Biggest mistakes in MTTs

What in your opinion are the biggest mistakes made in MTTs at varying levels?
Whether it be playing too tight/loose in early/middle/late stages, or Cbetting to high, not changing "pace" throughout etc etc.
Would be interesting to see what people think?

It's kind of standard to expect a c-bet by the pre-flop aggressor at 90% of pots. I think this is one of the biggest mistakes, when you're already quite short in general, you can't afford to be making c-bets then folding your hands, an example would be 20 or so blinds, someone opens up quite loose, c-bets regardless, gets called then end up check/folding causing them to lose 20-30% of your stack. People will often still be raising it up when they should be shoving but scared to busting so raise minimum for example, they are easy to spot and usually you can buy the pots from them (if it's bubble time)

People have an idea that a big stack is the way forward in the early stages so that's why you often see people with huge stacks, but fail to realize this is actually irrelevant to a degree. Of course having a big stack is nothing to turn your nose up to but I think again people will often get it in bad, risk their tournament life on something that will have a "little" edge on field. Playing tight is right in the early stages and your edge will be much more valuable as opposed to the donkeys trying to achieve that huge stack if you loosen up and become aggressive when it really matters.

Again, a lot tighten up on the bubble and I used to be one of those, but I'm not so much bothered about cashing as it's meaningless and you just about get your buy-in + half again at best most times. I'd sooner push on those who are scared and build up a huge stack prior to the bubble bursting and then it's time after the bubble to make well timed shoves hoping to double up a couple of times to be able to get a greater stack.

Difficult to say (imo).. what are more common mistakes?.... not adjusting to different stack sizes (our own & the others on the table).
Some others >
- raising stuff like AQo, AJ & then flatting 3bets out of position.(in early levels in low buyin mtt)
- High blind limping

- Bluffing others out of protected pots.
- minbetting for information
- missing CBet on dry flops
- Cbetting Air vs 2+ Players on wet flops
- Filling up the Blinds or calling small raises with shitty hands
- not folding AA when they're obv beat

^^

-Playing too lose in the early stages
-Playing too tight near the bubble...this is when you should be stealing the most because for one the blinds and ates are usually pretty high so it really can help your chip stack and two the majority of people will tighten up on the bubble to make sure they cash...like ramdeebam said, does it really matter if you win your bi back?
-Like Poker Orifice said, don't limp when the blinds are high...if your going to play a hand during them levels your usually always better off raising.

I think my biggest mistake in MTTs is playing at all at the first two levels. At my BI level, many people will call any bet with anything and any chips put into the pot can be expected to finish as an all-in if you want to see the showdown!

Steve

bluffing in the early stages when blinds are small, still flat calling later on in the tourney with high ante and blinds, and always calling possible bluffs "just in case"

Not shoving wide enough in late position

Peeling then folding off short stacks

Playing suited connectors and speculative hands when you've got a shallow stack, whether it's HU or 2 or 3 bet. Saw someone earlier cold call a cold 3bet jam after someone raised some limpers with 76s, just lol

Peeling to defend blinds with too wide a range

Seeing flops with no plan

Raising pre without thinking about what you're doing if you get 3bet

Taking stupid lines post flop because they haven't thought about their opponents range - e.g. trying to bet for value when you should be check calling, bluffing in stupid spots when your opponent is always ridic strong

Not picking spots and adjusting probably; shove ATC over tight players but not loose players, 3betting light against loose players is fine but not having a plan when you get 4bet isn't good and they are likely way tighter UTG than they are in the CO

Playing JTo like it's a premium hand. This may be an omaha kind of thing, I dunno. Even nits often go haywire pre with this hand.

What is 'peeling'?

Steve

Calling to see another card

Losing patience and deciding to gamble on a hand or hope for a draw
Not paying attention to your own table image (a lot of what good players are going to do against you is predicated on what they think of you and what they think of you is largely based on what you have been doing).
Not adapting to the different levels and stages of the tournament (until it's too late)
Too conservative in late stages (not having the balls to shove a stack of 12BB)

Finding yourself regestering to two more MTT as you have just sucked out near the bubble. Only to realise its 2am and you have work in the morning...

yeah.......
And no paying attention to other player table image, because you're doing something else, like surfing or watching TV

I think as stks get shorter people flat call pre-flop not really getting the proper implied odds.

For sure this ^

One of the mistakes I used to make a lot was to "roar through the gate" during the earliest stages of the tournament, and then complain when my 6xBB raise from EP got four callers. It is usually better to play a tighter range at the beginning and then pursue stack-building once the table has tightened up.

I'd say the biggest mistake people can make in MTTs is misplaying their stack size near or on the final table. By that I mean mid stacks getting gun shy and letting themselves bleed out or big stacks taking the aggression a bit too far and finding themselves go from a top 3 stack to out of the tournament in 8th place.

When you've reached the final table, mistakes are amplified due to the money at stake.

Bwammo, have you been watching me play??? Thanks for reminding me of the obvious. I love your posts and commentary. Keep on postin'

Thanks,
FITEMAN

#Number one mistake I make is taking to many risk when I find myself with a big stack. Playing a little loose in the beginning is a good way to build your stack, but be cautious.

bet sizing and playing too loose early and too tight late

playing too many hands, not only does it bleed your stack , it also gets you into alot of trouble, unless you are a master at post flop play this is a disaster and even then you will have some tough decisions to make
.

So does this imply that as a general rule in MTTs (yes, I accept that "it depends") we should be looking at c-betting dry flops but not wet flops? I generally c-bet at microstakes when I hit or have an overpair, but any half-aware player will soon pick up on that.

Maybe I've misunderstood what Collin Moshman was saying in Sit N Go Strategy, but I thought he said that limping when blinds are large is much more damaging for smaller and medium stacks than it is for big stacks?

So floating is calling when you intend to bluff later in the hand, and happens quite a lot in cash games, but peeling is something different and is a leak in MTTs

Watching your stack/blind ratio and underbetting when stack shortens

The biggest thing I see from people.....is that when people are short stacked they wait and wait for premium hands to shove with and by the time they get a good hand they can barely cover the blinds and they get 5 callers.... Harrington on Hold Em calls it first in vigorish....when your stack is starting to get short and can still do damage to people if they call and lose and no one else has yet entered the pot if you get a hand like kj suited or id even gambled with hands like 78suited shove and hope you get lucky if someone calls or you will still the blinds do that enough and when you do get a premium hand someone will call just to look you up and boom aces

I have also displayed this leak lately. It is also quite devastating mentally to have a strong hold on the tournament and then to watch it disappear.

-Being too tight and not calling with pockets when you think they both haev aces and are still afraid of their kicker being hit. Chances are they have a weaker kicker than your pockets.
-Not challenging the chip leader at every chance you get.

best newbie post ever !!!!

Well there's some good advice in this thread, and also some terrible advice. Good luck with trying to figure out which is which

I would say Cbetting flops that are likely to hit opponent's calling ranges - JTx 2suited etc. I have this problem.

also a lot of hands I don't even pay attention to preflop action ..

Ive been an MTT reg for a while. There are lots of mistakes I still see players make online.

I would say the BIGGEST one, is limping (just calling) preflop when it is incorrect to limp. Let me give you an example.

Lets say the blinds are 1,000/2,000 and you have a stack of 25,000. It is very late in the tournament. You pick up KJ offsuit in early position. So many players will not be comfortable enough to shove here. I think that the optimal play here is either to shove or fold, NEVER limp when you only have 12 BB's. I rarely ever limp when i have less than 20 BB's. Im either in shove or fold mode. In the situation i mentioned above, deciding whether to shove or fold depends on the stack sizes of the rest of the players in the field. I would say that if its a turbo tournament where everyone is short, then you can afford to fold and look for a spot where you are in late position to shove your chips in (Shove spot). But if its a regular mtt and you are considered a short stack, then you have to ship in your chips there with KJ.

Moral of the story...never limp with less than 20 BB's. It is incorrect to do so.

+1, the more money at risk, the bigger the potential mistake.

I would say that one of the biggest mistakes I personally made was that when I started playing live. I was playing it just the same as if I was online. When I started the transition I left so many chips on the table by not considering things like my image or tells enough.