Trouble at the Tournaments (Online)

I don't know if anybody saw any of my other posts somewhere down the line about always being at the bottom of the tournament placings, or struggling along with the raising the blinds.
I play a fairly tight game. I normally raise with Pocket Pairs TT and above, and I limp in with high, connected (suited or not suited).
Would playing suited connectors open up my game some more? I know that a lot of players like to play A8 or A9, something with an Ace, just because it is an ace. By suited connectors, I'm talking about cards like 56s, 67s, 78s, 9Ts, and up.
I'm trying to figure out a way to loosen up so I can be a part of the chip leaders and make my way through tournaments without a problem.

Even tonight I played in a poker tournament for my college. Out of 60 players, I placed 9th, but I got squeezed out by the blinds. I played 45 one time and got a straight, but I think that was total luck on the draw of the cards.

[odiggity]

read harington on holdem

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read harington on holdem

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Got 1 and 2 on order...but in the mean time...

[beenben]

You cannot just think about starting cards. You must also consider position and your stack size relative to blinds and antes (M). If you are folding pocket 77 when its been folded around to you on the button because it's not TT or better, you're playing too tight. On the other hand, folding AJo or TT UTG could be wise.

You can add suited connectors but don't limp- raise. If you raise with big hands and limp with small, its obvious when you have which one.

Also consider your stack size. If you have an M of 10 or less, you need to pick some cards and make a move- preferably when it's not been raised in front of you, preferably from mid or late position, preferably with some kind of cards such as two suited connectors above 23, Ace almost anything, K8 or higher, QT or higher, any pair.

Also, if you have junk when your stack is above an M of 10, you can make a steal attempt. It's easier to lay down junk to a re-raise.

[odiggity]

i dont think he knows what M and UTg even mean. italion these types of posts do not get replyed to. just study any books u can find, play as much as u can, and read the posts here.

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i dont think he knows what M and UTg even mean. italion these types of posts do not get replyed to. just study any books u can find, play as much as u can, and read the posts here.

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I do know what M and UTG mean. I'm not oblivious to the game of poker. I have read Getting Started In Hold Em. I read Small Stakes Hold Em. I am getting through the Theory of Poker, I have the Psychology of Poker and Hold Em for Advanced Players. I am also getting 1 and 2 of Harrington on Holdem for Christmas.

I'm trying to work on my game some more and figure out where my leaks are.

I think an important thing to consider is that even if you play perfect poker, you're still not placing most of the time, and you're going to be among the chip leaders and make it the final table even less. Just play a lot and read on here and I'm sure you'll pick it up.

I usually try to take flops cheaply with suited connectors when I have chips to play with. You could maybe play A8 or A9 from late position.
Just a question, do you consider your position at all when you determine your starting, your original post indicates you don't.

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i dont think he knows what M and UTg even mean. italion these types of posts do not get replyed to. just study any books u can find, play as much as u can, and read the posts here.

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This hurt my head. Where do you usually play, so I can join you?

Or

Tis hert my hed. Wear do u usely play, so i can join u?

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i dont think he knows what M and UTg even mean. italion these types of posts do not get replyed to. just study any books u can find, play as much as u can, and read the posts here.

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This hurt my head. Where do you usually play, so I can join you?

Or

Tis hert my hed. Wear do u usely play, so i can join u?

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If you were asking me, I normally play at PokerStars. I have played on PartyPoker. My roommate had me play for him on BoDog. I downloaded FullTilt to see what it was like, but never played with real money. I recently cashed out of Pokerstars with a modest $14 profit because I have been struggling and I want to concentrate on reading the books that I have before I struggle some more and not know what I am doing wrong. It gets frustrating when you're up 40$ and then lose most of it within 3 days.

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I usually try to take flops cheaply with suited connectors when I have chips to play with. You could maybe play A8 or A9 from late position.
Just a question, do you consider your position at all when you determine your starting, your original post indicates you don't.

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I do consider position on every hand. Many times if I have a good hand, I will limp in on early position to see what everyone else does - almost like checking. Normally with pocket 9 and below in early position I will fold - middle position also if I think someone to my left is loose. When I'm in late position I am still tight, but a little loose based on my betting, be it 3-5x BB.

you shouldnt be afraid of getting into tangles with loose players if you only play these starting hands, i suggest you entice action on your decent hands when the loose people are yet to act, you will win more showdowns than not in the long run imo.

Sounds like you are playing really tight...once you read harrington, take notes of what he advocates with his starting hands preflop, and try to integrate those into your game...and dont be afraid to be aggressive...most people here i think would agree that aggressive>not aggressive

[CieloAzor]

You're way too tight and have a lot to learn about playing position. You'll need to open up your game big time to have any meaningful tournament success.

[The_Mush]

In response to what hands you play in early position, I think you are definitely being too tight. I consider play pretty conservative, and I am not folding 77-99 in any position if the pot hasn't yet been raised. You can limp with these hands in EP, but I don't think you can fold them if you want a shot at winning a big tourney. That's just my thinking though.

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i dont think he knows what M and UTg even mean. italion these types of posts do not get replyed to. just study any books u can find, play as much as u can, and read the posts here.

[/ QUOTE ]

This hurt my head. Where do you usually play, so I can join you?

Or

Tis hert my hed. Wear do u usely play, so i can join u?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you were asking me, I normally play at PokerStars. I have played on PartyPoker. My roommate had me play for him on BoDog. I downloaded FullTilt to see what it was like, but never played with real money. I recently cashed out of Pokerstars with a modest $14 profit because I have been struggling and I want to concentrate on reading the books that I have before I struggle some more and not know what I am doing wrong. It gets frustrating when you're up 40$ and then lose most of it within 3 days.

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No no no. I was talking to the guy who can't spell a lick. I like to play unintelligent people.

As for you, good luck in loosening up. I was a lot like you (still am sometimes). I played only the top hands, and never got a lot of action, and when I did I was beaten by a drawing hand (those 80% of the times where you get no action are those ones that everyone says when they say 80% of the time AA wins /images/graemlins/laugh.gif, I keed).

What confused me when I began was everyone said to play ubertight in the early stages of MTTs, but then say when stacks are deep, play the suiteds. WELL, stacks are deep in the beginning of an MTT.

Ok, the point? Instead of going from TAG to LAG, do it gradually. Instead of going all LAG, do your TAG approach, but occasionally limp from the CO or MP3 with A-x suited. Or limp from MP2 with T9s ... every now and then. As you feel more comfortable, you'll make them part of your arsenal.

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In response to what hands you play in early position, I think you are definitely being too tight. I consider play pretty conservative, and I am not folding 77-99 in any position if the pot hasn't yet been raised. You can limp with these hands in EP, but I don't think you can fold them if you want a shot at winning a big tourney. That's just my thinking though.

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For what it's worth, I got on FullTilt and played on a PlayMoney table. I played around with suited connectors, folding if there was a raise before me. I also loosened up later in position on the requirement for suitedness, for example, I would only play 9Ts in early if it was suited, but I would play QJo in a later position given the high cards. According to Small Stakes Hold 'Em, the strength of cards depends on:

1. Suitedness
2. Connectedness
3. High-Card Strength
(I'm just typing off the top of my head - not from the book)

And so the later in the position I am I still have Connectedness and High-Card Strength, where Suitedness is not as mandatory when I can see what everyone else will do.

Anyways, on FullTilt I played around with that and I took 400 and turned it into 5910. Yeah, I know, it was a play money table, but my purpose was to play the Suited Connectors Strategy and then see what happened on the flop, using my outs for straight and flush draws.

Thank you to everyone who responded.

Tournament poker, as you get deeper becomes less about cards, and more about (the pros say people, but i think even this is to exact) situations. Stack size, blind size, and position control more about how a hand unfolds than the actual cards. If you want your head to explode, read the anthology of MTT wisdom at the top of this forum. You develop serious, serious respect for the people who post here, and also for the game of poker.

good luck!

[odiggity]

when and where u wanna play heads up ninja?

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I do consider position on every hand. Many times if I have a good hand, I will limp in on early position to see what everyone else does - almost like checking. Normally with pocket 9 and below in early position I will fold - middle position also if I think someone to my left is loose. When I'm in late position I am still tight, but a little loose based on my betting, be it 3-5x BB.

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Not a big fan of limping early. It tends to result in a squandering of chips. Usually one of two things happen.

1. Someone raises and you're faced with a decision (this is by far the most common scenario).

2. Everyone calls and your pot equity is small.

The bottom line is that if you're trying to see the flop on the cheap by limping early, it's probably not gonna happen. Save limping for late position when you have a hand that favors a multiway (suited connectors, one gappers).

If you're gonna come in early, do so strongly w/ a raise. Most people respect strength shown early. Often you'll end up against only one or two players, and you can take down the pot after the flop with a continuation bet.


PokerStars Tournament #16111085, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started - 2005/12/06 - 00:42:44 (ET)
Tournament finished - 2005/12/06 - 04:56:03 (ET)
1: gamblervpi (Blacksburg), $1080.00 (30%)
2: Foghatlive (NY), $720.00 (20%)
3: oatster (katy), $428.40 (11.90%)
4: moneyman11 (oakville), $288.00 (8%)

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when and where u wanna play heads up ninja?

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The fact that you think heads up would be the best to determine anything between us is laughable.

[yabastid]

Hey, Italian,

Just some quick thoughts to your post:

1) If loosing $40 playing MTT in 3 days is too stressful then learn ABC push monkey poker and play some low buyin SnGs to build your bankroll (also great for learning final table play and good pushing opportunities). *Not cashing in MTTs is the NORM not the exception.

2) Folding PP below 99 or whatever you said is awful. If you are dealt a low PP limp it, call a reasonable raise with it, hit a set and stack your opponent. Small PPs are great implied odds hands. Folding these early on is terrible.

3) Yes, play suited connectors. If you can limp in with a few other players they are great hands- again good implied odds. Not playing hands with big implied odds early on is a sure fire way to NOT have a stack at later blind levels.

4) I don't like playing A8/A9 whatever because they suck. Your either out kicked or someone has a pair of tens and your TPTK is done. Donks like play these hands early don't do it yourself. The only time I might play them is from LP or the SB with a bunch of limpers and when I have Axsooooted.

4)Get compfortable stealing blinds later on in the tourney- you must be able to keep up with them in these 15min blind level tourneys, or you're gonna be dead.

5) Don't be afraid to push when your stack gets around 10 BBs. Waiting it out to get a "real hand" is asking for trouble. Pushing QQ with 3 BBs is worse than pushing KQo with 10 BBs.

6) Take notes on your opponents. See who can fold when reraised. This will help a ton when you start playing situations rather than cards as you get later in the tournament.

7) Don't be afraid to bust out early! Woodguy has a great post on this titled "Oh my!! Should I risk my TOURNAMENT LIFE!! so early?!?!?!"

8) There is no "formula". Play a lot, post a lot, and read a lot here. This place is more valuable than ANY book out there.

Gl.

Take more chances with cheaper blinds preflop. If the table is not aggressive preflop limp w/ any pair in any position and any suited connecter 56s and above from the last 3 seats or so. If the pot gets raised behind you don't commit more then 10% of your stack. But be willing to gamble w/ around 5% or less. You can still call with pairs if its around 7% but I'd throw away the connectors unless your closing the action. This same advice goes for cold calling raises early. After the flop play pairs only for sets and check fold the rest unless you have an overpair like 88 to a 6 or 7 high flop and can go on to protect your hand that way. Don't play overpairs like this in raised pots though, only play for sets. As for connectors continue only if you flop a flush draw, open ender, two pair, trips, or a made flush or straight etc... Fold to every other flop unless someone makes a stupid mini bet where you have good odds to try and catch trips or two pair. Only play this way when the blinds are small. Fold the small pairs and connectors when the blinds get big to your stack or big to other people's stack. These hands could give you an early double up to keep your chip stack healthy for when the blinds do go up.