Late registration

I am curious about your experiences with tournaments where you sign up as a late registration. Is it more likely that you will get in the money because the cowboys who play with bad card are already kicked out or is your balance too low when you step in to play a significant role in that tournament?

For me I try to play the tournaments on time,because I have more hands to play then others from late reg

Generally online you need to play from the beginning because here we have all the bad players still able to give away the easy chips. But late buy in is also ok if you buy in with many big blinds still or similar stack to average

I'm late registration only at freerolls, when I'm not in time. Never in buy in tourneys.

There is also a point of view that the person who always wins the late registration is a true soldier.

Last week I monied in several 3 hour late registration freerolls by registering with 2 minutes remaining. Automatically guaranteed being in the money by sitting out like 9 hands to be in the money, then try to move up.

No, I don't register...Since the stack will be smaller than the others and it will be difficult to raise it....

You have to remember that for every fish who gets knocked out early there are just as many who have doubled up from knocking out said fishys so it's a double edged sword

I prefer to play from the start myself but as long as its within the first 3 blind levels I'm not too fussed if I reg late

Good luck out there

Late registration is allwright but you don't have many chips to
play with farther along in the game.

Thank you for your answers. Is there also a difference in strategy whether you play no-limit or pot limit? Or does that not matter?

zeist2 said:

Is it more likely that you will get in the money because the cowboys who play with bad card are already kicked out or is your balance too low when you step in to play a significant role in that tournament?

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If you are an average player, then your chance of cashing is actually slightly larger, if you register late. This is because, you now need to outlast less players, so the ICM value of your chips is larger than, if you show up in time.

However if you are an above average player, then your chance of cashing (or more interesting your ROI) is higher, if you show up early. And this is exactly because, you get more time to play against bad players, who are willing to bet their chips on bad hands.

So its just the opposite of, what you assume. Bad players dont "knock you out of the tournament". On the contrary they provide you with chips, which allow you to make deeper runs and sometimes even win the tournament.

Of course bad players will SOMETIMES knock you out of the tournament, but good players will knock you out of the tournament more often than bad players. Its not rocket science really. If you have JJ, would you rather be against a good player with AQ or a bad player with A8? For me I would certainly rather be against A8, because that gives me a better chance of winning at showdown.

So the problem here is, that you get your emotions involved in the game. As so many others you feel entitled to win, when the opponent is clearly just gambling and not even trying to play well. So whenever that does not happen, you feel cheated, and you are not thinking logically about the math of poker.

JJ is supposed to lose to A8 almost 3 out of 10 times, so its completely fine, when the "fish" spikes that ace on the river. You should be happy, he was willing to get it in with A8 (lets assume incorrectly), because 7 out of 10 times you win a huge pot against him.

You need to register much earlier if you think cowboys with bad hands are eliminated at the beginning of tournaments. An important goal is to get more profit from risky players.

I do not check in late. I think this is bad. This takes away the chance of picking a good card and increasing the stack. Coming late to the tournament, you meet big blinds, you have a small choice of cards and you have little time to increase your stack.

I prefer, I enter with a number of blinds that is sufficient to develop my game and I count on some fatigue from my opponents (playing more open), but, entering from the beginning you can see more hands, so it really depends on your profile and style of play

having registered at the end of the late registration, you can expect that you will probably get into the last prize places, the chances are small, but you can try

In large $$ games on sites where you have won tickets and/or tournament $$ I found it worthwhile to late register and double-up my initial buy-in then play aggessively to make it to the average chip level..there is a lot of catching up to do and unless you take same well placed risks then you won't be able to coast into the money..there are a few games where you can do this on certain sites (where simply registering and coasting work but these are time dependent...wee hours and very specific games). Just be aware of game availability ...and if they're free rolls, even better. As I do other "computer related" work, I have made a steady stream of $1< amounts by playing maybe ten hands total and engaged in the game only as an afterthought..(it almost covers the cost of the electricity used!).

Polytarp said:

In large $$ games on sites where you have won tickets and/or tournament $$ I found it worthwhile to late register and double-up my initial buy-in then play aggessively to make it to the average chip level..there is a lot of catching up to do and unless you take same well placed risks then you won't be able to coast into the money..there are a few games where you can do this on certain sites (where simply registering and coasting work but these are time dependent...wee hours and very specific games). Just be aware of game availability ...and if they're free rolls, even better. As I do other "computer related" work, I have made a steady stream of $1< amounts by playing maybe ten hands total and engaged in the game only as an afterthought..(it almost covers the cost of the electricity used!).

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I'm still unclear how this (late reg) can a benefit. Your relative stack depth is generally less. You will be likely to have fewer fish left. You have a mountain to climb. Seems to me that late reg is an option for someone who just wants to finish a tourney in less time than it takes to win a tourney. Or perhaps you think you'll fare better by starting late because of a discipline problem.

My biggest concern though is that I like to use the early part of the tournament to gather intel. Coming in a few mins before the close gives away a lot of info. Now, signing up and sitting out, well you can HUD to your heart's delight and gather the intel without risking anything.

Finally, why not just tighten up and be a little more aggressive, but start on time? If you maintain discipline to a plan (e.g. only playing premium and made hands) up until the close, then you might only play a few hands, but will be likely to be up rather than down or even.

Ceers,
ObbleeXY

ObbleeXY said:

..fewer fish left.

..gather intel.

..maintain discipline to a plan (e.g. only playing premium and made hands).

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Not a good generalization. You need to navigate according to how you perceive the field. Good players can have bad luck and conversely...you need to survive to keep playing.

If you are gathering "intel" then you need to have "some skin in the game." You need to tease out your table image and how players react to you and your play. Don't be a bystander.

By the time you get your "made hand" and I'm assuming these are your first two cards, then you will probably have had your blinds swiped regularly and you would have lost these opportunities regularly yourself. Second, your "premium" hand could be worthless by the time the river comes by so you had better know how to balance protecting your hand and milking everyone in the hand. And finally, keep in mind that the big stacks and some gutsy small stacks may try to bluff you off the pot as well so you had better know what to anticipate and why.

This is how I approach some games and your options become drastically curtailed as you wait for those last few seconds to join any late reg game. Overall, be observant and understand the reason for any opportunity that exists when you spot them. Strategize rationally (your plays may seem anything but) to exploit those situations where the probability of success favors you...understand your "break-even" which includes the value of your time and the money you are wagering...the electricity you are using..the wear and tear on your fingers and eyeballs...etc...

Most of the time I would try not to enter late registration unless I felt like I could squeeze in the money by playing shove mode. If I could help it I would not enter late.

Polytarp said:

Not a good generalization. You need to navigate according to how you perceive the field. Good players can have bad luck and conversely...you need to survive to keep playing.

If you are gathering "intel" then you need to have "some skin in the game." You need to tease out your table image and how players react to you and your play. Don't be a bystander.

By the time you get your "made hand" and I'm assuming these are your first two cards, then you will probably have had your blinds swiped regularly and you would have lost these opportunities regularly yourself. Second, your "premium" hand could be worthless by the time the river comes by so you had better know how to balance protecting your hand and milking everyone in the hand. And finally, keep in mind that the big stacks and some gutsy small stacks may try to bluff you off the pot as well so you had better know what to anticipate and why.

This is how I approach some games and your options become drastically curtailed as you wait for those last few seconds to join any late reg game. Overall, be observant and understand the reason for any opportunity that exists when you spot them. Strategize rationally (your plays may seem anything but) to exploit those situations where the probability of success favors you...understand your "break-even" which includes the value of your time and the money you are wagering...the electricity you are using..the wear and tear on your fingers and eyeballs...etc...

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I think there is a misunderstanding here.

What I'm saying is that doing this is better than doing nothing and coming in late.

I am not recommending this as the ideal alternative, but saying to those who play late that they are wasting valuable time and blinds.

So I agree with what you said, and your critique...just not the bit where you think I'm saying this is the preferred path. The preferred path is to play some damn poker. But if you're insisting that you do not want to risk your stack, at least be present. As a bonus, if your rep is seen as a Nit, then you can exploit this later much more effectively than if you were simply absent.

Cheers,
ObbleeXY

in late registration I only play knockout tournaments because many people want my stack and call with bad cards.

ObbleeXY said:

What I'm saying is that doing this is better than doing nothing and coming in late.
I am not recommending this as the ideal alternative, but saying to those who play late that they are wasting valuable time and blinds.

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I like what you've stated and how you stated it. What you've described has merit and from my experience it's one of the tools in your toolkit to bring out when the time seems right. By the way, I'm pretty sure we played at the same table on Stars or somewhere (if this is your handle) and you play well. I don't know if you're aware of this but the MIT open course ware for poker dated 2015 is an excellent bit of study material. The 2016 course less so but still worthwhile. I usually put my money where my mouth is and more often than not get my teeth kicked in playing but that's the way it goes. The odds are against you winning some life changing pots but you gotta keep trying..:icon_stud:motz:

Sometimes I late register on line, depending on how many players are left in (the fewer the better), the tournament level, the cost of entry and the prize money offered

Dont like late registration.its ok to have a few blind levels,but to go ten or eleven blind levels and allow late registration,i hate it.I dont register if i think i might be late

5KINGLEO5 said:

in late registration I only play knockout tournaments because many people want my stack and call with bad cards.

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Interesting opinion.