LEAK: MTT Middle-Game

Ok, I've decided I have a pretty big leak in my tournament game. I have had a lot of success in the beginning stage of tourneys. The blinds are real low, I just play position, wait for my spot, and try to get paid off.

I am getting knocked out constantly as we are approaching the money bubble. I feel like I have finished in the top 30%-40% of tourneys so much, but always bust before the bubble.

Sorry my info is so generic, I'm playing on Bovada so don't have any graphs or anything like that. Any help or suggestions is appreciated!

Also, is there any ways to convert hand histories or anything like that for Bovada?

sam1chips said:

Ok, I've decided I have a pretty big leak in my tournament game. I have had a lot of success in the beginning stage of tourneys. The blinds are real low, I just play position, wait for my spot, and try to get paid off.

I am getting knocked out constantly as we are approaching the money bubble. I feel like I have finished in the top 30%-40% of tourneys so much, but always bust before the bubble.

Sorry my info is so generic, I'm playing on Bovada so don't have any graphs or anything like that. Any help or suggestions is appreciated!

Click to expand...

There are a gazillion MTT books out there. Read one. Or more. I think this thread mentions a bunch of them:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-poker-59/best-books-tournament-229329/

If that link doesn't work, use the search feature to search for threads about poker books.

Good luck.

-HooDooKoo

I am in the same situation as you. I usually bust near the bubble or make the bubble and bust shortly after. I notice sometimes I get to greedy and try to win in spots that I should of folded. This is when I am a medium stack or bigger.

I've people mention being greedy a few times on this forum and it sounds so silly to me. Play to win until ICM becomes a factor, I wouldn't worry about being to greedy. Try to pick your spots and chip up. 3-bet shove late position raisers wide when your stack falls to around 20bb and just try to keep your stack up as much as possible.

ricksterrick said:

I've people mention being greedy a few times on this forum and it sounds so silly to me. Play to win until ICM becomes a factor, I wouldn't worry about being to greedy. Try to pick your spots and chip up. 3-bet shove late position raisers wide when your stack falls to around 20bb and just try to keep your stack up as much as possible.

Click to expand...

I meant that sometimes I take bad spots to far. If it is a good spot then of course getting all the chips in is good like you said. I guess sometimes I am not so good at picking between the good and bad ones.

Don't worry too much, it's the nature of the game.

Early levels most play tight but when blinds go up and antes kick in everyones "M" goes way down so you have to gamble.

70% of my busts are middle to late middle stages like most people I think.

Do you fear the Bubble?

you wanna watch a good youtube tournament strategy video's (gripsed) so you know your ranges and positional plays are in check.
confidence and belief will make your presence more respected,

practice adjusting your game in small buy in MTT's
look for weak players to steal from, look for lags to 3-bet pre flop when we are getting deep into the MTT
and get yourself into the habit of testing the water, you have to make the higher risk plays to accumalate the chips to reach final table,
the more you practice this the better you become - even if you bust out early a few times you will become a stronger player and more comfortable by the bubble

Small Ball
3-betting laggy novice/intermediate players pre-flop
blind stealing,
C-betting
stealing orphaned pots without any initial pre flop raise.
identifying weak and bad loose players in order to get in the pots withhout mega holdings to accumalte chips.

these are all things any of us can become master class at with practice, but we have to break our comfort zones to become stronger

More often go all-in, if the first bet in the pot. You can take advantage of the fact that the opponents start to play very tight , and start making more bets with not very strong hands . So you will be able to "steal" more blinds and antes and keep your stack .
If you have a big stack , play aggressive. There are several natural advantages of a large stack , especially on the bubble . You do not fly out after one unsuccessful hand , so you can play more aggressively. You do not risk as players with average or short stack , so you can safely withstand the impact and continue to play in the tournament. And one more thing . As you can cover any bet enemy , in each hand with your participation they will have to take into account the threat of relegation. This leads to a more tight match.

Maybe it means you are playing aggressively on the bubble which is a good way to improve your stack because a lot of players tighten up, possibly it's not a leak at all and it just reflects that you are in fact playing to win, which is a good thing.