First Hour Advice from RecPoker

[beenben]

Someone posted a request for tournament players to answer a series of questions on how to play the first hour of an MTT. The requester then took the answers and posted them. Someone else then extracted the best answers. This was easily the best MTT advice on recpoker this year. Here are the questions and the best answers:

1) what's your general strategy for the first hour?

Answer: My "general" strategy is to look for the most opportune moments to increase my chip stack. I'm not so concerned with developing a "tight" image during the first hour. These aren't deep-stack, long level tournaments. They are semi-short-stack, 10/15 minute level tournaments.
Chips speak. So does luck, to an extent. And most of the people at your table now won't be there in an hour, so there is no reason to craft an image with them...yet.

My general strategy is simply to try to accumulate enough chips to be able to break about half the people on my table. My reason for this is has to do with my principle of "compounding fractions". I'm not a math guy, so if that term doesn't make sense in the context I use it in, so be it.

My principle of "compounding fractions" is basically that being a short stack is death in a tournament. Who gets eliminated more often than anyone else in a tourney? The short stack. Why? Because they are the ones whose continued existance is at risk, not those that are gambling
with them.

The compounding fractions part has to do with survival as that short stack. As a short stack, if you flip a coin for all your chips, you will be eliminted 50% of the time. Let's say that you have 1 chip, and your opponent has 3 chips. If you flip a coin for all your chips you will
double up 50% of the time. If you do it again, you will eliminate your opponent 50% of the time that your initial gamble pays off. What is the net result? 25% of the time, you win. 75% of the time, your opponent wins. Those fractions add up. If you have to do it 4 or 5 times, your
odds are very slim.

That is why chips speak in these games. If you get short-stacked in one of these games, the blinds increase so rapidly that you don't have time to outplay your opposition and level the field before you start to gamble with them. You start off having to gamble. So you don't want to be the short stack.

What I do does depend upon the table at large, and my opponents specifically, but in general I am looking to gamble a little early on with the weaker opposition, since they will be the easiest to extract chips
from if you hit. So I play a lot of suited connectors early on for up to about 7-10% of my stack (or opponents stack). I balance this with selective aggression when I am in postion, to recover the lost gambles. In other words, I gamble to break my opponents, but only so much that I
can easily recover by outplaying them if my gamble doesn't pay off.

The gambling I do is primarily preflop. If I can catch a flop for 60 chips, when I have 1500, I can win 1500 from someone else. But if I miss the flop, I am either raising or folding, depending upon the player. I don't call with draws unless the price is unreasonably in my favor. The
reason for this is that I can break someone for 60 chips, but I don't want to put another 180 in with the same hand after the flop if I am drawing. Suddenly the price is too steep to easily recover with my position-play. It's way easier to steal 60 chips from the blinds than it is to steal 240, when the blinds are 10/20.

But I will usually only do this until about the 30/60 level. At that point I do tighten up a lot, and move into "raise or fold" mode, since by then the T60 BB will be a significant portion of some peoples stacks (maybe mine, if things aren't going well), which kills the implied odds.
I don't care to try and break someone who has 700 chips if I have to call 180 preflop to see if I hit. The price is too high (there are exceptions, of course, such as if I have 3000 in chips and my opponent has 3000 as well. I'll take a 180 flop with 6d7d with that person, since I can still win 3000 if I hit, but that is standard deep stack implied odds based strategy anyway.)

This is where the image-building begins. At the 30/60-50/100 levels. At this point, your table will still be fairly fluid, however, there will be some key characters who will stay with you now for a good duration of time. These same characters will have witnessed your looser play early on, too, and will often make mistakes in guessing what you have when suddenly you shift to playing premium hands and position, with aggression. It's pretty much the opposite of what you have been doing up until this
point, so they might not catch on right away.

So for the rest of the first hour, I revert to playing AK, AQ, and pairs, and raising with position to either steal the blinds or bluff an earlyposition player if they call the raise and we both miss. Hopefully by this point I have built up enough chips to be able to weather through a
half hour of no cards, if that is what happens.
[Morphy’s note: This is some of the most well thought-out, best written advice I’ve seen so far. It might be obvious who this person is based on his writing style, and his answers are solid and very informative
throughout this document.]


2) coinflips or no coinflips?

Answer: I never go out of my way to look for coinflip situations. If presented with one, what I do really has to do more with chips than cards or anything else. If I have 3000 chips, and have to flip a coin for 600 more, I'll do it every time. If I have 3000 chips, and I have to flip a
coin for ALL OF THEM, I fold, every time. It's that principle of compounding fractions I mentioned earlier. I can't lose to the guy with 600 chips. In the worst possible outcome, I'll be 600 chips poorer. Not true if I have to gamble for it all.

3) What junk will you stay on?

Answer: LOL. That would be me. I consider "junk" to be any two cards that don't connect with each other in some way. Suited cards work, but I will only play them if they are less than 3 gaps (48s is too big a gap, but I'll play 58 or 47). Connected cards don't have to be suited, but I
draw the line at 45. Also, oddly enough, I won't play trap hands for a limp (or flat-calling a raise) like KT, QJ, etc. Too many ways to get into trouble. Mainly I am
calling with 45-TJ, with gaps or suited, whatever, and suited aces (but with the suited aces, only for a limp, never a raise), but folding anything else that I wouldn't normally raise with. So, for gambling purposes, I consider "junk" to be 3-gappers or bigger, and any two random paints above JT. If I am playing 'big paints', I want KQ, AK, or AQ, when faced with a raise. KQ may seem like a weird addition to my calling hands (when faced with a raise), but I feel that it really gives you 3 cards to play on the flop against a preflop raiser. Most people with pairs will fear A's, K's, and Q's, thinking you may have AK or AQ. Having KQ gives you them all. They still fear the A, so it is a good scare card (since they can't know that you DON'T have one), plus you have the added benefit of having the K and Q as legitimate outs. Plus KQ is versatile in that, if the flop comes K high and they bet, you raise, and they reraise, it's easy to toss.


4) If you're calling a raise with junk, how much of your stack are you willing to call?


4) For those that look to call raises with "junk" to try and hit a flop big, assuming "junk" is the same definition as above, how much of your stack are you willing to risk per call?”

Answer: No more than 10% of mine OR my opponents stack. Generally 5-7%.



5) what do you do if you're really card dead?

Answer: Some of the most amazing tournament victories I have ever had arose from patience. "Patience is a virtue", they say, and this is true. If I am card dead, and my table is lively enough to keep me from stealing pots to stay afloat, I just fold, fold, and fold some more. Many times I have come to the final two tables without any cards, on the short stack, and been rewarded for my patience when I suddenly catch two hands, quadruple up from where I was, and have enough of a stack to start pushing
the other players around. By being patient, I have allowed myself the opportunity to double up with hands I may not have seen if I was rash, since I would be out already.

Also, by the time you start to double up (if you are not unlucky enough to be eliminated, that is), you will be with players who have been around you for a while and know that you are the biggest rock on the planet. If you can rush up to 15-20xBB, you can become a powerful bully at this stage,
even with less than average chips, because people respect your raises and let you steal blinds like a thief in the night. That alone can double you up again, and suddenly you are in contention to fight out the final table.

Never force the action. Allow the chips to come to you naturally. [Morphy’s note: this last sentence should probably be on one of those inspirational posters. Perfect advice for a lot of different poker situations.]

Answer: As I noted previously, if I gamble and miss, I want to recoup my losses before I gamble some more. If the table is one that prohibits this strategy, I tighten up early and employ a more aggressive, premium hand strategy early on. It's not the strategy I prefer, but neither is sitting on the rail and observing.


6) what do you do if you get down early when your gambles don't pay off?

Answer: As I noted previously, if I gamble and miss, I want to recoup my losses before I gamble some more. If the table is one that prohibits this strategy, I tighten up early and employ a more aggressive, premium hand strategy early on. It's not the strategy I prefer, but neither is sitting on the rail and observing.

7) Specific situation from last night: 1250 in chips, blinds 25/50. MP player limps, button, who has been raising a lot on the button raises to 175, you're on the SB with AQo. What's the play, call/fold/raise/jam
allin? If a raise, how much to raise to, and how to play the flop if it misses you? Hands like these REALLY mess me up because I think "this is *that decision* that will make or break you in the first hour, wtf do I do" and I usually make the wrong decision. “

Answer: "All in" is out of the question for me, here. First, let's look at what is to be gained: if you move in and they both fold, you pick up 275 chips. That is an increase of roughly 22% to your chipstack. But, that 22% increase really isn't enough at this stage to "seal the deal" for you, so it's not really worth it to me. You can lose the hand and leave the game, but you can't win the hand and be assured of winning the game. Conversely, if you move in and are called, you are almost certain to be an
underdog to the calling hand. So moving in would really only be correct if you think that they will fold 5 out of 6 times (I think, I'm not doing the math by calculator or anything), since you would win the 275 chips 5 times but lose your 1250 once.

On the final table, same proportions of chips to blinds, I'd move in, unless I knew the MP player to be tricky. But the dynamics of the final table and early stages are radically different. The mentalities of the
players are radically different.

You could call. But I would weigh that against the factors I know about the people in question. If I knew the LP player to be loose with his raises, but would check behind me on the flop if he missed, I'd probably opt to fold here. If he would be likely to continue with the worst hand
after an A or Q flops, I'd be inclined to call and checkraise the flop if it hit me. I'd also be inclined to call if I knew the player to make bets that telegraph his hand to me post flop, allowing me to make a creative
steal if his bet indicates that he missed (again with a check-raise).

If both he and the MP player were hard to read postflop, and agile enough to avoid trapping themselves when an A or Q hits, I'd just fold. I hate playing weak hands out of position. Position is everything to me. I want to act last. There is much less guesswork involved, and you really can find better spots to make guesses for your stack.

Also, if I knew the MP player to checkraise when they hit, I'd also lean towards folding. I'd hate to catch a Q, check, have MP check, have LP bet, raise the pot, and then get reraised by MP when I'd most likely be pot-committed, due to the volumes of money going into the pot pre and post
flop.

With hands like that, in those situations, I always remember that while it would be correct in a limit game to reraise, in a NL game you must be cautious not to take unnecessary risks if it means possible elimination.
Even if you call and MP folds, there is over 350 in the pot on fhe flop. That means that you are only two bets away from being all in with your hand!

Maybe it sounds wussy (especially against the RGP backdrop that advocates aggressive responses to situations like this), but I have won many tournaments by sticking to a few guidelines (these aren't the only guidelines, of course, but ones that I remind myself of constantly):

- Avoid playing with a big(ger) stack unless you have a BIG hand (compounding fractions again)
- Avoid playing hands out of position against aggressive players, unless you have a BIG hand
- Play aggressively when you have position, but with special attention to your opponent(s) who play with you.
[Morphy’s note: Another great reply here.]

[twang]

Good stuff.

[Winwood]

This is excellent, thanks for the post

I like what has been said here, esp. the attention to stack sizes, and what % he is willing to risk in different situations. food for thought.

[A_PLUS]

If this is the best MTT advice on RGP this year, I am very glad I dont really read it much any more.

Most of what he says is very questionable and generic.
Some of what he says is just flat out wrong
-not wrong b/c I say so, wrong b/c the laws of mathematics say so.

Skip this, and read the anthology of wisdom at the top of the page, or the hands with the masters

[adanthar]

This is OK, although kinda generic, up until #7 where I think I'm just gonna snicker at him for a while.

1)A 22% increase isn't enough for him? Heh.
2)[ QUOTE ]
Conversely, if you move in and are called, you are almost certain to be an underdog to the calling hand. So moving in would really only be correct if you think that they will fold 5 out of 6 times (I think, I'm not doing the math by calculator or anything), since you would win the 275 chips 5 times but lose your 1250 once.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, you're a 100% underdog when you're called and will always lose. Okay.

That's the best RGP could do for the year? (edit: beaten)

[ansky451]

[ QUOTE ]
This is excellent, thanks for the post

[/ QUOTE ]


not really

not good poker, most of this post seems to be about playing the cards. PLAY THE SITUATION AND THE PLAYERS. Cards are secondary.

[twang]

Ok, vets says this advice is teh suck. Does anyone care to explain why? Explain to me like I am a five year old who have no idea what to make of some of the "wisdoms" here, for example Gigabet's block-theory.

[ QUOTE ]
not good poker, most of this post seems to be about playing the cards. PLAY THE SITUATION AND THE PLAYERS. Cards are secondary.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of generic advice....