I need a new game plan

I've being playing tourneys PL & NL HE for about a year, my initial game plan was a fairly cautious approach characterised by aggressive play of big hands. If I had a weakness it was over playing Ace high hands particularly AJ’s & A10’s and not letting go of top pairs.


Generally I was content to be patient but really blaze away when short stacked. During the 1st year I finished on the final table about 33% of the time, although often I did not have enough chips to make a real play for top spot.


Having read Championship no limit & Pot Limit Hold’em by Cloutier & McEvoy I tightened up my play on Ace high hands & opened up a bit on low pairs & suited connectors and I am probably better able to lay a hand down. However I have now got a reputation as a tight player and I find my smarter opponents are not giving me any action on my better hands only calling or more often re-raising when they have premium hands.


As a consequence I find accumulating chips in the middle stages of tournaments increasingly difficult. I can steal on the back of my reputation, but there is a limit and it only takes a couple of these attempts to go wrong and I’m out of chips and heading home empty handed.


Ironically I find myself playing in marginal situations to try to accumulate chips and as soon as I get any action I know I’m in trouble. Either I fold (reinforcing the tight image) or plough on secure in the knowledge that I am behind (see now what post below)


I feel the need to reinvent my game, but I still want to retain what is essence a fairly solid game. Any suggestions on how I might go about this?

Ross,


You are asking the right question. This is a stage I was at a while back (not that I know it all now, but I was thinking about the same things) and which a lot of players who start out tight-aggressive go through.


As ever there is no simple answer. It is a process of evolution rather than revolution. What you need to do is find ways to win pots without big cards. Often this means playing your opponent rather than the cards. Try to think about who is in the pot a little more. Can you run your opponent off the pot easily, if so at what stage ? You could also think about limping more often in the middle stage of the tournament (with the right players behind you that is players who do not raise much) ; defending your blinds more often against loose raisers ; concentrating very hard on reading players in pots you are not involved in - if I was in this pot, could I bluff this guy ? ; generally getting more involved in the psychology of the game.


One thing I wish I had done more is to seek out smaller tournaments, smaller than you normally play, "beginners tournaments" even, and play a lot more hands, call a lot more, see them as practice playing a different style rather than a money-making proposition.


You might find that all this requires taking a small step backwards financially until you get the hang of it, but like I say, don't try to change overnight, just gradually introduce plays into your repertoire at the right times.


Finally, do you only play Hold-Em ? Are there other games available ? Stud and Omaha can offer a lot of value for a good tight-aggressive player (one word though in Omaha you should only be playing tight on the flop and beyond, not before).


Hope this helps,


Andy.

Andy


Thanks,good point about Omaha & Stud. If I could find a cheap tourney I would give it a go I've read Championship Omaha and dabbled a bit on line. Although reading McEvoy & Cloutier they recommend a fairly narrow range of opening hands, I see how this works in cash games (although I've nearly gone to sleep playing this way on line it can be increadably profitable)but with progressive blinds in tourneys you must end up playing 3 plus a dangler.


Also if I'm going to sit in on cash games many of which are dealers choice games I need to expand my range of games. Can you recommend any texts as an introduction to Stud?


thanks


Ross

Ross,


Sorry for the delay in responding. To be honest Stud is not very common in dealers' choice games in my experience, even if it may be one of the options. It's usually variants of Omaha, anything from 4-6 cards, high or high-low.


If there are no Stud tournaments in your area it may not be worth it ; if there are, the best book by far is 2+2's Stud for Advanced Players. You have to adapt it yourself for pot-limit/tournament play but in a way that's good because it makes you think. "Championship Stud" is not as good and even though it does reference tournaments, there is also no pot-limit info.


Hope this helps,


Andy.