How did you grow out of this stage?

sj_pi

sj_pi

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As a beginner you remember when you got to a stage in tournament format poker where you resorted to a strategy of not getting into hands with deep stacker and when you got short stacked you shoved it all in and were in search of the timing to shove ALL IN? Remember?

How did you grow out of that stage as a beginner?

More specifically how did you work on your call timing over a period of time?

Please share your wisdom.
 
Arjonius

Arjonius

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It's not uncommon for beginners to over-emphasize big pots. Of course, they're important. However, so are small and mid-sized pots, partly because there are lots more of them. So, learning how to win a few more of those pots and also how to extract more value when you do win them are vital parts of your game to improve. How important they are isn't always fully evident to those beginners (or non-beginners) who focus too heavily on the big / all-in pots.
 
Martinez

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The longer you play, the more experience you get.
You don't neccessarily grow out of that stage, just learn when you think you have the right odds to keep at it.
Also, are you asking before the cut off or after the cut off for the money because before, it is sometimes worth the shove if everybody else is waiting for the cut off. With this strategy you can quite easily double or tripple up and make the money.
Once in the money, usually there is a mad rush by the lower stacks to try to double up, so patience is required and just sit out cos you will automatically move up the leader board, or at least I do.
 
sj_pi

sj_pi

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It's not uncommon for beginners to over-emphasize big pots. Of course, they're important. However, so are small and mid-sized pots, partly because there are lots more of them. So, learning how to win a few more of those pots and also how to extract more value when you do win them are vital parts of your game to improve. How important they are isn't always fully evident to those beginners (or non-beginners) who focus too heavily on the big / all-in pots.

Thank you. Am I deciphering your message right by understanding to work simultaneously on stealing small unclaimed pot from hijack/cutoff/SB/BB and a close eye on FTS %?
 
rytciaq

rytciaq

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Learn to steal the blinds. It's the thing that makes you survive through the tournament. Usually start trying to steal the blinds once antes are in the game. If you don't know what blind stealing is, google it. Hope that helps :)
 
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only_bridge

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Nothing wrong with going all-in.
What's wrong is not going all-in.
 
Arjonius

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Thank you. Am I deciphering your message right by understanding to work simultaneously on stealing small unclaimed pot from hijack/cutoff/SB/BB and a close eye on FTS %?
Not just stealing pre-. There are also pots that can be won on later streets by stabbing at them. You know the kind - the first person to bet wins because no one is willing to call.

They're usually quite small, but if you win a few of them, it helps keep your stack from falling into the zone where you can only push or fold.
 
sj_pi

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The longer you play, the more experience you get.
You don't neccessarily grow out of that stage, just learn when you think you have the right odds to keep at it.
Also, are you asking before the cut off or after the cut off for the money because before, it is sometimes worth the shove if everybody else is waiting for the cut off. With this strategy you can quite easily double or tripple up and make the money.
Once in the money, usually there is a mad rush by the lower stacks to try to double up, so patience is required and just sit out cos you will automatically move up the leader board, or at least I do.

Thanks. I was asking for shoving all-in from late positions when all the BB have been posted and nobody seems interested in calling.

I'm still swimming shallow as I often get close to the bubble and a couple of times I've even been the bubble boy.
So I'm trying to hone skills of getting to the bubble with some ammo (chips).
 
sj_pi

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Learn to steal the blinds. It's the thing that makes you survive through the tournament. Usually start trying to steal the blinds once antes are in the game. If you don't know what blind stealing is, google it. Hope that helps :)

Definitely helps :)
Stealing blinds - I'm currently referring to the Ed Miller book for stealing strategies. Very indepth advice is given on 'how to' and 'how much to' in that book.
 
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joe777

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Yup i agree with the other who had posted.Stealing blind is one of the major factor to survive in a tournament,especially when you reach the middle phases.One more thing when you got a premium hands dont hesitate to go all in especially against the bully.


----------------
life is a gamble
 
IGotADonk

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I am currently having this problem with tournaments! Need some help here. I'll do alright at the start of the tourney when the blinds are low, limping in and catching what I can, getting some small pots. However, the middle of the tournament kills me every time, I wind up getting blinded down or losing a few hands that knock my stack down and then I'm on or close to the bubble with a short stack, praying for a decent hand that never comes. Is stealing the name of the mid-game, then?
 
JustDestined

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I started making it deeper, more often in smaller MTT's since I have been paying attention to the smaller pots. The other thing is when you are nabbing these smaller pots up you aren't at risk of getting knocked out like when your aa,kk,ak gets run over by the suited connector guy. So overall its letting me build or maintain with little or low risk, and it gets me through the earlier stages that can be so volatile in the freerolls and micro tournies I play a lot of.
 
Arjonius

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Is stealing the name of the mid-game, then?
Stealing increases in importance as the blinds go up. But there's a lot more to mid-tournament play, so it's a long way from being a magic pill that will elevate the overall level of your game enough to make you much more competitive.

Getting better at stealing will help your mid-game, but it's not "The Answer".
 
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