Best way to get started playing tournaments?

[Ulysses]

OK, so I've decided that tournaments look like a lot of fun and I'd like to give it a try. Poker is a profitable recreational hobby for me, not the way I make a living, so I'm not interested in whether or not this is the max EV route for me profits-wise, it just looks like playing some tournaments might be a good way to mix things up a bit. And of course, I want to win the WSOP.

Experience-wise, with about 1000 hours of B&M 3-6/6-12 under my belt I'm up about 1.3BB/hr. With about 200 hours of 15-30/20-40 (I know that's a tiny sample), I'm up about .75BB/hr. I've never played on-line for real money, though I've screwed around on play money tables a bit just to see what it's like. I've read postings on this board and S&M's Tourney book is on the way.

My default strategy is to start playing some small buy-in ($20-100) tournaments at my local (NorCal) casinos, but I was curious as to whether anyone had any opinions on what type of tournaments are best to start in.

Limit/No-limit
Single-table/Multi-Table
40 players/200 Players
Rebuy/No-rebuy
Add-on/No-add-on
Online/B&M

and so forth.

Also, are online Freeroll tournaments for small prizes as silly (play-wise) as play money tables are?

Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks

[Bozeman]

Ulysses,

I have played very little ring games compared to my BM and online tourney play.

Limit/No-limit : sounds like you have a lot more limit than nl experience, but in general mistakes made by your opps (and, unfortunately, occasionally yourself) are bigger in nl so larger edges are possible.

Single-table/Multi-Table : standard deviation will be smaller at single-tables for the same buy in. But you will never get 10-50 times your buy-in in a single payoff. In general, a good player should get 50% return on investment in single tables and 100% in larger tourneys because of the greater time investment.

40 players/200 Players : is SD important to you?

Rebuy/No-rebuy : in general it is easier to learn to play no rebuy tourneys because you don't have to adjust to the changes in play between rebuy and no-rebuy times.

Add-on/No-add-on : slight advantage to play in add-on tourneys because you can make the proper decision (almost always add-on) while some of your opps will not be prepared to add-on. This is small compared to the above rebuy difference though.

Online/B&M : because of the greater # of hands/hour, an online tourney will generally have a larger skill factor. Do you take good advantage of tells?

Good Luck,
Craig

[Greg (FossilMan)]

I recommend the cheaper live tourneys to start. Play is sometimes so random online. Not that it isn't random in the casino, but you often can at least assign some putative reason for the player's screwy play in the real world. Online, you don't know if the guy is stupid, drunk, on tilt, or just hit the wrong button. In the real world, you'll have a stronger idea who the better players really are, and when they make a "stupid" play, you'll know to think it through and maybe learn something. Online, it's hard to distinguish a great bluff attempt that failed from a suicide bet into a calling station.

Since you're familiar with limit, I'd start with that. The key thing you'll need to learn is how to play against tighter opponents, since you'll see fewer players calling with all the drawing hands than you do in your typical cash games, especially as you get deeper into the tourney. The other thing you'll need to learn is how to play with/against a short stack. All-in plays don't occur so often in cash games, but happen very frequently in tourneys.

If you can, find a friend who you know to be a good tourney player, and discuss the tourney with them as soon as it's over. Discuss your key hands and get advice. Also, post them here and get more advice.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[Ulysses]

Thanks for your comments, Craig. Very useful. To answer one question you have, I'm pretty good w/ reading players, so while I like the idea of skill playing more of a part online, I think I'll have more of an advantage B&M.

[Ulysses]

Thanks a lot, Greg. Good to hear from you, as many of your posts have been very helpful to me as I've started to learn about tourney strategy. I'll do a little reading on short-stack play based on your suggestion, though I'll probably end up doing w/ tourneys what I did w/ ring play - learn by doing and taking some lumps!

There are some small limit tourneys at local cardrooms, so I'll give those a shot soon and post some hands here.

Thanks