In major tournaments, people are surprised by the amount of ‘big name’ professionals busting out early, but it’s really not as strange as you might think. Good tournament players don’t simply try to make it through the first day, their overall aim is to get to the money and the final table with a lot of chips. So it’s an all or nothing situation. They’re not going to avoid risk in an attempt to simply make it through the first day. That’s what amateurs do,

Poker is always a minefield, whether because of unpredictable players or unpredictable cards.

The skills are the same, whether you’re playing in a big tournament or a small tournament: you’re trying to figure out who you can bluff and who you can value bet against. You can pick up a lot of information before a hand of poker has even been played – such as who will play weak and who will play aggressive – and from the early stages of the game, you should have a good idea of who you can bluff, who you can value bet, and by how much. However, just because you can value bet someone doesn’t mean you’re not going to get sucked out. You can’t avoid getting all-in as a 3:1 favorite; you have to – and you’ll probably win a lot of chips, but there’s also a 1:3 chance you’ll end up with nothing. It happens.

Given the choice of ending the day with 10,000, or having a 50% chance of ending the day with 50,000 or nothing, all pros, with the exception, perhaps of Phil Hellmuth, would take the 50:50 shot. If you double up once, that makes you a favorite to double up again, because you have all that extra equity. You have to take those calculated risks if you want to stand a chance of getting ahead of the field. Sometimes you’re just not going to hit them, but that’s poker!

You can play 24 hours of poker and not make the money. I’d much rather get it all in early, which gives me a good chance of doubling up or going broke, rather than spend long, fruitless hours chasing the middle of the pack.

If you’re USA-based, like Phil, you can play some great online at Bookmaker Poker or BetOnline Poker.