Losing Patience

A lot of times in tournaments, when im the chip leader, i get this idea that this tournament is getting no where and then i loosen up too much.. Is there a way to deal with this?

Don't!

Edit: I'll comment more in a bit now that I got some smart aleck out. Got busy atm.

I know, I'm aggressive by nature and i'm having a very hard time tightening up. I usually do well being agressive but i never win it because i always get caught!

What do you mean by loosen up? Are you bullying the table by loosening up the hands you raise or reraise with or are you calling the raises of others in the hopes of catching a hand?

When your the chip leader late, there is really NO REASON TO GAMBLE yet.

Take a walk around the block.

Better yet, devote 2 orbits to just watching the others and adding notes about each one.

Patience and a willingness to wimp will get you further than loose agressive play.

PoochMasterFlex said:

A lot of times in tournaments, when im the chip leader, i get this idea that this tournament is getting no where and then i loosen up too much.. Is there a way to deal with this?

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If you know your table well then there is no reason to be too aggressive even when the chip leader, if you start losing patience try watching T.V. while playing.
There is nothing more rewarding than making the final table with a decent to large chipstack, then you can be agressive if you like, after all once your at the final table you have a real shot at winning because that is where your aggression has the greatest advantage because everyone wants to win and because of this, some will play real tight, and this will also work to your advantage as tight players will only play when they have a hand which makes it easier to put them on a small range of hands.

dj11 said:

When your the chip leader late, there is really NO REASON TO GAMBLE yet.

Take a walk around the block.

Better yet, devote 2 orbits to just watching the others and adding notes about each one.

Patience and a willingness to wimp will get you further than loose agressive play.

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I agree, very true.

ill call a lot of raises.. or ill raise preflop with a hand like k 8 off suite

Originally Posted by dj11 View Post
When your the chip leader late, there is really NO REASON TO GAMBLE yet.

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That's good advice from DJ, temper your aggressiveness with awareness. If you've lost too many tall stacks once you've become chip leader, your aggressiveness is high and your awareness is low.

One of the worries I used to have when I first started to consistantly get chip lead was that I felt it was required of me to call short stacks with nominal hands. Well it isn't required, sometimes it makes sense but you don't have too.

There is also chip lead, then there is chip lead then there is
CHIP LEAD!

To help you focus on awareness here is something that is possible but rare in poker. Stay tight or LAG as it may be in your case, you get your stack to the lead because your awarenesss is high. Once you have the lead perhaps your losing focus, SET A NEW GOAL.

Have you ever had 1 million in chips with the closest stack at only 90K? I have been fortunate enough to have that happen to me twice in 4 years believe me it's quite a rush. Once you've hit that chip lead status force yourself to keep focus until you have 10X the next tallest stack.

Once you have a lead of that size you can call any hand from any position and put your opponent all-in and not care if you lose. There is a LOT of POWER in that. You can go all-in EVERY hand and scare the other players to their cores. Every time you get in a hand they will fold because they just know it won't matter to you, you WILL put then all in just because you can afford it.

You can call major raises with speculative hands like, 6/9 or J/8 even 10/3 hit two pair and crack Ace's and Kings just because you can afford to lose chips. Man I tell ya once you get a chip lead like that you will LOVE all kinds of action and can read terrror or confidence on the face's or betting patterns of everyone at your table.

I've been there TWICE, I hope to get there again someday, keep your focus and set that goal believe me you'll love it. If you like playing LAG that's one thing but don't lose focus and donk off chips, set that goal so you can truely play LAG and not care if you lose, with LAG experiance and that knd of stack you won't, over the long haul you will dominate the final table and make short work of it. But you got to get there first, stay focused, keep your awareness high.

Avoid coin flips and marginal hands; try and develop a good read on the other players. Keep in mind that it's not your responsibilit to thin out the field, and as chip leader the bullseye is square on your back.

There are times to try bullying with ther big stack, and times to back off. Keep in mind wqhat got you there in the first place, and keep doin' that.

thanks guys, i really need to play with ppl on this board so that i can get some pointers after the game.

I have that problem when I make it to the money and it gets moving REAL slow. But when I'm the chip leader or close to it I usually just sit back and play the premium hands and watch the other 2 or 3 scrap it out. Last night I placed 1st in a 2$ SNG, made it to the money with 2 other players and watched them rip each other up, and then just got VERY aggressive and cleaned out the other guy for 9$.

I also play pretty tight early on and don't gamble much at all, unless I have to double up to stay in the game. Usually what happens is I'll sit back, playing premium hands and win big pots, then I can contently sit and wait for the next big hand to come around and do it again. Funny thing is at low limits most players don't seem to be the wiser. I also bluff at some pots to keep them guessing, and it makes it much easier to trap players and knock them out.

But all in all the best piece of advice is that patience is key. You have to be patient, otherwise you'll start making stuipd mistakes and get knocked out before you are ready to go. Just sit back, relax, and pay attention to what your opponents betting habits are with particular cards, because there's always a pattern.

PoochMasterFlex said:

ill call a lot of raises.. or ill raise preflop with a hand like k 8 off suite

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Try reraising instead of calling & you shouldn't feel the need to jump in with garbage hands just because you are the leader, you get the lead playing poker, why the need to start gambling?

PoochMasterFlex said:

thanks guys, i really need to play with ppl on this board so that i can get some pointers after the game.

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You can always post some HH in the hand analysis section after a tourney. Trust me, no one here will pull any punches and everyone will provide valuable insight to some tough hands you had.

Usually people playing aggresive will get back-fired by the lower stacks who get tired of the chip leader bullying table, so you stay med tight.