My goal with this post is to go over what I thought were important hands from a tournament I recently played on UltimateBet. I have recently been struggling with two different subject matters in my tournament play. Firstly I have come to realize that my style is a fairly conservative one where I play only premium hands. I am folding a lot of hands up front and from middle position when I know the hand can’t stand a raise. This has created a tighter image for me, which isn’t all that bad, but looking at my performance, I either finish just outside of the money or right in it, making back my buy-in and then some. Secondly is this all or nothing mentality that I don’t have. I guess it is what people call that “gamble.” I recently made a post where I asked people “What is gambling?” and have drawn the conclusion that gambling is the people part of the game. It is using your position, your image, your stack size, their stack size and a whole slew of other things to go along with it. I wasn’t using this info at all. Pretty much I was looking down at my cards, the board and then saying “I have a good hand” or “I missed.”
Now taking those into consideration I have been doing some studying and research on how I can change my game. I have been reading books, observing other tournaments, and reading up on how the successful pros have been playing. With all of that in mind I decided that I would play a much more aggressive style as opposed to my conservative style. I would be playing people a lot more and using my position and stack size to bludgeon people if possible. I also have started to develop this “all or nothing” mentality. I don’t care if I finish just inside the money anymore. I am going to play to win. I’m not going to play to not lose. So with all that said and done I played my first tourney with all of the new information I have gained and my new “developing” playing style. I am happy with the results but I believe I made some mistakes. Below are the hands I played and I will tell you my thinking in them. They are all linked to save space, but inside each you see my comments. Please tell me what you think as well as any other constructive criticism you might have. There is also some additional info below.
Tourney info:
$5+.50 NL Tourney on UB
714 entrants
Start with 1500
Blinds start at 5/10 and go up every 12 minutes
My strategy for winning:
It’s a cheap tournament and I don’t expect people to take it as serious as I would. People are gonna be drawing out when the odds don’t warrant it and are gonna call all-ins with marginal hands. Keeping that in mind I am going to play fairly conservative the first four levels (5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40). The risk-vs-reward is just to small during these blinds and its going to be hard to move people off of their hands for another 100-300 or so during these levels. If I do hit a good hand I am gonna push it for as much valve as possible seeing people tend to pay off value bets and the likes on the river.
After those levels I am gonna open up and play a lot more aggressive. I am going to be raising in late position with more marginal hands to try to pick up pots if it is passed to me. I’m going to be doing some more calling with speculative hands to try to hit a good flop against a more passive/timid/tight opponent. I will be limping in more. I will be reraising with my strong hands two about 4 times the opening raise. I am gonna continue this and start playing with short stacks up until we close in on the money.
When we close in on the money I am gonna go into a hyper aggressive mode and try to pick up as many pots as possible. If I get popped back, that’s okay. I will just dump but I will still be up from all the money I am taking from timid players just trying to make the money. Once we make the money I will head back to just an aggressive mode and continue building my stack to make it to the final table.
Hands:
Hand 1 - Taking a free card on the button or betting the pot after passed to me?
Hand 2 - Extracting the most out of Aces early in the tournament. 3 handed (one allin).
Hand 3 - Trying to create a rush against a loose player. Correct river decision?
Hand 4 - Flopping a monster in the SB. How to extract the most money out of this?
Hand 5 - Tricky hand flopping middle pair against a LAG. The LAG was checking and calling though.
Hand 6 - Any other way to not lose with pocket Aces in this hand?
Hand 7 - Pushing in with any hand short stacked?
Hand 8 - Similar to hand 7 but pushing in with a LAG in the BB. Bad idea?
Hand 9 - Similar to 7 and 8 but pushing in trying to move a tight player off his hand.
Hand 10 - Checking when I think I am ahead? Bad idea with two pair on the board?
Hand 11 - Trying to isolate someone to go heads up. Bad play? Was I to aggressive here with a marginal holding?
Hand 12 - Bluffing your stack away and getting busted.
You can tell that I wasn't out in Hand 12, but pretty much out. I would need another A-MAZING comeback again to be a threat again.
Overall I enjoyed playing this tourney and thought I did alright. I made mistakes obviously and would love your input on how I can improve my game. Please as much time as you want and leave me any comments. I appreciate them all and the time you have taken to help me in pursuit of a stronger tournament game.
Chris