Strategy Advice

Hey all. I'm new to posting on this site but I wanted to see if some people out there would be willing to share some of there thoughts/experiences with some problems I've been running into playing in multi table tournaments.

Let me preface this by saying that I don't consider myself a novice because I have been play daily for a little over a year now and have logged many hours playing both online and live games and have put in even more hours analyzing and reanalyzing stat after stat. So I feel that I have gotten myself to the point where I can be a consistent, profitable player for a long time. I play cash games occassionaly but my real strength lies in tournament style games, particularly sit n' go's. Those are where I make the money that I end up losing in the tournaments [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] My style is generally conservative and I like to subscribe to the theory of playing tight early and loosening up as the tournament levels increase.

Having said that the problem I run into is that I can use that strategy to have enough money finishes to be break even at the very least but I rarely can get myself to a final table with a legitimate chance of actually finishing first. I believe that I have identified one the biggest factors causing this which is my inability to build up my chipstack early in the first 3 levels. With the way the online tournaments are generally played if you haven't at least doubled your stack by the first break you can pretty much kiss winning it goodbye. So I'm wondering if some people would share there thougts on this whole tight-to-loose strategy vs being loose/passive and limping a lot early or even loose/aggressive and just going for broke from the start.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I gamble w/ a lot of suited gappers/connectors and any pair early for about 1/4 of my stack or so maybe a little more. Only continue if ur getting really good odds or flop a strong made hand like a set, two pair, trips, a good draw etc...

[Nomar]

1/4 of stack, that cant be right

[usmfan]

Welcome to the forum. You're going to want to spend some time doing searches and reading old strategy posts. Post hands you are unsure of. Read more strategy posts. I'm sure there are others that can point you to many of the great threads discussing early tourney styles and the advantages of getting a big stack early.

You might start with MLG, Sossman, Sirio11 and CardSharpCook, just to name a few. Oh yeah, read the sticky.

If there's a prevailing theme among the people I consider good posters, it seems to be that you can't be afraid to bust if it means gaining a big stack and the power to go deeper than just in the money finishes.

[usmfan]

[ QUOTE ]
1/4 of stack, that is not right

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

this pertains to tourneys where the blinds go up every 12 or 15 minutes and u start w/ like 1500 chips (blinds 10/20, 15/30). When blinds get to 25/50 I slow down and play more solid. Your implied odds are pretty good early on with those kinda hands.

I was reading cardplayer a week ago and read this:

First of all, I just want to say that I am a big fan!! I have read several books from the top players in the world and have found different views on early tournament play. In the first few levels of a big tournament with the blinds lower, do u recommend playing fewer more powerful hands? or playing more decent hands while the blinds are lower. Are the early levels where u try to build up your stack or do u just play big hands and get more aggressive during later rounds?? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!! Have a good1 and keep up the awesome poker!!

– Brandon

Well, I must tell you that the early stages of tourneys can be played a few different ways and may all be correct. On the safe side, you can never go too terribly wrong if you play tight and wait for big hands, only to loosen up and play more aggressively later on. On the other hand, what I often do is play a variety of good multiway action hands such as small pairs and small suited connecters early on with the intention of risking a small percentage of my stack each hand to try and build a larger stack. I like to risk say 25 percent of my initial stack trying to “get lucky” and once that is gone, I tighten back up if I haven’t hit anything. I suggest trying a few of these options and work out which one “feels” better for you. (Scott Fischman)

So, I'm not the only one who thinks like this.

It seems like a solid strategy for sure I just wonder at that point how much you can afford to tighten up because by that point the person in first is probably going to have at least a 3:1 or even 4:1 chip advantage.

[usmfan]

I think that Nomar and I must have misunderstood your post. It appeared to me that you were advocating calling off 1/4 of your stack on low pp, suited connectors, etc. Obviously, you can take cheap flops early on in hopes of hitting a monster. I thought you were advising a 1/4 stack flop which is by no means cheap to me. Sorry for the confusion.

sorry about that... Yea, I wouldn't call off prob more then like 7% of my stack. I try not to worry about the chipleaders, its all so volitile anyway. Don't try and keep up when your not getting the cards. Just try and stay a little ahead of the blinds picking your spots carefully and if you catch some cards hopefully you'll get some action and can catapult your way up to a healthy chipstack.