More Play Means More Patience

Any online tournament, whether it's a single-table satellite, a multitable small buy-in affair, or a major event like the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), will give you more play than its brick and mortar (B&M) counterpart. Playing online greatly reduces the luck factor, and also acts to define your general strategy. But before I get to that, let's look at all the different types of tournaments.

Let's take the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as an example. WSOP events are usually two-day affairs. They play down to the final table on the first day, and then come back to play the final table the following day. (The five-day main event is the obvious exception). Most major tournaments follow that pattern, with the main event possibly lasting a third day.

The online counterpart would be the WCOOP. The 2003 WCOOP events lasted anywhere from 10 to 12 hours. If that doesn't sound like much, think again. It's the B&M equivalent of playing for 2 full days, possibly more. The limits lasted a half-hour each, and the blinds did not double with each increase. Players were clearly dealt more hands in the WCOOP events, and the limits moved up slowly enough that they were never a crapshoot. But just because the length of time is shorter does not make it any less grueling! Try playing your "A" game through 10 hours of an online tournament, and let me know how you feel when you are done.

A typical B&M tournament might last anywhere from three to six hours. The limits usually go up rapidly, and by the end of the tournament it is typically a crapshoot. The final table is often not a question of skill, but one of who gets the best cards at the crucial times. Once they reach the money, players are often found making deals, because they realize the luck factor involved at the end of daily tournaments.

The equivalent online tournament also averages about four hours, but again, you get a lot more play. The limits go up every 15 minutes, which gives time for about 30 hands per limit, depending on the game. The other consideration is that online tournaments attract many more entrants. Lots of those players will flame out quickly, so it's imperative to wait them out.

In B&M cardrooms, they are called satellites. They are often the epitome of a poker crapshoot. The limits are either 10 or 15 minutes long, which means you get to play a round or so and then the limits double. If you cannot find a hand in the first couple of rounds, you are often in desperation mode, ready to move with the first playable hand that comes along. There is certainly skill involved in doing well in B&M satellites, but patient play will not get the job done. If you are too patient, you will be blinded off before you know it.

In online cardrooms, they are called "Sit & Go" tables. The luck factor is still there, but not nearly as much as in their B&M counterparts. The limits are 10 minutes long, which will typically give you two rounds before the limits go up, and then the blinds increase in steps rather than doubling every time. You can afford to be patient. I'm not saying that is necessarily the best strategy for winning. I actually prefer to jump out to an early chip lead in a satellite and attempt to go wire-to-wire. But, on the other hand, if the cards aren't there in the early stages, there's no need to force the action, which is what separates the online "Sit & Go" tournaments from their B&M counterparts.

Know what I mean? If you're playing a major tournament, forget about it. Has the chip leader after the first day of the WSOP main event ever gone on to win it? Never. This phenomenon holds even more true in the WCOOP. Check out the leader after the first hour. Does he go on to win the event? Never. (Yes, I checked it out). Does he even finish in the money? Rarely. In other words, an early lead in the major tournaments is almost meaningless, whether it's in a B&M tourney or online. Just remember: You're not going to win the tournament in the first hour of play, but you certainly can lose it.

So, the common thread I'm driving home here is that you want to exercise all kinds of patience when playing tournaments, and that goes double for online tournaments. In B&M daily tournaments, you'll sometimes see the players who grab the early lead go on to win it. This happens far less often online. There's simply too much play for the early stages to be meaningful. You just want to build your stack gradually if the cards allow it, and avoid going broke if they don't. And then in the later stages, the more skillful players will distinguish themselves. If you're among them, more power to you.

I don't want to sound like I'm putting down the B&M cardrooms. They do not make much of a profit by running tournaments; sometimes they even lose money by offering them. They must pay for dealers and floor personnel. They must use tables that could otherwise be used for cash games. Generally speaking, they cannot afford to let a tournament run for too long. It's just a fact of life that online cardrooms are not burdened by the same concerns. They have an unlimited supply of dealers and tables, and they are in no rush to conclude their tournaments. If you trust your tournament skills, and want to play within a tournament format in which the cream will more often rise to the top, online tournaments are what you need. And when you play them, notice that almost half the field usually gets eliminated in the first hour. Show some patience, avoid being in that group, and let's meet at the final table, shall we?

Matt Lessinger's "Bet With Less" column appears in Card Player magazine. He can be reached at mlessinger@hotmail.com.