very secretly, too carefully. Psychologically, putting pressure on such players and taking their chips with aggression and bluffing is an important part of the strategy of professional players. On the final table, the difference between the prizes begins to grow rapidly and the main prizes get the first 3 places in the tournament. The ICM influence on mathematics reaches its maximum. The game becomes more diverse. 

A number of new factors have a strong influence on the strategy of the game at this stage:

3. Playing preflop through open-raise

In the secret-aggressive preflop style, we play our range mainly through open-raise or 3-bet, avoid limps and rarely call (except for the big blind). If no one has opened the trade before us, we enter the game with an open-raise of the same size with the entire range of hands that we want to play from this position, so as not to become easy to read for opponents. The size of the open-raise will be determined by the stage of the tournament and the depth of the average stack at the table.

• Stack more than 80 bb – open-raise 3 bb;
• Stack 50-80 bb – open-raise 2.5 bb;
• Stack 12-50 bb – open-raise 2-2.3 bb. 

In the range of opening with a raise, we include certain hands depending on our position at the table and the depth of the stack, this is called the "Played Hand Chart". 

For example, the opening range from the UTG+1 position (2nd place from the big blind) will look something like this:

Mastering the right choice of starting hands for all preflop actions is a paramount task for building a high-quality plus strategy. 

4. Playing preflop via 3-bet

The effective use of 3-bets is one of the most important parts of preflop play. 

Compared to the cold call game, using 3-bet, we get a number of advantages:

1. Fold equity - we get the opportunity to win the pot here and now without opening;
2. Initiative - we control the development of the distribution, the size of the pot and have the opportunity to use fold equity on the following streets;
3. Image - For a MTT player, image is a very important aspect of the game. Tight-aggressive style implies play of most of the range through 3-bet. Opponents notice how often you do this, stop trusting stories about a strong hand and make mistakes when you really have a strong hand.

Preflop is the foundation of your poker strategy. Understanding the features of the game in multi-table tournaments and tight-agressive poker, multiplied by the work on the game and discipline, can bring you many exciting moments at the tables and good profits.