This post is part of a continuing series of Endgame poker tourney discussion, based largely in part on the works and writing of Dan Harrington and meant as a supplement to, not a replacement for his books Harrington on Hold’em Volume 1 & 2.

These articles are meant to be read in succession of one another. That being said, click to review the articles on Endgame Strategy introduction… Endgame Strategy pt II…. and Endgame Strategy pt. III.

Endgame tournament strategy – Playing in the Orange

If we recall from earlier reading, we wish to spend as much time as possible playing in the Green Zone, having an M above 20. There our entire playbook is at our disposal. We can run any “play” we see fit. As our M decreases, due to volatility, bad beats, and ever increasing blinds, we must adjust our play. Yesterday we discussed playing with our M between 10-20… the Yellow Zone. Today, we’re covering what our playbook looks like in the Orange Zone, when our M is between 6 and ten.

Steal or double up

Just like in our yellow zone, small pairs and suited connectors aren’t “doing” it for us. Our implied odds are not great enough to justify such hands. Here the power of being first to open the pot is beginning to be of extreme importance. We’re not looking to play hands simply because the pot odds “seem too good to pass up.” Our goal in orange zone is to steal or double up.

conserve “energy”, move with “force”

We’re conserving our energy to make powerful moves. We want to act first and get all-in in one or two moves. Its straight forward and that simple. At tighter tables, when we’re near the bubble or low in the money, we’re going to do this quite often. We’re trying to break out of the orange zone, we lack betting power through an entire hand, so we want to take our absence of betting power, and our first in vigorish and turn that into an asset, a weapon… as opposed to letting it show up as a liability on our “tournament balance sheet.”

Think this one through a little bit. You’re sitting at a table, late in the tourney, you’ve got a decent chip stack and are in the cutoff. A person, who is second to act opens the pot with an all-in move. His chip count is approximately six times the pot he just opened. Action folds around to you. You look down at your hole cards and see sixes in the hole… maybe even A-10, A-9, KJs, etc. You think about calling as the clock is ticking. You think your hand has a shot at the pot, however, you’re not wanting to put your tourney life on the line here and raise up and over his move, fearing another caller behind you, either in the blinds or on the button. Additionally, you do not wish to be multi-way in this pot, in fear of the loose blinds getting correct odds to call, should the button also decide to get involved. You’re also not wanting to call, in fear of a reraise and being “stuck.” Time is a tickin’ and you decide to fold, as does everyone else.

The bottom line is that later in a poker tournament people do not want to make a critical mistake. They fear making these calls because they either wish to coast into the money, they fear running into a monster, or they wish not to be mowed down, crippled and/or drawn on. I’ve even witnessed incidents where players have laid down Queens, AKs, and once KK to a move of this nature. Being the first to push has its benefits, especially near the bubble and when the table is tight by nature.

First all-in wins

This first in, all in move is profitable because of the amount of times you’ll accomplish a steal. And additionally, when you are called, you’re called down with a monster (statistically, you’re not highly likely to run into a “monster”) and when you do, you’re not really that much of an underdog anyways. So picking and choosing your entry points and bringin’ it with “authorita” is the way to play in the Orange Zone.

We’ll continue our “strategery” talk next week, with more on the zones.