Some Tips Please

sugardaddy

hi i have not been playing poker long ,could somebbody gimme some tips at least with online poker,cause i entered into a tournement(play money)and came 264 out of about 1890 people ,the 1st position player had over 40,000 chips were i only had about 6000 and the highest at my table had 14,00.now what im wwondering is were do i start to accumulate my chips.what i have been doin is betting big but not all in pre -flop when i get high cards like an ace and a king or queen and a ten or jack ,etc.or when i get a pair pre- flop.some lads bet all in with hands like these at the started.now in a tournement im trying to last but if i go all in pre flop there a good cahance ill lose and be out but if i dont i cant seem to accumulate my chips.so can anyone give me some tips on this?any help would be appreciated thanx

Marq

Ok. You've just started playing poker. there is a huge amount to learn. there is no quick fix solution to accumulating a stack. You won't become world-class overnight, but there is a wealth of information, both in books and on the internet, that can help you. This board, despite its frequent bad beat threads, has some good material if you look back through the archives. Check the links in the sticky at the top of the thread, there are a lot of good sites out there such as www.twoplustwo.com and www.cardplayer.com where you can read excellent critical analysis of hold'em and other variations of poker.

In the literary department, If you're interested in playing hold'em multi-table tournaments, Harrington On Hold'em is a fantastic book. There are other brilliant books too, you'll come across them in the stickys and in other posts here.

More than any of this though, experience is the best teacher. The more you play, the more you'll understand the game, and hopefully, the better you will become. If there was an easy way to explain how to build a big stack and win a tourney, poker wouldn't be the multi-faceted complex beast that it is. and no one would play it. but you can improve if you want to improve, and like many other things in life, it'll take hours of concentrated practice.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on in the next one.

sugardaddy

thanx ill go to the libary today so and see what i can find

bohsman

Not sure the library will have anything.
I would suggest buying a book from Hogges Fidgis, remember that investing 20/30 euro on a book should be worth a lot more money in the long run

henbane

bohsman wrote:

Not sure the library will have anything.
I would suggest buying a book from Hogges Fidgis, remember that investing 20/30 euro on a book should be worth a lot more money in the long run

As long as that book isn't by TJ Cloutier.

bus77

sugardaddy wrote:

hi i have not been playing poker long ,could somebbody gimme some tips at least with online poker,cause i entered into a tournement(play money)and came 264 out of about 1890 people ,the 1st position player had over 40,000 chips were i only had about 6000 and the highest at my table had 14,00.now what im wwondering is were do i start to accumulate my chips.what i have been doin is betting big but not all in pre -flop when i get high cards like an ace and a king or queen and a ten or jack ,etc.or when i get a pair pre- flop.some lads bet all in with hands like these at the started.now in a tournement im trying to last but if i go all in pre flop there a good cahance ill lose and be out but if i dont i cant seem to accumulate my chips.so can anyone give me some tips on this?any help would be appreciated thanx

Pay no attention to chip numbers, everyone is still even in poker no matter what the chip amounts. With 6000 and 2 good calls you could be up to 20k while the guy with 40k could be down to 20k/30k with bad ones.

Ste05

What's wrong with TJ's books, I'll admit that I haven't read them, but I hear they're quite good??

Also do Hodgis & Figgis sell Poker books, I've always bought my books from Amazon, but if they stock them there then happy days.

Although I'd be suprised if they carried any of the better books, I know when I was looking for Brunson's SS2 I was told you can only buy it in America or through Amazon, (at least that's what Eason's told me).

e.g. I'm looking to get Harrington on Hold 'Em 2 do they stock that??

henbane

Doc Farrell works there and has seen to it that they have a decent 2+2 collection, SS2 and some others. Possibly not quite as cheap as amazon but you get it when you want it.

bohsman

Ste05 wrote:

What's wrong with TJ's books, I'll admit that I haven't read them, but I hear they're quite good??

Also do Hodgis & Figgis sell Poker books, I've always bought my books from Amazon, but if they stock them there then happy days.

Although I'd be suprised if they carried any of the better books, I know when I was looking for Brunson's SS2 I was told you can only buy it in America or through Amazon, (at least that's what Eason's told me).

e.g. I'm looking to get Harrington on Hold 'Em 2 do they stock that??

They have both of Harringtons books, they have both Super Systems and countless others, if Doc Farrell reads this Im sure he can give you more info but basically if somethings out of stock they can order it in for you

Ste05

bus77 wrote:

Pay no attention to chip numbers, everyone is still even in poker no matter what the chip amounts. With 6000 and 2 good calls you could be up to 20k while the guy with 40k could be down to 30k with 2 bad ones.

I must say I completely disagree with this statement.

As with nearly all Poker related discussions, the answer is invariably "It depends" Obviously near beginning of a tourney, it doesn't make a difference, all that really matters is your stack compared to the BB,

But later on in the tournament, when you're approaching the money positions, it is vital then that you look around you and see where you stand, and what you want to get out of the tournament will dictate how you progress. If you want to just sneak into the money then just play your cards, and hope for a big hand and pay little attention to the other chip stacks other than those low stacks who you hope get knocked out first to secure your money finish.

However, if you want to put yourself into a position where you can challenge for the tournament outright, you need to pay attention to the chip stacks and try to have a stack that you can play around with later. And the size of your stack compared to others will dictate when you feel the time is right to take a gamble or push a semi-bluff harder than you normally would.

I find that stack building is done by being more aggressive and looser than you normally would be, however, you must be willing to bust out early if one of your plays doesn't work out for you. In particular as you approach the bubble, everyone seems to tighten up to ensure they finish in the money, and will fold alot easier to a steal or a re-raise rather than speculate on a marginal/ drawing hand (incl. AK).

As has been said previously, it is an art, that takes alot of experience and table time to learn and master, basically my strategy is to be ultra tight early, where survival is the aim of the game, play my good hands strongly and minimise my loose plays. I always like to stay near enough to the average stack size if possible after the third or fourth level, then loosen up as you approach the bubble, and tighten up again once the bubble has passed,
I feel that most of the skill is required to get to this spot and from here on my play changes depending on many other factors, e.g. pay-out structure, my chip stack, chip leader, current table, etc. etc.

Ste05

bohsman wrote:

They have both of Harringtons books, they have both Super Systems and countless others, if Doc Farrell reads this Im sure he can give you more info but basically if somethings out of stock they can order it in for you

Excellent thanks for that, it was getting annoying waiting for Amazon

mewso

Avoid Super System until you have read some of the other books.

Marq

I think I got the last copy of HOH2 the other day, but I can't be sure. Great book. Doc will let you know if it's in. They have a really good selection of Poker literature in HF, due for the most part, I would say, to Doc Farrell.

Ste05

musician wrote:

Avoid Super System until you have read some of the other books.

Have to agree with this advice, his style of play is not really suitable for beginners, or even intermediate level players, (I would consider myself one of these) I use a few of his basic concepts, but my Bankroll just can't put up with his style.

I found Hellmuth's book quite good, it was the first book I ever read on poker and I found it very good easy to read, etc. not too technical.

Although I'm not sure what the feeling towards Hellmuth is on this forum, so I'm prepared for a backlash if it is needed for mentioning his name.

ocallagh

No Limit Texas Holdem, part of the New Player series, by Brad Daugherty is an excellent book to start off with. You can get it from amazon here

sugardaddy

thanx for all that everybody and it does help me somewhat but i would like to know what i shoulddo in the position i mention earlier,like should i go alll in pre-fliop with a good hand or not?

Waylander

There is no set formula to make this decison. It depends on how many chips you have, how many players at the table, how many chips they have, what position you are in etc. There is just too many variables for a yes or no answer to your question. You should also bear in mind that 264 out of 1900 is not a bad showing in a big mtt.

Ste05

sugardaddy wrote:

what im wwondering is were do i start to accumulate my chips.what i have been doin is betting big but not all in pre -flop when i get high cards like an ace and a king or queen and a ten or jack ,etc.or when i get a pair pre- flop.some lads bet all in with hands like these at the started.now in a tournement im trying to last but if i go all in pre flop there a good cahance ill lose and be out but if i dont i cant seem to accumulate my chips.so can anyone give me some tips on this?any help would be appreciated thanx

What I'd normally do here would be dependant on a number of factors, namely, my table position, my stack compared to the blinds (if less than 10x BB push in here with any decent A, or pocket pair), my table image, other players at the table, (likelihood to fold, re-raise, calling stations, stack size in the blinds, etc. etc.) how many players to be eliminated before bubble reached, etc. only experience here can help you in making good decisions.

In relation to the range of hands you outlined I probably, wouldn't be doing anything too imaginative with AQ and below, AK, I could possibly push all-in and hope for a 50 50 or better, not worrying too much about AA or KK, if they act after you, you just got unlucky if you walk into them and thats poker, with a small PP, possibly go all-in again hoping for pretty much the same thing, but in both circumstances happy to pick up the blinds, it all just depends on so many other factors it's hard to give any set in stone Rules for particular hands.

One thing not to worry about though, is going out, when you make a play in NLHE your tournament is always at risk, at any time you could walk into Aces but that's just part of the fun, most times you won't and you'll pick up the blinds and any limpers before you or possibly get a loose call, the whole point is to try and give your opponents an opportunity to make a mistake and give you their chips. One thing to remember, that I was told once and it really helped my game is that "Scared money at the table is Dead money at the table".

No one can win every tournament they enter. So you have to take risks, some will pay off, others won't.

Hitman Actual

Your stack size will depend a lot on how you play as well. If your stack is deep relative to the blinds, say 5K with blinds at 50/100, then going all-in when no one else has acted is not very clever. You're either going to win just the blinds, get called in a 50/50 situation or get called in a dominated situation. You should be making standard raises, 3 to 5 time the BB, etc, and taking it from there.

A smaller stack relative to the blinds is actually much easier to play. Usually when down to 10BB, if you're going to play a hand, you should just move all-in. In a similar vein of thought, if you want to raise, and that raise would be approx 30% of your stack, just move all-in.

Accumulating chips in a tourney gets much easier with experience. There are plenty of occasions where a pot will be up for grabs, it just takes experience to get better at finidng those spots. Playing the middle stage of a tournament is important. When people tighten up, there will be a lot more stealing opportunities. Something that I find works quite well is to raise in late position with a hand that you'd like to see a flop with i.e. suited connectors, etc. The main aim is obviously to take the pot down uncontested, but if you do get called you will be in good position to take the pot down on the flop (assuming no one has called behind you). Another thing is to re-raise a person you think is on a steal. Whatever you do, dont tighten up too much... try to find the opportunities to pick up chips.

Apologies if that turned into a ramble!

Dub13

Ste05 wrote:

I'm looking to get Harrington on Hold 'Em 2 do they stock that??

I was in there over the weekend,I picked up Harrington on Hold 'Em one...I did not see part two.Maybe Doc can give us more info...?