Turnament newbie and all-in's..

[kenewbie]

I dont have any tournament books as of yet, I'm sort of just feeling my way around.

The last 3 tournaments I've been knocked out pretty early, the situation being similar in all of them:

I got a decent amount of chips (above average) and a very good hand. I raise it for a decent amount (4-5 x BB or close to that preflop, atleast half the pot if the flop has come) and some clown goes all-in on me.

Note that this is quite early in the tournament.

I've been calling these with a smile on my face. The last 3 times I've been outdrawn as a 84%, 77% and 71% favorite respectivly. Now this isnt a bad beat thing, I realize the underdog will win on occation, I can deal with that.

My question is this: Should I just avoid these situations early in the game when I dont realy need the chips? Or do I have to keep calling when I am a favorite?

Is it really worth it to double up while you're is still on level 2 when you have chips and risk being busted out?

k

[ZootMurph]

My first question is: When are you calculating your odds? Is it when all your chips go in? That is what matters. If you get all your chips in when you are a favorite, it isn't a real bad thing. If you were a favorite before the flop, then you got all your chips in on the flop or later, when your opponent hit a better hand, then you are making a bad play and need to re-evaluate your decision making.

For me, I don't like to play the all in game early in a tournament, so I don't. If someone wants to go all in on me, I'm happy to fold it to them. The good part of this is people eventually start playing at you... and eventually you will double up with having a really good hand or the nuts.

When the average stack to BB ratio is reduced to below 10:1, that's when I start making big preflop raises with the intention on going all in (or putting someone else all in, which is the preference, LOL) on a good looking flop. In Party Poker tourneys, this is usually between rounds 6-8 depending on the size of the tournament.

[Jason Strasser]

To be honest, right now you sound like dead money.

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I dont have any tournament books as of yet, I'm sort of just feeling my way around.

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Big mistake. Read Sklansky, there is no way around that, especially for a beginner in MTT.

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My question is this: Should I just avoid these situations early in the game when I dont realy need the chips? Or do I have to keep calling when I am a favorite

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This is a very silly question. If you are the favorite, you want your chips in the middle. And also, you always need the chips. There is never a time where I am like "Ok, you know what, I don't think I need any more chips right now." You need all the chips to win. Of course, you don't need them right this minute.

I'd strongly recommend reading some poker literature before playing in another MTT. Ideas like the Gap Concept, and dealing with different stack sizes are necessary. Good luck.