The final table is the place where every poker player wants to be. In a multi-table tournament it means you’re in-the-money and guaranteed a prize no matter what placement you get. It also can mean the players are going to be very aggressive. They have nothing to lose. Well, not exactly. If they lose, they will still walk away with money. But if they win they will walk away with a lot of money. Players are also starting to get fatigued by the time they get to the end of a long tournament. They have been mentally active for many hours and sitting that long can make some restless. They are more apt to decide to throw their chips in and take the gamble. It comes to the point where many players just want it to end.

So what do you do?

You should play your game. That’s what got you to the final table! But you should shift into final table thinking. Breathe. Take a minute when you’re not playing and relax. You need to outthink and outlast the competition. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel but it is at the end of the tunnel. You’re not there yet.

Now you need to keep an eye on each of the players. After a few rounds you should know which players are aggressive and tight, etc. After you have identified them, focus on the short stack player, assuming that it isn’t you. You want to make life for him/her miserable. The more people that are eliminated, the higher prize you will get, even if you don’t place first. Sometimes picking on the short stack is just irresistible. Check out Eliminate the Short Stack.

Use the knowledge about each of the players to your advantage. When the hand is between you and a very tight player, bet consistently. Tight players hate to call unless they already have something. You’ll be able to tell when they do. You have to watch each player and know how much money will make them fold. Very rarely will you have the nuts, so don’t be afraid of people folding. You want to win as many hands without showing your cards as possible. But when you know you have a better hand than the opponent, the goal is to make him pot committed by making a bet that is either 1/3 of his chips or ½ of his chips. If he calls, the next bet is to take another chunk of his remaining money and get him to pledge it to the pot. After that you just put him all-in. When you know you have the best hand you don’t want him folding on you. But don’t be afraid if he does. He will be hurt, and an easy mark for other rounds. The best way to take him out at that point is to bet high enough that he is definitely pot committed, JUST TO SEE THE FLOP. Do it every round you have decent hands or can afford to.

While betting consistently against some players works well, you want to change it up and keep the actual numbers fluctuating. You don’t want them to start to be able to read you purely based on the amount you’re betting.

As the players at the table get eliminated, you can afford to become more aggressive with slightly weaker hands. This is, in part, due to the fact that there is less than a full table of players and fewer cards will be out there at any one time. Even a pretty good hand like JQ can be bet aggressively. Another reason this is very important is due to the fact that by this time blinds are usually very large and will only get bigger. You need to steal blinds from people when they know they have a weak hand. If you have fairly good cards your odds of winning the pot are automatically higher if there are only 4 people at the table as opposed to 8 or 9.

By the time it is down to the final 2 players, you should have a pretty good grip on what type of player you are dealing with. Be smart. Be aggressive. You can’t afford to sit back and fold every round. The blinds are too big. Try and get him to place money in the pot when you have good hands, and spend your time avoiding putting any money in the pot when you have weak hands. Don’t be afraid to go all-in if you have a good hand.