The shootout tournament is a mongrel, poker’s crossbreed between a multi-table tourney and a single-table sit ‘n’ go. Technically it’s a multi-table event, but for all practical purposes a shootout plays like a bunch of single table satellites. As players are knocked out of the tourney and games become shorthanded, tables are not broken down and consolidated as they would be in a regular poker tournament. Instead, play continues shorthanded until there is one winner for each table. These mini-champs then advance to the next round where they will compete against the winners from the other tables.
 
Depending on how many rounds the shootout tournament has, this vanquish-and-advance process repeats until players reach the final table. A typical poker shootout would begin with 100 players, divided into 10 tables of 10 players each. The eventual 10 winners of those tables would then compete against each other at the final table, which plays out the same as the final table in any standard tournament.
 
But within this basic framework there can be a whole host of variations. At some events the top two or even three winners from each table advance to the next round. A few shootouts will be played as re-buy events. And some shootouts are purely heads-up affairs, one-on-one duels where it’s all about annihilating your opponent, taking his chips, and moving on—similar in spirit to the real shootouts of the Wild West.
 
The payout structure of shootout tournaments can also vary all over the map. Generally each table winner is slated to win at least a little prize money for his mini-victory. But not always. Once the tournament reaches the final table stage the payouts tend to be flat, with all of the top finishers receiving a significant chunk of the prize money. But shootout tourneys can also have top-heavy payouts, and a few shootouts will go to the polar opposite extreme of winner-take-all.
 
Because shootout tournaments have such a unique format, they do require strategy adjustments. Naturally, the optimum strategy will always depend on the payout structure of that particular event. But generally speaking, shootouts favor a style of play that is slightly looser and much more aggressive. In other words, good shorthanded strategy. Since the tables of a shootout tourney are never broken down and combined, much of the tournament is destined to be played shorthanded. So being able to play well against only a small handful of opponents is critically important for winning a shootout. When tournament play gets shorthanded, starting-hand standards must be lowered, aggression must be kicked up a few notches, and the ability to read your opponents becomes more valuable than ever.
 
In particular, aggressive play is of paramount importance. Playing in a shootout is in many ways the same as playing in a single-table, winner-take-all event. It’s important to build a big stack of chips as soon as possible. This accomplishes a dual task. It has the preventive effect of dissuading your opponents from trying to bully and steal from you, while at the same time helping you to bully and steal from them. To pile up chips and acquire that big stack, you must push small edges and take risks you might not otherwise take. In short, you’ll have to gamble more.
 
In this situation a tight conservative style, waiting patiently for quality hands is almost certainly not going to work. If you’re in one of those shootouts where two or three winners from each table advance, you can slow down a bit and be more selective. But even then, accumulating chips must be a top priority. In the uber-aggressive atmosphere of a shootout tournament, sitting behind a large robust chip stack is the only way to prevent your opponents—who are themselves likely to be pushing small edges in the pursuit of a large stack—from trying to take advantage of you.
 
Barbara Connors is a sucker for classic old movies, science fiction, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Her life’s ambition is to figure out the unusual behavior patterns of that unique breed of humans who call themselves poker players. Contact her at fyreflye222@yahoo.com.