S
smallstakesdad
Rising Star
Bronze Level
My first time posting on this site, but figured this would be something that every newbie already knows but if not, here it is....
I am mostly a 1/2 NL cash player. I make more than I lose, but I make the rookie mistakes of not having enough patience, and playing too many hands when I don't stick to my strategy.
Anyway I won a high hand giveaway where you got a $500 buy-in into a deep stack, double bounty, re-entry. In other words, the most complex kind of tournament you probably will ever play.
It was my first MTT live. I have done MTT online, STG live, but never this. Not particularly overwhelming as I tried to just focus on my table, and keep abreast of the avg chip stack and players left.
Through the first 6 rounds, I kept pace with the avg stack, unfortunately I just so happened to have the two chip leaders of the tournament at my table behind me, and they played just as they should have with such large stacks, loose, aggressive, and got paid off with luck.
A few lessons I have learned from this experience:
Fortunately I learned these lessons with house money. I will be in no rush to do MTTs anytime soon, and unfortunately the market for STGs in my area just isn't really high.
Hope this helps everyone for those that are thinking about trying to take a dip in the MTT pool.
I am mostly a 1/2 NL cash player. I make more than I lose, but I make the rookie mistakes of not having enough patience, and playing too many hands when I don't stick to my strategy.
Anyway I won a high hand giveaway where you got a $500 buy-in into a deep stack, double bounty, re-entry. In other words, the most complex kind of tournament you probably will ever play.
It was my first MTT live. I have done MTT online, STG live, but never this. Not particularly overwhelming as I tried to just focus on my table, and keep abreast of the avg chip stack and players left.
Through the first 6 rounds, I kept pace with the avg stack, unfortunately I just so happened to have the two chip leaders of the tournament at my table behind me, and they played just as they should have with such large stacks, loose, aggressive, and got paid off with luck.
A few lessons I have learned from this experience:
- The hardest part for me was the amount of time playing. After about four hours, I was ready to call it a day, even with all the folding I did (and I will admit I should have folded more).
- The market that I live in (central NY), is a pretty small circle of folks. The tournament was fairly high stakes in terms of the area, and action you can get, so keep in mind that relative to what you see on TV. A $10K buy in Vegas stakes, actually might be smaller stakes than $500 re-buy in central NY.
- I think if you are going to include tournaments into your play, at least go through 15/20 STGs live, just to get use to the structure, strategy, and endurance it's going to take.
- Tournament play really exposes you to post-flop betting strategy. It's much more complex compared to cash, and as a tourney newbie, or even cash game novice, you will see how much more you have to learn.
- MOST IMPORTANT: Make sure whatever you learn at tournaments stays in your tournament mind, and does not bleed over into your cash game strategy. As I told a friend, "a hand in a cash game is a poem. A hand in a tournament game is a page in a novel, usually longer, and builds on what has happened before"
Fortunately I learned these lessons with house money. I will be in no rush to do MTTs anytime soon, and unfortunately the market for STGs in my area just isn't really high.
Hope this helps everyone for those that are thinking about trying to take a dip in the MTT pool.
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