EverettKings
03-12-2005, 08:43 PM
Undervalued tournament keys: your uber A game
For those of you who have, think about the time(s) when youve won (or run very deep) in a good sized tournament. If someone asked you why you did well THAT time, what would be your answer? Your usual solid play and hot cards? Well yeah, but I've found a few other things that I didn't use to consider
Here's what I think did it for me the other day (won a 30+3, 800 ppl, on party)...
1) MOST importantly-- I had something to do if/when I busted. I know it sounds silly, but when you already know what you're going to do with yourself when you finish, the desire to "not lose" diminishes. That doesn't mean you play recklessly, but when you leave the evening open to play a tournament, you DONT want to lose because (other than the obvious) you don't want to be done playing it. In my case there was a live cash game with my buddies that started about when i got into the money, and in the back of my head thinking "hey, it's alright if I bust cause I can go play cards with the guys". That alone made most of the fear vanish.
2) The ONLY payout that I looked at was #1. I know party pays out top 10% so I knew 80 people would get money, but I never expanded the "payout schedule" button to see what second, third, etc got. I was playing to win, and that's the only way to play. There would be no "sneaking" into higher money places for me, as that would only entice me to fold marginal opportunities out of fear of making less money.
Yea, I know it's corny and cliche by now, but to expand upon what Amir Vehidi said: "In order to win you must be willing to die." Most players (myself included) just assume that they're willing to lose, but you're a lot more unwilling to bust than you think you are.
No idea what inspired me to post, but I really brought my capital-A game to that tournament, and really demolished the field.
Anyone want to comment/add on?
-Kings
For those of you who have, think about the time(s) when youve won (or run very deep) in a good sized tournament. If someone asked you why you did well THAT time, what would be your answer? Your usual solid play and hot cards? Well yeah, but I've found a few other things that I didn't use to consider
Here's what I think did it for me the other day (won a 30+3, 800 ppl, on party)...
1) MOST importantly-- I had something to do if/when I busted. I know it sounds silly, but when you already know what you're going to do with yourself when you finish, the desire to "not lose" diminishes. That doesn't mean you play recklessly, but when you leave the evening open to play a tournament, you DONT want to lose because (other than the obvious) you don't want to be done playing it. In my case there was a live cash game with my buddies that started about when i got into the money, and in the back of my head thinking "hey, it's alright if I bust cause I can go play cards with the guys". That alone made most of the fear vanish.
2) The ONLY payout that I looked at was #1. I know party pays out top 10% so I knew 80 people would get money, but I never expanded the "payout schedule" button to see what second, third, etc got. I was playing to win, and that's the only way to play. There would be no "sneaking" into higher money places for me, as that would only entice me to fold marginal opportunities out of fear of making less money.
Yea, I know it's corny and cliche by now, but to expand upon what Amir Vehidi said: "In order to win you must be willing to die." Most players (myself included) just assume that they're willing to lose, but you're a lot more unwilling to bust than you think you are.
No idea what inspired me to post, but I really brought my capital-A game to that tournament, and really demolished the field.
Anyone want to comment/add on?
-Kings