Trouble at the Tournaments (Online)

[ QUOTE ]
I usually try to take flops cheaply with suited connectors when I have chips to play with. You could maybe play A8 or A9 from late position.
Just a question, do you consider your position at all when you determine your starting, your original post indicates you don't.

[/ QUOTE ]

I do consider position on every hand. Many times if I have a good hand, I will limp in on early position to see what everyone else does - almost like checking. Normally with pocket 9 and below in early position I will fold - middle position also if I think someone to my left is loose. When I'm in late position I am still tight, but a little loose based on my betting, be it 3-5x BB.

you shouldnt be afraid of getting into tangles with loose players if you only play these starting hands, i suggest you entice action on your decent hands when the loose people are yet to act, you will win more showdowns than not in the long run imo.

Sounds like you are playing really tight...once you read harrington, take notes of what he advocates with his starting hands preflop, and try to integrate those into your game...and dont be afraid to be aggressive...most people here i think would agree that aggressive>not aggressive

[CieloAzor]

You're way too tight and have a lot to learn about playing position. You'll need to open up your game big time to have any meaningful tournament success.

[The_Mush]

In response to what hands you play in early position, I think you are definitely being too tight. I consider play pretty conservative, and I am not folding 77-99 in any position if the pot hasn't yet been raised. You can limp with these hands in EP, but I don't think you can fold them if you want a shot at winning a big tourney. That's just my thinking though.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i dont think he knows what M and UTg even mean. italion these types of posts do not get replyed to. just study any books u can find, play as much as u can, and read the posts here.

[/ QUOTE ]

This hurt my head. Where do you usually play, so I can join you?

Or

Tis hert my hed. Wear do u usely play, so i can join u?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you were asking me, I normally play at PokerStars. I have played on PartyPoker. My roommate had me play for him on BoDog. I downloaded FullTilt to see what it was like, but never played with real money. I recently cashed out of Pokerstars with a modest $14 profit because I have been struggling and I want to concentrate on reading the books that I have before I struggle some more and not know what I am doing wrong. It gets frustrating when you're up 40$ and then lose most of it within 3 days.

[/ QUOTE ]

No no no. I was talking to the guy who can't spell a lick. I like to play unintelligent people.

As for you, good luck in loosening up. I was a lot like you (still am sometimes). I played only the top hands, and never got a lot of action, and when I did I was beaten by a drawing hand (those 80% of the times where you get no action are those ones that everyone says when they say 80% of the time AA wins [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img], I keed).

What confused me when I began was everyone said to play ubertight in the early stages of MTTs, but then say when stacks are deep, play the suiteds. WELL, stacks are deep in the beginning of an MTT.

Ok, the point? Instead of going from TAG to LAG, do it gradually. Instead of going all LAG, do your TAG approach, but occasionally limp from the CO or MP3 with A-x suited. Or limp from MP2 with T9s ... every now and then. As you feel more comfortable, you'll make them part of your arsenal.

[ QUOTE ]
In response to what hands you play in early position, I think you are definitely being too tight. I consider play pretty conservative, and I am not folding 77-99 in any position if the pot hasn't yet been raised. You can limp with these hands in EP, but I don't think you can fold them if you want a shot at winning a big tourney. That's just my thinking though.

[/ QUOTE ]

For what it's worth, I got on FullTilt and played on a PlayMoney table. I played around with suited connectors, folding if there was a raise before me. I also loosened up later in position on the requirement for suitedness, for example, I would only play 9Ts in early if it was suited, but I would play QJo in a later position given the high cards. According to Small Stakes Hold 'Em, the strength of cards depends on:

1. Suitedness
2. Connectedness
3. High-Card Strength
(I'm just typing off the top of my head - not from the book)

And so the later in the position I am I still have Connectedness and High-Card Strength, where Suitedness is not as mandatory when I can see what everyone else will do.

Anyways, on FullTilt I played around with that and I took 400 and turned it into 5910. Yeah, I know, it was a play money table, but my purpose was to play the Suited Connectors Strategy and then see what happened on the flop, using my outs for straight and flush draws.

Thank you to everyone who responded.

Tournament poker, as you get deeper becomes less about cards, and more about (the pros say people, but i think even this is to exact) situations. Stack size, blind size, and position control more about how a hand unfolds than the actual cards. If you want your head to explode, read the anthology of MTT wisdom at the top of this forum. You develop serious, serious respect for the people who post here, and also for the game of poker.

good luck!

[odiggity]

when and where u wanna play heads up ninja?

[ QUOTE ]

I do consider position on every hand. Many times if I have a good hand, I will limp in on early position to see what everyone else does - almost like checking. Normally with pocket 9 and below in early position I will fold - middle position also if I think someone to my left is loose. When I'm in late position I am still tight, but a little loose based on my betting, be it 3-5x BB.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not a big fan of limping early. It tends to result in a squandering of chips. Usually one of two things happen.

1. Someone raises and you're faced with a decision (this is by far the most common scenario).

2. Everyone calls and your pot equity is small.

The bottom line is that if you're trying to see the flop on the cheap by limping early, it's probably not gonna happen. Save limping for late position when you have a hand that favors a multiway (suited connectors, one gappers).

If you're gonna come in early, do so strongly w/ a raise. Most people respect strength shown early. Often you'll end up against only one or two players, and you can take down the pot after the flop with a continuation bet.


PokerStars Tournament #16111085, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
180 players
Total Prize Pool: $3600.00
Tournament started - 2005/12/06 - 00:42:44 (ET)
Tournament finished - 2005/12/06 - 04:56:03 (ET)
1: gamblervpi (Blacksburg), $1080.00 (30%)
2: Foghatlive (NY), $720.00 (20%)
3: oatster (katy), $428.40 (11.90%)
4: moneyman11 (oakville), $288.00 (8%)