What Adjustments do I make for this Tourney?

[Spyder]

I play a freeroll, No-limit tourney here in Austin, TX about 6 times a week and have finished "In the Money" about 8 out of 64 attempts. There isn't any money, really, you just get more points for making the final table (last 8 players standing).

The field is typically made up of about half average to above average players, about half fish and about a dozen or so Good Players. I am considered one of the "Good" players.

Now, the problem is that I have yet to win one of these. I have (1) 3rd place finish, 3 5th place finishes, (1) 7th place and (3) 8th place finishes. I have further isolated the problem to the 'Middle Game'....about the time that the blinds get to be 300/600 and above.

Let me give you some information on the tourney so you know the entire setting.

The tourney always has from 30 to 100 players on any given outting.
Each table sits 8 players, although we are usually playing with 6 or 7.
Each player gets 4000 in chips.
The blinds start at 25/50 and go up every 15 minutes.
There is no specific order of breakdown for the tables.
Blinds at the final table are typically 4k/8k and going up.

(if you need more info, ask, I'll fill you in)

The problem is this: Usually, when I hit the final table, I am short stacked and the first blind puts me all-in. The 3rd place finish (which was my most recent) was different, but, not much. I had enough chips to weather the blind once and doubled up on the very first hand. I also find this to be basically true when I go deep into the tourney without making the final table.

Other players have told me that I need to loosen up (I am easily the tightest player). The problem is that I don't know on what hands to loosen up nor where/when to do the loosening.

I appreciate any advice or comments....thanks in advance [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Spyder

[kuro]

When blinds are small relative to your stack, you can get away with playing more drawing hands like Axs, Kxs, small pocket pairs, suited connectors, and suited one gappers. Similarly when multiple people are in the pot ahead of you, you can get away with playing these types of hands. When blinds are higher be weary of playing these types of hands out of position.

My guess is that it's not your starting hand selection as much as it's a leak in other aspects of your game.

Are you tight-passive? If so work at being more agressive. Semi-bluff more often. Don't fold against loose aggressive players as much. Make a play for the blinds sometimes. Don't be afraid to go all in early in the tourney if you think there's a good chance you have the best hand.


What happens when you become chip leader at your table? Do you turn into a maniac or the table sheriff and quickly go back to a short stack?


Look for the leaks in your game and try to fix them. Read more books.

[Spyder]

When I get chips early, I become more aggressive, however, I still find that in later stages I become short-stacked.

I do use the semi-bluff and the steal raise throughout the tourney, however, I usually forego those plays when short-stacked.

I think the problem is calling raised pots late. I don't call enough. I tend to fold or re-raise, and only re-raise with a premie. This causes my chips to quickly leak in the late stages of the tourney (500/1000 & bigger blinds) because we're usually playing with 6 or 7 players and they come around often.

The problem is that I'm not sure with what hands I should call a raised (3-4 times the BB) pot when I have a decent amount of chips. When the pot is un-raised, or, I'm first in, I have little trouble in deciding what to do. When I have QTs, JTs, KJs, KJo, ATo, A9s, 88, 77, T9s, 98s, 87s, etc, and the pot is raised to me is where I am failing, I think.

This is conjecture as I don't really know where my leak is at this time. I also don't have any idea what questions to ask, yet.

Spyder

[kuro]

[ QUOTE ]
The problem is that I'm not sure with what hands I should call a raised (3-4 times the BB) pot when I have a decent amount of chips. When the pot is un-raised, or, I'm first in, I have little trouble in deciding what to do. When I have QTs, JTs, KJs, KJo, ATo, A9s, 88, 77, T9s, 98s, 87s, etc, and the pot is raised to me is where I am failing, I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

Most of the time you should fold those hands against a raise. Unless you hit the flop perfectly you're not going to know if you're ahead or behind. The exceptions are that if you have a really good read on your opponent or multiple people have flat called the raise ahead of you then you might consider playing those hands. If you're in the big blind and you think it's a steal and that your opponent is capable of folding, you might want to consider pushing all in or raising and pushing on the flop if no scare cards fall.

[Spyder]

[ QUOTE ]

Most of the time you should fold those hands against a raise.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is precisely what I normally do. However, there must be SOMETHING I'm doing, or not doing, that causes me to be blinded into a short stack late in the tournament.

If you can, give me some ideas on where to look.

Before I started playing these tourneys, I was a MUCH better limit player than no-limit player. I am getting better at no-limit, however, this is beginning to bug me...I tend to be a competitive person and need to know what I'm doing wrong so that I can win these silly tournaments [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

If someone would like to trade e-mails with me and talk specifically, please shoot me a note: scorpyon@cox-internet.com. I would love the input.

Spyder

[lastchance]

Raise all-in with a short-stack. Calling a raise with 20x BB is generally not done. Move-in with great hands or fold otherwise, unless you resteal.

High aces and pocket pairs dominate the late parts of a steal-fest, those are the hands you want to reraise with. When shortstacked 7xBB or lower, the only thing you're looking at it is how to double up off high cards or blind-steal.

Foregoing blind-stealing while you are shortstacked is suicide. In fact, I don't think it's possible to ever stop blind-stealing in the late stages of a tourney and be a successful tournament player.

[Spyder]

[ QUOTE ]

Foregoing blind-stealing while you are shortstacked is suicide. In fact, I don't think it's possible to ever stop blind-stealing in the late stages of a tourney and be a successful tournament player.


[/ QUOTE ]

Well, it seems to me that, when the next hand you play is for all your chips, attempting to steal the blinds when you have 4-6 free hands in front of you is suicide...especially when half the players are fish and liable to call you.

[ QUOTE ]

Raise all-in with a short-stack. Calling a raise with 20x BB is generally not done. Move-in with great hands or fold otherwise, unless you resteal.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is the tight strategy that I normally use and get blinded to death in the later stages of the tourney, before the final table.

[ QUOTE ]

High aces and pocket pairs dominate the late parts of a steal-fest, those are the hands you want to reraise with. When shortstacked 7xBB or lower, the only thing you're looking at it is how to double up off high cards or blind-steal.


[/ QUOTE ]

High aces & pocket pairs....besides the obvious hands, what exactly are these and why do you think they're re-raising hands? With AX, I'll generally fold to a previous raise; with AXs, I might call if it isn't a huge or an all-in raise for a significant portion of my stack. If it's a fish doing the raising, I fold both; if it's one of the 'good players' I have a difficult decision.

If I'm first in, I limp AX & raise AXs (this is not yet short-handed).

Please continue the input and counter-arguments, please....I learn more with every word [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Spyder

[lastchance]

I might be wrong here, but here goes.

High aces and PP are great hands late because they own percentage games preflop, especially high aces.

While A8o is a terrible hand in a full game that has low blinds, the higher the blinds become, it becomes much better in a high blind game, especially when you can eliminate postflop play.

A8o sucks because you're not going to make money when you flop a decent hand with it (top pair, lousy kicker), you only get beat with it. However, before the flop, it is a favorite to most hands, and only a big dog to a few. This is mostly because you actually win the hands when you don't improve but your opponent doesn't either.

AXs is better than AX because of implied odds. In the late stages of a tournament, there is no such thing as implied odds.

this thread is very, very useful when making preflop all-in decisions. I generally have it open on my MTTs.

You notice that suited connectors and AXs, the two types of hands reliant on implied odds go way down, while AXo, which has no implied odds whatsoever, gets quite a big boost from normal ring game play.

[Spyder]

Ok, I looked at the listing of hands that Karlson produced.

You're saying that the non-premium hands listed toward the top of that list are the ones I should begin to push in the mid to late stages of the tourney in places where I wouldn't play them in a normal ring game or early on in the tourney......right?


PS Made a second place finish tonight...would have had first but the guy hit running clubs for a river flush on the last hand to beat me.

Spyder

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
What Adjustments do I make for this Tourney?

[/ QUOTE ] Drink more than usual?