What's your style.

[FletchJr.]

Do you play lots of hands early, or only premium? do you open up later on or Play according to your Table? Do you ever pick on weak opponents regardless of your hand?

I play a super tight Aggressive style in the begining. I strongly protect my big PP's and i undervalue AQo. I even muck it normally preflop. I don't play many hands and when i do i play them aggressively. Then in the later stages of a tournament. I pick on players that play similar to my beggining game.

I very Rarely have a big stack in the stages where your just out of the money.

I think my game does need a bit of work, and I didn't learn much in Sklansky's tournament book. I think the best NL players play lots of hands and play them well. I know there are different successful styles . I think im going to read Doyle's NL section in his book S/S, maybe I'll get a revelation.

What other info is out there on opening ones game?
One day I would love to be able to play a more reckless style of NL like some of the successfull young guns.

[cferejohn]

I think the bigger the stacks and the longer the levels, the more a player can be successful with a somewhat more aggressive strategy. Daniel N's habit of getting into pots and calling raises with small connectors works well when he has 100x the BB and can outplay people on the flop. With just 20-30x the BB, I have to imagine it would be -EV for anyone, regardless of their flop play.

As for me, I play tight early on for the simple reason that early in *any* online tournament, there are almost always plenty of players who are too loose at my table. I'm not looking to bluff, I'm looking to value bet. I will raise AQ in MP-LP, even with limpers, but I'll rarely call a raise with it (I'll re-raise if up against a proven LAG though). If the table isn't too aggressive, I'll try to see flops from any postion with a PP, and I'll limp suited connectors late (on the button or *maybe* the CO) after multiple limpers, on the theory that if I do hit a hand, I'll be paid off well.

Doyle's stuff is interesting, but more applicable to big cash games, particularly ones where you have the bankroll to cover the table. A big part of his strategy (aside from the standard "don't play crappy cards") centers on making scared money make decisions for all their chips. While this is no doubt effective in a $10/20 blinds NL cash game where you have the second largest stack covered by 2-1, its not as applicable in the $10-$50 games, where the bad players may be alot of things, but "scared" isn't one of them.

I recommend checking out the Bob Ciaffone/Stewart Reuben PL/NL book. It has some sections that will be of no real use (PL Stud? Who knew?), but I think the parts on NL/PL Hold-em (and PL Omaha, if you can stand that fershluggener game) are some of the best I have read.

I haven't read the McEvoy/Cloutier tournament book. Some people seem to like it. I've always been singularly unimpressed with McEvoy's writing, and most people report that Cloutier more or less says "play super-tight" and I reckon you already know that.

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
I play a super tight Aggressive style in the begining. I strongly protect my big PP's and i undervalue AQo. I even muck it normally preflop. I don't play many hands and when i do i play them aggressively. Then in the later stages of a tournament. I pick on players that play similar to my beggining game.


[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you get a really good run of cards, I can't see how you are ever going to have much sucess playing that tight. Muck AQ for no raise??

If the stacks are deep, get in there with lots of hands cheaply. Get more aggressive. Start stealing with any two from MP or later when its folded to you.

If the tournaments you play are shallow stack tourneys, start pushing more preflop, and don't be afraid to take some early coin flips.

All in all, I don't ever really have a "game plan". I take each hand as it comes and try to make the best decisions on a hand by hand basis. I do tend to error on the LAG side, though. Bottom line, I'm not afraid to go bust early in a tournament for a chance to build a big stack. That stack is going to help me accumulate the chips I need for the final table.

[FletchJr.]

Thanks. your right, the players in these events aren't "Scared" I think intstead of multi tabling and playing only the nuts. I should focus on 2 tables and play more hands.
[ QUOTE ]
I recommend checking out the Bob Ciaffone/Stewart Reuben PL/NL book

[/ QUOTE ]
Yea, I have that book, I've also read and reread the NL/Pl section on Holdem and the Omaha section about 3 times. Omaha is a really facinating game to me, but it's insanely Fragile(meh bad word but it's all i can think of) You have to be very percise in that game.

Yes, the Cloutier book and the McEvoy book is a joke, the biggest wasted FPP's I've ever used.

[FletchJr.]

[ QUOTE ]
Start stealing with any two from MP or later when its folded to you.

[/ QUOTE ]
You can't possibly be talking about the early stages of a tourney. The pots are Constantly multiwayed.


[ QUOTE ]
All in all, I don't ever really have a "game plan". I take each hand as it comes and try to make the best decisions on a hand by hand basis.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think you bang on here. I don't have a game plan either, although I don't see a need to start stealing untill the table tighten's up. (which usually happens later when I don't have a large stack)

[Potowame]

Soss,
when do you start this slightly LAG play, first round or when the blinds reach a area where it will help your stack size, say 25/50?

I find myself playing too tight/ag for the low buy-in trnys I play, where plays like UTG-2 will raise 4xbb with A10o everytime, and I fold AJs from mp-3. Which on this board they say is an easy fold, and I agree. But, in the small 5-1 trnys I feel Like I am not given enough value to those hands. any comments.

[ilya]

I'm generally with the Soss on this. I'll raise with anything if it's folded to me as early as UTG+2. I start at level 1 and never stop. Early on I'll play suited connectors and one-gaps and two-gaps from almost any position, provided there hasn't been a re-raise or a really sizeable first raise. Ditto for all pocket pairs except I might call the sizeable first raise if it's not over 8 or so percent of my stack.
I play just as agressively, but much more tightly, on the flop.

p.s. Unlike Soss though, I don't go for the early coinflips.