How to get a good run in long tournaments ?

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josemendez

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My question is about the long tournaments. The problem I have is continuity. At first only play premium hands and do well, I manage a good stack, but to spend time I begin to stagnate and I have to play more hands. After that I start to lose too fast and not get to the later stages of the tournament. My serious question that should be done to not stagnate and continue the run of the first hands of the tournament?
 
wildyetty

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playing only premium hands isn't the greatest stratagy cause people will stop calling you. (early stage micros it works) when you get near the bubble you need to open your range and start 3 betting mid suited connectors and your smaller pairs. Don't be a calling station trying to set traps 3 bet your small to mid pairs and steal when you have position.
 
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Sourtubbie

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Early on you can get away with this strategy of playing strong hands but as you get deeper the quality of player tends to increase. So you are left with fewer chances to just double up off Aces.
Its really a matter of learning how to play at set stages of a tourney and each tourney has a different setup for stages. If you want to learn how to exploit table position and bet sizing I suggest following a tourney player with a proven track record and see how they go about a deep run. You can learn a lot from the people they go after and their bet sizing. Its also cheap.
 
smallfrie

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My question is about the long tournaments. The problem I have is continuity. At first only play premium hands and do well, I manage a good stack, but to spend time I begin to stagnate and I have to play more hands. After that I start to lose too fast and not get to the later stages of the tournament. My serious question that should be done to not stagnate and continue the run of the first hands of the tournament?

If you are trying to hit hands ie calling to much that is usually the problem. Play aggressive raise and c-bet don't call too much.
 
CadoARAJ

CadoARAJ

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It is very important be impredictble and make variations in your gameplay, because if you do not this, advanced players will recognize that you only play premium hands and will just fold your hand and [5 to 10%] play the others [95% to 90%] of the hands.
 
Senneville

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limp. I have so much trouble to know wg=hat the player have when He limp so limp also. Thats my goal this month.
 
C

chronical

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1.play loose-passive PRF when blinds are cheap and there are a lot of players
2.tighten-up and aggro-up closer to "normal poker"
3.agro on the bubble (but be smart!)
4.in the ATM period play you ops not the cards.
 
Andrey Smirnov

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Try to play multipots with high potential hands like suited connectors and pocket pairs too at early stages. Since the field here is pretty weak you often will be paid off with your nutz, but it may decrease your itm, but imo in these huge ps micro fields it doesnt matter. The less blinds you and your opponents have the more broadways based your range must be. Dont be too scared of pushes with under 20 bbs stack. Try not to flat and cold-call often at middle and late stages, try to play pots where you raise first more( play pots where you have initiative). C-bet often. 3-bet more often against agro big stacks. Make some important notes and so on
 
mcgregor_415

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You need some variation. Try to see cheap flops and to play different range of cards. Also in the late stage of the tournament you may start to play a little bit more aggressive.
 
Bob McPherson

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I have the similar problem of staying focused in the late stages of a MTT. I think that may be part of the reason that I 'stagnate' in the later parts of the tourney. I have found it helpful sometimes to take a bit of an unscheduled break, having something to eat, focus on something else for a few minutes, and hopefully come back to the game with renewed interest and focus.
 
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chng1t

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At the beginning of the tournament you have from 100 to 300 bb's and you can sit an wait for big hands as your stack is deep, but the truth is that big hands doesn't come that often, so when your stack becomes 50 bb's, you should definetely start to look for opportunities to to grow your stack somehow else
 
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max chong

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I have the same problem ! Last time I try to sit until the last until it's a good card, but this is not always out
 
LLIypuk

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Probably should contact the coach, so he pointed at your mistakes in the later stages of the tournament.
 
fly2tsky

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Dont just pick up premium hands. I usually go aggressive from the beginning, building my stack and silently kill middle & short stacks. Its really an advantage using your big stack to be aggressive though. On the other hand, playing smart with good position is a thing.
 
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ritehere

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I have had better success using the three P's in this matter. Play the player, play position, and play pot odds. Waiting on just premium hands have been the downfall of many players in the ladder stages of a tourney. Don't fall into this mindset.
 
ribaric

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stay focused. dnt play on bad hands wait the good card play in good positions
when you hit a good flop dnt be afraid to bet or to risk all your chips
 
tauri103

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At the beginning it is necessary to play all the possible hands.
When you have enough chips or the blinds are high enough you have to wait for the right hands and target some players.
When you will be well placed ploup you will need one or two flip to be well pay.
 
Syltan

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You need to be a large amount of luck)))
 
iosif18

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h

Hello friend,,,first of all you need to be patient.Your cards will not be aA OR KK all of the time so patience is a good advice.bluffing is a good strategy also .If opponents see you folding a lot of times,they will fear your next raise ;) .Those are my tips
 
Ivab

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It is necessary to constantly monitor the size of your stack. At various surrender tournament game strategy must change. It is very difficult to obtain in a single event in time strong hands. Therefore it is necessary to expand the Range hands, bluffing, put pressure on the small stacks and so on.
If you enter the bonus area of 10-20%, this is a good result. It is important to be able to stay as long as possible in prizes. If you are not able to enter the final table, it will be a game in the loss.
__________________________________
Good luck in the game:)
 
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pay as little as possible pre flop and make them fold post or just fold and save your chips if they raised before you keep in mind if you risk little you win little if you risk alot you win alot but you can get kicked from tourney :)
 
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You need to be very patient and wait the right opportunity. In the begining of tournament, you should try everything. It is not expencive and you can get straight or something you didnt hope to get.
 
Poker Orifice

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Reading through the responses on this one has me as baffled as the initial question.
THere's nothing I (or anyone else imo) can write here in a brief response that is going to teach you how to play a tournament. Your question is too vague.

really the only answer I can think of is
a) learn how to play tournament poker
(this involves far too many things to even put in short point form here)
b) run good
 
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stokedog4

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4 stages

1. Early Stages
2. Mid Stages
3. Bubble Approaches
4. Final 2 tables / Closing it out

1. Early Stages . I think you have the right idea playing premium hands in early stages. However I would add that you should look to play pots multi-way with big suited cards, suited connectors, pairs, and big broadway hands. Stealing blinds at this level doesn't give you much value, however if your table is playing way to tight, I'd open 50% of hands in late position to 2, 2.5, or 3bb. Even if called, you get to almost always play in position (unless you raise CO or HJ and get called by button) Your image will be loose / aggro but you know that isn't the truth and can induce some people to play big pots with you WHEN YOU HAVE IT. One other person is correct, look to play pots in position against weak players early. They will stack off with Top pair top kicker on any board.

2. Mid Stages. When blinds are increasing and antes come into play, stealing blinds and antes is important. You still want to focus on playing in position. You should have a decent idea of your table (unless your table broke several times) and you should raise in Late Position with a big % of your hands. When you get to 25-35 bbs, you need to use your chips while you have them. If you dwindle down to under 15-20 you will have a shoving stack or a re-shove stack at best. This is where you want to apply some real aggression and not be afraid to play pots. Keep your stack at 30-50 because you want to have some ammo when the bubble approaches.

3. Bubble. When the bubble nears, you need to be ready to attack medium stacks. You can attack short stacks too, just know you will have to call a lot when they play back at you and shove their 10-15 bb's. Keep in mind your steals don't have to work even half the time for it to be profitable. With all the dead money in the pot you will be making money. If you are the short stack 15-20bb's, then you won't be doing much stealing. You'll be waiting for spots to shove or to re-shove the initial raiser.

4. Final Two Tables. This is what separates the great from the good. This is where you'll set yourself up to be able to close out the tournaments. You will get into short handed play and the aggressive players will have the advantage. Don't raise all your hands, but 75% in position is about right when it's 5, 6 or 7 handed.
When you reach the final table you'll have a big stack and be able to control the table if you'd like or you can sit back for a bit before you use your stack to your advantage.

With all this said. Tournament poker boils down to a couple things for me. 1. Pick your spots 2. Be aggressive, but know why you are doing what you are doing. 3. Win the 60/40s and 50/50s you will have to get a little lucky to win a tournament or go deep. Good luck at the tables.

- This is my first post/reply besides my intro, I know it was long but I wanted to help if I could.

Good luck,
stokedog
 
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