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Blackjack Tournament: Position -
A critical part of blackjack tournament strategy
When you take a seat at a tournament table, you should be armed with a
basic strategy of how you plan to approach the game. But there's one unknown
about your round that won't be settled until you sit down at the table.
Seating position can have a big impact on your chances for success in a
tournament round. Most tournaments assign seats in a random fashion, by
having the player draw from a blind set of seating choices. However, some
tournaments allow players to choose their seats. When available, this option
can give you an extra edge if you know how to take advantage.
Let's take a look at why some seats are better than others. There are two
main areas in which position matters. First, there's the impact of the
betting button. In tournament play, the first-base button moves around the
table, and each player in turn must bet and act in sequence starting at the
button. If you're "on the button", that means you're forced to choose your
bet before the other players, and don't have the benefit of knowing what
they will bet behind you. Also, during play of the hand, you'll have to play
your hand before seeing any of your opponents play. By way of contrast, the
player to your immediate right has a considerable advantage on this hand,
being able to see all players bet amounts before making a decision.
By rotating the button around the table, each player has a roughly equal
number of bets "on the button" and "last to act", as well as everything in
between. But, not all hands of a round are of equal importance. In
particular, the last hand is usually the determining factor of who advances
and who is eliminated. With that in mind, there's a big advantage to be
gained if you manage to be last to act on the final hand.
If you'll have that edge on the last hand, you can afford to be a little
more conservative in the rest of the round, knowing that you'll be able to
fine-tune your bet at the end by seeing everyone else's bet. If you're last
to act on the final hand, you don't necessarily have to be the chip leader
to be the favorite to advance. On the other hand, if you're on the button
for the last hand, being the chip leader is very important for your chances.
Of course, most tournaments choose the starting button position randomly,
meaning you can't pick a seat that is more likely to have a favorable last
hand button. There are exceptions. I've played some mini-tournaments where
the button always starts at seat 1, to the dealer's left. If you're able to
choose your seat in an event like that, it's well worth the effort to figure
out the most likely final button position, and ask for the seat to the
immediate right of it. For example, if there will be 6 players, and the
round has 20 hands, I'd ask for seat 1. If all 6 players stay in for the
entire 20 hands, the button will end up in front of seat 2 on the last hand.
By asking for seat one, I have a better than usual chance of having last bet
on the final hand. Of course, players often drop out before the end, causing
the button position on the last hand to be unpredictable. Still, it's a nice
opportunity to get an extra edge, even if it doesn't always work.
Much more commonly, tournaments have a random way of choosing the button
position for hand one. In the Las Vegas Hilton Million tournament, all
players are dealt a five-card poker hand, and the highest ranking hand gets
the first button. Other tournaments roll a single die, or deal out cards to
players until the first Ace. In these events, there's no advantage available
by choosing a particular seat. However, once the random choice of button
position has been made, it's still valuable to know where that puts you.
An example might help: Assume you're playing at the Las Vegas Hilton,
where most of the rounds are 30 hands with 6 players. You're seated in seat
3, and you "win" the poker hand meaning that the button will start out in
front of you in seat 3. If you figure out the final hand button position
assuming all the players hang around until the end, you'll see that the
final button will be in front of seat 2, making you second to bet on the
last hand. So, "winning" the poker hand is not a lucky thing in this case.
But, now that you know you'll likely have poor position at the end of the
round, you can tailor your playing strategy to minimize the damage. Knowing
you'll likely be second to bet at the end, you may want to try to accumulate
a few extra chips along the way. A little extra risk may be worthwhile,
because the extra chips you could win will be worth more from early position
on the final hand.
If any players at your table lose all their chips in the middle of the
round and are eliminated, you'll have to refigure your final position.
Because this is pretty common, many players don't bother with the button
position until late in the round when the final outcome is likely to be more
predictable. Still, I like to know up front.
The second important aspect of position has to do with the players around
you at the table. Players on your left are a bigger threat than players on
your right. If a player on your left has a chip advantage over you, it's
much tougher to catch him or her than a similar player on your right. A
player to your immediate left is said to have position on you, because that
player gets to see your wager and action on every hand but one per round of
the table. In a 6-player format, the player to your left acts after you on 5
out of 6 hands. This gives him or her the ability to margin any of your
attempts to catch up, and to easily guard any lead by matching your bets.
Because of this impact of position, it's helpful to pay extra attention
to the players behind you. If you have opportunities late in the round to
double or split and pass their chip totals, it's probably worth considering.
If you find yourself trailing the players to your left, you might consider
waiting until they are on the button before trying to catch up. By seeing
the amount of their wager, you can size your bet more effectively. Since you
only get the chance once every 6 hands, you don't want to miss the
opportunity.
In events where you can choose your seat, it's useful to know something
about your opponents. If you have a particularly strong tournament player at
your table, it would be best to have them seated on your right, where they
have less of an advantage over you. Also keep in mind that the player at
third-base is considered to be to the right of first-base or seat 1.
Choosing a seat can be helpful when it is allowed, but being aware of
your button position is important in every tournament round. Taking your
opponent's relative position into account when deciding how to bet against
them in the middle hands of a round can make the difference between
advancing and being eliminated. Best of luck out there, and, please, don't
sit to my left!
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