How much notice do you take in the early stages of holdem MTT???

Hi all.

I`ve seen a lot of threads saying things like "in SNG`s I don`t bother taking notice till we are down to the final 5 or 6" "When I play in a MTT I normally play a cash game during the first hour to reduce the bordem" and the list goes on.

In a large MTT with say 100+ entries with buy in of about $5 - $25 what would you guys do???

Are we missing a trick here by not concentrating early on???

Do the ppl we class as `fish` see this as a good opportunity to build up a chip stack knowing most of us are playing tight or paying very little notice in the early stages, therefore they are happy to push all in with any ace, any pair, any 2 paint, etc, knowing that about 90% of us will fold unless we have a premium pair, AK, etc?

Would be interested in your thoughts guys!!!

i never play more than one table at a time. i usually have too many other distactions to do that. it's hard enough to entertain my four year old son and play poker at the same time, let alone multitable.

I one table about 90% of the time, because I enjoy to watch and take notes because I wanna kno if I am in a pot with someone what I can expect from them

You cannot win an ntt early but u can sure as hel help if u got 10 k first break then u got a better chance of cashing thn some1 with 3k. winning chips off the fish early is a good way to go deep because it meannsu can play tighter when the fish are gone and it is mainly good players left

What I was thinking is are the fish a bit cleverer than we think???

Never underestimate the enemy, I say

I was thinking they could play on the fact that a lot of ppl are staying out of hands early on, unless they have a premium hand.

I think u go at them from the start Stef, my experience tells me

it's not worth it to race in a non-rebuy that early. or put yourself in a position that will make you be racing (eg blind stealing)

im not talkin bout blind stealing im talking about having good hands and betting when u kniw ure ahead its amazing what pple will call u with early on hitting trips in this period can triple u up and if u got chips early use em whats the worst tht can happen u go bck to original buy in and play tag and build slower but if it goes right u can build an advantage tht means as the blinds rise and people get desperate you can sit back and pick them off rather thn being in tht ssituation ureself and having to play marginal holdings.

and it depends ronaldadio sometimes i will play a lot early sometimes not if i get chipped early thn for sure i am taking risks to build

First hour of tournaments is really important. You can't win but you can put yourself in a position where you have a far better chance of making the cash.

The value of doubling up early in tournaments is massive. The longer you leave it the less value your chips have. Ending the first hour with between two and three times the starting stack is the goal, however if things don't pan out you don't want to find yourself knocked out either. The dead money in tournaments is what allows you to achieve this.

It absolutely doesn't mean seeking races (far from it) but it does mean being able to spot the idiot who will push TPNK or a straight draw and catching him with TPTK or an overpair. This means paying a lot of attention so as not to miss your chance.

I heard that you should play really tight in the early stages and thats what i do.
I only play a few hands in the early stages and i am usually bord till the 1st break, but i still pay attention.
I multi table cash games up to 3 at a time, but if im in a MTT i wont even open up another tabel.

Play the TAG early on; when you get a monster, push it to the limit. If you chip up big early, continue to play TAG. It's not your job to thin out the field, your prime concern is being comfortably in when they start handing out the prize pool.

I'm sorry but in my opinion that is crap advice...

Fish come in all varieties, the calling stations, the maniacs, the weak players, etc;

Against the weak players, you are only going to be winning small pots at a time because they will give you limited action.

Against the calling stations, your going to have to sit around for a read or for a solid hand - and they are rarer than you make out in your 2nd post on here.

Against the maniacs, your going to be faced with some extremely tough decisions early on - risking your tourney life on a possible coin toss.


With a short stack you can do more damage to good players with a larger one.


I mean play TAG, play your good hands and you'll end up around average stack at the break, then start to work on it - against the 'good' players

When I first started playing in the MTTs I was astonished that so many would go all in early on not much. I would look at the leaderboard and track those that had 3-6 times the starting money. And it would be 50-50 for them to be out of the tournament within the first hour. Very rarely was one of them still near the top. So now I don't feel bad that I'm at average or even below after the first hour. It's not a bad place to be. You will have gamble at some point. But you need to wait for the odds to be in your favor. And with 4 people calling an all in pre-flop, no hand has a greater then 50% chance to win. It's not cash remember, but your tournament life. When it means being eliminated and getting nothing, I'd hold off until the odds are better.

I do watch my opponents early on and I use FullTilts color notes to mark certain players. Especially those I think bluff too much and those that call too much. Last week I reached the final table with two players I had marked early on... one as a good player and the other as a bluffer and it turns out they had big fight on a different table and were still going at it at the new table. Naturally it was the bluffer upset he'd been called with marginal values. Kind of funny.

It's possible to disagree politely.

A possible coin toss? If a coin toss is 50/50 then a possible coin toss is 70/30, 60/40? I'd take that every time to double up early against a maniac, the value of the extra chips early is huge if played well.

TAG in MTTs early works but well played LAG (with skillful post flop play and willingness to fold) can work a whole lot better.

I do agree here. I went through a bad patch recently. I think it was because I tried to expand my starting hand requirements too much. When I was playing say 87 in late position, catching a flop with say 428 rainbow, I would almost forget my kicker and get caught out. So I realised I was not good enough - yet - to play LAG. I have reverted back to TAG, in the early stages, and I am opening up in the later stages, picking my spots in the middle. I have not made a fortune, but I find its better for now.