Do you play Turbo tourneys? It seems to be mostly luck-driven

Hi all,

I've been playing a few turbos and it seems to me that these tourneys are pretty much about luck than skill.

The blinds go up so fast that there is no time for "normal" poker, you are soon in a position where you just sit tight waiting for a premium hand so you strike. 90% of the tourney ends up being just folding 85% of range and going all in with the remainder, expecting not to get a bad beat. Then of course in this environment there will be loads of those.

What is your take on this?

Turbos are not my favorite games but they are not that bad as long as they use a decent structure. They are nice for people who cant play 6 hours tournament and go to work the next day.

I play turbos because the game goes quick and can't really agree.

You need to be more aggressive and stay ahead of the blinds but that is part of the game. Unless it is a short field i usually do not have an issue getting 50, 80, 100 bb and playing good cards.

Once i get to 10+ minute blinds i often find myself sitting out a lot. Can be a long game.

You have to be able to adjust.

Then what is your strategy? Are you aggressive at start and then become more passive towards the end?

Well ... the truth is that I do not like turbo tournaments ... they stress me a lot ... since the blind changes are very fast ... and there is a lot of variance ... I think the only way I play them is when they are freerolls

Dailon Arroyo Blandon said:

Well ... the truth is that I do not like turbo tournaments ... they stress me a lot ... since the blind changes are very fast ... and there is a lot of variance ... I think the only way I play them is when they are freerolls

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If only cardchat tournaments would have also these normal very short blind levels lol ...

More variance is involved in those structures but for sure is not all about luck.All tournaments at the end of the day is a war between dynamic based on several factors like the different stack sizes. So If we know when and why to apply pressure we are good to go.

PokerPT2645 said:

Hi all,

I've been playing a few turbos and it seems to me that these tourneys are pretty much about luck than skill.

The blinds go up so fast that there is no time for "normal" poker, you are soon in a position where you just sit tight waiting for a premium hand so you strike. 90% of the tourney ends up being just folding 85% of range and going all in with the remainder, expecting not to get a bad beat. Then of course in this environment there will be loads of those.

What is your take on this?

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For me personally, a format like tubro is even more or less acceptable. But for example, such a format as hyper turbo, in my opinion, really has very little to do with the skill of the players.

There's definitely more luck than other games, but if you have a game plan down, you can crush a lot of these. Definitely take advantage of the low blinds and no ante when you can and try to build up a nice stack early. Once you're settled, and it's like level 4 or 5, tighten up your hands. Play more suited connecters and lower pocket pairs. Then play like that until you're a lot deeper. Then when everyone has big stacks, that's when the real poker play starts.

I play turbos only in 6-handed SNGs since several years. I like to play few of them after work as they are fast and do not need so long time for concentration. The SNGs have definitely less variance than the MTTs. After few of them I usually switch to the freerolls.

If I play MTTs for buy-in I need time for them, but then I prefer definitely the 9-handed tables with a long blind structure and deep stacks. They have the fewest variance then.

Hi,

Poker gurus/coaches will attest that turbos (and superturbos) are definitely luck-based, even if you take the +EV lines and pick your spots, because of 1) very high variance due to the loose-play fest, and 2) inadequate "blinded-out index" due to the medium-sized starting stack and the fast blinds. Imho, the only way to mitigate: volume. So you'll have to play a hefty amount of it. In game, take the +EV gamble spots early in the tourney, and if your JJ holds after getting called to showdown by two players, then strive to protect the stack until there comes a point (usually mid-stage) when players shift to actually playing poker.

The slower the structure, the more that skill rises to the top.

With that said, turbos do still have a real skill component with skills such as shove-fold ranges and exploiting late-game risk aversion. Plus they're just more fun than games that start of 300bb deep and have 2 hour levels

I like turbo because its quick... I prefer play several small bayin tournaments... if you play a lot time for small prise or you can be not itm its little bit disappointment. So many hours for nothing. And if you play turbo, it doesn't hurt so much...

From tournaments, I also prefer to play turbo tournaments, as I do not always have enough time and patience for slow tournaments, but I am working on it.

PokerPT2645 said:

Hi all,

I've been playing a few turbos and it seems to me that these tourneys are pretty much about luck than skill.

The blinds go up so fast that there is no time for "normal" poker, you are soon in a position where you just sit tight waiting for a premium hand so you strike. 90% of the tourney ends up being just folding 85% of range and going all in with the remainder, expecting not to get a bad beat. Then of course in this environment there will be loads of those.

What is your take on this?

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Yes, I completely agree, that's why I don't play turbo tournaments.
To win in the tournament, luck is of course necessary, but it is stupid to hope only for it, then why do you need the rest of the knowledge.

Collin Moshman said:

The slower the structure, the more that skill rises to the top.

With that said, turbos do still have a real skill component with skills such as shove-fold ranges and exploiting late-game risk aversion. Plus they're just more fun than games that start of 300bb deep and have 2 hour levels

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Totally agree with you Collin, and I think that you need to have more skills to survive turbos than regular tournaments. Knowing when to push and when to fold in such dynamic game is really big skill.

You can also get in more tournaments per day when your playing tournaments that last half as long, which is more volume to work through the variance.

I rarely play in turbo tournaments. I prefer tournaments where the blinds grow every 10 minutes. This is the best format for me and it brings me 90% profit.

I tend to play more turbo tournaments during the week due to my full time job. They are great to get some volume in; to control the variance a bit I try to play smaller fields than my usual fields (e.g play 45man turbo tournaments, and normally I play 180+). Also play lower stakes when playing turbo.

I prefer to play turbos because I don't particularly like to play 8 hour or longer tourneys. But turbos definitely have a greater luck factor associated with them, so you really have to play multiple turbos to deal with the variance. They are definitely beatable though.

i'm not sure

I'm not sure it's just luck but it's very difficult to wait for a good hand since the harvests grow and you end up out of the tournament without having played, many get to play all in, and if luck accompanies it, it will be above the others, I prefer normal mode. Cheers

I feel like in turbos the most important thing is position. Don't put yourself in a lot of situations where if you were to put a significant amount of chips in play that there are several players to act behind you. You can also reasonably assume that most players are opening up their ranges due to the fast blind structure. Just try to avoid multi way pots if you can avoid them.