tight is right?

[bigbambu14]

lately I have been debating PP large tournament strategy. There are many bad players in these huge PP tournaments, which leads me to the question of whether or not tight is right. Tight pre-flop selection early in these tournaments obviously increase your odds in the pots you enter. However, with the poor play of many of these players do you guys feel loose play can actually be more beneficial if used in the right circumstance; or is the fear of calling station sucking out too much?

[B Mando]

I do not play Party, but on Pokerroom where I play you start with 1500 and with blinds of 10-20 that increase every 12 minutes...I like to play like basically a maniac in the first hour, and if I double up then I have chips to push people with and am in great position to win. In my mind tight at the beginning is only right when you have deep chip stacks in relation to the blinds and the how quickly they increase...in online poker you just do not have that type of time to sit around and wait...I like to bust out or give myself a chance of winning. I also feel that doubling up is much easier early on. After the first break or so players start to play tight and hang on more. In the 20+2 and 50+4 tounrments on Pokerroom people bust out within the first 30 minutes or they hang on for dear life and only play the goods...

[Bernas]

I think tight is right. Early on, play nutty type hands.

[betgo]

Play tight when everyone is playing loose. However, if you can see a flop cheaply with a speculative hand, do it, as you may get payed off well if you hit.

Later, if the play gets tight, play loose aggressive.

[SossMan]

I allow my cards to dictate my image and my play. The best plan is to not have a plan.
In general, though, it's usually better to be selective out of position, and loosen up in position with deep stacks since flop/turn play becomes more common.

[Percula]

I would have to agree with SossMan here.

A good example...

I have been playing a lot of the PS $3 rebuy to the Sunday $250K. These are noted as wild with lots of "poor" play especially during the rebuy hour. I played one Sunday where I played 19 hands other than in the BB where I checked thru and saw the flop, I won a seat, i.e. very very tight. One I played last week I played 56% and won a seat, very very loose.

In the tight game I only played good hands being on a loose table (I had loose tables until the last 30mins or so) and not seeing good hands for the most part, I got AA five times and double or trippled each time. Got KK and QQ a couple of times and had two nice BB specials with "dolly" both times filling the boat. I nearly blinded out in this one on the bubble. Was it "correct" poker play, yes, was it the correct method for this one tourament, questionable...

In the loose game I was at a tight table virtually the whole tourament and got some really good starting hands. Lots of small and mid PP in good position that hit sets just about every time I played them. I had KK once and lost to a mid set. I played just about any two cards that had paint or were connected and hit the flop hard more times than not. Was it "correct" poker play, well that is questionable, was it a winning method for this one tourament, without a doubt.

So is playing tight all the time the right method? No. Just like the classic 2+2 line "it depends". /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[davidross]

Your edge against bad players is that they are going to pay you off when you hit. If you loosen up you will just become another one of the bad players. Develop a strategy that works for you. If you play well post-flop, see a lot of flops, but don't change it because you think there are bad players in the tournament. Bet your good hands for value, but be careful with one pair hands.

[I Play 2 Ski]

I think david is right on. The one thing I learned this year in MTT's is not to get married to TPTK or weaker one pair hands, especially early.

If the table is loose, especially if its a rebuy, you just got to play in position.

[MyssGuy]

Not to be rude, but it sounds like in both cases you hit a lot of good hands. AA, KK many times over when playing tight and middle PP that flopped sets when you loosened up....