"How much should you bet on this particular hand, in this particular situation?" That's the question you'll face, hand after hand, in every tournament round that you ever play. While the endplay portion of tournament strategy seems to get all the attention, the more mundane every-hand decisions are just as important. After all, the positioning that happens along the way during the round decides who is really a contender on the final hand. This month, I want to look at the basic categories of the situations you'll face at the table and offer you some valuable advice on how to bet.

In a "table advance" format, where you are competing only against the other players at your table, you shouldn't be risking a lot of your chips early in the round. Don't worry about the other players too much yet. Even if they bet big and gain an early lead over you, you should take a "wait and see" approach to the table. Most players who come out of the gate betting big in a tournament round don't have the patience to back off their bets once they get a lead. If they accumulate a big lead, they'll still take big risks and will often return to the pack, or even bust out early. Even if you see a "wildcat" bettor slack off and start betting nickels, wait a while. Sometimes these turn out to be false alarms, and a few hands later they'll be off to the races again.

Bottom line: Early in the round, be patient, be patient, be patient.

Exception 1: In an "accumulation" style tournament where you must accumulate the largest chip count among all tables, this advice is completely the wrong approach. In that case, fire away. Aggressive bettors win accumulation style tournaments.

Exception 2: In a UBT-style "Elimination Blackjack" tournament, where the lowest chip total is eliminated after hands 8, 16, and 25, you can't afford to lay back as much. While patient play is generally still rewarded, you should make bets that keep you out of the critical last-place position.

If you're fortunate enough to have yawned your way to the lead by mid-round, now you can wake up and start paying attention. Since you're in the lead, that probably means that the dealer has been hot, and your opponents have been losing. Sometimes the other players will have switched to small bets, afraid that the dealer's streak will continue. (You know better though, right? Just because the dealer has been hot, the cards don't know that.) If they're betting small and not trying to catch you, that's great. Just keep betting small and take advantage of the free ride.

More typically, most of the players will start to chase your lead. You should probably switch gears now, increasing your bet size to protect your lead. If they are betting just a portion of their deficit to you, you can match their bets now. (Example: You lead by $100. They bet $60. You can bet $60 as well, or $35 to avoid the swing.) If they're betting more than the deficit, you should be betting most of your lead, but not more than your lead. (For example, if you lead by $100 and one of your opponents bets $120, you should probably bet $90 or so.) You retain your lead even if they get a "half-swing" where they push while you lose.

If your lead is small and they are betting substantially more than the deficit, just let them go and hope the dealer wins. (If you lead by $10 and an opponent bets $100, just stick to your minimum $5 bet.) You're only in the middle of the round. Even if they pass you, there's plenty of time to catch them.