Late Tournament Play suggestions

BloodLoss

BloodLoss

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I know most folks frown on low stakes games and myself, I typically avoid them. However, over the past few months I started playing in 1000+ people online free rolls. It’s pretty entertaining – in my opinion. The interesting part is, I have ran into a situation several times online that has also been showing up in my home game.

First, I don’t take this as a bad beat story – it’s not. I’m looking for opinions/comments on what you would do. Pardon if something like this has been posted before.

Situation (nlh):
34 people left out of 900ish. Top 20 pays.
I have about 17 bb and dealt KK in late position. There is one caller and I raise 2.5 bb and they call. We see a flop of rags. My opponent shoves all in (I have him covered by just a few). My thought was he had A-rag and since he missed the flop he would try to scare me out since no face cards hit. I think about it for a second and call. I was right, he had Ace-rag and missed. On the river he spikes an Ace and I’m out.

65 people left out of 1000ish. Top 50 pays.
I have about 23 bb and dealt AK in late position. There is one caller and I raise 3.5 bb and they call. We see a flop of that has 2 hearts and of course an Ace. My opponent shoves all in (has me covered – not by much). My thought was he had Ace and was going bet that I didn’t. I snap call. I was right, he had Ace-rag. The turn gives him two pair and I’m out.

5 people left out of 15 (home game). Top 3 pays.

I have about 12 bb and dealt JJ in the big-blind position. A player in earlier position bet’s 3x big blind. This guy is a big bluffer too. I just smooth call. We see a flop of rags. He checks and I decide to shove. My opponent calls (has me covered – but not by much). All he had was Ace-face. He hits an Ace on the flop and I’m out.

My question revolves around late tourney play (not the actual instances above). I see some folks just blind out, some flame out, some go down like I usually do. In situations like the ones above do you always follow the path of what the poker math and odds dictate or do you follow something else?
 
ribaric

ribaric

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I wouldnt shove if there is an A on the board the guy can be a big bluffer but sometimes he has a card so dnt shove JJ just small raise and hope for a flop where cards are under J like 10 5 2
 
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ibetmyho

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If you are consistently short around the bubble of tournaments, I would suggest you play more aggressively to accumulate chips. The higher the blinds get the more willing to have to be to steal them. Look for opportunities to shove on loose players especially when under 15 bbs. For instance you should never be flatting with jacks with 12 bbs, shove your chips in pre flop.
 
teepack

teepack

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Late in a tourney, most hands are over with before the flop. I would suggest getting a little more aggressive on your raises. Instead of raising 2.5BB with KK or 3.5BB with AK, I would suggest raising it up to 6-8 BB. I would even consider shoving pre in both of those instances. Let your opponent know you are prepared to go all-in. On your JJ hand, you should have shoved over the top. Put the pressure on your opponents in those situations. Nobody wants to go out when you are getting close to the bubble, so take advantage of that.
 
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ShoTyme

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These are freerolls. The play will not be quality even at the end with the "better" players still left. So take your lumps. It's poker. To win a poker tournament so large, even when betting with the best hand, a certain amount of luck needs to occur. Winning poker occurs over time, whereas this is an extremely small sample size. If for example you continue to play this way over the course of 40 tournaments, I'm sure you should be fine.

The above suggestion by teepack is also good. With JJ, I'd definitely shove preflop. I probably would have shoved the KK as well preflop but certainly more than a 2.5 raise when there's a limper. I personally like to make limpers pay. Really you want to give your opponents the opportunity to fold. Also as was said earlier, make sure you're maximizing other hands in the tournament. Maybe a hand was misplayed earlier that put you short. Don't just analyze the final hand, but rather the entirety of the game.

Best of luck to you in the future. It really looks like you're on the right track!

ShoTyme
 
MoeJurphy

MoeJurphy

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If your short stacked in the late stages of an MTT your going to find yourself shoving all your chips for coin flips (may be slightly in your favor with Ace high or a Pair). You have to be prepared to loose these flips it's the only way we can chip up if we do win.

Try playing more aggressively in the mid stages of the tournament when the blinds and antes increase, putting you into a better situation for the late stages meaning we can avoid some of these coin flips or at least not flipping for your whole stack.

And if your playing free roll's expect the unexpected I don't play many but recently jumped into a PS free roll and the play is like play chip money. You cant read an opponent as they could be shoving with rags or premium cards.

Good luck.
 
smallfrie

smallfrie

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I don't see any real problem with any of your play. The JJ hand some would have shoved with 12bb not me unless there are some fast levels in your home game. There are some situations late where I will let ICM considerations for me or my opponent dictate play and make some folds I wouldn't normally make or be more aggressive than I normally would be, but your play looks fine imo. ------->VARIANCE
 
Ineed1moredeuce

Ineed1moredeuce

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Pre flop aggression is needed in those freerolls. Unfortunately, even when you play your cards right, someone else can get lucky with their rags. I don't know how people feel about this strategy, but I've had luck with sometimes call-raising the super strong starting hands in early position late in small stake tournaments and freerolls. I think to be successful in these freeroll tournaments, building a big stack is critical, so don't be afraid to become super aggressive and loosen your play when you start getting pretty close to the money.
 
BloodLoss

BloodLoss

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Thanks folks for the helpful advice.
 
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Playtext

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You made the right play however the villain just got lucky.
 
Vadim Kudimov

Vadim Kudimov

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My best result in every freeroll begins with the fact that I'm 90% of the games at first I always go down to 3-4BB, and then I wait the top pair and go all-in. But if a pair comes in the early stages when the blinds are small, then I lose 60%. I can it be written off only too many "fish", which simply have nothing to do and they sit in the freerolls.I'm in front of freerolls as well as play money to develop a clear pattern of action in the brain, and that does not even appear foolish thoughts to see the flop with these cards like 69 offsuit in the hope of good luck). But even if the early stages of coming top pair, I still go all-in. So all right, I do not see any errors.
 
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