NL Newbie -- hands for advice

[hockey1]

I'm a consistently profitable limit player ($3/6 or $5/10 mostly) just starting to play NL. So far I've been playing mostly $10 on-line single-table tourneys, and I've been on a great run. 9 tournaments played, 5 wins, 2 seconds. But I attribute the success mostly to patience, tight play, and good cards. Here are 3 hands from the last tourney I played -- all advice appreciated.

HAND 1

Maybe the fifth hand of the tourney. I'm on the button with JJ and the number of chips I started with ($800). One MP limper ($800 stack). I raise 3 BB. The BB, who is the only player with a big stack ($2200) raises me all-in. What's the play? Does it change if it's later in the tourney?

HAND 2

Down to 7 players. I'm on button with Ac6h and a stack of $1400. folded to CO ($850 stack) who limps ($15). I raise to $45. Both blinds call.

FLOP: 5 /images/graemlins/club.gif6 /images/graemlins/spade.gifQ /images/graemlins/heart.gif Folded to me. I bet $150. BB ($1800 stack) raises to $450. Is there any way I don't fold this?


HAND 3

Down to 5 players. I'm in CO with A /images/graemlins/club.gifQ /images/graemlins/spade.gif and have the third largest stack ($1540). Blinds are now $50/100. Folded to me. I raise to $400. BB, a seemingly tight player (largest stack -- $2770) calls.

Flop: 8 /images/graemlins/heart.gifT /images/graemlins/spade.gif4 /images/graemlins/heart.gif check check

Turn: 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif BB bets $300. I raise all-in. Was this just silly?

[GrinningBuddha]

Hand 1: Blinds are small, and unless you know the BB is a very loose raiser, you need to lay down your JJ here.

Hand 2: $45 isn't enough for a steal raise, and A6o isn't enough to raise with. You either need to dump the hand preflop, or raise bigger. I'd lean towards the former. Once the flop comes and you're check raised with middle pair by the big stack, I don't see any particular reason to continue...

Hand 3: Good raise preflop, somewhat suicidal raise on the turn. Depends on the BB though, I suppose. If he likes to take stabs at pots, this will win the pot for you. If he likes to check-raise, you just gave him your stack, since he missed the check-raise on the flop. You're either going to look like a genius or a crackpot. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Fistdantilus]

First of all, $10 tourney NL players are some of the worst, most unpredictable players around. I'm guessing that the thinking goes like: "it's only $10, so I can screw around". I literally hit the "blind and fold" button and watch TV for 30 minutes and come back to see that I'm an average-small stack in 4th-5th place. It's easy (but boring) to grind into 3rd+ from there.

hand 1: if it is 5 hands in and this guy has 2200, then chances are very good that he's a lucky idiot. If you believe you are a better player than these people, there's no reason whatsoever to call. Don't engage in coin flips if a little patience and skill will win it. There will be plenty of other chances.

hand 2: preflop, call or fold it. You have ZERO chance of getting people to fold, and you are just building a pot with a crappy hand. On the flop, it's a clear fold.

hand 3: This tells me that you haven't read a NL tourney book. You don't fight against other big stacks: you attack the little guys or wait it out. If you are going to bet, you have to bet the flop, but definitely not all in. You'll only be called when beat.

So the short of it is: you need to read a NL tourney book. Your mistakes are not so much due to NL poker as they are due to the indication that you are not familiar with tourney strategy.

Fistdantilus

[hockey1]

Thanks for the response. The learning curve for me is obviously still very steep. That said, are there particular NL tourney books you'd recommend?

[Fistdantilus]

Sklansky's book on tourney poker is quite good. You can get it from this site, but recently i've even seen it in some bookstores.

Fistdantilus

[crockpot]

hand 1: this is a clear fold. there is some chance he has TT or maybe even 99, but the vast majority of the time you will be barely ahead or way behind.

there are points in the tournament where it is correct to call here. it mainly depends on how big the stacks are relative to the blinds, which affects your pot odds. also you must consider the raiser's range of hands for his play. there are no hard and fast rules.

hand 2: not unless BB is an utter maniac or loves to check-raise as a bluff. unless you've seen strong evidence that he's a maniac, clear fold. by the way, i would tend to bet less on the flop than this. if your opponent doesn't have you beat, he will only play with a straight draw, which is a longshot. thus, it is not necessary to apply excessive force. betting 100 will probably get an opponent to fold just as often as 150.

hand 3: maybe not silly, but your play sure doesn't make much sense to me. why postpone your bluff till the turn and risk all your chips instead of a small portion? i would just bet the flop.

i will concede that a bet of 300 into an 850 pot is a bluff the vast majority of the time, but i might just call assuming he'll check the river, as almost everyone will unless they actually have a hand.

[dogsballs]

I attribute the success mostly to patience, tight play, and good cards.

Forget NL tourneys, I think you just cracked poker..!! /images/graemlins/grin.gif


Now I'll improve the information quuality of my post by recommending Sklansky's TPFAP, but also Ciaffone and Reuben's PL and NL Poker book for what you want.

Any kind of tourney question is probably best posted on the tourney forum; you'll get more responses from some seasoned tourney specialists there.