10-09-2001, 02:05 AM
I've played 17 small buy-in limit HE tournaments. All but two were $50 buy-in. The other two were the Mandalay Bay and Luxor $25 buy-in tourneys. I've cashed 9 out of 17. These are pretty fast tournaments. My local tourney starts with T500 chips, opening blinds at T10/T20 which go up every 15 minutes until the T25/T50 level). The "typical" payout is something like:
1st $500
2nd $250
3rd $150
4th-5th $75
10th-6th $50
I have two 1sts, one 3 way split of first (Luxor), one 5th place, two 8ths, and three 10ths. The fields have been between 26 and 48 players.
The tournaments are relativley loose. In the early stages of the tournament (blinds T10/T20 to T25/T50) 3 to 6 way flops are not uncommon. I've been playing these tournaments VERY tight and (I think) aggressive.
Tonight the only hands I played out of the blinds or all-in situations were AA (2 times) and KQo (on the button with 4 limpers). I seem to be stuck in a rut of getting to the final table short stacked and busting out early. I'm wondering if I'm playing TOO tight. It's pretty typical for me to play only two to four (non-blind) hands all night until the final table. I pretty much play the majority of the tournament as if I'm in mid to early position all the time. Big aces, high suited connectors, big and medium pocket pairs, unsuited face cards in position. I made a "loose" call tonight with KQo on the button with 4 limpers.
I will steal occasionally, but this is probably one area I need to tinker with. I try to take the calling proclivities of the players in the blinds into consideration before considering a pure steal raise.
Tonight I missed a couple steal opportunities, but the player to my left (at two of the three tables I played at) was an elderly woman who called almost everything. I played with her last week, too. It seemed pointless to try to steal her blinds. I never steal raise if even one person has limped. If there's a limper, I need to have a hand.
On the flop and beyond I play a pretty aggressive, "short handed" type game. I figure I'm saving up my preflop calls so I can hammer the flop & turn when I get a piece of it.
I'm uncomfortable playing a very high variance style early to build up a stack, as I know I can make it to the final table with tight play. My goal is always to win, but (until now) I've never been willing to risk going out early with wild play just to build a stack. I'm wondering if I shouldn't reevaluate this. Part of the problem of course is that I'm almost always playing defense with a smallish stack. I'd like to be able to take command a little more often, but I need chips to do that.
I think I'm doing some things right and I shouldn't totally overhaul my strategy, but I feel like a few adjustments in the right places might help me place higher more often. Can anyone suggest some adjustments or point out leaks?
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
(Crossposted to RGP)
1st $500
2nd $250
3rd $150
4th-5th $75
10th-6th $50
I have two 1sts, one 3 way split of first (Luxor), one 5th place, two 8ths, and three 10ths. The fields have been between 26 and 48 players.
The tournaments are relativley loose. In the early stages of the tournament (blinds T10/T20 to T25/T50) 3 to 6 way flops are not uncommon. I've been playing these tournaments VERY tight and (I think) aggressive.
Tonight the only hands I played out of the blinds or all-in situations were AA (2 times) and KQo (on the button with 4 limpers). I seem to be stuck in a rut of getting to the final table short stacked and busting out early. I'm wondering if I'm playing TOO tight. It's pretty typical for me to play only two to four (non-blind) hands all night until the final table. I pretty much play the majority of the tournament as if I'm in mid to early position all the time. Big aces, high suited connectors, big and medium pocket pairs, unsuited face cards in position. I made a "loose" call tonight with KQo on the button with 4 limpers.
I will steal occasionally, but this is probably one area I need to tinker with. I try to take the calling proclivities of the players in the blinds into consideration before considering a pure steal raise.
Tonight I missed a couple steal opportunities, but the player to my left (at two of the three tables I played at) was an elderly woman who called almost everything. I played with her last week, too. It seemed pointless to try to steal her blinds. I never steal raise if even one person has limped. If there's a limper, I need to have a hand.
On the flop and beyond I play a pretty aggressive, "short handed" type game. I figure I'm saving up my preflop calls so I can hammer the flop & turn when I get a piece of it.
I'm uncomfortable playing a very high variance style early to build up a stack, as I know I can make it to the final table with tight play. My goal is always to win, but (until now) I've never been willing to risk going out early with wild play just to build a stack. I'm wondering if I shouldn't reevaluate this. Part of the problem of course is that I'm almost always playing defense with a smallish stack. I'd like to be able to take command a little more often, but I need chips to do that.
I think I'm doing some things right and I shouldn't totally overhaul my strategy, but I feel like a few adjustments in the right places might help me place higher more often. Can anyone suggest some adjustments or point out leaks?
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
(Crossposted to RGP)