I throw myself at the mercy of the MTT forum. Help an old pooh-bah

[whiskeytown]

a couple of records - if it matters -

I have played 194 tourneys this year, placed in the money in 26 of them, and am running at a deficit of approx. 4K for the year in them overall -

about 2K I can attribute to overplaying my bankroll and playing something like a $540 Bellagio tourney on vacation knowing I didn't have enough scratch to play that - that's a leak I'm plugging and that's why I keep records - In fact, most of my big tourney entries were live entries which is interesting cause that live stuff sucks for blind levels/speed/and time spent.

I've never understood how I could be so scared of the $215 on Sundays at Pokerstars but be willing to cough up $225 over two days for a live tourney that will be much less rewarding to talent and be more dependant on luck -

I had two wins - 58 and 17 players - I had four 2nd place finishes but two of them were less then 40 players and the other two were 70 and 150 players. I do see where 4 of my top 10 wins this year were live (and by top 10 I mean the 12th is under a $100 bucks) - maybe that's why I cough up that much for it. -

and maybe I did so well in Live tourneys was because I was usually drinking in them if they were in Vegas. I always thought that unlocked my skill a bit - maybe that was where I got more aggressive. I gotta harness that.

Much reflection will be required but I must try to nap before work - please keep posting, guys...thanks.

RB

[stokken]

I have`nt masses of experience, but ran dry for a while because I suddenly lost heart and overrated my self. Had a few back to back good cashes. I reran those just lately, and I keep a diary going when I play, commenting on my decisions. My best results comes when I play fearless and trust my decisions and reads. Then if I missread a situation that is what I`ll work on, but I feel good about my game because I acted in accordance with a plan and based my play on thought trough decissions. I go deep or bust

For what it is worth

Stokken

[Exitonly]

Well a thing i've noticed lately is, emotions have a great deal to do with how you do in tournaments.. if you're depressed/nervous/anxious in the tournament, it's not going to turn out well for you.. kind of a catch-22, because if you start winning, you're going to be feeling on top of the world, but if you're losing, it'll just be a downward spiral. So you gotta find times when you're up, and happy, and take those times to play. (This probably goes for all types of poker not just tournaments, but that's where i have the most experience with it)

As for your psych. problem with betting, i dunno what to tell you.. just try it. You'll see that you take down pots uncontested way more than you think, and once you start, you'll get used to it and it'll be second nature to bet into the J42 board w/ your 66.

I probably missed some other points in there, i'll re-read it and post anything else if i think of it.

-Ray

[Autocratic]

If it's a factor, go below your usual stakes to learn to open up. When the money isn't a big deal (I find), you can learn to push harder for that big stack. This may not be a factor for you, though, it just helped me out.

Aggression really is the key to tournaments. If you can't bet pocket 6s on a J24 flop with a smile on your face, you aren't playing nearly as strong as you should. Steal blinds, pop out continuation bets even if you miss whenever you raised and there aren't too many players in with you. If there is a big stack at your table LAGing it up, don't sit around waiting to get a few BBs off him with aces or kings - let him know that he may able to knock the table around, but not you. Let people know that you're out for their chips. You play a lot of poker and know a lot of strategy. You should be able to apply it, even if it pains you at times. Make the right moves, and eventually you'll get used to it. If you set out to dominate a tournament, with some luck that can happen. If you load up Stars and you are worried about one possible problem or another, you won't be aggressive enough to consistently win big.

[BPA234]

I can empathize with your post. I have experienced marathon sessions of failure @ MTT. To the point that I was losing all the money I won on 1/200 sng's and 1/2 cash games to my MTT habit.

The one item I read in your post that stuck out and seemed to resonate as a very large road block to your success, was your aversion to get your money in the middle.

"I'm so scared of getting re-raised/bluffed off a hand I'd rather check/call so I know exactly every action how much it'll cost me to do -"

IMO, this is the exact opposite of the attitude required to win. I think you should look for opportunities to get as much money in the middle as possible. If you are check calling, you should only be doing that in order to build their commitment to a later street reraise.

[Rizen]

[ QUOTE ]
and I tried to tell myself - "Imagine you're playing this KNOWING you will bubble - so now, knowing that you WILL bubble near the end - how will you play this A4 suited in mid position with 50 players to the money - will you just limp meekly again hoping to flop a flush draw you can push all in on? - or will you try to bet and pick up some blinds for the fight.

RB

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're limping with A4s late in a tournament, that's probably your leak. As the blinds go up and the tournament field grows smaller, most players go to one of two extremes. Either they become super tight, trying to eek out a little more money, or they become super aggressive trying to constantly steal the blinds.

In my experience, you need to try and figure out which category the players at your table fall into. At the very least you need to try and figure out the goals of the players two to your left and two to your right. Find out who is playing passive, and punish them mercilessly. Then find out who is getting out of line, and come over the top of them with your legitimate hands.

It's tough to put an exact finger on it though, the best thing I can say is keep at it. I was in the same boat as you for a LONG time where I would cash in my fair share of tournaments, but if I went deep it was because the deck ran over me. Eventually after you get some experience with it and get deep a few times it starts to come together, and your results improve.

Good luck, and post some hands from times you get deep into tournaments (if you don't already) for review.

-Rizen

[nath]

[ QUOTE ]
Well a thing i've noticed lately is, emotions have a great deal to do with how you do in tournaments.. if you're depressed/nervous/anxious in the tournament, it's not going to turn out well for you.. kind of a catch-22, because if you start winning, you're going to be feeling on top of the world, but if you're losing, it'll just be a downward spiral. So you gotta find times when you're up, and happy, and take those times to play.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's true. Keep a clear head and have confidence in your ability and you will find decisions will come much easier.

Also, look for good situations, not just good cards. This is especially true in the middle and late stages of tournaments. When you can take away a pot, do so. You cannot wait around to make the best hand because you will not do so often enough to win.

Play like you don't care about going broke and your results will improve tremendously.

[JustPlayingSmart]

I haven't read the responses, but here is my suggestion. In the next few days or weeks, depending on how often you play, and the next 5 times you get fairly deep into a tournament with a medium-sized stack, make a play that you consider reckless and would not even have thought about making before. See which of these plays work and which don't.

Example: You are on button with 56s. CO min raises preflop, and you triple his raise. SB pushes in and you are pot committed and have to call. He has AK. Sometimes you suck out here and sometimes you don't.

This exercise will
1) help you grow a pair of balls
2) help you learn in which situations thes plays are more effective

[adanthar]

It's hard to tell from these two posts, but it sounds like you are too weak/tight in general and too passive late. Those are not horrible weaknesses in low limit ring, but they're really bad in MTT's. Aggro players eat you alive midgame and on the bubble, which is why you're not finishing deep.

The #1 thing that helped my game this year is learning when to resteal. You know the Gap Concept and so does every other decent player, so figure out people's likely ranges when they open UTG and when they open in LP. Also figure out when a minraise is a big hand and when it's trash. You should be taking down so many pots from repushing with stuff like A8o and QT into the right people at the right times that in many tournaments, you won't need to straight steal at all.

If you never limped once after level 3, you'd probably come out ahead, too.

[DonT77]

Lots of good advice on this thread. I think a lot of it can be summed up in the now oft quoted phrase "you gotta be willing to die in order to live".

Personally, I think of it this way-
Let's say I'm in a $20 MTT and 41-50 pay $25.00 and there are 100 players left and I'm in 45th chip position - so I don't have much $Equity yet. However, if I double-up my $Equity will way more than double since now I'll have a top 10 stack and a shot at top 3 money which is where the big $ is at - so I'm really not adverse to taking coinflip/neutral EV gambles in this situation. I probably don't cash as much as a lot of players, but I bet my FT% is higher than most (not withstanding the times I fold QQ PF [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]). IMO you have to swing for the fences and hit a few homeruns to be a long-term MTT winner - I don't think you can be a substantial winner hitting just singles and doubles once in a while.

I'd like to hear if others agree or not.