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Many players want to be successful at multi table tournaments (MTT’s). One of the hardest things to do is play effectively that rare time you finally reach the final table. The final table plays differently than any other you play during the tournament.

One of the biggest differences when you play in the final table of an MTT is that the table will go down from 9 players, until 2 players are heads up. This is the only table of the MTT that plays down this way. Also, every time a player is eliminated, you make more money.

This means that it’s crucial that you are skilled at playing in these conditions. The problem is that even the best players only reach the final table a small percentage of the time they play. So, how do you know how to play once you get to the final table?

The answer is play in sit and go tournaments (SNGs). Every online site has these, and they are very popular. You will want to enter a full table SNG. They have them for all entry fee levels.

If you play the full table (9 or 10 players) SNG, it will simulate a final table very well. The only difference is that only 3 players get paid in the SNG. This works good enough becaause the top three make the big portion of the final table prize pool in the MTT.

The decision making process will be very similar for both SNGs and final tables. The biggest change from normal MTT play is that the number of players at the table keeps dropping as players are eliminatied. The SNG format is the same.

Mostly this involves changing your starting hand requirements, and playing the stacks, and getting a read on your opponents. These are the three most important factors affecting your decisions when the table is getting shorter. Let’s see why.

In general, you need to play more hands as the field is getting shorter. Otherwise you risk getting blinded down and being eliminated. However, you always want to be watching the other stacks at the table, judging the affect your play might have. For example if there are four players left, you are third in chips, and one player is very short stacked, you might want to be more patient and not risk too much until he is either eliminated or increases his stack.

If you have a big stack, the best play is to attack the medium stacks. They have the most to lose if you take a lot of chips from them. The short stacked players are likely to attack your bets by pushing all in. They have nothing to lose and need to take chances to increase their stack.

When you have okay hands with your big stack, it’s a good play to just go all in against a small stack if you can afford the risk. If you just raise, these players will risk going all in and hope you fold. If you push all in first, they have no fold equity.

These are things that become second nature when you play SNG tournaments regularly. You can play them in about an hour, much less if you play the turbo version. So, play some SNGs and get yourself ready to play with confidence when you reach the final table of that big MTT.

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