Learning how to play tournys by watching World poker tour or WSP?

[AA suited]

when i'm in the top3 in a $20 sng, i try to steal blinds to survive. and when i'm reraised i fold if i got squat.

but i have no idea what to do when the other person calls and not hits me on the flop. do i bet or check?

can watching the finals of the world poker tour or world series of poker teach me? or do they play waaaaay differently than what should be played in a low $ SnG?

[Colby818]

I think the most significant lesson that comes out of watching the WPT and WSOP action on TV, particularly when you are down to 3, is that any 2 really can win. Other than that, you aren't going to learn much there. I love the WPT's on TV, but what would be really valuable would be to follow some of the superstar players through the early rounds and watch how they play that.

When you get heads up, you should be playing off of your reads from earlier on. If a guy is tight, you can usually bet him out of hands(I know, because I still play too tight and lose too often this way). If a guy is loose, you look for a little better hand and try to use his own aggressiveness to kill him.

In the absence of reads, or against a good opponent, the key becomes to vary your play. limp with some good hands, raise with some crap hands. throw in the occasional fold so that he's not of the impression that you are playing any 2. keep him off balanced.

another strategy advocated constantly on here, and I've both seen it work, and had a small bit of success with it, is to get into push mode. push any 2 you'd play. usually, you'll buy the blinds the first couple of times you push, often giving yourself the chip lead. or if you had the chip lead, a huge chip lead. then hopefully, you've got a good hand when they get mad and call.

[Jason Strasser]

Oh lord.

The WSOP and WPT are wonderful to watch and all that, but in reality they have absolutely nothing (or very little) to do with how to play short handed at the end of a SNG. For one thing, the blinds in an event like that are going to be a LOT smaller proportional to blinds and stacks at the end of a SNG.

Browse through the forums, learn about shorthanded SNG play, don't seek help from the television.

[TheDrone]

Woah, easy there. Maybe I have interpreted forum posts differently, but a blanket statement like "push any two" is not strongly advocated. Yes there are situations to do this, but it's very dependent on stack size, your opponents' playing styles, how many players left, etc. Knowing when to switch gears out of push mode is very important too.

BTW, I get +EV (entertainment value) from poker on TV. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[schwza]

the real reason it's very difficult to learn from TV is that you're only seeing the "interesting" hands. as another poster put it, if you only watched sportscenter you'd think every hit was a homer and every pass was a touchdown or interception.

[Bigwig]

The difference in blind structure cannot be ignored. It's vital.

I've noticed a lot of players that I regularly play with tend to try and play too much like WPT players. The thing people have to remember is that you are seeing 'highlights.' Gus Hansen doesn't try and play J2o strong EVERY time he gets it. He makes reads on players, etc.

What you can learn the most from is listening to Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten discussing strategy. Ecspecially Sexton -- he really knows poker.

[bingledork]

Also realize it's easier to bluff a world-class player than a fish on Party. So know your opponent.

[Leo Bello]

actually that is something very interesting to notice. Everybody there knows each other for a long time. The pros are around for awhile.
That is why sometimes a surprise player like Erik Lindgreen or Moneymaker come from the unknown and make the pros confused. They have no pre-reads on these players.
It is just different anyway.