How to apply Theory of Poker in Tournaments

[Fatdogs12]

Hello everyone,

I have been playing poker on and off for about a year and a half. About a month ago I bought TOP and have been digesting the infor in it. I play on PP and have taken 50 and turned it into 250 in that time, I play the $5+1 tournaments. The problem is my strategy mostly consists of waiting for great hands to double up with and otherwise just going all in when nessasary. Obviously this doesn't exactly follow the TOP but it works. However I know it won't work at the higher levels of play and I am determined to get there. So my question comes down to, do you guys who are winning in tournaments fairly consistently (decent roi) spend a lot of time calculating pots odds, implied odds, etc. or do you mostly just guestimate these things?

Anyone have a general thought process they use to make decisions as to whether to enter pots or not?

Thanks in Advance,
Matt

[Apathy]

Your first tip, in the form of a Haiku:

I hate paying rake
I would never play the 5's
Now, Do you see why?

[Fatdogs12]

Yeah I have read that... It's true the rake is too high but that doesn't really answer my question /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Apathy]

[ QUOTE ]
So my question comes down to, do you guys who are winning in tournaments fairly consistently (decent roi) spend a lot of time calculating pots odds, implied odds, etc. or do you mostly just guestimate these things?


[/ QUOTE ]

I neither spend a lot of time, nor guesstimate, they are easy to calculate on the spot with a little practice.

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone have a general thought process they use to make decisions as to whether to enter pots or not?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the most important decision in SNG play. There are times when you should enter a pot with 32o, and there are times you should not enter a pot with QQ. Post hands, ask questions and you'll figure out which time is which.

[spentrent]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah I have read that... It's true the rake is too high but that doesn't really answer my question /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Outs, odds, and pot size
take no time to calculate.
Make this instinctive.

Play your implied odds,
but don't call off a big hunk
on a gutshot draw.

Expected value
is better calculated
with money, not chips.

[Apathy]

[ QUOTE ]
Expected value
is better calculated
with money, not chips.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very nice.

[Fatdogs12]

I have heard "aleo maguses"'s guide mentioned a lot of times. Do you believe that would help? I have been searching the boards for it... no luck in finding it yet, maybe this is the wrong route though.

- Matt

[spentrent]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Expected value
is better calculated
with money, not chips.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very nice.

[/ QUOTE ]

The ICM nerds
Might smite me nightly, rightly,
For tips unsightly.

I think there's a market for a new kind of poem, the "Haikumerick" or the "Limeraiku." But what should the rhyming structure be?

[spentrent]

[ QUOTE ]
I have heard "aleo maguses"'s guide mentioned a lot of times. Do you believe that would help? I have been searching the boards for it... no luck in finding it yet, maybe this is the wrong route though.

- Matt

[/ QUOTE ]

Click here. The man, the legend, AleoMagus himself suggests this thread as a replacement for the famous $10+1 FAQ. (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=singletable&Number=1918735 &fpart=&PHPSESSID=)

[theredpill5]

Do you see why ?

[Fatdogs12]

Are you asking me? If so I don't get the question at all.

[Rolen]

'I know it won't work at the higher levels of play'

You'd be suprised

[hummusx]

[ QUOTE ]
'I know it won't work at the higher levels of play'

You'd be suprised

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I was thinking. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Seriously, your described strategy sounds amazingly similar to basic SNG strategy that should work at higher buy ins. Obviously some adjustments may be necessary. If you have gone from 50-250 on the 5's, definitely move up to the 10s.

[callmedonnie]

Pot odds only mean so much. In cheap pots when you have chips and a draw, if you're close you call. I like to keep this page open when I play: http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_magazine/archives/?a_id=13913&m_id=88

I know the numbers, but it serves more as a reminder to stay smart and only draw in the right moment.

I play the 20's, started at 10's. You'd be surprised at the relative ease even at these levels. Position and knowing situations I find is more important than pot odds, but you still need to play them. But remember, there are also situations where other information of the table outweights any factors from pot odds.