What Separates The Bigger MTT Winners From The Smaller Ones? - Page 2

Tim H · #11 03-21-2005, 04:34 PM

(4) Great online players also know that in most tournaments they play, they will reach a point where they must go all-in or fold. Great players have studied these situations before they play and do not have to play guessing games when it comes time to move in.

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Awesome thoughts:
Thats a great one, if faced with a big bet in a big pot I am more inclined to push than fold unless I really feel folding will get me more money

You should add: go with your gut.

It seems there is always 1 or 2 hands in a tourney that I am debating about playing and earlier in my MTT career I would pass (it was raised or too many people come in) just to kick the cat because a pot developed and I would have had a nice chance of winning it. Now I play these hunches.

The last tourney I was in 5th and got one of those hunches and passed on an allin bet, large stack calls. I had em both and instead of moving to 2nd I went out the next hand. The terrible thing is the hand I went out on was worse than the hand previous hand.

billyjex · #12 03-21-2005, 04:47 PM

This year I've made three final tables with big scores (a 4th, 5th and 6th for $2500, $8100, and $2500 respectively.)

In each tournament I was all in within the last three tables:

KQs vs. QQ (flopped trips)
A7o vs. A10o (board of 888Qx for split)
44 vs. 99 (hit a sizzle)

Tournaments are very lucky. But you gotta take chances. I see big stacks play very timidly when you get into the money and they only will steal and play with their big hands. I am constantly stealing and pushing to keep my stack big and obviously, I get called sometimes, sometimes as a dog and sometimes as a big favorite. Honestly, you just have to have a solid game (read Harrington on Hold Em and read this board), take chances and get lucky.

Poker_God · #13 03-21-2005, 05:07 PM

I would say that in MTT you do have to gamble a bit more than usual but do so in the right positions.

I see alot of aggressive players that usually make it in the top 15% of the field and hardly ever have to show a hand down.

But like everyone else says is that the more tourneys you play in the better you get at making critical decisions.

Bernas · #14 03-21-2005, 05:17 PM

Straight forward solid poker usually serves you well in the smaller MTT buy ins.

The better players can and will exploit this type of play though.

It could also be your attitude towards the tournaments. For instance, you might be comfortable with losing $5-20 in a MTT and therefore might play more relaxed and play a little more aggressively. If you aren't comfortabel with losing $215 then you will play timid and scared. Scared money is easy to find, and even easier to take advantage of.

Hope that helps.

Oh, one more thing. What MLG said is correct. Wins usually happen few and far between. I hadn't won a 4 digit amount for almost a month, and in the last week I have 2-1sts, 1- 2nd, 1-4th and 1- 5th place finish. Ride the rush when it comes.

Stipe_fan · #15 03-21-2005, 05:20 PM

I don't profess to be as good as some of the top MTT players. But, I was able to cash 5 of 6 $150 buyin on Party (did not cash the last two I played) and also a 6th in the $200 buyin on Party. I agree with MLG, you can go a month, make the right moves and still not finish in the money. The way I turned the corner is learning to play a short, average and big stack. That is absolutely key in making the money and beyond. If you play enough MTTs you learn to pick on the weak-tights, and they are a plenty. I use to be one of them so I feel I can feel their pain when some keeps bombing their blinds.

The keys are:

Picking on the right players
Learning to play various stack sizes in regards to the changing dynamics of the game (early play, bubble play, in the money play)
Value betting (sometime I not great at yet)

You can accumulate a lot of chips by using this strategy.

Stipe

Simplistic · #16 03-21-2005, 06:16 PM

i'll defer to your advice. however I believe I don't believe in putting all your chips in the middle for a coinflip early in the tournament, I prefer to focus on exploiting edges and getting my chips in where i'm a favourite. I don't mean to say that you should play overly tight, but I'm saying that you shouldn't necessarily risk your whole stack on a flip.

i'm sure you don't agree with me but that's my preference.

MLG · #17 03-21-2005, 06:30 PM

to put it bluntly, your preference is wrong.

MonkeeMan · #18 03-21-2005, 06:34 PM

El D,

You are the Robert Frost/Bob Dylan/Snoop Dog of these boards. You missed the chance to make an easy $5 at the NA/Euro Poetry Challange match yesterday on Stars.

slickpoppa · #19 03-21-2005, 06:48 PM

One of the biggest problems with passing up small edges is that the error compounds itself. For example, lets say that you pass up a 55/45 coinflip for $5,000 early on. By doing that you give up $500. Then on the very next hand you are able to get all-in against a bigger stack with AA v. 88. But since you passed up that small edge earlier, you effectively have 500 fewer chips to go all-in with. So you just cost yourself another 400 chips. Then on the next hand you get aces again, and now you lose another .85*900 = 765 chips. And so on, and so forth. So by reducing your risk of ruin in the short run, you are actually increasing your ROR and ability to earn money in the long run.

MLG · #20 03-21-2005, 06:49 PM

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One of the biggest problems with passing up small edges is that the error compounds itself. For example, lets say that you pass up a 55/45 coinflip for $5,000 early on. By doing that you give up $500. Then on the very next hand you are able to get all-in against a bigger stack with AA v. 88. But since you passed up that small edge earlier, you effectively have 500 fewer chips to go all-in with. So you just cost yourself another 400 chips. And so on, and so forth.

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