I need a little help from the tourney zealots

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trixie

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So my poker has been up and down as of late. I was doing well in tourneys for a while, and now I'm absolutely not. But my abysmal performance in tourney play has been replaced by a stellar performance in cash play. So where am I leaking in tourney play at? Am I being too tight? Am I not taking enough risks? Any help would be appreciated :)
 
ringworm

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The variance in tournaments is higher than in cash games. I usually make money in the cash games, lose it in the tournaments. Every now and then I hit it big in the tournament and then I'm way up. I think cash games are great profit, but I think tournaments are more fun, so I use the cash games to fund my tournament play and when I hit a big payday, then I cash it out.
 
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hffjd2000

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Maybe you are applying your cash game strategy to your tournament game?

The two are distinct in some ways.
 
ZekeRam

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One factor to consider that's apparent in tournaments but not cash games is that there's a time limit. As the tournament progresses, you'll have to widen your range and pick your steal spots carefully.
 
Poker Orifice

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So where am I leaking in tourney play at? Am I being too tight? Am I not taking enough risks? Any help would be appreciated :)

I would suggests it starts by asking a question of this ^ nature. Think about it... how could ANYONE know what your weak points in tournament play are when we haven't witnessed your play &/or heard what your thought process(es) are during hands played. (along with... hands played at different stages, on a variety of effective stack sizes, etc. etc. etc. << I could go on forever!)


Are you looking for a basic overall approach to tournament play?
Are you inquiring what are 'typical' mistakes that newer players are making in tournament play?

You might get more help by posting some hand histories from different stages of a tournament. Keep in mind you'll need to use a filter when going through the responses (many don't have a clue what they're talking about but sifting through them & finding the better ones might also be a decent exercise in working on the thought process in each given situation).

gl gl
 
IoutplayedYou

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MTT's

So my poker has been up and down as of late. I was doing well in tourneys for a while, and now I'm absolutely not. But my abysmal performance in tourney play has been replaced by a stellar performance in cash play. So where am I leaking in tourney play at? Am I being too tight? Am I not taking enough risks? Any help would be appreciated :)[/QUOTE

I like to see a lot of hands early when blinds are small also giving you a loser table image then you really are. At some point be able to switch gears and become more aggressive. play position. You shouldn't have to gamble much in earlier stages so be patient and pick the best spots. If you run deep be willing to gamble more and be even more aggressive.
 
charliboulders

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Personally, from years of playing poker, I found it is best for me to pick either cash games or multi-table tournaments and focus on just one. I find myself losing more when I try to play both. I don't know if there's a real strategy begind that, I just know for myself it's easier to concentrate on one game mode than multiple. Hope that helps a little.
 
JohnBoyWWFC

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I like to see a lot of hands early when blinds are small also giving you a loser table image then you really are. At some point be able to switch gears and become more aggressive. play position. You shouldn't have to gamble much in earlier stages so be patient and pick the best spots. If you run deep be willing to gamble more and be even more aggressive.

This is bad advice. Early on when blinds are small, you shouldn't be playing a lot of hands, since winning these pots doesn't change your stack much and the chips you lose are more valuable than the ones you win.

OP, when you say you did good in tournaments, bare in mind that it takes a huge sample size to really assess how good you are at tournaments. Most good players will have big downswings, I'm a winning player and have had 100+BI downswings. IF you win at cash, maybe stick to that. The most basic difference is knowing what to do with different stack sizes, what hands you can open, the kind of hands you should be 3-betting, shove/fold ranges etc.
 
ZekeRam

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This is bad advice. Early on when blinds are small, you shouldn't be playing a lot of hands, since winning these pots doesn't change your stack much and the chips you lose are more valuable than the ones you win.

I wouldn't necessarily call it bad advice. It doesn't hurt to have a wider range of hands early on that can potentially hit the nuts in multi-way pots. Granted, going over board with it may chip at your stack, but picking hands with a ridiculous amount of implied odds can help give you a solid chip stack and help you run the table once blinds and antes start kicking in.
 
atlantafalcons0

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OP - how often do you three bet?

How often do you raise on the button?

Cut-off?

Do you ever 3bet to steal?

Do you find yourself using the clock and trying to just make the money?

What's your strategy when you have 10-15 bb's stack?

What's your bubble strategy if you have a large stack? (35-50 bb's)

We need to know about your tendencies to give you proper feedback.

Let me/us know when you play an MTT next time and I/we will rail you.

Hope to hear from you.

AF
 
TheKAAHK

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I wouldn't necessarily call it bad advice. It doesn't hurt to have a wider range of hands early on that can potentially hit the nuts in multi-way pots. Granted, going over board with it may chip at your stack, but picking hands with a ridiculous amount of implied odds can help give you a solid chip stack and help you run the table once blinds and antes start kicking in.

I think you may misunderstand the difference between playing more hands and playing a wider range. Widening your range in position early on in the tourney is ok depending on table dynamics, but playing a lot of rags because it's "cheap" to do so hoping to spike the miracle nut flop with your suited double gapper is just throwing money out the window.
 
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Jeremy Schatz

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My favorite way to get better at tournaments and discover where the leaks are in my game is to watch others who are better than me play with their hole cards exposed. Watch people play around the same buy-in you are playing since the metagame is different at each buy-in level. Pause before your mentor makes a move and think about what you would do. You can use hand histories off of pokerstars that they make public, or TONS of youtube videos or streams. Find winning players and learn from them and mimic them -- they are winning for a reason.
 
PershingSt

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Lots of variance in tournaments as others have said . If you are gonna grind mtts mainly then expect to lose on most days . Also be sure to make sure that you are always focused and playing your best so you can make your deep runs count . Tournaments can be frustrating at times but if you maintain focus in each session they can be very rewarding .
 
toots babos

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So my poker has been up and down as of late. I was doing well in tourneys for a while, and now I'm absolutely not. But my abysmal performance in tourney play has been replaced by a stellar performance in cash play. So where am I leaking in tourney play at? Am I being too tight? Am I not taking enough risks? Any help would be appreciated :)

Are you playing the exact same style in tourneys as you are in cash games?

If so then since you are doing well in cash games there's no need to change your style there but you may need to slightly change your style for the tourneys since the dynamics will be different and will require slightly different lines to profitably play them
 
Grebbsy

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Remember that at a cash game, chips equate to money; if you lose chips, you lose money, if you gain chips, you gain money.

In an MTT, or even a sit'n'go, chips will vary in value according to starting stack, buy-in, number of paid places, and number of players left. Some cash game players are prone to forget this when trying their hand at tournament play. If you're at the bubble, and faced with a call-all-in or fold situation, for instance, the factors you need to consider are very different from those that will apply when deciding whether to call or fold with the same cards at a cash table.
 
ZekeRam

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I think you may misunderstand the difference between playing more hands and playing a wider range. Widening your range in position early on in the tourney is ok depending on table dynamics, but playing a lot of rags because it's "cheap" to do so hoping to spike the miracle nut flop with your suited double gapper is just throwing money out the window.

Ah, got it, my bad.
 
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