STEP tourney strategy

[Jman28]

I posted this in the MTT forum too:

Obviously you have to adjust your strategy due to the payout structure, but exactly how?

I played in 2 so far (top 4 both times btw), and I found weird adjustments being made by the other players.

The main thing is, you don't want to play many hands toward the end because 1st is no better than 4th (or 6 or 8 depending on level).

So, people are playing extra tight. Therefore, the blinds are easy to steal, but by attempting this, your risking your chips which you don't want to do.

Of course it matters a lot what size stack you have and others too.

I'm thinking this is an example of the GAP concept with the gap being extra wide. I'm a right?

-Jman28

[ChrisV]

I haven't played one yet but I assume the bubble will be even more a case of avoiding the big stack and bullying the short stack. The big stack will have life and death power over the other players and they have even less to gain from making a stand - if they double up it doesn't benefit them that much.

[Jman28]

but since the big stack has little to gain from winning more chips, and therefore should want to sit out more hands, why not bully the big stack?

[ChrisV]

For the same reason you normally can't bully a big stack, only more so. The big stack has far less to lose from going allin than you do.

The other strategy adjustment I can see is that on the bubble, when a player is allin, checking it down is ALWAYS correct.

[WarDekar]

If (when?) people start doing that, though, what do you think the consequences of that will be? If you still know you have the best hand, you'll bet, right? Brings another element in...

[Jman28]

I feel like tourneys which offer multiple spots the same prize like this are extremely advantageous to good players. When 6 spots get top prize, and there are 10 fish out of the 20 players, it's usually one fish and 9 of the better players at the final table, unlike SnGs where the top 4 could all be total fish who were lucky. This format takes longer and weeds out the worse players IMO.

This means you make a lot more than your share of top 10s, and then you are 60% to get the top prize (assuming average chip stack).

[Paragon]

Sorry for an offtopic/joke post, thought I'd share for entertainment value. Amidst some late night studying I had a Party Steps #4 game in the background where Gigabet and ZeeJustin were playing... Once the bubble finally burst, there was an interesting hand in the all-in frenzy of celebration.

Royal Flush for everyone... (http://pd.roy.org/royalflush.jpg)

[ZeeJustin]

Yes, the gap is HUGE. You can enter with trash, but you can't even call with monsters a lot of the time.

You certainly shouldn't be flipping many coins or taking risks for all your chips at any point in the tourney. Avoid hands like AQo early on that may be +ev, but result in you losing your stack too often. Small pocket pairs don't change much in value since you rarely lose your stack with them.

I could be wrong about some of these points, but I think I have a good feel for adjustments for satellite structures.

[ethan]

[ QUOTE ]

Royal Flush for everyone... (http://pd.roy.org/royalflush.jpg)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, I was watching that one too. Odds against a royal coming on the board are around 650,000:1.

[PBaek]

Just out of curiosity. Can you stop at any of these steps or do you have to go on until the end. I mean if I get to step 4 and would rather have the $ for instance?

Regards, Peter.

[talkinghead]

it was a good game, fae seat 1

[rjb03]

[ QUOTE ]
Just out of curiosity. Can you stop at any of these steps or do you have to go on until the end. I mean if I get to step 4 and would rather have the $ for instance?

Regards, Peter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, you've got to play the step 5, with quite a few sharks waiting. I guess some worse players will come along when they have time to step all the way up.

[Jman28]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, the gap is HUGE. You can enter with trash, but you can't even call with monsters a lot of the time.

You certainly shouldn't be flipping many coins or taking risks for all your chips at any point in the tourney. Avoid hands like AQo early on that may be +ev, but result in you losing your stack too often. Small pocket pairs don't change much in value since you rarely lose your stack with them.

I could be wrong about some of these points, but I think I have a good feel for adjustments for satellite structures.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the response ZeeJustin. When you say you can enter with trash, what exactly do you mean? Are you seeing a lot of cheap flops with 76o in attempts to hit a monster?

Also, because TPTK hands are stack losing hands, how much will you PF raise with AKo early in the tourney? late in the tourney?

Thanks again.

-Jman28

[Voltron87]

These step SNGs offer an incredible overlay for the top level player. For a strong, above average SNG player (those of us who play 22s-55s) they give a good edge. The 109/215 players on here must be having a field day. For the stronger SNG players these are halfway freerolls.


On the play side, this is one step 2 (55) i played today. I played 2 hands to the river. On one, I hit a set of 4s, turned a full house, then when my foolish opponent hit his flush he gave me all his chips. Up to 2200.

Then at the final table I doubled up with a pair of 10s vs a pair of 9s (4500 now). Apart from that 5 or 6 easy steals (off weak SSs) and I coasted through to lvl 3. You really don't have to play many hands, people will self destruct, and by the time they realize they should try to be in the top 4 it is too late. The blinds are high and the are being attacked. Though I imagine this changes at the 530/ final level.

I am a little puzzled as to why the lvl 5 payout isnt a little more spread out... top 4 is not condusive to the weaker fish.

[SuitedSixes]

In this STEP structure, position is even more important then ever. I found myself between the two big stacks at the final table and couldn't do anything, even prime stealing hands had to get mucked. I did move up to the next STEP, but just because of stupid play by others.

[Twentysack]

As a little side note, I played in the 4th Step today and as it got down to the bubble, the small stacks STALLED EVERY FREAKING HAND. just a heads up. but actually i found it pretty easy to advance given how many spots actually got to go on. Hopefully i can get lucky on step five and cash in my 12 dollar investment. :P