After having taken a look at the early and middle phases of a tournament, we have now arrived at the ending phases of tournament poker. What makes the end game so interesting is the fact that what we all are looking for when entering a tournament - money, fame and glory - is now within grabs!
Whilst the general strategy that applies to mid-game poker should also be used when approaching the end, there are some distinct phases that differ. The first one is the dreaded bubble.
As the bubble nears, play usually tightens up considerably, at some tables practically coming to a halt. Players just fold and fold and fold in order to make it into the money. This is a golden opportunity to build on our stack, since most players will be so focused on just making the money, therefore throwing away a lot of hands, which they might normally play.

If we have the stack to do it (i.e. - we are not short stacked) we should apply the maximum amount of pressure on weak players who just try to fold their way to the money. It is a great opportunity to build on our stack at a comparatively small risk, since people will hesitate to risk ending up out of the money.
If we ourselves are short stacked, we should still try to take advantage of the bubble. We need to be aggressive and push against other stacks that we can hurt in an attempt to put us into contention for going really deep. If the rest of the table is weak, we should play strong. Sometimes, we will get called and bust, but more often than not, we will steal enough blinds to put us in a much stronger spot for a final table or a win!

After the bubble bursts, it is not uncommon to see all-ins all over the place, since the players who have been folding themselves in the money now find themselves desperately short stacked and forced to push with any two. This is a good spot to just sit tight and not get unnecessarily involved in pots.
At each jump in payouts, a situation similar to the bubble occurs. Also, it is very common to see overly tight play when the final table nears. These are situations that we should look to exploit.
The end game is really all about situations. As the blinds are very high compared to the average stack, it is crucial to have good timing in preflop stealing and re-stealing. This deep in, we should also have pretty good reads on most players, so we should be able to exploit their tendencies.

It is my hope that these three articles on the different phases of tournament poker will help you identify profitable situations and employ proper strategy, and from there on, the final table is but a whisker away!

Written by Andris Kangeris for 24hPoker.com