First Live Tournament

[easydoesit]

I am playing in my first live tournament next week and I have many questions. The structure is 1,000 chips blinds start at 10-25 and raise every half hour. I have heard different adivice: play very tight with the blinds low and play loose with the blinds low. Is there any other advice to share with someone playing their first live tournament?

[Superfluous Man]

Wear a ski mask and sunglasses so nobody sees your tells. If movies and television have taught me anything, it's that tells are the most important part of poker.

In all seriousness, though, this structure seems a lot like the typical structure you'd find online. Maybe even a little shallower. So, if you play online MTTs well, play your normal game in this tournament. Find out who the donks are and take their chips. Good luck.

[JustPlayingSmart]

If the blinds go to 25-50 in level 2, you're only going to have 20xBB if you don't win any pots in level 1. I would probably play very tight, except maybe on the button in unraised pots. If someone goes to 100 preflop, you have to call 10% of your stack to even see a flop, so this is pretty much out of the question.

I might limp into a multiway pot on the button if I was sure the blinds wouldn't raise, but that's about it. I would play my strong hands very aggressively preflop and I would be happy to get all in with an overpair or TPTK in a raised pot.

[play2win]

Focus on your position more.

Come in with better hands early with a raise and try to see flops for cheap in later position with suited connectors.

It's your first live tourney so you wont be reading peoples hands like Johnny Chan, there is nothing you can do about that.

So focus on the things you can control like hand selection and position. Try to avoid tough spots and decisions early so you can at least enjoy it for a while. Try to pick out a few extreme players (loose, maniac, rock, etc.) and just make a note of them and adjust your play accordingly. Don't think about everyone at the table. Also size up the two players to your right and see how they play so you can judge stealing opportunities better.

Good luck! [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[zoobird]

This seems like good advice and is pretty much what I'll do whenever I play in my first live tournament, other than one thing...I will be watching the two players on my LEFT to look for good stealing opportunities.

[play2win]

Opps....my bad....it's early.

Yes, to your left [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

and don't play in any in the morning, or you will being acting out of turn and backwards [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Thanks Bird