Multitable Tournies, How to improve

[robert2504]

I think I am getting better at ring games but the tournies, I cannot seem to get any better, My two best finishes were at a $1 + $0 entry and a $5 + $1 entry. on the $1, I earned $3 and on the $5 + $1, I earned $13.00. I haven't seen any books on playing on-line tournies, anyone have some good tips?

[2Tone]

I regularly play the $5 11:30 tourneys on Party, which usually draws well over 1500 players. I’m yet to make any singnificant profit, but had a couple of finishes where I squeaked into the money. That’s a pretty horrific hourly rate, so there is undoubtedly someone else better qualified to offer advice.

I tend to play very tight early, and let the maniacs bust out. Within 10 minutes, the field can be down by a 100 players or more. After that, focus on playing sold, tight/aggressive poker, keeping in mind you aren’t playing against 1000 players at once, only against the other nine players at the table, so that is all you need to worry about.

But to finish in top two or three percent with that many players, I think you are simply going to have to win a couple of coin toss hands. There’s not much you can do other than get your money in when you have the best of it, and hope your cards hold up.

[Aequitas58]

See 2Tone's reply.

I'd like to add:

There is an incredible amount of luck involved in (big) multitable tournaments. Luck in getting good cards, luck in winning the coin-flip situations, and luck in stupid shit like... having pocket aces, not raising enough, getting called by 77, and there's a 7 on the flop. [You have no idea you're betting into a set, and he hammers you on the river.]

Other than that, don't worry about blind stealing until the tournament tightens up. At that point you can take advantage blindstealing - this alone will keep you going until you come upon a good hand.

There's not much else I can tell you without charging. You wanna play tight, REAL tight. Don't make any unnecessary moves.

Keep in mind one more thing: this is a cheap tournament ... people will gamble w/ crap. Take them down w/ premium cards.

G'luck.

[TajaUk]

Good advice.

I only player multi table tourneys and believe I have found a reasonable way to get into the money a good percentage of times. Like the post above says play tight, only play prem hands aa, kk, qq, ak for the 1st hour or so. You cannot win anything in the first hour but you sure can lose it.

Whatever the value of the tourny the first hour will see people desperate to increase their stacks playing average hands. These means the amount of bad beats and crap plays are in abundance, avoid getting caught up with this by playing ultra-tight till it calms down.

[PShabi]

Tight at the beginning is a great strat. Let the tards bust out by playing too aggressive.

I was playing a 20 man last week and got disconnected after winning a nice all-in early ( I know, I know, what happened to playing tight?) Anyway, I got disconnected with like 17 players left. 15 minutes later, I got back on and there were about 11 of us and I had only lost a bit in the blinds. Went on to win the tourney.

I'm not saying don't play good cards, but this scenario shows how conservative poker can't be bad in this early spots.

[Tilter]

Sklanskys book for tournament poker is good. Also a tournament book by TJ and McEvoy. If you are playing the stars tournies, its just best to sit tight for the first 30 minutes and on the 3rd level you can pick up chips with solid hands. Its not just about playing the best hand, but outplaying your opponent with position (position raises and blind stealing are key). Just remember to peg down the calling startion so that you don't have to lose any more than you have to. The good/solid players will most likely fold to a bluff.

[eddo31]

my experiences also suggest that tight play is mandatory. i agree with tilter, that blind stealing becomes important, but i would only really start to do that in the later rounds. in the early rounds the blinds are low enough, and there are enough impers that blind stealing is often a bigger risk than you need to take.

really, just try to wait out the idiots who push it in early, and then take advantage of other players by using the information that you gather about them early on.

of course, a little luck doesnt hurt either.

[Aequitas58]

Luck, and unrelenting aggression! I just took down a pot with AJo with a board of Q K 5 J 2. I check raised him twice, and bet hard on the river. I have a feeling he laid down a Q, or even a K! Hey ... you have to compensate when you don't have position!

Maybe not the best of all moves, but I'm already up pretty good for the night and I've only been playing for an hour.

[Frontin]

So do you think it's worth it more to play in higher tourneys, like 10+1 or 20+2's? I sometimes find in the 5+1's that i'm over reading players... of course I'm still a beginner.

[Defendant]

To be honest, the best tournaments in terms of play level are the higher ones, 50+5 and up, mainly because its not just gambling.

Defendant

[robert2504]

I think it has something also to do with your personal bankroll. I mean, I do not have lot's of money to throw on the tables, I have a mortgage, a wife, and two daughters. I only earn $40,000 a year and my wife $32,000. So, it looks like $50 a month is what I can spend on poker in a bad streak. So I, would not be playing the same way on a $50 + 5 or even $20 S&G as someone that deposits $500 a month. I know that you have to go to the higher levels to not get rivered and so on. Good advice; but I think most players can't afford that. It's just like telling people in the desert, why don't you just move out to a better place. Well, it's all they know and all they can afford.

Hopefully one day or with hard work and dedication, one can move up to the next level. I wouldn't mind getting a 1 hour luck streak and making in to the final table at a multitable of $1 entry. That is where you will see me most of the times; at least this year.

[2Tone]

This is why it is so important to only play at levels you can afford. You can't adjust your game in an SNG based on how much left you have in your account - you have to keep playing tight/agressive, making the right decision based on pot odds, etc. If you find yourself reluctant to make a raise/call you would if you had more $, it's time to step down a level.

[Jackass_man]

I've finished well in alot of NL tourneys with buy-ins from freerolls to $50. If you want to make final tables you're going to have to gamble, you can't just wait for perfect cards or to have the nuts before commiting lots of chips. You are also going to have to bluff pots,try not to do this to short stacks cause they'll be in a position to call out of desperation. Oh and never give up I've been down to 450 in chips after a bad beat with blinds of 400- 800 and came back to finish third. I like to play aggresive from the get go, with reason though. See lots of flops cheap when the blinds are low with hands that can pay off big str8 and flush draws. If you can hit a couple of these for cheap you can get paid off by the weaker players. Once you get to the final table the whole dynamics change, DON'T(like I often have fall apart since you've made the money)Fall Apart. In NL tourny aggresion pays , So be super aggresive with lot's of discretion and never get married to a hand . If you think you're beaten let it go, IT'S NOT WHO WINS THE BATTLE BUT WHO WINS THE WAR!

[humpty99]

Everyones replies have pretty much the same tone, and I would have to agree with them. All that I would add is to forget about playing huge multi table tourneys on sites like Party. There are just too many people in them for a moderately to highly skilled player to win out in the long run. Way too much luck involved. Go to a smaller site where 100-300 people are in the multi's. Still have to get lucky once in a while, but skill plays in much much more. Don't get me wrong, if you've got a horseshoe up your ass one day you can win 9000 on a 10.00 buyin. Can't beat that, but the stars must be aligned that day. I do like the 2 and 3 table multis on Party. I've done very well on those, and I go on crazy hot streaks at the 10 person 10.00 SNGs.

[Jackass_man]

Oh ya, multi table tourney strategy is different then sitngo's and a style that works for sitngo's won't win in the long haul of a big tourney.

[2Tone]

Finished 63rd out of a field out more than 1400 on Party last night at the $5+1. The end came when I pushed a pair of 8s all in against a medium raise, and he caught a King on the flop to bounce me.

Still hourly rate was not great -- I earned about 18 bucks for over three hours of play. And it wasn't enough to recoup some tough losses at the NL table, so I'm down for the weekend.

[Jackass_man]

Thats the whole point of big tourneys, if you make the final table usually the payout is gonna be big. Don't think of it in an hourly rate kind of sense thats for ring games NOT MTT's.