Marcus Bateman / Marcus Bateman / 15 June 2009 / Leave a comment

All truly great champions in any competitive arena of skill have one key thing in common - they are all great finishers.

There are many players in all genres of sports and games who are great players, regularly get deep in major events, but lack the ability to perform under the incredible pressure that the final places of major events brings and hardly ever go on to win.

With the incredibly top heavy structure of poker tournaments, it is critical that you do everything you can to play to win, not just to cash or get deep.

This is just the same in tournament poker, with the greatest players being the ones who not only seem to get deep in every event, but who when they do, seem to play off of some kind of special reserve and go on to win.

With the incredibly top heavy structure of poker tournaments, it is critical that you do everything you can to play to win, not just to cash or get deep.

From opening up your game on the bubble, to trying to put as much pressure on your opponents as possible in the later stages of the final table, being prepared to put it all on the line in pursuit of victory is one of the hallmarks of the greatest tournament players. Most people become nervous and reserved when the big money arrives, and as a result their game suffers, as they try to ladder and secure ever more lucrative payments with each and every elimination.

These players are the people who effectively allow the best players to consistently win big tournaments, as good finishers will pound on these players mercilessly, doing everything in their power to build as big a chip stack as possible to give them the best chance at winning every chip on the table. In poker, as well as in many arenas of life, how players perform under extreme pressure is usually what ends up defining them in the long run.

Some people, when they have pressure put on them they stutter and hold back, where as others seem to flourish and produce their very best when needed. When you see the big money places approaching, really try and think clearly about what you should be doing in that moment. It is critical to do everything in your power to try and feed off of the pressure of the situation, using it as another weapon to utilise against your opponents.

Fearlessness in the face of pressure is arguably the single most important feature of good tournament player's games. Look to do everything in your power to win when deep, as the people who take home the most money at the end of the year are the people who care about little except finishing as clinically and consistently as possible.

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