Everyone likes to talk about what you can do to be better in poker tournaments and it’s definitely helpful in improving your game when you listen to this advice. However, sometimes it’s actually better to focus on the negative and talk about what you can do to stop sucking in poker tournaments.
The first thing you should do is avoid continuation bets or any other sort of automatic bet on the river. Some players have the tendency to raise or bet despite knowing that their opponent could have the better hand. The thinking is that, even though the opponent has the better hand, they may be fooled into folding to a big bet or raise. But the reality is that you shouldn’t ever bet or raise on the river unless you think you’re at least a 51% favorite to win the hand.
Another thing you need to do to avoid failing miserably in poker tourneys is applying too much math to certain situations. You need to realize that when your chips are out in a poker tournament, you are done for. Unless it’s a rebuy, there is no bringing extra chips into the equation so you can’t treat a tournament like a cash game. You have to look for specific points where you can make a big move on a weaker player instead of determining your entire play through mathematical odds.
One more thing to keep in mind is that you should also cut out distractions if you’re playing online. It’s way too often that I see friends playing a tourney with their TV on, music in the background, chatting on facebook, etc. There is no way you’re going to play well through all of these distractions so you definitely need to cut them out.