I am really struggling with my MTT game

Last night I am playing in this regular MTT tournament - no money involved - its for fun and practice - its organized in bars around the city - www.redhotpokertour.com.

I have been really struggling lately, after doing quite well for some time - I had been using a simple strategy that is considered to be quite sound. Then I decided to get serious about poker, but to focus on my limit game reading (And re-reading) SSHE - my limit game has improved immensely - however, since then, my tournament game has gone into the toilet. I also have been reading HOH1 - Ironically, I have played a few SNG - both full and shorthanded - and done fairly well.

Stacks start at 4000 and I am currently at about 3200. Blinds are 50-100. Two seats to my right (UTG+1) is a super-aggressive player (know him from other games and he has entered about 80% of the pots so far) - he has shown down with hands like Q9 and J4 (where he raised preflop), so I know he is capable of going in on almost anything. However, he has managed to put together a good stack, mostly by bullying the table - he has about 11000.

UTG calls, he raises to 300, fold around to me. I have AKo. I raise to 1000. He goes all-in.

My thought process at this point

1 - sitting on the big stack, he knows that if he loses to me, he will still be in good shape, so its a chance for him to try and continue to assert his dominance at the table

2 - he has shown an ability to go in on almost anything

3 - I know that he likes to be the aggressor - he likes to lead out the betting and control the table

4 - he is sitting to my left, so if I fold at this point, left with 2200 chips, I am likely going to have to struggle against him for some time - probably gonna have to wait for a huge hand and a huge pot to survive

I consider all these factors and determine that there is a good chance that he is trying to steal the pot - and that while I accept that he probably has a decent hand, I do not put him on a monster.

I call - which I realize was probably not a good move.

He shows KK and wins the pot, knocking me out of the tournament.

And so here is the point, as far as I am concerned. I feel quite confident that earlier in my tournament life, I would not have called his bet. I would have realized that this was not the hand on which I would want to risk all my chips - the only hands I could be hoping for, realistically, are A and a smaller kicker - I figured there was a good chance he had that - or a smaller pair, in which case, I am in a race situation.

My feeling is that I am overthinking the situations. As a relative noob who has just started reading and taking the game more seriously, I am overrun with information that I feel I need to consider - and this has affected my game. Also, I think that my bad run has resulted in a loss of confidence.

I don't know what I expect in terms of feedback - I guess I really just want to vent - I know that I am better than I have been playing - and I know I am better than how I played this hand.

[diebitter]

Hm,

If you fold you still got enough for 10 rounds at teh current limits, so that favours folding.

However, given your read of him, calling is not too shabby. From your description, he is more likely to have a pair under AK or an AQ/J/T, and typically you're at least 45%+ to win. THe offered you better than that to call, so don't be too embarrassed.

I'd've gone all in against someone so loose too.

[2Fast2Furious]

I recommend playing for money and scrapping these no-money freeroll tourneys. At a minimum try the Party $1 or $2 nightly tourneys where you seem to have some decent and better players. In general the players in the freerolls are too loose/dont' care and you don't really learn anything IMO (unless you're a complete novice and just starting out). I came in 3rd in a $250 freeroll Tournament on Party the other day (started with 2500 players!) and won a measly $35 for like 7 hours of play. If you're just having fun on these freebies (doens't sound like you are) then by all means keep playing but I think that there are so many loose players who don't have any idea about what they are doing that you're bound to get a lot of BBs and not really learn how to play certain common situations

this is an instant call.

in mtt's there are going to be long stretches during which everything seems to be going badly and it seems like you're never making money.

but regardless, the way to make money in these things is to have very high finishes. you need to gamble at certain points to accumulate chips.

and heck, this hand isn't even that much of a relative gamble. against the range of the described opponent, ak should be in great shape anyway.

[Exitonly]

I overplay my AK a lot, but i'm pretty sure this is a call, and not even that close..you're getting better than 2:1 and there hasn't been much action, and this guyy is super aggressive.

If there was more action to define his hands maybe you couldl ay it down, but his range is far too wide here for you to pass up a chance to accumulate this many chips.

Bad luck he had KK.

[fnurt]

This is absolutely, positively a call. No way can you put him reliably on AA or KK, and if he has a lower pair, you absolutely have to take the race situation after putting in a third of your chips.

[JJJ88]

I think the decision is not if you should call his all in bet. The decision should be if you should raise him.
When you play against a LAG with a big stack, you always put your tourney life on the line.
You can play aggressive just like you did: raise him
or play conservative: call him and hope to flop a strong hand: flop a King or a Ace, in which case you try to double up through him.

Personally I would do exactly what you did: raise him PF.
You just got bad luck when he happen to have KK.
When you hold AK, the chance running into KK or AA is small.
He is much more likely to have JJ or QQ.

The reason why people play LAG is they are more often to get paid when they have a monster.
Tight players do not get much actions when they hold a monster.

[Kevin West]

[ QUOTE ]
...
I call - which I realize was probably not a good move.
...
I feel quite confident that earlier in my tournament life, I would not have called his bet.
...

[/ QUOTE ]

Just from these quotes, I will tell you that you have improved a lot since you started. You cannot fold this hand with 1/3 of your chips in the pot against a LAG. This is an instant call, and you got unlucky that he had KK. Unless you have some sort of reliable physical tell that he has only AA or KK, you have to call here.

The fact that you presented this post with an analysis is great. Keep thinking about your game, and you will improve. And don't be results oriented [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Dave D]

[ QUOTE ]
Last night I am playing in this regular MTT tournament - no money involved - its for fun and practice - its organized in bars around the city - www.redhotpokertour.com.

I have been really struggling lately, after doing quite well for some time - I had been using a simple strategy that is considered to be quite sound. Then I decided to get serious about poker, but to focus on my limit game reading (And re-reading) SSHE - my limit game has improved immensely - however, since then, my tournament game has gone into the toilet. I also have been reading HOH1 - Ironically, I have played a few SNG - both full and shorthanded - and done fairly well.

Stacks start at 4000 and I am currently at about 3200. Blinds are 50-100. Two seats to my right (UTG+1) is a super-aggressive player (know him from other games and he has entered about 80% of the pots so far) - he has shown down with hands like Q9 and J4 (where he raised preflop), so I know he is capable of going in on almost anything. However, he has managed to put together a good stack, mostly by bullying the table - he has about 11000.

UTG calls, he raises to 300, fold around to me. I have AKo. I raise to 1000. He goes all-in.

My thought process at this point

1 - sitting on the big stack, he knows that if he loses to me, he will still be in good shape, so its a chance for him to try and continue to assert his dominance at the table

2 - he has shown an ability to go in on almost anything

3 - I know that he likes to be the aggressor - he likes to lead out the betting and control the table

4 - he is sitting to my left, so if I fold at this point, left with 2200 chips, I am likely going to have to struggle against him for some time - probably gonna have to wait for a huge hand and a huge pot to survive

I consider all these factors and determine that there is a good chance that he is trying to steal the pot - and that while I accept that he probably has a decent hand, I do not put him on a monster.

I call - which I realize was probably not a good move.

He shows KK and wins the pot, knocking me out of the tournament.

And so here is the point, as far as I am concerned. I feel quite confident that earlier in my tournament life, I would not have called his bet. I would have realized that this was not the hand on which I would want to risk all my chips - the only hands I could be hoping for, realistically, are A and a smaller kicker - I figured there was a good chance he had that - or a smaller pair, in which case, I am in a race situation.

My feeling is that I am overthinking the situations. As a relative noob who has just started reading and taking the game more seriously, I am overrun with information that I feel I need to consider - and this has affected my game. Also, I think that my bad run has resulted in a loss of confidence.

I don't know what I expect in terms of feedback - I guess I really just want to vent - I know that I am better than I have been playing - and I know I am better than how I played this hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, this is an easy call, don't doubt yourself on this one. Nevermind your read on him, you can't raise him 33% of your stack and fold to a push. Given your read, he could be on any two cards. You got unlucky this one time, it happens. You still were a 70/30. All in all, it's not that bad.

edit: One other note, after reading JJJ88's reply. I agree that if I was 100% confident it would be HU after my move I would smooth call here and see a flop. You don't give us position, so I can't say for sure, but that's also a good line. Not only because it lets you re-evaluate, but also more importantly if he was raising with some other weak hand you would have been less likely to get your raise called. In other words, if he had anything but AA/KK and an ace flops, you're more likely to get him to double you up by calling PF, than pushing PF.

Hey Hank, I play the redhotpokertour as well (In Burlington).. the first couple months were a bit rough, though lately I think i've been coming around..

Here's my general advice:

- Some players there are loose, and it's just a fun thing so try and get their chips before anyone else does (TPTK gains value even if someone is betting really strong)

- Position becomes even more important.. I think that's how I make most of my money to help me survive.. most of the people their play pretty straight forward (Check when they don't have it, bet when they do).. So position will allow you to scoop up a lot of pots to help you keep afloat.. Of course you'll encounter a check-raise like 1 in 10 times, but it's still a +EV play

- Raise a lot pre-flop with good hands to avoid family pots.. Normal Play requires 3-5x blind.. I like 4-6x blind here..no "moves" can be done with like 5 people in every pot, so drive out all the people who like to call with nothing or a marginal hand..


- The blinds go up 20 mins and you only have 4K Chips.. Tight but aggressive takes on a new meaning.. people who win these things usually bust out early or make the final table

Final Table:

Usually what happens is that everyone is shortstacked.. not enough money to go around.. people play tight and let it dwindle their stack.. play more aggressive final table