Q&A #107: Classifying Tournament Stages

The word “prizes” was used twice with different meanings. It was confusing and caused a re-read.

Nice article Ed.

I submitted it to RoundersBuzz.com

Ed,

I greatly appreciate the response to my question. I am a fan of your writing style and approach to poker. I also have PNL Vol. 1 and can’t wait for Vol. 2.

It sounds like the satellite/middle stage greatly depends on structure. For the online MTTs I am currently playing, it sounds like it might begin around an average “M” or “CSI” of 10. Out of a 360-seat tourney, this occurs around the time the antes kick in and the field is down to the last 1/3. I would also consider this a pre-bubble stage as I feel the bubble starts around 1.5 X the number of cash places. In this situation, the final 36 cash, so the bubble would start around the last 54 (36 X 1.5).

Besides GSIH, I am a big fan of Kill Phil. Its authors describe this period (last 1/3 with average CSI or M of 10) as the “Move-In” stage. There is some postflop play with limped hands or among the bigger stacks, but many, if not most, hands are push or fold preflop, as you described. I think the main difference between GSIH analysis and Kill Phil analysis of this stage is that they see the “Move-in” stage as lasting throughout the remainder of the MTT (unless the average M or CSI rises above 10 again). GSIH describes a shift out of the middle/satellite phase to the bubble/prize phase with more of a SNG strategy.

I was hoping you could clarify one more point in my question. Do most, if not all, MTTs have a middle/satellite stage, or do you ever see structures that go from the early/cash phase directly to the bubble/SNG phase? I would think all MTTs have a middle/satellite stage because as long as there are deeper stacks and smaller blinds (resembling early/cash game play), there is no pressure to approach the bubble phase for the field as a whole. If you are saying most, if not all, MTTs have the middle/satellite stage, I think I can figure out generally at what point it occurs based on your response.