late tourney blazes of glory

[greatmattsby]

When talking to a friend the other day after busting out late in a tournament QQ to T8, I said "I just feel like I play solid poker, build up my stack, and then inevitably lose all or most of it on one hand late in the tourney when I get my chips in as a big favorite." He replied "Well, that's probably about right. I mean, you're a smart enough player to get your money in with the best of it most of the time, so how else are you going to lose?"

My question is this- how do those of you who are successful MTT players avoid this "blaze of glory" finish in the late stages of a tourney? Is this a common problem? In the past three days, I have busted out of tourneys with no less than a 4-1 advantage three times. Part of me thinks I shouldn't be putting such a large percentage of my stack at risk in the late/bubble stages. However, who wouldn't want to put all their money in with a huge advantage? I understand bad beats come and go--- I'm just looking for ways to lessen their blow...

Thanks for any insight...

[joeboe2001]

I think the problem here is that victims of bad beats don't get any "points" for form. If you make a reasonable all in call (say, A-J after everyone else has checked) and, in a flash of inspiration, the omniscent villan calls you with a pair of 4s and takes you down by flopping a set, there is usually no consolation prize.

That happened to me last weekend. All I got out of it was knowing that the guy that called me with Q-Q on the same hand got a worse deal!

[mcteecho]

Is AJ really a "reasonable all in" just to pick up the blinds?

[wegs the wegs]

[ QUOTE ]
Is AJ really a "reasonable all in" just to pick up the blinds?

[/ QUOTE ]


Depending on stack size, position, number of folders in front of you, players remaining in the tournament, and how tight the blinds have been... then maybe.


As for the orignal post, this is how 80% of good players will go down in the tournament. Occasionally there will be the KK all-in and seeing the big stack actually have AA. However like your friend said, if players always get there chips in with the best hand preflop the only way they can lose is if they get out drawn.

Just remember though that the 4 to 1 favorite all-in preflop is likely to happen quite a few times in a large tournament. You're going to lose eventually.

I remember I was furious one night when I got runner runnered. Down to three people with nearly equal stacks, I held K10 in the BB and was min raised by the SB. I called, and the flop was 10 6 2. SB pushed, and I called. He showed 99, with the turn a 7 and the river an 8. I was out. He went on to win the tournament six hands later. I was crabby for an hour or so, then remembered how I got to the final table, and then to the final three. Down to 12 players I pushed my mid-sized stack on an open-ended straight/bluff attempt and was called with top set. Rivered my straight. Then down to 8 I called an all-in with QQ, only to have another caller right behind me with AA. The original all-in, the big stack at the moment, had AQ. On the turn I got the one out Queen and busted AA.

It simply is all percentages. Anything can happen.

[morgan180]

If I'm a larger stack playing at a table where I am still covered by at least one other stack and that person is behind me, I will try to steal blinds without pushing (obviously to a point) that way if the big stack does wake up with something my entire tourney life isn't on the line for some blinds. 5 x bb raise or something like that depending on your table image and the tightness/looseness of your particular table. just because you have KK doesn't mean you have to turn poker in to a math problem. raise hard with KK (if you get reraised jam it in,) but you don't need to open raise all in with only to get called by some A-rag that spikes. Raise (but not your whole stack) and if you have to, see a flop!