Stuck in the middle in tournament play

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takeastabatthepot

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So I am still fairly new to tournament poker. I play both online and live. I prefer live but do not get to play as often as I would like.
Most often I play Sit and Go, 2-3 tables. I have done larger MTT also. I almost always make the final table in SNG. I almost never get in the money. I usually am out between 6th and 9th.
The last couple of tournaments I went out with around 10 BB later in tournament. All in, 60% advantage, losing the coin flip.
My question is how to increase my percentage of getting "in the money". Should I focus on going big or bust early to raise my stack size aggressively to make sure I don't get in these situations? Or should I play well short stacked later and just hope the coin flips go my way? Very frustrating when I play fairly well for 4-5 hours and get nothing for it.
 
pentazepam

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As long as you get your money in good (or a coin flip) you shouldn't be upset when you lose, especially not in MTTs and SnGs when blinds are high.

If you wait until you are almost certain to be a big favorite you probably begin to play to tight. Folding into the money are only correct in some bubble situations.

Aggressive first in especially when blinds get high is key.

To push all-in or fold when you have 10-15 BB is not so far from optimal.

Depending on the opponents you can sometimes get better result with mini-raise (if they over-fold). Or trapping with a limp against players that are overaggressive.

If you search for MTTs charts on Google you get a lot of info about fold or push situations.

Here are one example: https://floattheturn.com/wp/pushfold/

Also read in the Tournament section on this (and other) forum.

And watch YouTube videos (Keyword example for search: Tournament strategy endgame).
 
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sryImPro

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You say that you are usually out between 6th and 9th position in SNGs you play. I assume that there is a payout for top 3 or top 4 players, maybe more? Based on information you gave us i can tell that you probably need to improve your play in middle and late stage of the tournaments, that means in short that you don’t get to play only with your cards, but play in regards to your position, stack size, blind size...It’s true that you might finished earlier than you supposed to in some cases but you’ll get more in long terms. If you are too passive in late stages you’ll always be in bubble situation, where winning a flip is a must, where all players have a bigger stack than yourself and that’s certainly a way you don’t want to play poker, it get frustrating after a while.
You are patient, that’s good in poker, just work on other parts of the game and you are good to go ;) Cheers!
 
fickleberry

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It sounds like (correct me if I'm wrong) that you stop playing once you arrive at the final table. Maybe you are trying to sneak into the money?

You gotta learn to use your stack as a weapon. Put the pressure on the other guy by 3betting their opens when you believe they are simply stealing the blinds from late position.

This will chip you up nicely and gets you in the position to finish in the top 3.
 
eetenor

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More data needed.

takeastabatthepot said:
The last couple of tournaments. All in, 60% advantage, losing the coin flip.
Very frustrating when I play fairly well for 4-5 hours and get nothing for it.
Click to expand...


Thank U 4 Posting.

New to poker players often are not aware of how much poker you have to play to know if what you are doing is correct or not.

100 buy-in bankrolls are recommended because you could easily lose 50-60 SNG's and do nothing wrong.

There is a lot of SNG study material. Find ONE coach that specializes in SNG and compare that players strategy to your own. When it differs change it.

Hope this helps

:):)
 
eberetta1

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Sometimes the type of poker game we love the most, can take the most money from us. See if there is a different game of poker that can pay you off more frequently.
 
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takeastabatthepot

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pentazepam said:
As long as you get your money in good (or a coin flip) you shouldn't be upset when you lose, especially not in MTTs and SnGs when blinds are high.

If you wait until you are almost certain to be a big favorite you probably begin to play to tight. Folding into the money are only correct in some bubble situations.

Aggressive first in especially when blinds get high is key.

To push all-in or fold when you have 10-15 BB is not so far from optimal.

Depending on the opponents you can sometimes get better result with mini-raise (if they over-fold). Or trapping with a limp against players that are overaggressive.

If you search for MTTs charts on Google you get a lot of info about fold or push situations.

Here are one example: https://floattheturn.com/wp/pushfold/

Also read in the Tournament section on this (and other) forum.

And watch YouTube videos (Keyword example for search: Tournament strategy endgame).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice and info. I appreciate it!
 
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takeastabatthepot

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sryImPro said:
You say that you are usually out between 6th and 9th position in SNGs you play. I assume that there is a payout for top 3 or top 4 players, maybe more? Based on information you gave us i can tell that you probably need to improve your play in middle and late stage of the tournaments, that means in short that you don’t get to play only with your cards, but play in regards to your position, stack size, blind size...It’s true that you might finished earlier than you supposed to in some cases but you’ll get more in long terms. If you are too passive in late stages you’ll always be in bubble situation, where winning a flip is a must, where all players have a bigger stack than yourself and that’s certainly a way you don’t want to play poker, it get frustrating after a while.
You are patient, that’s good in poker, just work on other parts of the game and you are good to go ;) Cheers!
Click to expand...


I agree with improving middle stage of tournaments. Top 4 are usually paid. Occassionally I play too loose in the beginning stages which gives me a shorter stack later. I'm working on it. I want to have a bigger stack going into final table and go for first. Thanks a bunch!
 
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takeastabatthepot

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eetenor said:
Thank U 4 Posting.

New to poker players often are not aware of how much poker you have to play to know if what you are doing is correct or not.

100 buy-in bankrolls are recommended because you could easily lose 50-60 SNG's and do nothing wrong.

There is a lot of SNG study material. Find ONE coach that specializes in SNG and compare that players strategy to your own. When it differs change it.

Hope this helps

:):)
Click to expand...

That does help. I have been getting advice from at least 3 at this point :) Working on my game!
 
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takeastabatthepot

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fickleberry said:
It sounds like (correct me if I'm wrong) that you stop playing once you arrive at the final table. Maybe you are trying to sneak into the money?

You gotta learn to use your stack as a weapon. Put the pressure on the other guy by 3betting their opens when you believe they are simply stealing the blinds from late position.

This will chip you up nicely and gets you in the position to finish in the top 3.
Click to expand...


You are correct. I get short stacked too early and can't play good hands. I end up in all in vs fold situations.

I do not 3 bet nearly enough earlier in tournaments. I have a very very tight 3 bet range. I will start making that range a little looser. Currently 3 bet range is AK, AA, KK, QQ. That's about it.
 
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