My first live tournament - advice?

[jasonHoldEm]

Hi guys,

I'm going to be playing in my first live poker tournament this weekend and was hoping I could get a few tips to help things go smoothly. This is one of those local (fire hall) tournaments so I'm not expecting it to be vegas or anything, but I'm hoping that some of you have expereince with this sort of thing and could give me a general idea of what to expect as far as rule enforcement, general level of play to expect, etc.

My main motivation for playing in the tournament is just to have some fun and (hopefully) meet some people and get invited to some home games in my area (advice on the best way to get into home games would be greatly appreciated as well). That being said, I of course would like to play well and win/cash in the tournament.

Also I'm wondering at what point should I speak up and say something if I see someone breaking the rules. As a relative novice to live play myself there's a good chance I'll end up doing something wrong myself, but if I see someone (for example) string-raising or something at what point should I say something (and what's the best way to say something)? I don't want to embarass/offend someone making an honest mistake, but I don't want to be taken advantage of either.

I hope that makes sense, I'm really looking forward to playing.

Thanks,
J

[jtr]

Best way to get invited to home games is to be relaxed and friendly and not win too much money.

As for pointing out rule violations, e.g., string-betting, I wouldn't do it at all. It's your first tournament. I assume the buyins are fairly low. Just watch and learn. Get a feeling for which rule violations are overlooked by this particular group of people -- first time I went to a casino to play 4/8, I was horrified by all the string-betting, showing cards to others, etc. But I kept my mouth shut and realized that these people weren't cheating, they were just idiots. There was a lot more EV in keeping them happy, and definitely negative EV in being an arse and calling the floor over.

[Caruso329]

I recently started playing in a local tournament a couple weeks ago. $10+5 buyin, the $5 actually is to pay the dealers and you can opt not to pay, but you will be shorted 1,000 in chips. Pretty interesting system.

Anyways, the best thing to do in regards to rule violations is to ask someone in charge (tournament director, dealer, etc.) what is tolerated and not tolerated. I saw a few cases in which the minimum bet was not met, string bets occured, and in one incident, the dealer forgot to raise the blinds at the correct time.

Even though I was a newbie to this tournament, I did say something, and I found that most of the other players appreciated my concern for a properly run game.

My advice is to speak up if you see something drastically wrong that could affect the possible outcome of the game (someone betting 100 when blinds are 300/600). Also, I wouldn't call attention to a string bet unless you are the victim of it, most of the other players can look out for themselves.