I Officially Cant Play Tournaments

Alright, well after busting out of about my 10th tournament in a row before the money I have officially given up on them. MTTs are the only games that I cannot beat. I simply do not have the patience for them. Every time I play one I get super impatient (especially if i make it past the first hour). I always end up trying to force the action and eventually i just start randomly shoving. I dont know what it is, my brain just goes crazy. I can't stand just sitting at a FR and folding bad hand after bad hand and playing a TAG game for hours on end. I can sit at ring tables/STTs forever and never lose patience, but something about an MTT just drains me mentally.

Anyways, sorry for the rant, I guess Im just pissed off at myself for playing so poorly all the time in these things. Never again, that was officially my last MTT (except for the CC games of course where I will most likely just be donating to the prize pool ).

Meh, ring games are 3904329829x more profitable anyways

Can't describe how glad I am that I switched from STTs to rings.

I know where you're coming from bw, though my tolerance ends around 2 1/2 hours.

The exception seems to be if it's something that I've never played before, and occassionally CC freerolls just because I can play freerolls without paying much attention. I can just play the cards when the table pops up, and try to keep an eye out for names I recognise at my table.

Why would this be? Do you have the lobby open, looking at the top stacks and thinking you have to be one of them?

This is *exactly* what I used to do! It took me a long time to realize that all I really needed to be was one of the people that didn't have 0 chips.

I decided to play the MidnightMadness on FT last night. The bubble was at spot 219. When things tightened up at around 300 players left, I was in about 275th place, but I was able to pick my spots carefully and survive well into the money (I actually finished 43rd).

Sometimes you just need to sit back, keep your head down, and wait for the cards or the right spots to make a move. They will come more times than you would expect, but only if you are still there to get them.

It also sounds like you are focusing too much on "winning" and too little on "surviving to cash". I completely support the idea that you should play to win, but sometimes you can't execute that phase of your strategy until you are at least close to the money (sometimes the right time for this is even as late as after the cash bubble).

Once you are close to the money (or the next payout level in big-field MTTs) there are plenty of opportunities to pick up chips as people tighten up. The key is to find out who doesn't want to gamble (through lots of observation), and wait for the right time to take advantage of that.

If you do all of that (maintain enough chips to not blind out, look for key spots to exploit and carefully watch the other players to pick up on their "ladder clinging" behavior) you will be far too busy to have time for impulsive behavior

It's early, and I don't want to confuse things, so when I am saying "you" in this post, I most likely mean bw07507, not AG

bw07507-You may want to try multi-tabling if you are not already....I know that helps me remain patient when I am playing tourneys. And I actually find it easier to multitable MTT's than STT's...probably because you spend far less time short-handed and near the bubble (than STT's). Or, maybe MTT's just aren't for you...and there's certainly nothing wrong with that IMO, just stick with what works for you.

Your are right in your observation of what it takes to finish in the money and that is patience. Tournament play is for grinders and is entirely different from ring games. Interestingly most tournament players lose their shirt in a ring game. Strategy is different. The fact that you finish at or near the bubble says that you play well but that you in your own words let boredom set in. As dpc suggests try multi-tabling. I usually play in some ST SnGs while in a tournament. Pick turbos if you want something fast paced.

I agree with bluesboy ... I ussally play other other stuff and just wait for premium cards. Even if they don't come you will still get your chance to shove .. ...

My best finish is 20th out of 3500 & was as high as 5th ... I ussally cash better than 60% of the time. (these are all .25 to 3.30 entry)

So far my theroy has been to play for free (60%+ cashes), and catch a big score ... With that in the bank maybe I would try to open up some ..

I once saw an interview with Phil Ivy and he was talking about how he loathed tournaments (at least until the final table). He sited one reason, boredom.

boom. pound it, brotha

Thing to do is play private games with 200 or so players. With 10,000 entries you are going to get one long crazy game. Stick to user group tourneys like CC events

I think the OP shows why so few of the top pros consistently win in both tournaments and side games -- they're two totally different animals that call for completely different skill sets. IMO, one of the sickest things about Phil Ivey is that he always rates at or near the top of most ratings for both tournaments and side games.

If you have this problem; you should take a shower before the tournement starts, and take with you food and chips and som beer/soda.
And take your time and calm down, and just play safe hands until you can afford to lose a hand. And dont watch the lobby. If you always care about the prize and the remaining players you will fail. It is only one thing you have to focus on and that is your cards

This was also my first reaction. The average stack size is a concept that really ONLY comes into play in MTT's and I've noticed it can be a huge distraction, causing mucho stress, impatience, and that 'need' to force some action.

10th in a row before the money? Hell, even top pros go on for 30 tournaments (sometimes even more) without cashing. But yeah, impatience is the way to lose money in MTTs, so get some discipline before playing them =)

Play in MTT with a payout that means something to you but within your budget. If the ROI is too small then you find it more difficult to concentrate on the game for the length of time it needs.

Why not play the 2 or 4 table sit-n-go's. They usually only take about 1-2 Hrs.