My first top ten finish - Questions about MT tournament strategy

[Peter Harris]

Hi all. I have just finished 9th out of 589 players in a freeroll tourney on Pacific. fancied giving it a try just to see how i did and i'm quite happy. Got a HUGE $5 too!

My problem is this - i made it that far by playing all my AT and higher and all PP's hyperaggressively preflop.
I know that is NOT correct tournament strategy for good players (TPFAP: "eschew close gambles early on"). however, i worked up from 800 to 25000 in the first hour then folded my way into 9th - my only hand was AA in the BB and everyone folded.

This opposes my $5+1 tourney play [yes, i am a small fry compared to you guys, but i'm still feeling my way out]. I avoid close gambles, picking small pots up along the way, staying about average for the time. However, when the blinds hit about 150/300, i find myself not picking up pots as quickly. I fold small pairs (66 and lower) UTG fearing a raise that commits me for a 50-50 draw.

With about 250 out of 1000 left, i have half the average stack and invariably "make a stand" - yesterdays was AJ vs TT, no improvement.

Should i be making stands at this stage with 50% the average stack? should i still be waiting for good hands? should i be more aggressive (like in the free roll) earlier on to build my stack?

I feel conflicted by TPFAP's advice and my top 9 finish today by basically thriving off 50-50 draws for the first hour.

How do i adjust my play to make more top 10's?! I play in the $45000 tourney on saturday (won a $12 satellite), so i'd like to play my best game then.

Help!
Peter Harris

[DougBrennan]

It's difficult to provide answers to questions this general, but a couple of responses do occur to me.

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However, when the blinds hit about 150/300, i find myself not picking up pots as quickly. I fold small pairs (66 and lower) UTG fearing a raise that commits me for a 50-50 draw.



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As the tournament goes on, you will nead to steal blinds to keep your head above water. You'd be surprised how often a 3 or 4xBB open-raise will go uncalled. The key is to be the first one in the pot. You will, on occasion, be called or raised, and you need to be prepared to get out of the hand if circumstances warrant, but on the whole, stealing works.

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Should i be making stands at this stage with 50% the average stack

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Of greater concern is your stack size relative to the BB amount. As long as you have 10xBB or more in your stack you have room to operate and can play your normal game.

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should i be more aggressive

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Almost certainly yes, but you'll have to learn how to. One way to learn is to just watch some tournaments online. Go to the lobby and find a tournament that's say, half-completed, pick a table, and just watch. Note how the play goes, what happens when the big stack bets, how many pots are won without a showdown, etc., and you may begin to get a better feel for things.

The other thing to do is exactly what you are doing, play low entry fee tourneys and freerolls. Experiment. See what happens when you go all-in two or three times in one orbit. Try different approaches and see what works for you.

These are my thoughts, and they should be taken as such with no greater weight attached to them.

Welcome aboard, and good luck.

Doug

[patrick dicaprio]

an aggressive preflop strategy is not necessarily incorrect strategy. i am no tournament expert but essentially you can negate a skill difference with strong betting preflop (hence the system) and your strategy might be correct in a big field because you need to get lucky anyway and if you win a few big pots you will have a fighting chance. but as i said i am far from an expert and others may feel very differently.

Pat