bad run of cards in torney...what to do

[BrianSwa]

not sure if this should be in the how do you play it section or not feel free to move it if you want.

what do you do if your in a tornament and your hitting a real bad run of cards? I was in one the other day 2,000 people in it and I hit a real bad run early on. This was no problem because blinds where so low that I could wait it out and I got up in chips but then later in the tornament 300 left I hit another terrible run of cards and I folded total of 3-4 orbits till I was blinded all in with 77 and flopped 7QQ I ended up winning that but couple hands later I was blinded all in and lost and ended up getting 85th or so. Question is did I screw up folding those 3-4 orbits or should I of tried a less then premiem hand and hope to hit the flop, I was getting stuff like low connectors and low suited cards in early position and total garbage in late position. Should I of tried the connectors and suited cards in early position and hope it didnt get raised, or did I do the right thing and just get unlucky with the bad runs? I did steal a couple blinds but wasnt enough to wait for premiem hand. Thanks in advance for advice.

[ChipFish]

What to do when you hit a bad run of cards in a tournament?
Tough question... Assuming you have any sort of stack at all.... you wait.
Steal blinds if you can.

Since you were blinded all-in with your 7-7 you obviously aren't going to win much.... as you found out.... you were blinded out shortly thereafter.

Tournament play is all about survival in the early to mid-rounds...(as many on this forum will disagree.)
I am only guessing here, but either you ran into a few hands that cost you chips prior to your example or you were playing to many hands....
Also, you may have played to few hands also. (if you can sneak into a pot for one bet with a connector or "other" hand you may get lucky... Just remember... Tournament play should be named
"Who can PROTECT their stack the longest"

[sjay2k]

At that point in the tourney, if you're in the BB and only one person (or two) has limped, you should go all in with any two cards.

[SirFWALGMan]

Its always a tough decision. Basically to win one of these with such a large field you need to risk it all at certain points and come up big with the cards. The tourney I placed 4th in I had to go all in a couple of times, or call big bets, with good draws. I made my draws and ended up having a huge stack, and picking other people off. I find these tourneys to be alot of waiting, and then optimizing your profit when you have good cards or good draws. Once you build a nice sized stack you can wait, pick people off, and put pressure on people. Luck and Skill are both needed.

[omahilo]

Tournament play, in my opinion, is about surviving at the beginning so you can be there to win it at the end. I usually do the "survive and thrive" method.

For the 1st hour, like on pokerstars, you start with 1500 chips... my goal is to double my starting chips so I have 3,000+ at the 1st break then keep building up after that.

Later in the tourney, you have to change gears and expand your hand selection since people tighten up when the tourney is nearing the big money. Like if it folds around to me before the cutoff or button and I got like KQ or anything like that, I will usually raise it up since it makes that hand just that much better with all the folds.

Also helps when you do pick up AA you get action on it... Pisses me off when I get AA and it folds around to me on the button or something.

[lightfungus]

I believe the only way to handle bad cards is patience and observing the table. See if you notice anyone who doesnt have the balls to stick around sometimes. Try to get them in heads up while putting them on something that is not top pair after flop, then try and push them out. This however, is risky because you can quickly lose your stack this way if you dont do it right. Otherwise pray for good cards when it counts. Its all about patience in a tourney though. And I agree with others that its all about surviving early to mid and giving yourself an average stack for the late rounds. Its sort of like football, a lot of poker is a position game.

[BrianSwa]

I was haveing patience, thats what killed me 4 orbits even with a average chipsize will kill anyone. The quesiton asked which some answered very well was, Was I being to careful or did I play it right and just get unlucky with the bad run lasting soooooo long.

[omahilo]

if you are looking at K3 or Q2 every hand... no matter how hard you look at them... it will still be the K3 or Q2.

You cant change water into wine so you cant change Q2 into AA.

[BrianSwa]

oh come on there has to be some trick to do it, you can tell me how I wont let anyone else know. Got a laugh out of your statement, thanks. You think after a orbit or 2 I should of pushed with one of those hands and hoped for the best?

[omahilo]

I think its possible if you have enough chips to make people fold... near the money people tighten up and you can take blinds rather easily.