Tournament Strategy question.

[saminex@yahoo.com]

i like to see as many hands as possible when the blinds are low so it doesnt cost much but if u hit you can make a bundle, play tight in early three and get tighter as the game progresses until the seats start emptying at the final table.

[drewjax]

I think it is good advise to try to see some cheap flops early to gain some chips; and i should take my own advise. I play pretty tight, and I usually do pretty well, but I find myself shortstacked alot. Would love just a few more chips here and there. Of course there are more than one way to skin a cat/win a tourney. You have to play your best game/strategy. The problem (for me at least) is trying to slightly alter my game to do better, even though I have had some success.

[SirFWALGMan]

I think stealing blinds is NECESSARY when you get to the final levels. I was 40th place, out of the money in my last tourney and a few stolen blinds put me back up to a workable stack and got me to 25th where I melted down. You need to be smart about it, and try it with hands that are marginal but can hold-up if they flop well. Do not try it with 72o. I will try it alot with Ax in late-mid to late position. I also do not do it every time or else people will just call you all the time.

[SirFWALGMan]

I preface this by saying I am not the greatest tourney player. However I have placed in most of the tourneys I have entered. I have only cracked the top ten twice. Once was in a satelite where I won an entry to a large contest, and the other was a freeroll. I do not enter tourneys all that often so maybe I am pretty good. heh.

I follow the basic rules. I am very tight in the first three levels. It sometimes gets me respect, and if I stay at the same table for a long time this can pay off. This is also my strategy in SNGs. It really is not worth risking much until you get to a place where the blinds count somewhat.

Be careful early on with going all in. I see alot of people do this. Sometimes that one guy who goes all in every time pisses you off. Just wait and trap him later.

In the later stages of the game you have to be more aggresive. If you just sit around you are going to be blinded out, or end up always being 1 blind away from elimination.

Do something to keep focused. One of the hardest thing about these tourneys is to stay focused for 2-3 hours it takes to win. At some point your going to drift and make mistakes. Take a small break or talk to someone or do something to keep yourself focused.

Have fun. These things are a crap shoot. You need to get lucky to win. Playing well improves your odds of getting lucky but you still need those matchups that you win.

[4Flusher]

Early:

Play ROCK Tight to save ammunition for later.
Use my BB when I can if not ... Premium hands only !
Watch Other Players and HOW they play, u may see some of
them later


Middle:
I loosen starting hand requirements
Check Stack with remaining Tables
Play the Players as per observations earlier

Late : Bet Raise Bet Rraise any A any Paint any Pair

TAKE the MONEY or TAKE the RAIL

4Flusher

[Kidd7138]

Play tight early and just survive. I'm not saying fold every hand but only play premium hands. You obviously want to be winning chips but don't try to do it in high risk situations.

In the middle levels I usually get more aggressive with the main goal being to accumulate as big of a chip stack as possible, steal blinds, take down pots, and don't be afraid to take risks, you're probably going to have to win a few coin flips to win a big tourney, this is the time to do it.

When I get to the later levels and the field starting dwindling down I like to combine both of these strategies. Playing tight and surviving will get you more money as people get knocked out, but playing aggressive and getting more chips is a higher risk and higher reward strategy. At this level the competition is usually pretty good so just play smart and know when to mix it up every know and then.

[TajaUk]

Found this great off felica Lee's blog, always a good read.

Beginning of the tournament: Notice who is actually playing, and who is sitting out, having signed up, then forgotten about the tournament. Sometimes it is over 50%.

This is where experimentation starts. Most people are playing a little cautiously and trying to figure everyone else out. Take advantage of this and play a little looser. I don’t mean become a maniac, but marginal/speculative hands will have much more value. Additionally, if you miss, since most people are being cautious, they may not necessarily call you down either. Bet those draws, semi-bluff, do all the tricks until you start getting called down. I’ve had tables with other bluffers, who, of course don’t believe anyone else either, and have had to stop this technique right away. I suppose I could be like a lot of the others and play conservatively, folding, folding, and see how the others play first. However, using this “first strike” method, I have been able to build up chips a majority of the time for later. Conversely, this method has been lead to a quick ‘out-the-door’… remember I’m playing freerolls, so for me, nothing invested, nothing lost.

Once the blinds start going up, usually around the 3rd level, it’s time to start tightening the play. Opponents that you have been playing with might get confused with this as well; it’s always a good thing to confuse your competition. They’ve seen you play more hands and now you’re not. You might get more calls from these people. Many freeroll players are completely unaware, however; so don’t expect to throw off too many people.

Now that you’re playing tighter, the newer people (as many are going to be getting bumped out) are watching you play tighter. When you’re in a hand, they’re going to believe you. Yes, once again, these are freerolls and there are going to be a ton of people who don’t believe you, but heck even pay tournaments have those people, so no surprise here. However, most of the time you’ll be able to steal in later positions with weaker values. Just keep in mind who you’re trying it against. As part of the tighter play, I will NOT try to steal from a chip leader, not unless I really have something (e.g. ATo in the cut-off).

If you go for a steal, you must follow this up with a bet on the flop. I’m assuming here that you realize that by “steal” I mean that you were in a last position (button or 1 to 2 from the button) and no one else has come in; therefore, you should be—preferably—HU with the big blind (ok, preferably, you bought the blinds no contest, hehe), at most vs. two others. If you have more than two opponents in the hand with you on a steal attempt and miss the flop, do NOT bet. Hopefully you still have last position and if they check to you, check behind and take the free card. If you raised with a weak ace, get your ace on the flop, bet and get called… proceed with caution! Remember that it takes a better hand to call a raise than to make a bet. Unless you’ve watched your calling opponent turn over very weak hands, you don’t want to be betting a weak ace when it’s entirely possible that you’re beat. Don’t try to “bet” your opponent off his hand. You raised in late position, most people are much more suspicious of a raise from late position.

OK, betting. I stated that you must bet your steal on the button regardless considering that the above conditions were met. Now, say those conditions are met, how do you bet? The same way you always do. This means that if you’re the type of person that, if you have a monster hand, you bet bigger than the rest of the time, it’s time to change! I played some poker with my nephew this past Thanksgiving and he was hilarious… checking when he had nothing, betting just a little with weak hands, all-in when he had a good-great hand. Every time that he bet big, I just folded (to his credit, he started to realize this, but too late, I had most the chips . Too many people do this in their normal play. The reverse is also true, going all-in on a draw or when they’re weak. I’ve seen so many people with a premium pair < AA check-raise all-in when an ace hits the flop. What?? Check-raising ties a player to the hand; you’ve gotten them to commit chips, which normally keeps them IN. I much prefer leading out if I’ve raised, see the resulting action and take it from there.

Later play: Towards the end of the tournament I’m normally average to short-stacked. I am rarely the chip lead with my more conservative play. This may not be for most people, but after spending an hour to accumulate chips in the early stages, I don’t want to blow them by still playing loosely and end up spending that time for nothing. During the later stages I try to hang on and get into the money. If I’m short stacked, there’s really nothing else to do but go all-in if I have a good hand. There’s really no other way to protect it. If I have average chips or better, raising is the better play. Example: the other night I had average chips in the middle of the tournament. I’m in UTG (under-the-gun, first to act) with AQs and have been playing tightly. Although a group II hand, I’m not going to throw this away. I thought, heck, I might just steal the blinds with this one (if people saw how tight I was, and here I am raising… unless they have a great hand, they’re not calling). Well, this one guy that hardly ever raised went all-in for more chips than I had, and a short-stack called. Easy muck, even without the short-stack calling. I had observed the all-in player and he had only shoved before with high wired pairs. This time around he had AKo, not exactly the correct play in my thinking, but I was right in knowing that I was beat (interestingly, the short-stack had AQo… no ace, no queen dealt, I would have been out).

Once again, I raised with my AQs so that I could have the luxury to be able to fold should someone go over the top of me. I did raise because you don’t want someone in there with a weak hand out flopping you, or chasing a straight/flush to run you down. This is a tournament; you still want to limit the field. (Another example of bad tournament play: I’m shorter stacked later on and I have JJ on the button… several limpers to me, no raise, so I shove. Caller? Early limper with KK. Flop? Axx. If I had NOT shoved, he would have allowed someone with a weak ace to out flop him. Do NOT slow play, especially in early positions.)

Sklansky: Yes, I often Sklansky my way into the money. This means that I if I’m short-stacked and close to the money, but not in it yet, I will still fold marginal hands like small pairs and weak aces (AT, AJ, sometimes AQ) in early position. Heck, if I’m close enough, I might fold it in last position, even if I’m in position to steal! This is providing I have enough chips to out last the shorter stacks. My first priority is to get in the money. If I’ve gotten this far, I don’t want to blast myself out after spending 2-3 hours getting this close. Now if you’re really short and you are in steal position, you HAVE to go all-in with those marginal hands (first to open) or else you blind yourself out, you’re that short. There’s a time and a place, monkey*!

“First to open” brings up a point I don’t think many realize. You have to be first to open depending on your stack size, opponent’s stack size, etc. If you have a limper or more, that’s more money in the pot for it to get “protected”. If the pot’s big enough, someone might call you down for the value that they’re getting based on the pot size, regardless of how tight you might be and now here you are shoving all-in. Even if you have AA and shoving is the right move since there are a number of people that have limped, one or more people might still call with all the money in the pot from the limping.

Once I’m in the money, I play more aggressively. I’m getting paid, that was my first goal (and the point of the tournament). Now I want to be paid more :-D All-in’s are more frequent for me. I want to get higher in the money, and the only way to do that is to build chips. If I’m already average or above in chips, then I play more cautiously, but as I stated, I normally am not at this stage.

[sjay2k]

I agree. I think you start fairly loose and as the tourney progresses and the blinds increase, I try to become tighter and more aggressive. I.e. I will only play a pot once in a while, but I want to win every one of them.

Of course all of this goes out the window when it's down to 6 or less players

[ChipFish]

I would take all of this advice and do the exact opposite.

ok. I stopped reading about halfway through, and glanced at the last paragraph, but honestly, if you were to play exactly the opposite of what is written here, you would probably do quite well.

[jdiana86]