lucas9000
11-29-2004, 02:35 PM
i played in the $1,000+$60 tournament at the bellagio on friday, 11/26. it was the biggest live tournament (buy-in and players) that i'd ever played. i got an entry in the first satellite i entered, so it was a cheap learning experience.
the tournament started off great. i was playing solid and slowly building my stack. i loved my table...even though i was waiting for only solid hands, i still didn't have to show any of them down. i was definitely in the top 3 stacks at my table. after a level or two had gone by, though, they were moving people around and harry demetrieu (sp?) was sat at our table. suddenly none of us felt so great about our stacks. he sat down with at least 30,000 chips, and suddenly i realized that my stack that had steadily grown probably wouldn't carry the day. but, i didn't let myself get discouraged, and i kept playign my game. unfortunately, though, i bluffed at the wrong pot against someone with about as many chips as myself and lost about 4,000 or 5,000 chips. with 20 people left (96 started) i had about 2,800 chips left, and the blinds were at 300/600 (may have been 400/800...i can't remember exactly) with 50 ante. i got jj at about utg+2, and moved all-in preflop. the guy to my left with 88 called and hit an 8 on the flop, and i was out in 20th place.
obviously my bluffing at that one pot earlier was a HUGE mistake. but regardless of that, i realized the importance of building a big stack early, or at least playing solid enough to continue building a stack that might carry me into the money. it really seems that to win, though, i'll need to really amass some chips earlier than i had previously thought.
i'd appreciate thoughts on this. i know the "conventional wisdom" of playing super-tight early on isn't really accepted by many these days, and i agree that it's not the best idea. so, what are the strategies/methods for really accumulating chips, aside from just getting lucky? is it putting your opponents to the test with all your chips when you have even the slightest possibility of an edge, even though taking the chance of elimination in the process? please discuss.
ps- the tournament was very well run and i recommend it to anyone. i had a great time and can't wait to play in it again /images/graemlins/smile.gif
the tournament started off great. i was playing solid and slowly building my stack. i loved my table...even though i was waiting for only solid hands, i still didn't have to show any of them down. i was definitely in the top 3 stacks at my table. after a level or two had gone by, though, they were moving people around and harry demetrieu (sp?) was sat at our table. suddenly none of us felt so great about our stacks. he sat down with at least 30,000 chips, and suddenly i realized that my stack that had steadily grown probably wouldn't carry the day. but, i didn't let myself get discouraged, and i kept playign my game. unfortunately, though, i bluffed at the wrong pot against someone with about as many chips as myself and lost about 4,000 or 5,000 chips. with 20 people left (96 started) i had about 2,800 chips left, and the blinds were at 300/600 (may have been 400/800...i can't remember exactly) with 50 ante. i got jj at about utg+2, and moved all-in preflop. the guy to my left with 88 called and hit an 8 on the flop, and i was out in 20th place.
obviously my bluffing at that one pot earlier was a HUGE mistake. but regardless of that, i realized the importance of building a big stack early, or at least playing solid enough to continue building a stack that might carry me into the money. it really seems that to win, though, i'll need to really amass some chips earlier than i had previously thought.
i'd appreciate thoughts on this. i know the "conventional wisdom" of playing super-tight early on isn't really accepted by many these days, and i agree that it's not the best idea. so, what are the strategies/methods for really accumulating chips, aside from just getting lucky? is it putting your opponents to the test with all your chips when you have even the slightest possibility of an edge, even though taking the chance of elimination in the process? please discuss.
ps- the tournament was very well run and i recommend it to anyone. i had a great time and can't wait to play in it again /images/graemlins/smile.gif