I am having trouble when blinds get large.

Hi all, I have been practicing, for a couple years on line, mostly freerolls and am doing well late in to the torrney. Last night i played 5 free rolls. I finished 255 out of 4000 players. My problem seems to be I get to tight as the blinds go up. I don't seem to have my timing on and when I play good cards nothing comes. I tossed a A 6 when I had 8000 chips and the blinds were 1000 and 2000. I was the next to act after the BB and figured there were to many players behind me to play an Ace with a 6 kicker. I would havew made 3 aces and been in good shape had I been willing to risk it all on an A 6. Any suggestions would be
appreciated. dmc7777

I guess that somes it up. I also would like to see some suggestions on this subject

Its all about picking the right moments. Your aim has to be to attempt a steal atleast once a round (everytime the button passes). This keeps your stack level and it gives you time to wait for those big hands.

I attempt my steal the closer the button gets to me, this way I can see almost all the field folding. This gives you more of a chance in a showdown if someone calls or raises you. I always try a steal if I am holding something that will hold up in a showdown as well. A 6 is a reasonable hand when the blinds are high. You dont get fish on low stack chasing either.

I have got to the final stages of quite a few freerolls and this tactic always works for me.

Just wait for your moment, it will come.... and if it doesnt, then you have to pray!

It's true that you have to loosen up your play a bit as the blinds increase. There's no way you can afford to play as tightly at the 1000/2000 level as you were at the 100/200 level. As the blinds rise, you must play more hands and take more risks to avoid being "anted out". 8,000 chips when you're looking at 3,000 chips per round in blinds is extremely short-stacked. You have to try and make something happen.

The situation you described is the classic devil's bargain. A6 offsuit is not a starting hand under the gun. In fact, it's the worst Ace-x starting hand as it falls outside the wheel (A-5 straight). I usually only play it on the button, and only if I can limp in. However, if you pass it up, you're looking at the blinds immediately following. What if you don't play it, get nothing in the blinds, and end up throwing away another 3000 chips on rags?

In this situation, I would not only play the A6, I would raise it to at least 4000, and probably all-in, to try and steal the blinds and pay for the upcoming round. Being so short-stacked, I don't see waiting.

And try not to get hung up on what comes after you fold. It's not what you "could have had" that determines whether you made a sound play or not. If that were true, then folding 72 offsuit pre-flop would be a bad play...if the flop came 772. Unfortunate, yes. Unlucky, yes. But still the right play to make.

Rammer,

I have been lurking about in cardschat and seeing what everyone is about. I have appreciated your "teaching" approach in your answers.

What direction have you taken in your stategy to improve your game? (Play more, read books, ask questions?...)

I disagree with rammerjammer. In that situation I would fold becuase there are many players behind you that could call, so I wouldn't try to steal. Also I would wait to see if I can get anything better, but really it's just how you look at it. If you think ace six is a good enough hand, by all means play it. However in my opinion, you made the right move

i thnik that you either have to fold or go allin, if you just call and miss your flop its a waste, if you go allin then you may at least get the blinds, and if 1 persom calls with say K-Q they may miss and you would take the hand.

I agree with Max. This is an either or situation, fold or all in. With only 4x the BB left and the blinds coming up next you are in a do or die situation. Go with your gut and hope for the best.

Well, you know what they say. "Those who can't do, teach."

As to the improvement question, all of the above. But I think that reading has probably brought me further faster than any other single facet of learning the game. Work on expanding your poker library. Commit to yourself that you will go to a well-stocked bookstore once a month and add a volume. One book a month should be affordable to most anyone, even if poker books tend to be somewhat overpriced.

To chase a rabbit regarding poker literature, someone should seriously suggest to Doyle Brunson that he commit the Biography, General Poker, and Hold 'Em sections of "Super System" to an audio book set. To hear Doyle himself read his masterwork in that Texas drawl would be fabulous. And I could put on the earphones and practice "sleep learning" at night!

Such good suggestions on here,I've been in that mess before and play way to tight. Now that I've lossened up I'm doing much better. I get such good feed back here. Enjoy All---Good Luck and Good Cards>Hope to see you at the tables.

Well, your problem is obvious. You should have known about the 2 Aces that were destined to hit the board, just like the guy next to you who folded A7.

first off, hello all, glad to be a member here at the forums.

In MY opinion in that situation shared with everyone, I would have gone all in with the A6. Jammer was right about the short stack thing in late game play, either make a move or bow your head and take the walk to the losers lounge. I have found that in late game "free-rolls", people tend to fold to pre-flop raises if they are raised to an all-in behind the big blind. I have played in quite a few free rolls on just about every poker site online. I have finished in the top 5 in stud, and have won 1st in a several low entry free-rolls as well as a 2000 person freeroll on absolute. I play poker roughly 8 hours a day to tweek my skills, and just like everyone else, its all luck and knowing when to stay and when to get the heck out is the biggest question to answer to yourself.

Online free-rolls go in one of two directions for me. In the final 50, or out in the first few rounds on a bad beat. Getting through the first few rounds with yahoo's going all in with their 2 7 os is a kick to an A K and loose the hand and end your game saying those o so loosely used bad words, but I have found that late game action is roughly 70 % bluff and 30 % play (in my observations).

Anyways, the site rocks and hope to see you at the final table of a tourney soon.

Cheers
TDP05

Big blinds - Big preflops - big money.Thats all

i have to say i find alot of the answers in these threads very informative. guess i'm not as smart/good(well ok is a btter word) as i thought. lol

My feeling is this - You only had 8000 chips. Did you look to see that the leaders had probably 80,000 to 100,000+ chips. You were never destined to win that freeroll - you were not positioned right with chips - you didn't have enough at that stage of the freeroll. If you want to make it to the top 50 or whatever the prize placements are, you must accumulate your chips in the first 2 hours of play. You must get at least 50,000 chips by that time -- otherwise - you will be out because of tight play, loose play or the blinds going up to 3000. With 4000 people, the play time is probably 3 - 4 hrs.

P.S. Rammer - the quote is: "Those you can do, those who can't - teach."

I loosen up my play a lot and go into aggressive blind stealing mode. If you have an A in your hand you should probably go for it depending on your positioning. I've stolen with 9 high though so its all about timing.

Well Well, If you seen the WSOP finale last nigth you may have seen a hand that rings a bell. If you read my original post you will see what I mean. Scott Lazar a raise and a call and was in the same seat as I was with an A and a 5 or 6. He folded just as I did after thinking for a few seconds. The flop, you guessed it Rag AA. he would have made trips just as I would have. To add to
the insult another A came on 4th street. He would have been playing against 2 pocket pairs and easily would have got all his money in and got called. I calculate he would have made 20 mil after the hand was done. He would have been chip leader but instead he went on tilt since he missed his once in a life time quad Aces at the final table of the WSOP. He then played K 9 suited on the next hand and lost half his chips. He then played Q 10 on the next hand and lost the rest of his chips. Out in 8th place I believe.
He stated to another player I self destructed. This game is a cruel way to have fun.

I have notice that sometimes folk tail off towards the end of a tournement because they lose sight of the value of their chips,

Here's my advice,

Try not to think of the bets going into the pot as big or small, compare the bets that are made as multiples of the big blind.

Example 1:

In the early part of a tourney when the blinds are say 50/100 if someone were to bet out 3000 (30 times the BB) chips preflop then you might consider folding say QQ , later on in the tourney when the blinds are say 500/1000 the same bet of 3000 chips is made (Only 3 times the BB) there would be no way you would lay down QQ, You'd probably raise with it.

Example 2:

Imagine sitting with pocket 7's on the button, everyone either folds or limps in, the blinds are 100/200, you raise 1000 more. The only callers you are likely to get are those with decent hands.

Same pocket 7's, same position but the blinds are 500/1000, you raise the same 1000. You'll get calls from everyone and anyone.

Long story short - Guage the bets in multiples of the BB, it's all relative. 3000 chips is only alot when the blinds are low.

Hope this helps.

Well put. I have learned since i made the first post and found what you have said to be very true. I have improved my game although I some times wonder If I ever will be a great player. When I made the original post, my mistake was I was comparing the bets to my chip stack instead of the blinds.