Looking For Advice

How do i stop (caring about) cashing in tourneys?

Two days ago i played on a $2 tourney and literaly folded my way into the $ but by the time I started playing hands again I had so few chips that one measly bad beat put me out.

I go into the tourneys with the mindset that I want to final table at least with winning being my goal yet as the bubble time nears I find myself tightening up and playing for the $.

I have tried even small tourneys and find myself doing the same thing.

A couple of times I've gotten lucky and been able to FT or win but not as often as I should because of this guarded approach.

I am willing to try whatever? Hypnotist?

I am gainfully employed and the amounts I play for are not going to negatively impact my families eating habits

This is a major leak in my game. How do folks stop caring about $ and play strong through bubble time?

Don't ever look at the tournament entry page to see how many will cash. Yeah, you'll miss out on firguring when the bubble will start and when people will start tightening up, but that info's useless to you right now anyway.

All you have to do stay away from the leaderboards and how many people are left, I never look at the tournament info until about the 4th hour into the tournament.

Yeah, don't pay attention to leaderboards or things like that. Just play to win everytime. When your getting to the bubble play more aggressive and you can gain a lot of chips. After that just hope you get lucky enough to win your coinflips and take it down.

i appreciate the advice and i think lookin at the tourney info is alot of my problem and again tx fer the advice and gl at the tables

Thats a quizzical one .. well .. you just dont bother then! Thats upto you isn't it. ? Be patient n smart and you'll win mate. be cool!
Cheers

poker is about making money.. thats how we keep score!!

If you always make it to the bubble then you make money .. so its certainly a stratagy!!!

Build your bankroll and play your way.. if you could make it to the bubble of the WSOP or WPT then you would be better than most pro's!!!

Enter a low buy in tournament with the expectation that you will NOT cash. When you get to the bubble, play aggressively in an attempt to NOT cash. Then see what your final result is. It's reverse psychology, or something to that effect according to my psych teacher.

forget time either 2 minutes in or 2 hours in gotta have a feel for table and what you can get away with

Seems like you have to have plenty of time to play or you'll make some bad bets.

personally, i just worry about my table. i cant control anything else. its not gonna help to look to see how they are doing, that will only make me distract me. i just take care of what i have control over and the rest takes care of itself.

Read the poker mindset, it covers exactly that and so much more. but also if your good enough to make the money you just got to keep playing the same way. A lot of times i wont take any huge risks without a huge hand close to the money, but You Must raise in position and take blinds and antes. This will help keep you afloat while trying to cash.

just remember this... " The process is more important then the result" Just because you made it to the money doesn't mean you played all that well. If you get bad beat a hundred times, you still made the right plays 100 times

yes folding ur way into the $ money is sometimes a good thing to do. A few days ago i played this freeroll 900 people max and 900 was in. anyways after 1 hour(Break) there were 120. iwas in 92 at the time. top 90 gets paid. at this time i was just worried about placing in the $. anyways i just kept folding only playing high pockets or AK something like that. check this out though i was in the bottom 20 the hole touranment untill about top 18 and ended up in 3rd won $5.38. anyways i folded my way to the money. good luck

Personally, I try not to watch the leader board and just play my table until it gets down to hand by hand play. It doesn't much matter early on what position I am in as far as my playing style goes but then again I am a long way from a pro.

if your makin the money in comps
,this is a good thing it shows u got patience,,as u play more u will learn 2 look out for weeker player who themselves have titend up and sitting waiting 2 cash ,they are the 1ns u will end up pikin on wen u get better,at poker hang in there it will come, practice practice practice

Poker is a funny game. In large field gms-90 players or more, I'm looking to get doubled up early on. If I can get a decent stack early I can take some chances and maybe get a monster stack. Then play smart and have a good chance to win. Otherwise I do just try to hang around and then when it gets later in tourney I'm hoping to win those coin flips. I do try to make the money first though. After that it may be coin flip city. I hate having to rely on coin flips, but nevertheless it makes no difference when u get a big stack, early or late. For me it is about making some money, improving, and having a lot of fun. And it is always fun to go deep in big field tourneys. Just keep playing smart.

just play your normal game and try not to look at how many players have to be eliminated before you

ya stick to your game and focus on your table rather than the leaderboard. if you're too focused on making the money your gameplay will change and you might make mistakes that you may not have made otherwise.

Best advice i heard was from chris ferguson. keep ur game the same through the whole tourney. Dont tighten up when u get close just remain the same in ur aggressiveness, and ur stack will get bigger, or relatively the same, which is a great way to climb the payout ladder

I watch everything, but play to win, but also know I cant win if I dont make bubble, then final table, so I consider my move at each 'inflection point' as harrington puts it. I used to be like you OP, an ITM plyr to build my confidence, now I am more dangerous... he he he

Fear.... You cant play with Fear... Your opponent can smell it. If you play with fear you wont last. when you feel you have the best hand you cant be afraid of re-raises or going out. You have to be agressive. Especially when the bubble is getting close. Others will fear the bubble. that is the time to really be agressive... especially against the short stacks. There are a lot of "donkeys" out there and they will call. Find your hand and you will end up the winner. (60% of the time... they may have outs). You have to play like there is nothing to lose and the chips will come to you....

Best advice on hear so far, imo. I asume you're talking about STT cash games so my advice deals mainly with them.

At the start play tight and get to know your competition's moves. Only come in small with big hole cards because there's usualy some idiot that will call with ATC looking for a suckout and hitting it. When you do have the hand solid, nail 'em for as much as you think they will call. Fairly soon you'll have a good read on everyone and be able to munipulate them by slow playing , bluffing or such depending on how the hand is being played and your position at the table.

Late in the game, esp. right before the bubble is a great time to steal or raise everyone off a pot with a solid starting hand. Again, this is all player/position dependent.

Most importantly, do not play with scared money! If you're afraid to lose you're probably going to get blinded or bluffed out. Simple as that... When I see people playing scared I take advantage of them every chance I get, it pays off in the long run. Sound cruel, no...it's just poker....



OP...I've shared more than a couple tables with ya at CC fr's and know your play fairly well. You do great early but tighten up too much latter in the game, imo. If you can loosen up a bit and maybe add some agression at the right times latter in the game you'll go a lot farther in those games.

Yeah OP i got the same problem. I routinely get enough chips to get in the money and then shut it down. It just bothers me that people will hang on and fold when the have like 40 chips left after they put 1000 in the sb.

this one is easy you need to play to win at all times-to be honest id rather bubble then finish just in the money-because you have to have a going for the win mentality-if anything you should be more aggressive on the bubble but not to a maniacal point-pick your spots and mainly DONT BE AFRAID TO BUBBLE-theres more honor in going for the win and playin fearlessly-then to just barely make the money and bust out-the_urge27

i find this is the time you can win some big pots as there are people like you who tighten up when the moneys near and rather than raising hands they should they limp and are beaten by a far insuperior hand

stay focused on where you want too be in tourney if you want too stragle in or win i play too win i could careless about placing i like too take charge if you see me in tourney im usually in the top 10 but my problem is slowing down after im in a major chip leed i nees too work on this too in your case sounds like if you were like me youd make some more cash

Well I dont know, I think you have to have a mind set on what you want. If you ever notice in your game when your cards r matching the flops. I mean sometimes I start off with really strong cards, and end with strong cards. But if it dont come till after 1st break, I'll try and build my stack up so i can fold later and float to the $$.