help me I'm card dead

Hello, thank you for your previous replies to my prior posts! I have been playing a tight aggressive game in mtt's and it works out well unless i have a run of being card dead. Then I just wait and wait untill the blinds get so big that I have to make some type of move. My question is this: Is it possible to make it deep into a tournament simply by sticking to Harrington's conservative approach starting hands in mtt's. What happens when I am not dealt the required hole cards? I just don't know just how patient i should be. Should I just have faith in the system and just wait and wait as long as I have a stack of 3 or 4 times the big blind? What do you do? Thanks!!!

The general rule that i would use is to start Tight at the begginging of a tournament and loosen up as the blinds get bigger, i generally will start raising with most A's with a decentish kicker or if there suited. just hands that you know can hold there own if you have to see the flop i mean as a general rule only use these from a late position. i would even use suited connectors from late positions aswell.

Stealling blinds is deffinately for the win

Well being card dead has nothing to do with your ability of course. But there are times when you can go in with cards you usually wouldnt. That would definitely throw your opponents off as well as give you a chance to make some chips. If you see yourself being pushed to make a move, make one quick, or you won't have the chips to make a significant come back later on in the game. I am a very tight player, but there are times i'll play 46 if i feel like it. Letting yourself play all kinds of hands will help you, but definitely don't over do it or you'll find yourself wasting too many chips. Hey and you can always bluff.

You need to play your cards and your opponent. If you're counting on just your cards to win, you won't. Need to start looking for opportunities to steal blinds and force some folds. I hate playing against a tight player who starts to play loose.

i have tried this method you speak of and it does not work... you will make the money most of the time... but you will never make a deep run in a tournament. My advice is to try and play a little bit looser than you have been playing.... add 10 more starting hands you will play... when i started playing like that i felt i played better... But loosing on the bubble sucks! the strategy you are talking about will get you to the bubble in MTT and in single table most of the time... at least it did for me

Good question. I play this way, and I have the same problems. I'm card dead and I get grinded down and down by the blinds, or limping with a pocket pair and missing, or even a semi-decent hand. It's a great strat to get right around the bubble, but then comes the time where you have to push and it's like playing for hours for everything to come down to a coinflip that the larger stacks won't hesitate to call and it's so frustrating.

Just stay tight and the cards will come. sometimes they don't but it usually comes around. Just play tight aggressive and you will see yourself making it deep into tourneys.

I would say that like a lot of things, you need to have awareness and balance. How you play will largely depend on how those around you are playing. Being able to 'switch gears' from loose to tight is one of the cornerstones of any great poker player. Playing tight ALL the time will get you nowhere in the long run. 1) Sometimes as you say you will simply go card dead and never play a hand, and 2) Once people are on to you, even when you DO have a big hand and go in for the kill, people will smell it from miles away and you won't get any action.

Thus in my experience, for SnG's, especially low or micro stakes, it is generally advisable to start out by playing tight, but aggressive. This means playing only premium hands (a little bit looser from position), but playing them aggressively when you've got 'em (i.e. raising and even re-raising). This is not so much because it sucks to lose early, but because everyone is playing so loose that they'll probably call you if you play marginal hands or bluff, losing you money by playing loose yourself, BUT they will also probably call you if you have a monster, so build up the pot when you do and take 'em down.

As you start approaching the bubble and the blinds get bigger however, most people will start to tighten up (because, like us all, they want to at LEAST make the money after a couple of hours of play.) However, by now playing loose (and still aggressive) you stand to win because of several factors: 1) the blinds are getting bigger, so stealing them is no longer chump change, and you need it to stay ahead of the blinds yourself, 2) other players are playing scared, so they're more likely to hold with anything that isn't premium holdings, and 3) you've been playing tight from the beginning, so at first people will think that you're still doing so, but are getting good cards.

I should note here, that playing loose and aggressive doesn't mean playing stupid. You'll still want to be in position when you try and steal, and if you run up against resistance (i.e. re-raises, or them open betting on the flop, etc.) have the discipline to just get out of the hand when you don't have it.

This way, you will be more likely to not only make the money over the long term, but when you do get there you will have more chips with which to fight for the real money.

Yes, by playing loose and aggressive you will occasionally get trapped or simply sucked out on, but over the long run (and we should always think of the long run in poker) you stand to earn more with this strategy. Think of it this way: who wins more, someone who makes bottom rung in the money sometimes (earning maybe 2 times the buy in at best), but often is blinded out or loses on a coinflip on the buble , or someone who although gets sucked out on before the bubble a few times, makes top 3 once every 15 or 20 tourneys, occasionally making the bottom rung as well.

In sum, you stand to make a lot more money in the long run by playing tight at first, then loose afterwards, always being selectively and intelligently aggressive with your hands, than just playing tight all the way through and relying entirely on your cards. Always pay attention to your opponents and try to have some read on them (so you know when they're trapping you or bluffing or scared and bluffable), and try as best you can to play from position when you have informational advantage.

Hope that helps!

T.

Steal the blinds to stay afloat until you get a good rush of cards.

Some very good advice there.

You will have to take risks in the later stages and actively steal blinds particularly when you are in late position, the CO, button and small blind.

Other players will be playing looser and aggressively so target them with steal reraises if there is only one person in the hand, you can get 5 or 6 big blinds this way especially if you have a tight image. Again the later your position the wider range of hands you play but they must have potential because loose players also get premium hands but not 2 or 3 times every round.

Try to avoid confrontations with the big stack, he's running hot, also the small stacks, they are getting desperate. The middle stacks are often coasting into the money and more afraid of loosing.

Just to add my 2cents here. Whether or not you're card dead, I do my best to pay attention to how others are playing. Not simply whether player in seat #1 is loose or aggressive but whether or not the players on my table are defending their blinds or folding to raises (and if so, how much of a raise do they fold to? do they call a 2x bet but fold to bets of 2.5x or more?). Among other things, make a note of who tends to defend their blinds preflop and then also note what sort of cards they are showing down so you can get an idea of what their range is.

I try to ask this question when I'm card dead - how am I coming across to my opponents at the table? Since I'm not getting cards and not getting into pots, my answer tends to be that others perceive me as playing a tight game and only playing strong starting hands. This tight image should allow for good stealing opportunities if the action is folded to me. If I notice that there are a few players to my left that don't defend their blinds much and the action gets folded, I might take a stab at the pot. I have more thoughts but I gotta run so that's all from me for now.

Playing tourneys you have 2 choices:

1/ Aggressive on early rounds to build chips lead (often busted out fast), then use your huge-stack advantage to run over others, to the final table.

2/ Super tight to go deep into the bubble then often get busted by repeated attacks of big stacks.

Either way it takes several tourneys to make it to the final, then from there a chance to take the trophy.

someone already took the words out of my mouth, tublecain to be exact...if you go for long periods of time without quality starting hands...you have to find places to steal the blinds and make a bluff to win a pot here and there to keep your stack above 15 bbs...if you dont...you will be forced into a coinflip which could mean your tournament life...dont feel rushed...if you are card dead...take your time making decisions...think things through ...dont get in a habit of insta folding everyhand...get the players around you to believe you are making careful, calculated decisions.

gl to you
wooter

I read Harrington on Hold Em Vol 1. in between playing hands, and it definitely helped my game tremendously. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone serious about their game.