Need some help with Multi Table Tournies

Hey guys, I have been playing pokerstars for a while now, I used to play a lot of SNGs for Play Money but now after graduating in the Core Quiz I have joined the skill league. Now its pretty late to make a run for the top and a get some cash for the month of December unless I get like 3 top 2 finishes lol. But going into January I need some help, I always find myself just floating around waiting for a great hand that never shows up. I need some strategies in these 1000 people tournaments because I always seem to get out in like 200th place because I am forced to go all in because I have like less than 10BB left and someone raised my Big Blind. I just need some strategies early on in theses tournies.

UPDATE: So this is probably the worst thing that has happened to me in poker, I have 2.1K which is a little over the average and I am playing pretty well. I folded a straight to my guess a higher straight. So I have pocket 3s and someone raises 3BB so I decide to call looking to flop a nice set. The flop comes 9 5 3. Great flop for me, I flopped a set of threes and I am in great position. One guy goes all in, to my surprise, so I decide to raise all in. And another guy calls. One guy has a set of 5s and another has a set of 9s....great. And of course I lose, is that a bad play by me or was it just bad luck?

ballers101 said:

UPDATE: So this is probably the worst thing that has happened to me in poker, I have 2.1K which is a little over the average and I am playing pretty well. I folded a straight to my guess a higher straight. So I have pocket 3s and someone raises 3BB so I decide to call looking to flop a nice set. The flop comes 9 5 3. Great flop for me, I flopped a set of threes and I am in great position. One guy goes all in, to my surprise, so I decide to raise all in. And another guy calls. One guy has a set of 5s and another has a set of 9s....great. And of course I lose, is that a bad play by me or was it just bad luck?

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Just a cooler - you have to take chances in tourneys and it's difficult to lay down trips. I suppose the fact you would be calling an AI may have given you some hesitation (although we have no reads on the oponent etc) but even then it would have been a big laydown.

On your first mail it sounds like you're playing maybe too tight. Just waiting for the big hands isn't enough. Raise more in position and start putting pressure back on your opponents. Don't always play your cards, but the situation, your opponents, the flop etc. Mix your game up to keep everyone else guessing.

Tangerine 53 said:

Just a cooler - you have to take chances in tourneys and it's difficult to lay down trips. I suppose the fact you would be calling an AI may have given you some hesitation (although we have no reads on the oponent etc) but even then it would have been a big laydown.

On your first mail it sounds like you're playing maybe too tight. Just waiting for the big hands isn't enough. Raise more in position and start putting pressure back on your opponents. Don't always play your cards, but the situation, your opponents, the flop etc. Mix your game up to keep everyone else guessing.

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Thanks for the response Tangerine, so I joined another one of those tournies and I got sucked out really bad this time. I was actually playing well, basically I was going in with suited connectors I was raising in position and i was in about 40th place out of 900. So i picked up an AJ in position I raise to 8xBB and I get 3 callers. I was upset however, the flop was perfect A J 5. So I double the pot. I get one caller. I was like no harm, maybe an Ace or Jack. The next card is a King. But I thought no harm to that card because a person would have to be crazy to call my double pot with a gutshot. The river is a 3 and the opponent moves all in, I instantly calls, to my shocking surprise. A donk called my bet of double the pot with A GUTSHOT. I was very upset and I am still very pissed. That basically dropped me down to 1k, I went all in with AK in position someone called me with JQ, he won. And that's all she wrote for me.

I don't understand what else I can do, I was actually playing good when someone calls me with a Gutshot straight draw and they hit it. I know its poker and it happens but come on. It never happens for me but it will always happen against me. I will call someones raise with a straight flush draw and I won't hit it but they hit their gutshots. It just pisses me off so much.

LOL Just came 2nd in one of theses tournies, I didn't deserve to come second but I got lucky. I had AK and had to go all in I got one call the person had KK and I luckily won. Then I had 88 against TT and I hit two 8s on the flop. Got extremely lucky in the final table but i came 2nd. I am happy, I got $1.28, not a lot but hey its not that bad lol.

Hopefully this is the start of your luck turning. You've just got to forget the bad beats and try not to tilt, hard sometimes but you never remember the times when you suckout on someone.

As said earlier waiting for big hands will rarely get you anywhere, 9 times out of 10 when you hit a big hand you won't get much action anyway. It's the smaller pots that count in MTT's you keep plugging away at them & winning blinds before you know it your up in chips. There's a lot to be said for table image, not just how you view other poeple but possibly more importantly how people view you, if you're playing tight & people are taking notice, when you have a big hand & start betting it you're going to get little action.

Always raise on the button in an unraised pot, I often like to call or raise the BB when I'm in the SB if the pot is unraised, if you keep your raises similar e.g. 3x BB or pot size players are going to have a harder time figuring out what you have than if you normally min raise then all of a sudden your raising twice the pot or going all in.

Yeah I won 45 man SNG right after than and now i have 4.78 on my account. I played extremely well in this tounry, I made no mistakes really and I won and I jusat played a perfect tourny, I got hands at the right moment and used them properly and even risked all in with Kings on the bubble which basically gave me the stack lead to win the game. I am very happy right now with my back to back performances.

So i continued to persist the 45 man SNGs and so I won another 45 man SNG tourny so now I am at around 7 dollars I am going to try and get around 15 dollars then I will begin to do 1 dollar tounries.

ballers101 said:

Hey guys, I have been playing pokerstars for a while now, I used to play a lot of SNGs for Play Money but now after graduating in the Core Quiz I have joined the skill league. Now its pretty late to make a run for the top and a get some cash for the month of December unless I get like 3 top 2 finishes lol. But going into January I need some help, I always find myself just floating around waiting for a great hand that never shows up. I need some strategies in these 1000 people tournaments because I always seem to get out in like 200th place because I am forced to go all in because I have like less than 10BB left and someone raised my Big Blind. I just need some strategies early on in theses tournies.

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https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-poker-59/

here's a great thread

Try looking for spots when you have a resteal-sized stack of say 14-22bb's (depending upon what you're playing.... MTT's is what I'm referring to here).
Look for those types who are always raising in LP. The ones who are over-abusing (or trying to) raise in LP.. then cbet > take it down.
Try shipping it in from SB/BB when BTN or CO raises... just put the pile in (ie. 98s... ship it!). Restealing can be way more profitable than just stealing & these days (imo) there are just a TON of players attempting to steal in LP.