Final table strategy please help!

i really need help regarding final table strategy.
over the last week ive made pretty much made the final table of every tourny i played in(5 10K and 5 7.5K)but havent won any of them.
it seems to me that my game lacks something big after getting to the final table.
i dont know what specifically is wrong with my game but for example i made the 10K final table last night as chip lead only to go out at 5th place.
i don’t know how i should be playing for example a deep stack in final table or an average stack.im much more comfortable with a small stack and i dont mind if i bust with a small stack.
things like should i be playing tight and passive with a big stack and let the field narrow down somewhat or shall i be stealing more and raising more and play more active?
is there any book/source/post where i could read up general final table strategy because its really frustrating now and i know that im not getting bad beats and the reason why i bust out is because of bad play.
i would really appreciate any help.

[betgo]

It's hard to know what you might be doing. Making the final table in every tournament you play in spectacularly good.

I generally play very aggressive at the final table because most people play cautiously. If the money in shallow, I push a lot on the semibluff. Open push, reraise allin, push on a flop where I have a draw or something. Just raise your good hands preflop. I lot of people are afraid.

You generally can play more aggressively as a ahort stack or a large stack. As a short atack, there are lots of opportunities to push preflop. As a large stack, you can threaten to bust people out.

Usually stealing blinds and antes is important at a final table. Steal from tight players with medium stacks.

I am assuming a tight table. If the table is loose, tighten up and play solidly.

If you have enough chips to make it to the top 3, I would try to avoid going allin with another big stack. The top 3 is where the money is, so you don't want to jeapordize that. Otherwise, I don't mind a coin flip to double up or bust out.

Towards the end, if the blinds are huge, like on Paradise you can just push preflop when you want to play 2-4 handed.

On Stars, the blinds are typically small at this stage, so play regular poker, but hand values go up. With small blinds, there will be some players who have not adjusted to short handed and play too tight. There will also be LAGs, particularly in a rebuy, who can be tricky to play in this situation. Sometimes you can't give a LAG credit as he is representing everything. You may have to go with your read and put your chips in without a big hand.

If you haven't played SNGs, they are good for final table play. Winner take all satellites involve more aggreessive play and are better practice than standard SNGs. Also, heads up SNGs will help you with short handed play.

[petvan]

Are you saying you made the final table in 10 of your last 10? Thats way impressive. I'd be very interested in hearing your tips on mid tourney play. (I'm assuming these are 250+ player fields)

P

[ QUOTE ]
Are you saying you made the final table in 10 of your last 10? Thats way impressive. I'd be very interested in hearing your tips on mid tourney play. (I'm assuming these are 250+ player fields)

P

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, his final table in every tournament struck me as well. What's your percentage of final table to tournaments entered?

over the past 5 nights ,i have played in 5 10K tournies with $100 entry with about 60 ppl in it and also past 5 nights i have entered a 7.5K tourny $27 buyin with about 180 ppl entring and i have made the final table on 8 of them and finsihed under 20 in all of them.
i guess it is good result but i dont know how to maximize my profits when making the final table and i really want and need to address that.

i dont know what my percentage and that’s actually what is lacking in my game.
i don’t keep track of stats,and i realize now that is what is lacking is my game.
i play on VCPoker and i havent played anywhere else.
im very good at getting to final tables, it could be the competition is not that great but i like to think that im a decent player seen as i have been playing only about 9 months(been reading like hell though).
any tips on the original topic of the post and also math’s of poker and anything to do with poker are extremely welcome and appreciated.

[Hal 2000]

Let's get a hand history

Betgo is correct in the fact that many players are often playing VERY scared/tight, avoiding confrontation as each player out = a step up the pay ladder. You can take advantage of this by actually playing for the win. Your fold equity on semi-bluffs goes way up. Its a stated rule of poker, if everyone is playing super-tight, you play aggressive and profit. However, often there WILL be players that are playing aggressive and trying to run the table. Re-stealing against them can be very profitable. For example, Folded to aggressive player in CO, he makes standard raise that he has made when folded to him in previous rounds, you have 89s on button, you shove it in. This is assuming stacks are similar and you have FE on him. If your stack is threatening to him, he is still going to have a much tighter range of hands that he is able to call you with than what he would be raising with in the first place, which could often be anything if blinds are scared/tight. If you are on the blind in this situation and button/SB fold, you can shove as well, and if he folds you get the added benefit of table presence. He will be more reluctant to attempt to steal your blind in the future, and it may get you a walk or two in future rounds. Plays like this are often very +EV.

Another thing is, if you are going into it as a big stack, don't be inclined to just piss chips away left and right. I often see a player drain his huge chiplead into an average stack (or just completely blow up) with several careless misplays. Aggression is good, blind aggression and pissing your stack away in poor spots is not.