Which hands to plat early in a tourny???

I'm not sure what hands you should plat, since I rarely plat any hands.

Question of style, how the rest of table is playing, skill level, what your goals & objectives are for the particular tourney & such. Or as we say around here, it depends.

Plus position, position, position.

I`m left with nothing to say, `cause Kenzie and Snake said it all.

Assuming average conditions, play tight from early & mid position, but loosen up dramatically from the last three seats, if you can see a cheap flop.

Only during the early levels, mind. Don`t play borderline hands once the blinds reach ~10% of the starting stack (unless you have been fortunate enough to amass a big stack and the blinds are a small proportion of your holding).

If the table is tight, and you are unlikely to face a raise behind you, you can open out your starting requirements from the next two seats also.

Conversely, if there are Lagfish at the table, sit back and wait for a premium hand to "rope a dope" with.

if they are letting you see flops and people are limping, it can't hurt to call with suited connectors and offsuit connectors no more than 2 cards apart ( Ie 87 and 97) hoping to flop a monster or monster draw (but just because you flop a monster draw don't mean put everything on the line here if someone is betting too much). Get in as often as you can if limping is allowed with more marginal hands, with the sole intent of flopping something like 2 pair. The connectors and suited connectors are probably safer hands though because your drawing to more solid hands. Often you will flop a monster, and early in the tournament is the cheapest time you will get to see flops. You can't do this for every tournament though, but if the table is letting you see flops TAKE MORE.

Thats such a broad question its pretty much impossible to answer? What kind of player are you? What kind of tourny? Whats the table like? Just a really hard question to say this is the BEST way to do anything at all.

Assume that the blinds go up every 10 minutes and start at 10/20. You have 2000 chips to begin with.

In these conditions, it is acceptable to limp in with crappy hands that will pay off when they hit (low suited connectors like 3,4; 4,5; 5,6, etc.) and medium to high connectors or gapped conectors (8,10; 7,9, etc.). Note that is will only work if you're in late position or in the blinds and there's no action preflop. You'll also have to play them in a family pot for them to be profitable, since you'll risk chips with marginal holdings hoping to catch: you're most likely a small to huge underdog preflop (and post flop unless you catch a solid draw), so you need to get payed off big for the times (vast majority) that they miss and have to go in the muck. Nothing worse than limping in with 98 with only the blinds as they are likely to fold to any action if you catch your straight draw.

Another piece of advice: don't get married to your hand. Even if your 8 hit on a 2-4-8 board/rainbow if you have a 7 kicker. Chances are someone has caught a piece of that flop if it goes 4-5 handed and their kicker is the best.

If you're not comfortable playing them postflop, as they put you very often in difficult spots early where you can lose a good chunk of your stack, wait for good hands. Also, if the table is already very loose, you don't want to get involved early on by hands that are dominated, as was pointed out.

Egon Towst said:

Assuming average conditions, play tight from early & mid position, but loosen up dramatically from the last three seats, if you can see a cheap flop.

Only during the early levels, mind.

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Yup, that's pretty much what I do, try to see flops in late position even with more marginal hands ( but I don't mean 74o). Standard tournament strategy suggests to be tight early on, and that is certainly good strategy, but I do admit that in the last 3 seats I try to see more flops, assuming average conditions like Egon says, where by that he means you're quite sure you'll get to see the flop because the chances that someone behind you raises the pot are small. This happens often in the early stages.

This of course doesn't mean you only play monsters in EP, what you do there depends on the table. If there really aren't many raises PF then hands like T9s you should limp, but throw them away though if pot gets raised often PF. Personally I really don't have a set strategy for the first 2 levels, its mostly about adjusting to what the table conditions are, you might need to be supertight or you can play looser, particularly in position.

I saw plenty good advice here, nice thread and even better posts from everyone, not only Egon. Good job.

This of course doesn't mean you only play monsters in EP, what you do there depends on the table. If there really aren't many raises PF then hands like T9s you should limp, but throw them away though if pot gets raised often PF. Personally I really don't have a set strategy for the first 2 levels, its mostly about adjusting to what the table conditions are, you might need to be supertight or you can play looser, particularly in position.

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Quick question. On a very, very passive and loose table (6-7 handed regularly in the first 3 levels), do we just limp with premium drawing hands (T9s, J10s, QJs) or do we raise hoping to take the dead money.

Scenario:
Level III (blinds 25/50), starting chipstacks 1500 (basically a turbo SNG on Stars). We have a chipstack of 2100 and most people have around 1000-2000.

We are CO+1 looking down at J10s. 4 people have limped in (yes, even at that level, I see 4 people limp in). Do we limp or do we raise ? Because if I'm the one on the button and it is limped like crazy to me, I pop a raise with almost ATC trying to take it down. In my experience, you won't get reraised very often by the button or the blinds, and if you do, you very much know where you stand and can muck them. This isn't something I would do often, but only at the very extreme of passive tables since I can stand a chance to get some free money and thus a chip edge on my opponents (something important in a turbo), and if I get called, I still have a very playable hand (and will probably have position).

jeffred1111 said:

Quick question. On a very, very passive and loose table (6-7 handed regularly in the first 3 levels), do we just limp with premium drawing hands (T9s, J10s, QJs) or do we raise hoping to take the dead money.

Scenario:
Level III (blinds 25/50), starting chipstacks 1500 (basically a turbo SNG on Stars). We have a chipstack of 2100 and most people have around 1000-2000.

We are CO+1 looking down at J10s. 4 people have limped in (yes, even at that level, I see 4 people limp in). Do we limp or do we raise ? Because if I'm the one on the button and it is limped like crazy to me, I pop a raise with almost ATC trying to take it down. In my experience, you won't get reraised very often by the button or the blinds, and if you do, you very much know where you stand and can muck them. This isn't something I would do often, but only at the very extreme of passive tables since I can stand a chance to get some free money and thus a chip edge on my opponents (something important in a turbo), and if I get called, I still have a very playable hand (and will probably have position).

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Nice post. If you think there's a good chance of taking the dead money then I think its fine to raise. The pot is already a size (275 with 4 limpers) where its worth taking it down. On the other hand you're making an example with a starting hand, JTs, that plays very well in multiway pots especially in position, so a case can be made for limping as well since table is loose and passive and you don't have to worry too much about someone coming in for a raise to steal the pot.

Since both limping and raising have pros and cons with premium suited connectors, one has to draw a line as to where you start raising in position with them or just join the limpers. In your specific example where we are in level 3 with 4 limpers in the pot, I'd be more inclined to raise to 350 and take the dead money. The same scenario in level 1 would have a pot of 110 so I'd rather limp hoping to hit big. I guess it can be said that the size of the pot will tell me which direction to go in, but some may very well disagree with this, it is subjective.

Another important factor, giving a better look at your example, is that the tourney is a turbo and this needs to be considered also in deciding the proper course of action. The free money is now much more important and with the table conditions you describe, IMO, at level 3, this is an autoraise. But again, that's just my opinion.

Last thing to say is that we're not considering what your image is up to this point, because if the previous 2 orbits you have made moves like this already then you might want to proceed more cautiously, because it is true you still have a playable hand and likely in position, but you're raising mainly to take the pot right away, you'd much rather not get called.

Wow, I will play differently depending on different things.

freerolls with tons of people...
For example, if there are like 5 starting around the same time, I will enter them all, and really play some wacky stuff as I dont want to multi that many, but I want to get an advantage in one of the lesser ones. The one or two main ones I am most interested in I will play tons different then the others. The others I will play pretty much anything and if I get decent or good flop I will go for it.

I am the dude that your calling an idiot for playing 72o limping in on a $25 touney and getting lucky on a great flop for me and doubling, tripling up right off. Mainly because I have several that I either need to get in and get an advantage or I need to get out to concentrate more on the more interesting ones the the less interesting ones I have managed to get really lucky on. Since I do this on the lower level ones, which start more often, I can right back into a different one and do it all over again.

If its a higher paying one, In EP I play exremely tight, top 10 hands only, even folding great hands if too many people are in it and raising-reraising since several will be doing what I do in the lower ones and I dont want to get knocked out, or my stack size hurting because someone else got lucky. MP I will loosen up a little, and if LP loosen up a bit more, but not too much. I find I can almost at least double up early on in them by waiting until I get a monster hand from the people trying to get lucky. Then again, if its a family pot, and I can limp in late with qx suited or such, its a coin flip (or rather do I feel lucky ) if I will play it or not since the reward will be so much compared to the risk of losing a bb. Of course if I do play, its hit and run with it (flop the flush, set or two pair at least), or fold right off. Also if I do get lucky people will see the trash I managed to get paid off for playing, then when I am playing tight someone will pay me off again thinking I am a donky.

If its not a freeroll, or a freeroll with a much smaller field its totally different. I will wait it out and pick my best spots as I can usually get doubled up every hand I hit really good, and it dont take many to into the payouts. It also depends on if I just want to survive to get into the payout, or if I actually want to try to win it. Hard to explain that but hopefully you get what I mean. Like if its a sat where the top 10 go to the next, I dont care about anything except coming in at least 10th so getting there with a large enough stack to have a good chance of winning doesnt matter as long as I have one chip to get there with, and once there, if the tourney dont stop I will just get up, or go crazy to either win it outright quickly or get out and give some lucky person my chips as I dont care after that.

Really there are so many variables involved... I will adjust slightly accordingly to the other players, but thats the basic outline I go into it with.

So You're that guy eh??????

If there is alot of very low paying freerolls starting around the same time, I will be that guy lmao. Sad but true, but at least I will admit it.

Dont worry, I am calling the people that do the same thing in 500, 1k tourneys idiots too.

The way I see it, if I am going to spend 2-3 hours in a tourney that if I win, and even I am to win all of it like $25, I want a advantage (sometimes it dont matter but still...) at the start since I am not getting but around $10 an hour out of it.

Every five minutes? Not for cash winnings right?

Nowaday on internet, in my opinion, you have to play loose in the start of tournaments, and play ultra agressive, because if you didn't double a few times you won't be alive with the increase of blinds. To be on final table, this is a considerable strategie, but many times you will lose all your chips.
It's kill or die, THE JUNGLE'S LAW.

i think you must be very educated in sit n gos and multi table tourneys cause blinds increase quickly my favorite hand would be Q9 or J6 have got alot of monster flops with these hands

I would play ace wrags with low blinds but not with raises,and careful not to be blinded by the ace if you do pr you always have the kicker to worry bout