I'd like experienced MTT'ers advice

[Python49]

Yesterday in the super monday tournament I feel that I played well but ran into a common, common mistake alot of inexperienced players run into. For a large portion of the tournament I had above average or average chip stack but later on when I didnt pick up any hands and it seemed like someone always beat me into the pot for raises and I couldn't get any thing to play with.

Also when I got closer to the money I know this is a good time to be alot more aggressive because people want to make the money but with the stack I had (around maybe 6bbs) it seemed like the only way to be aggressive was all in and with the cards I was getting I didn't want to risk it. I'm aware that the advice I need is found in HoH2 but I won't be able to get that right away and would like to just hear advice until I can.

I ended up going out in 75th place because i eventually only had 3bb left and went with the first ace I got because the blind was hitting me in 2 hands. I do feel though that I had a chance to get alot more chips because I doubled up in one hand late game with about 120 people left and had 6k in chips, but then lost about 3k on a hand after that when everyone folds to me on the button and I raised... the big blind however was a big stack so he called.

I did about a 2/3 pot size bet when he checks the flop then get called and bet out of the hand on the river. That was heart breaker. So what im asking is, how do you experienced MTT'ers avoid the common mistake of getting blinded out from not getting hands and getting beat into the pot from other peoples aggression.

[PorscheNGuns]

At that point when you know the final blinds are racing towards you, dont try to wait until the end, while you are in the early position, because you'll put yourself in a situation where you have to raise with your first Ace or worse, and you'll have 7-9 people left to act and decide if they want to try and eliminate you. If its possible, try to move in while in the LP on your last 1 or 2 trips through the blinds.

IOW once your second to last blinds pass through you, look to steal the blinds from the button and/or the next 2 spots after that with almost any 2 cards, so long as no one else has raised.

edit: I am far from an experienced MTTer.

-Matt

[ZootMurph]

What you really need to do is watch which players are playing, what they are betting, and how easily they can fold. You will find some are 'getting more hands' than others. So, when you have an average stack or better, but are card dead... you need to steal blinds to stay around until you start getting hands. If others are getting into the pot before you, you will need to know which are the blind stealers and which are tight and have a hand. Come over the top of some blind stealers occassionally. This works especially well in the blinds.

One thing you can't always do is wait around until you have a hand or everyone folds to you saying 'go ahead, you can have the blinds.'. You have to stay on top of your reads and find opportunities to TAKE what you need to survive.

[cferejohn]

Well with 6xBB you should be pushing anything even remotely above average whenever it is folded to you. That is to say any pair, any ace, any king, most queens, any 2 cards greater than 9, and maybe stuff like 89 and 8T. If you get called are you likely to be behind? Sure, but folding is costing you so much that the fact that a) you have a reasonable amount of folding equity with 6xBB and b) sometimes when you get called, you will win; even a dominated hand still wins almost 1 time in 3 makes pushing a lot of hands a +EV (or at any rate, less -EV) proposition.

Maybe you want to tighten up these standards a little if you have a very big stack in the blinds. I'm still pushing pairs, aces, and kings though (a big stack may call you with things like QT or JT which Kx is a favorite against; a small favorite, but beggars can't be choosers).

[davidross]

I think the first thing you need to get your head around is that we all miss the money 8 or 9 times out of 10, and it's usually because of the scenario you have described, no cards and few steal opportunities. Living with this certainty will go a long way towards a better mind set.

You need to decide when to make your stand. I like to do it almost as soon as I fall below 10 BB's. Once I decide it's time I ignore my cards, if it's folded to me I push. You'd be surprised how often you pick up blinds especially the first time you push. From obvious steal positions I like to avoid weak aces and kings because they are easily dominated, but essentially you are hoping to win the blinds, and hoping to get lucky if called.

By doing this with 10 BB's still in your stack, you allow yourself some chance to re-raise steal. WHen someone makes a raise from an obvious steal position, you can push from the blinds and if you have enough chips get them to fold. With only 6 BB's left, you will get called every time, so it's not a viable play with a weak hand, but I have used it a lot from the SB with a hand like 98. THe re-raise steal is a lot better than winning blinds because it buys you several orbits of time.

[binions]

[ QUOTE ]
What you really need to do is watch which players are playing, what they are betting, and how easily they can fold. You will find some are 'getting more hands' than others. If others are getting into the pot before you, you will need to know which are the blind stealers and which are tight and have a hand. Come over the top of some blind stealers occassionally. This works especially well in the blinds.



[/ QUOTE ]

Yep - I believe the term is "resteal"

[Jurollo]

With 6x BB it is hard to 'resteal'
~Justin

[ansky451]

[ QUOTE ]
With 6x BB it is impossible to 'resteal'
~Justin

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

[Python49]

ok i think i made a mistake, i was around avg chip count even going into the bubble maybe about 10.

[Grisgra]

[ QUOTE ]
Well with 6xBB you should be pushing anything even remotely above average whenever it is folded to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had the general gist of this before reading HOH2, but damn . . . that book really opened my eyes. If you bust, you bust. If the big blind has pocket aces, well . . . that's life. There's always another tourney.

[binions]

[ QUOTE ]
With 6x BB it is hard to 'resteal'
~Justin

[/ QUOTE ]

OP:

"For a large portion of the tournament I had above average or average chip stack but later on when I didnt pick up any hands and it seemed like someone always beat me into the pot for raises and I couldn't get any thing to play with."

The key is not to blind yourself down to 6xBB in the first place. Once the antes kick in, it's open season.