no hands to play

for the past two tournaments I've entered I've basically been forced to play weaker hands than I would normally. I've been getting to the half way point with a decreasing chip stack and therefore after the break, I've been forced to play steals with bad hands or just hands that I would normally let go J,7s or K,10 or the like you know what I mean? It's just at the start of the tournament should you attempt to bluff more often because if I'm on the button I would but the hands have been so poor, likewise in the BB I'v just checked the hand because they have been like the ones mentioned above. What advice would CC give on this one or is just a case of playing and staying tight until they do come?

Harrington covers this well in Harrington on Hold'em Volume II.
What you're asking about is an inflection point.

First a little lesson on M. Your "M" is the number of rounds you can survive a the current blind level. Let's say it's late in a 90 player S&G with $10 antes and $100/$200 blinds, so over nine hands (one rotation at a full table) you'll put in $390 per round. So in that situation if you had $4,000 in chips your M would be right about at 10.

Your M dictates what moves you can make effectively. An M of 20+ and you're pretty much in good shape and can play your normal game.
An M of 10-20 and you need to be a little cautious. Drawing hands aren't quite as valuable, so be a little pickier with them.
An M of 6-10, you really need to tighten up. Drawing hands aren't usually going to get the payoff they need to be played profitably.
Once your M gets to 5 or 6, you are in shove or fold mode. The reasoning behind this is because you still have enough chips to hurt most callers, so you still have fold equity (better hands like K/T to your J/9) will fold. Also, taking the blinds is a significant win for your stack.
Even getting called by a better hand is not tragic, as folding a few more rounds will leave you with the same small stack if you double up. (IE, shoving when your M is 3 means you're still in trouble at 6). Getting called with a better hand usually means you'll still win a little more than 1/3 of the time, and when you do win you will have a decent stack again.

So to answer your question, you play your normal game and bluff when you see the standard opportunities. As your stack whittles down bluff less, but when it gets really low you bluff more.

I played from seven to eleven in a 9 person sit n go in real room. I was dealt 4 2, 4 3, 7 2, and not much better for ten stright hands. My best hand for the first 2 hours was 22. i just had to fold about 90% of my hands pre flop and 5% post flop. I did very well though. If you can control when and what you play you can win on 5%of your hands

You just can not beat patience and good starting hands. no matter how long you have to wait.......Remember, that kind of play has made you a winner in the past and what has gotten you this far. Stick with that basic fundamental.

Thanks for all your great advice you three, its made me just think to be patient, patient, patient. I've read Harrington and no what you mean penguin my M got down to around 7 the other night i pushed AI with pp8 got one caller with K10 and he hit a ten on the river, was'nt meant to be I suppose

Early on Choose your Spots.
Your cards don't matter at this point.
Bluff when the timing is right.


Don't do Panic All ins. (you will get called down for sure).
Choosing the amount to bet and raise can be very critical.
Carefully choose your bet or raise size.
When in doubt error on larger then smaller bets and raises.


Good Luck

How about playing on line turbos where the blinds go up every 5 minutes? Probably played 15-20 tourneys in a row, 180 player, with no hands and when you get a half decent hand, get sucked out on the turn by someone with a big stack and a lesser hand. Try to be patient, but end up getting your stack whittled down by the blinds and having to play some hands you wouldn't normally.

This is geared more towards single table SNGs, but the overall philosophy is worth checking out regarding turbos:
Turbo STT guide