| Posted by: pokerhannes at May 22, 2006, 7:55 am | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
U need to dare put your money in. Every1 is afraid of going out when its just some places toward "in the money" so use it, be really aggresive these times and attack the small stacks to steal blinds. (they should be preatty big) and build your stack so u got a good stack when it really comes to the point of win much and win less.
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| Posted by: Coryan at May 19, 2006, 5:15 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
First, CONGRATS on your MTT success...two 4th place finishes is AWESOME.
Quote: Originally Posted by ChuckTs
The tournaments that Fishman is talking about are probably the big buy-in, deepstacked tournaments where the blinds go up every hour. Online it's completely different.
I think ChuckT is right on target here. I recently read (I think in Poker Pro) that Fischman usually plays fairly loose and aggressive with about a quarter of his stack early in these tournaments. Then, if that doesn't go so well, he will tighten up some and look for his opportunities with better hands. Of course, I am sure he can mix that up at times also.
The point is, deepstacked $10,000 buyin tournaments are ery different than online $33 tournaments...the chips and blinds being a major difference.
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| Posted by: AceZWylD at May 18, 2006, 7:54 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
I want to thank everyone for your help on this topic.
Quick update. I have used your advice in my past two tournaments, and I have had great success. Rather than just placing in the top 100, I have finished fourth in each of my last 2 tournaments.
Typically I am still middle stack once I get to the bubble because my tight aggressive play early in the tournament. I have opened up my game once the blinds hit 200-400, and I have gone all in pre flop on the hands I do decide to play. Typically, short stacks fold their blinds to me, and I am able to isolate the chip leaders that are calling everything. I have hit 2 quick double ups to put myself in the top 5 chip stacks. Then I just aggressively defend my blinds, and it has been working well for me.
Thanks for your help. I'm sure that there will be times where this strategy kicks me out at the bubble, but I would rather place top 5 and get a nice pay off for my effort than place in the top 100 and get a small pay off. Thanks agai... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: ChuckTs at May 18, 2006, 6:19 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Quote: Originally Posted by Arjonius
There are different theories of how to play MTTs. Scott Fishman, for example, advocates playing aggressively early on with about a quarter of the starting stack. If you get ahead, keep going, and if you lose it, switch to tight aggressive. Gavin Smith likes to play a lot of pots, especially in position, so he plays a loose, flop or drop type of game. Obviously, both these styles can win, and they're just two examples.
There are plenty of theories about MTTs, but the one that i think applies best to online poker (which i am assuming this thread's question was about) is tight early, then switch gears as the tourney goes on.
The tournaments that Fishman is talking about are probably the big buy-in, deepstacked tournaments where the blinds go up every hour. Online it's completely different. You don't have time to dick around early and be aggressive. Also the players are poor, and won't fold to your bluffs or won't notice your aggression. | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Coryan at May 18, 2006, 6:06 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Preflop...first few hands...AA is the only hand I will call an allin with (and maybe KK if I can get HU). I will not gamble all my stack with any other hand when the idiots are pushing with any pretty hand they see.
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| Posted by: Osmann at May 18, 2006, 3:55 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Quote: Originally Posted by Dingodaddy23
the only hand you should go broke with early is AA
I could find a lot of hands I'm "willing" to go broke with early. AA, KK, QQ, sets, flushes, straights. Just to name a few.
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| Posted by: Ch4nc3 at May 17, 2006, 9:32 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
One more thing. If you go to battle with someone and they do end up sucking out on you, if you still have chips left, Get tight again, ery tight. Calculate how many blinds your chip stack can handle and wait for a good hand and for an opportunity to go one-on-one with someone. I have been in the short stack and have waiting out the hands until I am in a position to make a move. Another important factor is the number of players at the table. Less players = more hands should be played. If you are moved to another table tighten up again, observe the table. See what the dynamics are like. You may have to adjust your play.
From experience, NEVER go all in on the first hand of a table. You have no idea what type of players you are dealing with. Had an experience just this afternoon where a player with a 9, 4 took out two players, one with A,J and the other with K,K on the first hand. I have no idea why he did that with 9,4 but he got lucky.
Anyway, good luck with your tournament play.
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| Posted by: Ch4nc3 at May 17, 2006, 9:25 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
I've just started to get into tournement play more myself and what I find that works for me, at least in the smaller buy-in tournements, is to pay attention to the other players and make smart aggressive moves towards them when believe you have the better hand.
A lot of times, ery loose/aggressive players will bet big on a second hand cards. If you pay attention to how these players play and their betting patterns and what hands they have, when you get an opportunty to see them, you have a pretty good idea what they are holding if it ever comes to a showdown.
For instance, If I am holding A,J and the flop comes out A,x,x and I am in late position, I see what my opponent is going to do. More often than not, he will raise indicating to me that he has an Ace, but my observation of him in previous hands indicate that he will usually do that on any A,x hand. so I will go over the top and sometimes they will go all in with me with an A,4 or something like that. There is always the risk of ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Coryan at May 17, 2006, 7:52 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Quote: Originally Posted by Arjonius
There are different theories of how to play MTTs. Scott Fishman, for example, advocates playing aggressively early on with about a quarter of the starting stack. If you get ahead, keep going, and if you lose it, switch to tight aggressive. Gavin Smith likes to play a lot of pots, especially in position, so he plays a loose, flop or drop type of game. Obviously, both these styles can win, and they're just two examples.
Very good point. I think the idea is that early in the tournament you should avoid putting a lot of chips at risk on risky hands. So Fischman will gamble off a fourth of his stack and Smith will play moderate hands from late position...but neither puts their tournament on the line w/ AJ on a flop of A-x-x without a great read on their opponent (or a ery short stack that forces them to gamble).
Great post and good point about the multiple ways to play a tournament.
CORYAN
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| Posted by: Arjonius at May 17, 2006, 5:33 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
There are different theories of how to play MTTs. Scott Fishman, for example, advocates playing aggressively early on with about a quarter of the starting stack. If you get ahead, keep going, and if you lose it, switch to tight aggressive. Gavin Smith likes to play a lot of pots, especially in position, so he plays a loose, flop or drop type of game. Obviously, both these styles can win, and they're just two examples.
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| Posted by: ChuckTs at May 16, 2006, 9:38 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
just as Dorkus said, bubble play is important - you need to loosen up and steal blinds with marginal hands.
Also one thing that is essential to placing high in MTTs is switching gears. By that i mean that basically you should start off playing ery tight up until the break and then start to loosen your starting hands requirements as the tournament progresses. It sounds to me that you know how to switch gears, but don't do it early enough. You also have to be ery VERY aggressive when you have a hand. You don't want to sneak into the money and get two times your buyin back. It's just not worth your time. You want 1st place and only 1st place. That's where the real payoff is.
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| Posted by: Coryan at May 16, 2006, 8:41 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
I have also had the problem of getting into the money with a less than adequate stack to make the big bucks. I have finished in the money in 17% of the 82 MTT (100 or more players) that I have entered. I have only finished really strong in three of the tournaments (1st, 6th and 9th).
What I notice are two big factors in those three tournaments: 1) I got really lucky at the right times, and 2) I gave myself the chance to get lucky. Doing well in MTTs requires skill AND luck. I found that, as AceZWyID has said, a great time to gather chips is when players tighten up before the bubble. I would make more semi-bluffs at this time...playing my draws fairly strong. If someone plays back at me...I fold. But in those tournaments where I finished well, I often hit my draw or took down a pot with the bluff. Once in the money, I also decide that I am willing to get involved in pots with big chip stacks. Don't let the stacks intimidate you. Play your pocket pairs for set alue and look for a chance to push ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Dorkus Malorkus at May 15, 2006, 3:36 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
By far the best time to change your play and become more aggressive is on the bubble.
Your brief history is indicative of a player who plays ery tightly on the bubble. This is all well and good, but you also have to consider that at least 80% of the field are playing the bubble in exactly the same way, and are just looking to sneak into the money.
By opening up and stealing more in bubble situations you will probably cash less, but when you do get into the money you will more often have a larger stack, and thus more room for maneuver (and you will invariably place higher on average and thus make more money as a result).
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| Posted by: AceZWylD at May 15, 2006, 3:00 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
I have been playing a lot of MTT's lately. I open up by playing a pretty tight game, and betting aggressively when appropriate. It has paid off for me, because I often finish in the money.
My problem is that by playing tight, I often don't have an adequate chip stack once the blinds increase towards the end, and I end up having to go all in with my blind because if not I will be totally crippled.
Can anyone give me advice that could possibly help me finish in the top 10, rather than just in the money.
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| Posted by: medeiros13 at May 1, 2006, 10:49 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Quote: Originally Posted by SexyAceJoker
mederios whats ur msn , yahoo or aim , i would gladly rail and help your game .
Thx for the offer SexyAceJoker but I'm still in the stone age of the internet. I don't have a msn, yahoo, or aim IM. If you want my email addy, PM me and I'll send it to you
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| Posted by: gord962 at May 1, 2006, 8:21 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
I play ery tight on MTT and SNG until the final table.
Tight in a tourney is fine if you are getting a few hands here and there. What you need to do is be a bit more aggressive when good cards come your way. Unlike ring games, people in SNG or MTT will call your all-in after you hit your cards on the flop.
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| Posted by: SexyAceJoker at May 1, 2006, 7:53 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
mederios whats ur msn , yahoo or aim , i would gladly rail and help your game .
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| Posted by: thelynx at April 30, 2006, 4:45 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
When the table is loose you should play tight and in the end when the table is tight you have to loose up. Always play aggresive.
Thats the key !
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| Posted by: joosebuck at April 27, 2006, 10:20 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
late position is known for bluffing though, that is the only problem. it is a lot easier to bluff (in a non-multiway pot) from early position
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| Posted by: starfall at April 27, 2006, 5:31 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
I tend to find it easier to be aggressive in late position, when you have an idea if someone else has a decent hand. Other things to be aware of are when a scare card hits the flop, to remember that it's often a scare card for your opponent as well. Sometimes you'll put your chips in to find your opponent just made a monster, but if you get the reads right, then you'll much more often find you don't get called, and you pick up the pot.
You have to be willing to make a solid bet, with nothing sometimes, because it depends more on the cards on the board and your opponent than what you hold. And you also have to know that sometimes you'll put quite a few chips in, get re-raised, and just fold, so you have to be willing to abandon a big pot if you're not going to be able to buy it.
It tends to work better when you're the large chip stack, though, hence the advice to push early. If you have the chip lead, then you're making them risk going out (or being in a position to then be put all-in), so it's h... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: medeiros13 at April 27, 2006, 11:45 am | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Quote: Originally Posted by Fish
Advice for winner take all Freeroll:
First hand Push. Every time, any two cards.
Then choose a minimum of 4 of the next 20 hands and push them too.
You MUST accumulate a big stack in one of these 3000+ Entrant fields.
You simply will not be able to catch up.
There is NO bubble period to take advantage of.
You simply cannot play enough of these in your lifetime to turn a profit.
Play them huge LAG Style, and don't worry too much about busting out early.
Thanks for the advice Fish. I actually do completely agree with you but my biggest problem is that I really don't know how to play LAG ery well. I guess I could start another topic on LAG play with tips on how to do it well but maybe I can catch some thoughts here. In my ring games, I'm okay with being somewhat aggressive if the table is really tight but even then, I'll only push with decent hands (suited connecters, any suited face card plus X, Kx, ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Fish at April 26, 2006, 2:46 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Advice for winner take all Freeroll:
First hand Push. Every time, any two cards.
Then choose a minimum of 4 of the next 20 hands and push them too.
You MUST accumulate a big stack in one of these 3000+ Entrant fields.
You simply will not be able to catch up.
There is NO bubble period to take advantage of.
You simply cannot play enough of these in your lifetime to turn a profit.
Play them huge LAG Style, and don't worry too much about busting out early.
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| Posted by: guillaumezur at April 26, 2006, 2:27 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
the rules in this kind of freeroll is to double your chips every break
easy to say but hard to do
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| Posted by: medeiros13 at April 24, 2006, 10:45 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Thanks for the feedback SexyAceJoker. I did read your articles and I do most of the things you mention. The only exception is that I'm too tight early on. I play on Party Poker and my screen name is the same as my name here. It sure wouldn't hurt to have someone watch my play but I certainly wouldn't want to bother you with that Besides, with the bad beats I've been getting today, I probably won't be lasting long today lol.
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| Posted by: SexyAceJoker at April 24, 2006, 1:49 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
As for MTT advice, when its down to 200, you must get really aggressive especially with the big blinds . You shouldnt play losser in the beggining unless you have a lot of chips to play the small pots type of style. Play ery tight and look for that hand that will double you up . Later on you need to pay attention to the table and try to pick the tight blinds . This is where most of your chips come once the blinds are big ( for example 200-400 ) with antes could be an esay 800 or so per steal . ( 1000-2000 plus antes could be almost 3500 per steal . ^_
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| Posted by: SexyAceJoker at April 24, 2006, 1:47 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Medeiros , i wrote to articles recently on the best sit n go strategy used by every top player in the net, even as high as the 55+5$ games. This strategy will you make you win most of the sit n goes, i would go as far as saying you would be in the money 40% of the time with a ROI of 20% or more .
If you play for real money , let me know of your username and server you play ( for example pokerstars, partypoker, etc. ) and i could watch you in some of your games if you would like
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| Posted by: joosebuck at April 23, 2006, 2:53 am | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
you're looking to get 1st place, not just top 15-20. this means you need to aggressively accumulate chips in the transition from the donkfest to the super-tight game.
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| Posted by: ChuckTs at April 22, 2006, 8:50 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
ps search MTT strategy or tournament strategy.
There have been tons of threads in the past about MTT strategy and theory
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| Posted by: ChuckTs at April 22, 2006, 8:47 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
sounds like your problem is switching gears
generally the tight aggressive players last a long time, but end up with a short stack and get blinded out
and the loose megalomaniacs either bust early or take over and end up placing ery high.
The key to MTTs is switching from a tight aggressive style of play to a looser style.
Generally you want to play the top 10 style up until the first break, then gradually loosen up and start widening your hand selection as the tournament progresses.
Stealing blinds and re-raising weak bets with marginal hands gives you that extra edge that helps you accumulate those extra chips.
good luck!
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| Posted by: medeiros13 at April 22, 2006, 8:40 pm | | Topic: Tournament Help Forum: Card Chat |
Hi all,
If anyone has read my past threads, you'd know that I've done pretty well in ring games. I have confidence that my game is solid but I'm starting to wonder if I have to change my stratagy for tournaments. I play a tight aggressive style and it has served me well.
I'm specifically playing in freeroll tournaments at Party Poker trying to win my way to the WSOP this year. The tourney's are about 3500 people and I can usually get into the final 200 without much problem. However, what I'm finding in these tournaments is that I'm not accumulating chips fast enough and it's hurting me at the end of tournaments. I typically find myself in the middle of the pack chipwise but I can never make the big jump from there.
I've been thinking about getting more aggressive earlier in the tournaments but the issue with that is that's when the all in fools are still around. I'd hate to lose all my chips on a bad beat from a terrible player....Then the other part of me says; keep doing wh... | | Read Entire Entry |
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