Live MTT w/starting M of 10 - Advice Requested

There is a local tournament at Dania Jai Alai south of Fort Lauderdale a few days/week. It's one of the few smaller buy-in casino tourneys in South Florida. It is a $32+$13. I know this is pretty lame in and of itself, but I don't have much of a choice at this buy-in level. I'm just trying to get some live MTT experience. The Blind structure is pretty insane. You start with 1500 units and the blinds start at 50/100 and go up every 15 minutes in standard fashion. So everyone starts at an M of 10. Right at the Yellow/Orange zone. Typically they seat you 11 per table if they have an odd number and normally there are close to 100 total entrants on a Friday night.

I plan to read the Orange/Yellow zone stategies from HoH2 about a dozen times but I'm wondering if someone here has any other helpful advice. Thanks!

wow, that's awful. practically 1/3 of your buyin is rake/fee.

[zoobird]

1. Don't limp pre-flop...either raise or fold.
2. Try to get a read on who will fold their blinds easily and steal aggressively from them.
3. Once blinds go up, if you haven't accumulated much more chips, push all in to steal or double up from late position or with decent hands if nobody is in the pot yet.

Yup, it's pretty standard in Florida. I either go out with friends to bars and spend at least that much or chill at play some poker. I really enjoy live tournament poker so I just look at as entertainment. However, I would like to give myself the best chance to finish in the money (Top 5-10 depending on entrants).

[tripp0807]

Seriously, I'd advise just forgetting about playing. You might get one hand in per round. This is not "real" live MTT experience. It's a lottery ticket.

Raise every playable hand. If the flop hits you well, overbet the pot or go all in. You've got to get chips in this kind of tourney.

zoobird: Yes, that is along the lines I was thinking. I will give that a shot.
Freerollin': True, but I just like to play some live poker so I'll dump my money and just try to have fun and play aggressive like you say.

This might actually be a good Kill Phil structure for those who have read that book.

[ QUOTE ]
There is a local tournament at Dania Jai Alai south of Fort Lauderdale a few days/week. It's one of the few smaller buy-in casino tourneys in South Florida. It is a $32+$13. I know this is pretty lame in and of itself, but I don't have much of a choice at this buy-in level. I'm just trying to get some live MTT experience. The Blind structure is pretty insane. You start with 1500 units and the blinds start at 50/100 and go up every 15 minutes in standard fashion. So everyone starts at an M of 10. Right at the Yellow/Orange zone. Typically they seat you 11 per table if they have an odd number and normally there are close to 100 total entrants on a Friday night.

I plan to read the Orange/Yellow zone stategies from HoH2 about a dozen times but I'm wondering if someone here has any other helpful advice. Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

No one's mentioned that the entry fee is like 40% of the buy-in. That's criminal. Steer clear - play online.

Depending on the speed of play and your position at the start of the tournament, you may be fortunate to 'wait' on a good hand to try and raise your M a bit. Since the M's of everyone at the table are all the same then it's not entirely bad as it seems. You may have an advantage knowing what type of play works best at your size of chip stack. Just don't get in too much of a hurry and walk into a situation that would be a clear mistake. if you weren't rushing. Besides that, good luck and hope you fair well.

--TexasFuego