first nl tourny, first hand, first one out, first question...

[Slowplay]

so as i push all of my chips into the middle it occurs to me that my opponent was the bb and i limped in and of course he could very well have 85 and i could very well be handing over my entire stack to a boat on my trip 8s...a second too late to realize this...

anyhow, my first crack at tourny play at my local b&m...small fry stuff but a good place to start...40 buy-in/40re-buy ($1000 in chips; re-buy is $1500)), blinds start at 25/50, double every 15 minutes, 60 players...

first hand i'm otb with 89s, no limpers so rather than open-raise (nerves) i decide to limp...sb calls and bb raps...(the hand was basically blown right then and there I know)...flop is Q58 rainbow...checked around...turn is an 8...checked around again and i fire away with $200...sb mucks...bb comes ott with another $400...yup, i go all-in, bb calls with an 85 that of course would have been folded if i had open-raised...

so, in this spot, what hands are open-raises, for how much (considering starter stacks), what consitutes a normal open-raise, what consitutes a lay-down bet, how much to protect your hand, etc.

be nice
-sp-

[ohkanada]

On the 1st hand of the tourney in that blind structure I muck. If the blind structure was not quite so big then I might open-raise with 98s on the button. If nothing else it makes a statement that you are being aggressive from hand 1.

I typically raise 3xBB. So I would make it 150 to go. Since that is 15% of your stack, the 1st hand of the tourney and you don't know anything about the players I would likely only raise with decent hands. Once I have seen a rotation or two then you would have a better idea on the opponents and can open things up if possible.

Ken Poklitar

[Slowplay]

hey, thanks for the response...

...so a typical open-raise is 3xbb...good to know...so of course i should have mucked when he comes ott with another 400...what percentage of someone's stack is considered a true attack rather than a steal? half? three-quarters?

also, was i correct in betting the original 200 on trips or was that too much (checked all around; unraised preflop)...also, what is the general strategy of a tourny...passive at first, aggressive in later rounds? do you open-raise in the cut-off with baby pairs?

anything will help
thanks again
sp

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Unless the player is both weak and predictably, you can't tell by the amount of their raise whether it's a steal or a legitimate hand. You tell that by reading their tells, or guess by knowing their tendencies.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[ohkanada]

Post flop I can't argue much with your play. Once you hit 3 8's things look good. The only issue is the kicker which is medium.

As far as how much to bet on the turn, a good general rule of thumb is to bet the pot. So if the pot has 300 in it, bet that amount. And normally if you are putting in much more than 30-40% of your stack you should just go all-in. As you gain more experience you can bet more or less when it makes sense.

Ken Poklitar

[Slowplay]

thanks to those who offered insight...i suppose i can only improve my tourny record from here...i guess getting knocked out first is better than finishing 11th with nothing to show...story has a positive ending, however...i got my entry fee back and then some at a 6/12 table minutes later...nothing lost and a few lessons learned...

final question: when would you NOT consider open-raising in the cut-off or on the button...most of the hands that i play late fall under the "if its worth a call it's worth a raise" philosophy (this time i was of course playing scared)...

thanks again
sp

[TJSWAN]

Slowplay,

Where was this tourney? I think I know.

Tim

[Yeknom58]

[Slowplay]

tim...don't tell me that it was you that felted me! :O)

-sp-