I just can't seem to cash in tournament poker

MoeJurphy

MoeJurphy

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Hi, I am looking for some advice. I am new to the whole poker forum thing but have been playing online poker for around a year now, so I thought I would reach out and make some poker buddies!

I have been playing mainly cash games making a small profit long term. I have t
taken to online tournaments recently and just cant seem to cash!
I tend to do well and build a slow stack averaging in the top 100 throughout most of the tournament, but some how I ALWAYS manage to get stacked close to the money no matter what lead I have. I find aces and get suckered out by a flush etc.

Im not sure if its after a time period I get lazy and not playing my A game, but any critics and help would be more than welcome :)
 
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Stephenunited

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Hi, I am a reasonably successful tournament poker player (I win more money than I lose).

You say you finish in the top 100? May I ask the average players in your tournaments. My most common tournament that I play in has approximately 100 players on average with top 15 cashing. If you are struggling with a large field of players maybe try some smaller field tournaments?

You must bear in mind that tournament wins are less frequent than other forms of poker. I will go on a run of 5 or 6 tournaments without a significant cash at times. Just play GOOD poker, consistently, and the results will look after themselves. My poker strategy is very simple in any game mode: when I have the best hand- bet for value, when i don't have the best hand- attempt s bluff or get out of the hand.

You will always need some luck. Remember that AA will lose to 27o 12% of the time- ie. The chance of winning with AA five times in a row is less than 50%! So think of the marginal encounters you will be faces with throughout a tournament- the odds of you winning 65/35 and 75/25 favourable hands, consecutively, is low! You will need luck to go all the way. Persevere, and focus on playing good solid poker.

One final note, on adjusting from cash games to tournament play. You may be used to putting ALL your money in the pot as a 51% favourite (good play in a cash game). In tournament play, 51% is not good enough to risk your tournament life unless you are short stacked and have to. In my early tournament days, I remember often being chip leader and some fish would shove all in with 45 suited and I would call with AK suited (for the vast majority of my chips). Needless to say, a large amount of the time I exited the tournament. Now, unless I have AA, KK or maybe QQ, I will usually like to see a flop.
 
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MoeJurphy

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Hey! thanks for the reply, I mainly play tournements on pokerstars. The field is normaly around 2k 3k players and i average finishing 100 people out of the money.
I tend to play solid poker bluffing in good spots and stealing blinds when i can, its the AK AA QQ starting cards that get me I cant remember the last time AA actually played out well for me regardless is i slow play or shove.

I have started playing 180 people SNG which i have cashed in the top 5 places 3/5 attempts.

Its when i get deep into the tournament i tent to loose my stack quickly
 
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skaterick

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hard to say whats wrong but variance is huge in tourneys . first , later in the event the players are generally tougher .2nd , blinds grow astronomically and you often have to keep gambling . 3rd , even at best chances of say , for example aa vs 77 allin pre , 4 to 1 favorite , after 3 or more shoves you are almost assured of losing 1 and potentially busting ! basically to make it thru a field you have to play well + get very lucky also .
 
veltins

veltins

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watch loads of Videos of mtts Play by top pros n you will get better n better .. gl
 
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hffjd2000

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Maybe you are carrying all the cash game strategies to tourney games.

There are some points where you have to adjust things suited only for tourneys.
 
MoeJurphy

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Thanks for all the feedback guys! I am relativity new to online poker and i'll be sure to go over everything mentioned!

If anyones looking for new people to play with chat etc my information is below :)

Pokerstars: MoeJurphy
partypoker: MoeJurphy
 
DonV73

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What would be good is to post a hand where you busted with from a tourney and try to explain the situation. That woould be a good start to try and see why you aren't able to cash in a tourney.
 
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Stephenunited

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What would be good is to post a hand where you busted with from a tourney and try to explain the situation. That woould be a good start to try and see why you aren't able to cash in a tourney.


Yes. Post a hand that you busted in on the "poker tournament hand analysis" section. And we will tell you if you played it badly, lol.
 
MoeJurphy

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Yes. Post a hand that you busted in on the "poker tournament hand analysis" section. And we will tell you if you played it badly, lol.

This is the most recent tournament I finished in place 720 I think the places paid were 565/3k.

I understand I lost the tournament before this hand as my stack was 40k 20 hands before this hand, and im down to 4.7k going into this hand. I lost an all in AA to a diamond flush which put me on tilt making mistakes to set me up poorly for this hand.



Bonya.pm: posts the ante 60
guinaldo169: posts the ante 60
Wawollie: posts small blind 250
MoeJurphy: posts big blind 500
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MoeJurphy [Kh Ah]
scabbyqueen: folds
akak600: calls 500
patdonovan: folds
GARIK685: folds
Bonya.pm: folds
guinaldo169: folds
KstandMike: folds
Wawollie: calls 250
MoeJurphy: raises 4238 to 4738 and is all-in
akak600: calls 4238
Wawollie: raises 2582 to 7320 and is all-in
akak600: calls 86 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2496) returned to Wawollie
*** FLOP *** [6s 9c Ad]
*** TURN *** [6s 9c Ad] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [6s 9c Ad 6d] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Wawollie: shows [Ac 6c] (a full house, Sixes full of Aces)
akak600: shows [9s Js] (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
Wawollie collected 172 from side pot
MoeJurphy: shows [Kh Ah] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
Wawollie collected 14754 from main pot
Wawollie wins $2.88 for eliminating MoeJurphy and their own bounty increases by $2.87 to $6.74
Wawollie wins $1.75 for eliminating akak600 and their own bounty increases by $1.75 to $8.49
akak600 finished the tournament in 739th place
MoeJurphy finished the tournament in 740th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 14926 Main pot 14754. Side pot 172. | Rake 0
Board [6s 9c Ad 6d Qh]
Seat 1: KstandMike (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Wawollie (small blind) showed [Ac 6c] and won (14926) with a full house, Sixes full of Aces
Seat 3: MoeJurphy (big blind) showed [Kh Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sixes
Seat 4: scabbyqueen folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: akak600 showed [9s Js] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sixes
Seat 6: patdonovan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: GARIK685 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Bonya.pm folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: guinaldo169 folded before Flop (didn't bet)



565 Places Paid
 
onondaga

onondaga

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Moe, I'm in poker a little bit more than you, but I don't tell I'm playing better. When I start play online, I start with PokerStars, where from 10'000 players tournament during first 10 min 3 or 4'000 were eliminated. Yeah, I think that's talking something about level of this players! Now I'm in money from 2 to 5 (five is my record) time monthly. Just start to play how was writing above smaller field tournaments. The best way I think is community tournaments, were you can learn your rivals not only on the fields, but asking him a questions after the game! Good luck on the felts!

PS: try to play on Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker
 
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MoeJurphy

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Moe, I'm in poker a little bit more than you, but I don't tell I'm playing better. When I start play online, I start with PokerStars, where from 10'000 players tournament during first 10 min 3 or 4'000 were eliminated. Yeah, I think that's talking something about level of this players! Now I'm in money from 2 to 5 (five is my record) time monthly. Just start to play how was writing above smaller field tournaments. The best way I think is community tournaments, were you can learn your rivals not only on the fields, but asking him a questions after the game! Good luck on the felts!

PS: try to play on Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker

thanks man I'm gna start doing more MTT SNG too to get some practice for getting deep stacked. Will take your advice into my gameplay :)
 
MoeJurphy

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Moe, I'm in poker a little bit more than you, but I don't tell I'm playing better. When I start play online, I start with PokerStars, where from 10'000 players tournament during first 10 min 3 or 4'000 were eliminated. Yeah, I think that's talking something about level of this players! Now I'm in money from 2 to 5 (five is my record) time monthly. Just start to play how was writing above smaller field tournaments. The best way I think is community tournaments, were you can learn your rivals not only on the fields, but asking him a questions after the game! Good luck on the felts!

PS: try to play on Americas Cardroom and Black Chip Poker

Is Americas Cardroom for UK players too? I've played on BlackChip with no deposit just bonus money. is there anything inparticular thats good about these sites?
 
PapaC

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I play at ACR/BCP, Carbon, and Full Flush, and I have a BR on all of them, so I consider myself a good but not a great player, because when I came to CC for help I had only a $20 BR at FF. Now during a day I may play 3 or 4 MTTs and some cash tables too. The MTTs are harder to make the money than the cash games. At least it's that way for me. Most days I don't make the money in any of them, but sometimes I can get my buyins back at cash tables. I keep playing them though, because it helps my game, and I know when I do hit one, it will be worth the time it took to get there. Really what I'm saying is not to expect to cash a lot in the MTTs. Nobody wins all the time. GL to you
 
MoeJurphy

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When your playing higher field MTT such as Pokerstars Sunday Storm/million, there is a 2hour late reg. Whats best to register at the beginning or some time into the late registration?
 
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Stephenunited

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On that particular occasion you played fine. Down to 9 big blinds, AK suited is a strong hand to have and I would shove this every single time. You are rarely less than a coin flip to win heads up and on this occasion you are 67% to win and 4% tie versus the other relevant stack. I'm guessing you were well below average stack size at this point so that is what you need to address. And you have already addressed this as you know where you have gone wrong.
 
MoeJurphy

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Thanks guys, I will try and go into my sessions with all this in mind and hopefully see some results will keep you posted as how my bankroll management gets along!
 
MoeJurphy

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Do you guys all play multi tables at once? If so when did you first feel comfortable moving on from one game at a time?
 
ConDeck

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I would just recommend adding tables at a rate you feel comfortable with. If you find yourself making mistakes or playing poorly then reduce the number.

I will say if you can play 1 table, you can play two... Then just gradually add on (over a good number of sessions).

There is always a trade off between volume and attention. The trick is finding the balance where you are playing the greatest volume without sacrificing your decision making ability.
 
hutzpaf

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180 sng is full of regs. Maybe you should play some 90 sng these games are a little softest. :icon_thum
 
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Stephenunited

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Do you guys all play multi tables at once? If so when did you first feel comfortable moving on from one game at a time?


I find that two tournaments and two 6-man SNGs at once (4 tables) works until the later stages where I just play the 2 tournaments alone.
 
PershingSt

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MTT poker is about getting in volume , so you should learn to play more than 1 table at a time . Your cashes will be relatively infrequent something between 10-20% of the time for winning players . The key is to make the ones you do cash count , tournament poker is about making FT's and getting top 3s . When I learned to multi table , I would slowly add a table each session until I felt I could not handle anymore . Start wit 2 , then 3 , then 4 etc etc until its too much :) . GL on the felt
 
xOneCoolHandx

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MTT poker is about getting in volume , so you should learn to play more than 1 table at a time . Your cashes will be relatively infrequent something between 10-20% of the time for winning players . The key is to make the ones you do cash count , tournament poker is about making FT's and getting top 3s . When I learned to multi table , I would slowly add a table each session until I felt I could not handle anymore . Start wit 2 , then 3 , then 4 etc etc until its too much :) . GL on the felt


I totally disagree, he is constantly saying that he is a newer player, he needs to learn solid poker first and then work on identifying what styles the other players at the table are playing against him. Dividing his attention between games is going to lead a new player (and a lot of experienced ones) to make mistakes and miss opportunities. Don't start trying to play more than 1 tourney at a time until you are ready (if ever..I have the ability but rarely play more than 1 at a time because I like to learn the players habits at the table)
 
FromHereOn

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MTT poker will often yield you nothing even when you play perfect poker.

Use your patience, and (later on down the road) if you find yourself playing poorly due to being bored, try and find a 2nd table to play.

If you can pull some big pots with no suckouts, even after a frustrating knockout when you're ahead, just remember it's only a matter of time until you finally cash.
 
catchitfool

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All one can do is try to get it in good. Keep playing good your final tables will come. gl
 
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