tournament strategy

jobless

Hey all,

I’ve been playing nl holdem for over a year now both live and online with mixed success….in live tournaments I play tight and only bluff the odd time…..Lately though I find that while I don’t go bust easily, I also don’t accumulate a lot of chips so when the blinds increase to a bigger degree later in the tournament I find that I’m more or less shortstacked (at best average stacked)…..if I lose a single hand I’m then more or less in trouble.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to get a bigger stack for the later stages of a tournament……should I be raising more preflop with average hands (I normally only raise with strong holdings), be bluffing more? Or just more or less gamble with my chips and take a chance I’ll double up a couple times…

Any advice or pointers to articles welcome…

cheers

5starpool

Use position to your advantage to raise with a wider range of hands. Be aware of other peoples play to see if you can pick up information as to when they are weak or strong, and if you are fairly sure of weakness then play into your opponent.

You have to be aware of what type of player your opponent is though. This will not work with a calling station.

I suffered, and sometime still do, with the same problem as you when I first started. I made a lot of final tables but was invariably one of the bottom 2 or 3 stacks when I got there. Now I make less final tables but usually have a good fighting chance of achieving something when I get there.

Poker is not about your cards only, it is about your opponents. Bottom line in a lot of situations is that there are times when you will need to make your opponent think that they are definitely behind when you bet. Don't make this move with nothing though on shortstacked players, large stacks or on calling stations as above.

A lot of this is common sense and is stated in books like Harrington etc. If you have not read them yet, then I recommend them. These are the only poker books I have, and even though I am too lazy to finish them (my bad) I know I should, even though there is very little in there that you should not already know or have an idea of, even if only subconsciously.

Good luck, hope this helps somewhat.

Iceman78

I used to play a lot like you but have changed my strategy slowly over the last couple of months. I found that i used to make a lot of final tables in the past but was always short stacked and needed a quick double up to play any part in the sharp end of the game.

If im at an overly aggressive table early on, i just play tight and wait for decent hands and try to get all my chips in middle against one of the maniacs pre flop if possible. If the table is passive, i usually play a bigger range of hands early on in tourney especially in position and try to hit flops.

Also, when you get to last 16-20 in a tourney, this is a time when you need to take a few chances and make a few steals with marginal hands when you have position. Try to avoid the big stacks or very aggressive players though as they might take their chances against you.

jobless

thanks for the replies lads...much appreciated....i'll have to get a hold of harringtons books

Culchie

Your sense of timing and danger should also improve with experience in live games, instinct is very important.

Gholimoli

what i would suggest is to learn the value of the hands.
leanr what hands play well in multiway pots and what hands play better HU.
the single most important thing is position.
try to understand why its so important and then use it to your advantage.
pay alot of attention to the ppl your playing with and identify who would be the most likely target you can extract chips from.
profile your players. ie tight,aggro,calling station etc.
play with them accourdingly.
pay attention when a hand goes to show down ,its a alot of information there that you can use.for example what kind od hands do they play ,from what position ,how do they play it.
do they check when they miss the flop?
do they make a bet even if they miss?
do they like to check raise?
eventually you will get used to the idea that its not about what cards you have and its more about what cards your villain has.
to give you an example:
a guy comes raising from EP with TT.
you decide to call with 78s.
flop: 2 A K rainbow.
he best half the pot and you call.
turn is Q .
he checks .
now your hand is nothing at the moment.but if you go all in he cant possibly call you even if he thinks there is a good chance your bluffing.
you have called his raise pre flop ,then you have called his raise on the flop and there are 3 over cards to his pair on board.he will have to fold.
this is just an example of how your cards are not the only consideration and factors such as position are far more important .
im not saying to call all raises with 78s but what im saying that if you work on your reads on ppl and gather enough info on them then you can collect chips with out the big hands as well.

Hitman Actual

I think playing too tight is a problem that a lot of players have in tournaments. The age-old thinking of tourneys being about survival comes to mind. (I used to think that way until I started reading and posting on this forum). Early in a tournament I now try to play as normal a game as possible, close to cash game style (stack sizes permitting). Once stacks (and the game) start to tighten up, picking up pots by stealing, etc, come more into play. As has been mentioned, you'll be much better at finding good stealing spots with experience. Also, like 5starpool said, read both of Harringtons books. They cover everything you need to know, and the rest is about experience.

DeadParrot

Lads,
where might be the best place to get these books?
They're about $20-odd in barnes and noble Excl delievery and about €23 in shop ireland.ie

So where would yis recommend picking these up?

ianmc38

I think Harringtons books are excellent, but they lean too much (IMHO)towards uber-conservative play.

Culchie

ianmc38 wrote:

I think Harringtons books are excellent, but they lean too much (IMHO)towards uber-conservative play.

I don't think so at all, positional fair enough, but conservative, I don't agree.

Ste05

Ye I agree with Culchie here, I'd suggest a re-read, because if anything they actually loosened up my game. (And I'm no rock at the worst of times.... )

Hitman Actual

ianmc38 wrote:

I think Harringtons books are excellent, but they lean too much (IMHO)towards uber-conservative play.

I dont think it's uber-conservative, but it's definately a normal/solid style of play. I wouldn't really rate Harrington as a rock, I think he plays a standard game.

Deadparrot, you might be able to get those books in Hodges and Figgis on Dawson St. They used to stock them; Doc Farrell used to post about them here (when he was sober ).

Culchie

Harrington got to Final table in WSOP in 2003 & 2004 ... so he didn't get there playing uber-conservative poker that's for sure.

Anyone who read about his squeeze play move would also concur.

Normal/Solid/Standard? ... I dunno ..... let's face it, some people just want to play any two cards, doesn't matter where they are sitting and take a chance regardless.

eggie

Waterstones, Dawson Street, first floor, turn right at top of stairs, you'll see a stand in front of you (5 feet in front of you), other side of stand has all the poker books, some good some bad.

ianmc38

Ste05 wrote:

Ye I agree with Culchie here, I'd suggest a re-read, because if anything they actually loosened up my game.

Thats strange, I found they made my game way too tight.

Ste05

ianmc38 wrote:

Thats strange, I found they made my game way too tight.

LOL, I suppose it's like The Bible, different people take different meanings out of the same passages and then all hell breaks loose. :rolleyes: