The most successful tournament poker players have a variety of strategic ideas in their arsenal. A poker tournament requires you play a winning brand of poker over a long period of time, in some cases against opponents who have many more chips than you or who have had an opportunity to observe and analyze your play for some time. To emerge victorious in these conditions, as Jamie Gold did when he won $12 million in the main event of the 2006 WSOP (World Series of Poker), you need to vary your play in a number of different ways. One of these tactics is known as advertising. 

Just like real advertising, an advertising play is designed to send a message to those who have been observing it. When you advertise, you are trying to give your opponents the impression that you are playing a certain way, so that you can take advantage of that impression by playing another way when the time (and the pot) is right.

An example of an advertising play would be to show a bluff. Very often when you bluff and are not called, you do not want to show your hand, so that players do not know how you bet or act when you are bluffing as opposed to when you have a real hand. However, if you have been playing for some time and not getting action on your big hands, with players folding to even modest bets, you may want to bluff and show that bluff if not called. This is advertising that you are capable of betting without a strong hand, which may pay dividends later when you do bet with a big hand, so improving your poker odds.

On the other side of the coin, if you are getting ready to be aggressive and put pressure on a lot of pots, you may want to set this strategy up by showing big hands when you bet with them and are not called. Ideally, this will have the opposite effect, with players giving you credit for a big hand when you bet big.

Be aware that the utility of advertising is somewhat limited when it comes to tournament play. In a cash game, you can be fairly confident that at least some of the people at your table will be there for a long time. However, in tournament poker, whether a freeroll or not, tables can break frequently, and if you are moved to a new table, all your advertising will be wasted. Therefore, you should advertise sparingly and try to get an idea of how likely your table is to break before trying any advertising plays.

When used correctly, advertising can be a profitable strategy in a poker tournament. By itself it will not necessarily lead you to the poker promised land. However, as part of a skillful poker repertoire, it can lead to some impressive tournament successes.