Tourney Preplan

Okay so I qualified for a WSOP qualifier - Single table - 10 players - Starting stack = $3,000 - LIVE this Saturday

Considerations/plan for this structure? (Of course they need to totally redo the structure from their regular tournaments ti insure optimum donkatude).

Just to be up front I do have a plan but who knows, someone might say some brilliant Mark Twain shit that would cause me to reconsider that.

Levels are 20 minutes

25-25
25-50
50-100
100-200
Break
200-400
300-600
500-1000
700-1400
Break
1000-2000
1500-3000
2500-5000
5000-10,000 (they have a note saying "Until Complete" - Hilarious - There's only $30,000 in play.)

And if your advice is rooted in say Harrington or Snyder or Little or Gordon or what have you please say so - that way I can run to my shelf and do some research. THANKS! Oh and just a heads up - my friends advice, "just play it like a STT SnG" does me no good. I've only played about a dozen of those - mostly in the CC League going on right now. So basically what I am saying is while that advice may be good - I really don't know what it means. Hardly ever play less than 4 tables (sometimes 3 when there is a shortage at the casino).

Start off figuring out who to watch out for, it will help a lot to figure out what kind of players you are up against. Then you will have to adjust your game based on who is at your table.

Your good enough to qualify and from your knowledge on the forum I know you're good enough to make it there... GL 'Blitz... I don't know about the Mark Twain stuff (good one... lol...) but if you want some literature that is fairly different and might throw other players off, might I suggest brushing up on The Poker Tournament Formula 2 - Advanced Strategies for Big Money Tournaments by Arnold Synder. I suggest this only because the players you will be up against will probably use the same old routines/book strategies whereas Snyder's style of play is a little bit... um... er... unorthodox... just a suggestion, once again gl on tha tables...

If you're not familiar with typical STT-SNG strategy then it feels kinda weird/odd for me to describe the adjustments you're looking to make while playing a WTA SNG Satty vs. a typical 50/30/20 payout STT-SNG. Briefly though, you don't want to be playing it like a typical STT-SNG. (in a typical STT-SNG you want to play fairly tight early to maintain Fold Equity for the bubble). Calls that are likely incorrect in a STT-SNG may be 'correct' in WTA SNG Satty.
Accumulating chips becomes more important than maintaining a stack with fold equity.

Id be refining my short stack and short handed play ;
Poker Tornament Formular 2 is aimed at deep structured tornaments so wont be much good at the 1 table satelite, but defenitly read it after you qualify for the WSOP - good luck man

this game awards 1 seat, right? if so, basically you can play it the same as a cash game since all the chips in play will have the same value throughout the tournament. ICM is useless in this structure.
when players start shoving wide, you should be more willing to call than we would in a regular sng.

55 vs ATC has 60% equity
QJs vs ATC has 60% equity
A9o vs ATC has 60.7% equity
KJo vs ATC has 60.5% equity

i would spend some time running hands through pokerstove. you are going to have many situations in this structure where you will be forced to call/fold against a shove. knowing your equity against ATC, top 70%, top 50% or whatever will make your decisions easier.

steal often obviously. be willing to shove ATC against the nits. gl

You're right. I don't know how I missed him mentioning a single table event. Only picked up on it after PO reiterated it... good catch...

Assuming it's WTA, it seems pretty doubtful that using standard STT strategy based on 3 places paid would be completely appropriate.

I haven't been in your exact situation, but did make an online final table a few years ago where it was WTA for a WSOP package (1500 event). I basically tried to be more selectively aggressive against the tight players who had medium and small stacks, and to pot control more vs the larger stacks. I can't really say how much these adjustments actually helped or hurt. Naturally, the stacks weren't very deep, and it came down to getting enough cards at the right times, which I suspect it will for you too.

GL

Play tight at first try not to lose too many chips in the beginning stages. You'll need them or when it gets to the higher blinds.

Yes it is WTA (for $10k Main Event seat plus spending cash). I'm going to respond to and even challenge a few of these posts (which, overall have been really good and has me thinking).

Side note for Zeke - one of my favorite movie quotes from The Devil's Rejects just before serial killer Otis is about to kill a guy...
"Boy, the next thing out of your mouth better be some brilliant Mark Twain shit, because it's gonna be etched on your tombstone."

Which brings another side note - if you ever read a post by me and are like WTF??? - it's probably some movie reference.

And now I've gone on so long I'll start another post - lol

Uh yeah - good advice - that has to do with every game at every and any table in the world online or live. Looking for something specific to this situation. Nice try though. yeah yeah yeah, I'm an asshole.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zeke. And I'm glad we go this straightened out (thanks to kanselau's catch) - you had heading for my shelf to grab PTF2 which I have only scanned and have yet to read. You think it would be good for a weekly 100 man deepstack ($10k) they run in town at the casino here in KC?

Thanks for the PM PO - and thanks for the help. If it works I'll fly you out for my gallery at the final table

I like it CT. One of things I like going into this is I was exclusively focused on cash game for the last 6 months before switching back to tourney. It has helped tremendously in MTT live - 9 for 12 final tables and 6 cashes in the last couple months. I'll get back on my PF equity chart for sure.

Good advice. Not only going to have to have some luck with cards but also some luck on my seat draw - nits line up to the left please.

But yeah I read a Negreanu article that basically said for a WTA you just need to up your aggression. As usual he is not very specific about that but I am sure I will up my aggression with my monsters as well as what you are saying.

I like how you are delineating aggression and pot control. Lately I am so focused on pot control I don't consider the opponents exploitable tendencies like I should.

You're new so I have to ask - what are you basing this on in regards to this particular structure? Pretty generic advice to say play a tourney situation tight up front.

Just an FYI/Strategy reveal - I intend to be pretty tight in the beginning but it won't really have anything to do with personal stack protection - I want to focus my effort and energy on collecting data on the other players. Basically I'll just be more of a railbird than a player. It works better for me rather than trying to do it all at once. I am better at cataloging the info into my pea brain virtual HUD if I can stay out the eye of the storm and let everyone else get froggy while the blinds are nominal. Now I understand for some it would probably work better to do it while you're working the table, but like I said - pea brain.

I'm applying for passport right now as I respond to this post here.
gl

WHAAA?!?!?!? I thought you lived in Vegas.

'Online' Canada FTW!!!

LMAO... I'll make sure I remember this... cause the misleading advice I gave originally definitely cues me up for a nice funerary plot... lol...
Now for this, the original suggestion couldn't hurt, but then, (grins) I think you probably know that already...
I think your own advice is tha best while the blinds are low. With my original suggestion I guess the material's point that I was trying to convey is "Aggression" once you've gotten enough info on the other players. Once again, you made it this far. Your instincts will guide you rest of the way... I would also keep cheaptrix's comments close to heart about the hand equity comparisons w/ pokerstove because that was some damn good advice...

how did the day go ?

Jumped out to be chip leader in first hour just because everyone was being so tight (reversed my original strategy based on the table). One I got up I went back to tight as other players started getting more involved.

Came down to 2 hands.

2nd Level
I was in BB with 84o and 5 limpers. Flop= KQ8r and everyone checks. Turn is an 8. I bet pot. Two callers. Okay, one or the other probably has a K or a Q or both or 8x. We may be headed for a chop. 6 on the river. I bet half pot, one fold and last to act doubles my bet. Gotta call. He limped in with 86 and hit a boat on the river. I'm okay but am now less than starting stack.

4th level - 7 players left
Only have about 12 BB and pick up QJd - good enough to go for a blind steal from the hi-jack. Think about shoving but these guys have not been real aggressive unless they are initiating the action. Besides I wouldn't mind seeing a flop and going for a double up. The BB (chip leader) calls. The flop is all diamonds, including the K. I am expecting him to check which I am going to check knowing he will bet the the turn. But unexpectedly he shoves. I pretty much snap call. He shows Ad8h and announces he is on a draw. I flip over the made flush - ooo's and ahhh's from the table then 7d on the turn. BYE BYE

My Top 5 PF Hands:
44 - AJo - ATo - 22 - QJs

sometimes i wish live players would be more aggressive so i don't see a flop from the BB with 84o.
may have had same result shoving the QJs hand, who knows?

Yeah I think he would have called my shove - he was dominating the table with a 3 to 1 chip lead over 2nd. But it was sure a limpfest. I took advantage early - maybe I should not have backed off but I never got any cards - just took pots down by repping the board.