If you play online poker in one of the big poker rooms like PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker then you’re already accustomed to seeing some really big multi-table tournaments. Both of these online poker rooms along with other poker rooms have multi-table tournaments running every single day with millions of dollars on the line. There is no doubt that in order to finish in first place in one of these events you’re going to need to be a bit lucky, but there is also a ton of skill involved in playing multi-table tournaments.

When you’re playing multi-table tournaments, such as those on WPTPoker.com, with over 1000+ players then you need to come out firing with a wide range of hands. There is no point sitting tight in the early stages of a tournament this big because you’re going to get eaten up by the blinds eventually. You need to constantly add to your chip stack in these big tournaments so that you can keep up with the average chip stack. The worst that you want to be doing in multi-table tournaments is right around the average chip stack. If you’re lower then the average chip stack then you should start tightening up a bit and waiting for an all-in type of hand.

If you manage to build up a nice chip stack in the early part of the tournament you can’t slow down. If you begin to slow down then all of your competition will catch up with you and you’re not going to be in a good position. Although it’s important to keep an eye on all of your competition, you should really focus on your own table. You want to try and have the most amount of chips on your table so that even if you lose a big hand you’re not knocked out of the tournament. As the playing field in the tournament begins to shrink you can also begin to tighten up your game.

Around the middle stages of the tournament you’ll notice a lot of players that don’t have a lot of chips going all-in almost every hand. You should just try and sit tight during this stage of the tournament unless you have an all-in type of hand that you can call your opponent with. You need to try and maintain your position while all of the lower stacked players are getting knocked out of the tournament. Whether you win a couple all-in hands or you grind your stack up by stealing some blinds, the important part is that you’re maintaining your position and chip stack.

As you reach the bubble of the poker tournament basically everyone in contentions is going to slow down. This is a great time to pick up some blinds since nobody wants to risk their stack this late in the tournament. The blinds are also generally pretty high at this stage of a big multi-table tournament so it’s definitely worth stealing the blinds if you can. When you reach the money the action will begin to open up all the way down to the final table. You need to be willing to make some big plays at this stage and not be scared about being knocked out of the tournament. If you end up getting knocked out you can be happy you made the money and move onto the next tournament. You’re not going to win every tournament, in fact you’d be lucky to win one massive multi-table tournament.