Stud/8 tournament thoughts... i ALMOST won; here are the screwups-

[bholdr]

So, on a whim, i entered a pokerstars 10+1 stud/8 tournament last night. I'd been playing 1/2 NLHE (which i only 2-table at this point) and i felt like there weren't enough windows open on my computer or something, so i gave it a shot.

I've played in a grand total of 5 stud tournaments, two of which have been 2+2 sngs, one on paradise (4th) and two on stars. So, to say that i lack tournament experience is an understatement. I have almost no idea what i'm doing in tourneys vis-a-vis adjusting to the changing structures, adapting my play to my stack size, dealing with the SH game at the end, etc, etc... I managed to finish 2nd out of 184 (not a huge payday, but nice nonetheless). Bigredlemon was railbirding for the last half-hour or so, and his comments helped me stay on an even keel. here's the thread
here are the biggest mistakes that i made:

First, too many steals as the ante got big. I was the big stack at my table by 5x or so, and i probably was trying to steal far too many pots. stealing should be profitable for a big stack, but i was breaking even. i also notice that i defend my steals a little too much, instead of just mucking to a raise, i three-bet a few times in bad spots. I think that the main reason i was screwing up in this regard was that about 75% of my tourney experience is in NLHE, where steals are easier because you can bet more, and it's easier to lay 'em down when you get caught.

Second: Not adjusting my game as the ante structure changes. At level 8, 2k/4k 300 ante 500 bring in, that's a completion/pot ratio of 2/2.9, whereas level 10, i believe, was 4k/8k 500 ante 2k bring in, or a ratio of 1/1, obviously not as profitable to steal at this level. but, blissfully ignorant, i kept trying to run the table over and a couple people waited and then dropped big hands on me. i'm not sure the numbers are accurate, as i'm posting from memory, but you see what i'm trying to say.... i was also failing to adjust my limping/calling standards.

Third, making cash game plays where they are not appropriate. This probably cost me the most- there were several situations where i made knee-jerk checks, calls, or folds that i make 100% of the time in cash games that are just plain bad poker in tournaments. one example that BRL pointed out- my opponent was showing a mixed board and i raised with aces, which managed to improve to two pair on the river. he appeared to be drawing at a low and some kind of gutshot or something, so, when he checked the river, i checked behing, figuring that there's no reason to value bet, cause, he'll only call if he's got a low or has me beat for the high end. bad move, though, because given the stack sizes, he HAD to call with ANYTHING- he was down to one BB by the river, and the pot was about 6BB. so, instead of busting him in sixth, he cruised into third. this is the hand that lost me the tournament, even though i won the pot. he doubled off of me a couple times and eventually gave those chips to the other big stack, who beat me at the end for the win. A couple of times i made weak folds that are no-brainers in cash games, but, with the added value of knocking people out, they probably should have been calls or raises.

Finally, steam. At one point i had 2/3 of the chips in play at the final table, and was 3x over anyone else. i took one beat against a guy, and proceeded to e too aggressive towards him in the following dozen or so hands, setting him in when i had really marginal hands in an effort to knock out an annoying player. the possibility of the KO is what made it easy to tilt against him, in a cash game, i'd just shrug and wait for a good spot to punish him.

so those are the things i did poorly. obviously, i did some things right, too, mostly i think i payed my big stack well and got out of dangerous pots. i broke a bunch of small stacks and let the medium stacks fight it out between themselves. i was aggressive, but not a mainiac, I made good reads and stole some pots. but the best thing i did? i let my low hands turn into hidden full houses against big high hands that were driving the whole way. like someone (think it was andy b) said in a 2+2 SnG: there really is no substitute for catching cards.

any pointers, thoughts, observations, etc, would be appreicated, as i will definitly be playing some more stud tourneys.

[bigredlemon]

I think you've played very well, especially given your lack of tournament experience.