From chip lead to bust, way to often. Please help

[A_PLUS]

I never want to sit around and wait for players to get knocked out, just to ensure a slightly higher pay out. But, I have noticed a very disturbing trend in my game. This may very well be natural variance, but also could be something about my game.

Yesterday for instance. We hit the $$ (20) in the UB 100$ 10K garunteed. I have 1.5X the chips of the closest player.
Next thing you know I am getting busted in 14th place. I very easily could have folded my way to the final table with an above average stack (not advocating that, just illustrating a point).

Now, one MTT means nothing. This has happened to me way too often. 3X in past 6 months I have entered the final table with a solid chip lead, and was busted 9th or 8th. 5X, I have gone from top 3 in chips when we reach the money to busting 3 or 4 from the bubble.

Does (did) anyone else run into similar problems? Is this a good time for me to put a self imposed "tightness rule" in effect? Mostly b/c I cant be trusted with a lot of chips. I wish I could make a call to the bullpen, get a fresh arm in there.

[schwza]

when i've had this problem it's often been b/c i try to keep playing like a big stack (steal everything) when

- i've lost a lot of chips and am now around average and
- my image is worse because i probably lost all those chips stealing T7o from CO-1.

one thing i do when i think i've been playing too much is to say "ok, 1 orbit of only playing premium cards [well, relatively premium]"

[Rocco]

Unfortunately, I'm not in this situation very often so I may not be the one to give advice. Though, a good advice I've seen given more than once is that you adopt a very tight and somewhat passive approach at the final table. As a big stack, it's not your job to knock out the small stacks. Try to play tight/passive for a couple of orbits until 2-3 people are knocked out, then loosen up a tiny bit and start being aggressive. Expect to find more advice about this when Dan releases his second book.

[fnord_too]

Some trouble areas to avoid:

Not adjusting to mini bubbles bursting. (e.g. if 40 places pay, when you go from 31 to 30, a mini bubble has burst, and the smaller stacks are much more willing to gamble).

Pushing marginal hands when facing resistance. Example: Say you raise from MP with K9s, and get a call from the sb. Then the flop comes something like Kxx rainbow, and the sb bets. That is a trouble spot and you should probably not raise without a very good reason, and folding may be in order. Or say it goes check bet call. On the turn you need to be very concerned that you are behind with your TPMK, so you should probably back off if there are no obvious draws. It is easy when you have been a big aggressor and catch a decent hand to think that someone is finally fed up and making a stand with a lesser hand. Often, though, the person "standing up" to you is not really capable of that sort of play. There are a lot of tactics to post flop play, and it is very easy to overuse the bully tactic since it is often extremely effective.

Bluffing off chips. Sometimes you go to steal, get a call, and fire a contiuation on the flop and get another call. Knowing when to fire zero, one, two, or three bullets post flop is about the hardest thing for me. This gets easier as hand reading gets better, and, of course, it is very opponent dependant. It's very easy to spew chips, because naked aggression is so often rewarded. (This is very similar to the last one, except here you have no illusion that you can win a showdown.)

One thing you should do if you find yourself repeating this pattern is to tighten up when you have a big stack. That's not the same as folding your way up the ladder, you will still play hands and still "steal", just raise your standards at all positions. This will work surprisingly well if you got to the chip lead by laggish play. Decisions in the late stages of a tourney are much more important than ones early on, and erring on the side of caution is usually not a big mistake. Remeber, the quality of opponents tends to increase in the late stages of tournaments, so your problem could just be that the plays that work early on just won't cut it against a more savy field. One last random thought, if you are never changing gears, that may be your problem. I love playing against people who either can't slow down or can't speed up. It is very easy to exploit anyone if you know how they are playing at that particular point in time.

[mikeymer]

I just play tighter, and don't go crazy if a steal doesn't work... Just get out with losing as little chips as possible... I find that maintaining a tight image at the table is very important later on, so you're steals will work.

By the way I won the 5:00pm 10k guaranteed on UB yesterday [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[A_PLUS]

[ QUOTE ]

By the way I won the 5:00pm 10k guaranteed on UB yesterday [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you happen to win a HUGE amount of chips with A8 in the SB, and an all-in reraise into a J high board, where you claimed to have Kings?

If so, you are welcome.

[A_PLUS]

[ QUOTE ]

Pushing marginal hands when facing resistance. Example: Say you raise from MP with K9s, and get a call from the sb. bets

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a MAJOR problem of mine.

Yesterday. I have 48K in chips, next highest apx 26K.
Folded to SB who min raises. I have A5s, I call. Flop is A 4 X, rainbow. He bets apx 1/2 the pot. I call. Turn 4. He bets 1/2 pot, I call. River 8, he pushes (less than pot). I call. He wins with A8, costing me 15K+. Such a bad bad play.

[JonLines]

On the final table, do you lose your chips by getting called? or are you the one calling?

[A_PLUS]

I lose chips doing one of the following.

1. Overplaying 2nd best hands, when the betting should tell me I am beat One example of this: PR 15K, I am 3rd in chips just after bubble. I complete from SB (600/1200) with 99 with 4 callers. Flop is 2 4 8 rainbow. I check, chip leader bets 1/2 pot from middle position, I raise the pot, he reraises all-in. I call, he shows a set of 8s.

2. Attempting a bluff when someone is already pot committed i.e. Paradise 20+2, top 3 in chips final 2 tables(details are sketchy).
I am BB with JTs. Folded to smallish stack in CO who bets 2.5X BB. I call. Flop is rags, so I decide to push, thinking the flop missed him. It did, he calls with A8, and wins with an A high.

3. Taking coin flips that arent coin flips
Calling all-in raises from tight players with 55, etc.

[adanthar]

[ QUOTE ]
Folded to SB who min raises. I have A5s, I call. Flop is A 4 X, rainbow. He bets apx 1/2 the pot. I call. Turn 4. He bets 1/2 pot, I call. River 8, he pushes (less than pot). I call. He wins with A8, costing me 15K+. Such a bad bad play.

[/ QUOTE ]

The other hands you posted are debatable, but once you see a flop with this hand that's basically exactly the way to play it. You may've been able to find a fold if the turn didn't pair the board, but...

(I'd have pushed PF in the first place)