Casino Tournaments

I recently joined and played a tournament at the casino (2nd time ever) - No limit hold em tournament it was.

First tournament I ever played in was a month or so ago and I placed 12th out of 34 players.

This tournament I placed 6th out of 45 players (but of course was the bubble and was the last person before I got paid out). My question was regarding tournament strategy... I know early stages its recommended to play extremely tight and then from the middle on wards to go for steals and other things to keep your stack consistent.

Problem for me was the whole time I was short stack and I had a lot of trouble getting myself a decent chip stack and that's mainly the reason why I lost. On the final table I was consistently shortstacked and my question was....how do you guys play pre flop in the middle/late stages of a tournament?

What strategies do you guys use for casino tournaments to place in them?

marcusthorton259 said:

how do you guys play pre flop in the middle/late stages of a tournament?

What strategies do you guys use for casino tournaments to place in them?

Click to expand...

Still tight but more and more aggressive as it gets deeper. But keep in mind as you get down to 6 players or less at a table you can open up your starting hand requirements a bit. Pay a lot of attention to the blinds - your real enemy in these tournaments.

When you say aggressive as time goes along, what kind of hands should I raise with to steal blinds and how much and of course in late position right?

Most local casinos(which i'm assuming since the above field size) bump the blinds up high and fast towards the end.This is because they are makeing limited rake in these and they want them to end ASAP.Thus it becomes a shove/fold fest towards the final table.Work on your shove fold game.

Later position would be best but it doesn't always work that way.What kind of hands to shove/fold are all based on what you think villains calling range is.If it's real tight you could shove ATC,if it's loose you need to loosen up your value shoveing range.

marcusthorton259 said:

When you say aggressive as time goes along, what kind of hands should I raise with to steal blinds and how much and of course in late position right?

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You need to understand that aggression has to do with bet structuring, not hand selection. Hand selection is measured Tight to Loose. Chip management is measured Passive to Aggressive. So don't make the mistake of playing loser hands in order to be more aggressive.
Now to actually answer your question. The standard answer is it depends. One of the biggest factors is are they going to let you get away with it? If so it doesn't matter what kind of hand - throw a raise out there and they run and hide. Others may not let you get away with it at all and come over the top with a raise.
How much? Well as much as it takes to get the job done - that usually means about 2 1/2 BB, but sometimes you can get away with 2 BB - other times it might take 3 or 4.
This is why when you get to the final table (or before) start immediately paying attention to and get a read on the 2 or 3 players to your immediate left. For example I was just in one last week. Mr. Lag McLaggy was in the BB to my BTN - CRAP! SB was very tight and the one on the left of Lag was a complete Nit. My dream came true and McLaggy got knocked out leaving two tight nits on my left. I raised every time - hands like T8s, 84o, 23o - the cards did not matter I was playing the players. My bets were double blinds and 2 1/2 BB. Obviously it did not work every time but it worked enough to be profitable.
Now if you are not in that dream situation you usually want some cards that could do something on a flop - connectors and the like.

If your short stack late you'll probably be shoving in steal situations -- makes it a little easier than raising and having to decide to fold to a 3bet.

Also, before you put out that raise to steal - you need to have already decided what you are going to do (how you are going to react) should they do X. Y or Z.

So I am going to execute a blind steal from the cut-off. I figure 2 1/2 BB will do it.

I have 8000 in chips and Q8s. 8 at the table. Blinds are 200-400. Folded around to me.
BTN rock has 10,600
SB nit has 4000 (behind 200 SB)
BB lag has 3100 (behind his 400 BB)

Okay - there is no way I want to get into a face off with the button right now so if he raises or shoves I am giving up the hand without seeing a flop.

I know SB will let me take that money unless he has a hand - if he shoves back at me I am out of there. But I have seen him fold quite a few flops so if he raises I will consider calling and going to the flop with him and try to outplay him from there. If he doubles my raise, I'll go. Triple and I might have to fold. I'll see if I can pick up a tell then.

BB has a wide range and is a wounded animal being cornered. He could very well come out swinging with anything. He is totally capable shoving back at me with ATC. I will call anything he throws at me. Hell I half way hope he does shove at me.

Now I didn't put a lot of time in to this so it may not be realistic but it is only to make the point - when you attempt a steal be sure to think down the road about what possible repercussions you will face. If you have already made these decisions before they happen you can avoid being reactive and making the wrong decision. Just like chess - think several moves ahead INCLUDING what your opponent's options and possible actions will be and how you will handle them.

Not all steals work. There is no shame in folding and waiting for the next opportunity.

I basically played in another tournament yesterday and here's how it played out.

Entry Fee - $60
Guaranteed - $2000

I made it to the final table and there were about 5 players left and I was 2nd or 3rd in chip lead but everyone was insisting on chopping and just splitting the money there so we basically each made $400 in about 3-4 hours of play.

I played the strategies I've learned online and it seemed to work pretty well....what helped me get to the final table was a good rush I had towards the middle/end stages of the tournament.

Good job - you're doing better. Something to think about - next time you are in a chop situation and are in pretty good shape with your chip count - propose a chop according to stack sizes - so that money equates to the chips you have amassed. If they go along with it you may do better with your take home. Other than that there are guys who are going to tell you you're crazy for doing a 5 way chop - screw em. Since you haven't played that many live tourneys (how many? 5? 6?) you are doing great to get into that situation. But you'll get pickier the more times you run into it. At this point I will not chop unless I am getting at least 2nd place money from it and even then it will depend on the situation. A couple weeks ago I refused to chop all the way to the end cause I had a good read on these folks and knew I could take it down - I did.

marcusthorton259 said:

I basically played in another tournament yesterday and here's how it played out.

Entry Fee - $60
Guaranteed - $2000

I made it to the final table and there were about 5 players left and I was 2nd or 3rd in chip lead but everyone was insisting on chopping and just splitting the money there so we basically each made $400 in about 3-4 hours of play.

I played the strategies I've learned online and it seemed to work pretty well....what helped me get to the final table was a good rush I had towards the middle/end stages of the tournament.

Click to expand...

For post-flop play as the tournament gets to its later stages, you have to take your opponent's chip count into consideration, as well as your own chip count. If you're low stacked and considering making a bet, you have to realize that if you're opponent is one of the chip leaders, they will probably call with a greater range of hands, since they are stretching to knock another person out. I've found trying to steal in this situation is relatively unsuccessful. You have to pick your spots, hopefully you end up against a middle-stack, that is hoping to just move at status-quo and is worried about becoming one of the lower stacks themselves.

Also, I've found that the most aggrevated I ever am in poker is when i finish on the bubble. keep your head up etc etc, you beat a lot of people to finish on the bubble and hopefully it works out in the future.

As for the 5-way chop, it is interesting. Obviously the safer play, I actually don't mind chopping it there. Obviously if you had a huge chip lead it would be different but...

bubbling isnt the end of the world, id rather bubble accumulating chips going for the win than min cash with no chance of a high finish. refuse even chops when you have more than average stack imo, either ask for more or just refuse. people that are desperate to chop are generally bad aswell imo

marcusthorton259 said:

I recently joined and played a tournament at the casino (2nd time ever) - No limit hold em tournament it was.

First tournament I ever played in was a month or so ago and I placed 12th out of 34 players.

This tournament I placed 6th out of 45 players (but of course was the bubble and was the last person before I got paid out). My question was regarding tournament strategy... I know early stages its recommended to play extremely tight and then from the middle on wards to go for steals and other things to keep your stack consistent.

Problem for me was the whole time I was short stack and I had a lot of trouble getting myself a decent chip stack and that's mainly the reason why I lost. On the final table I was consistently shortstacked and my question was....how do you guys play pre flop in the middle/late stages of a tournament?

What strategies do you guys use for casino tournaments to place in them?

Click to expand...

This is Shane. My problem is same that's why i lost many times. How i use decent chip stack.