MTT Closing the tournament. I can't seem to do it!

Hi All,

In the past 3 days I've placed in the money in 3 freeroll tournaments - 17,5 and 15th place. For whatever reason, I fail at the end and cannot get into the significant money. It's good to know that I can make it as far as I can but would love some suggestions on how to finish. I know I'm missing something significant but don't know what it is.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated . It's a very different game at the end!

I found this excellent post which gives me a good starting place:

Your First Final Table
https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-poker-59/

What is your aggression like in the later stages? as a lot of players tend to tighten up towards the cash.

The trick is not to make any silly calls, play tight. Don't play weak hands. I've played many and gotten into the money and the finaly table before, once you on the final table it's a whole new ball game..

After they have collected a good stack, play tight and do not look at the flop for nothing. Superfluous

The final two tables are the only time the tournament starts to get short-handed.

You can play sit-n-go tournaments or spin-n-go tournaments to practice your short-handed game.

You are forced to open up the range of cards you are playing some with less players on the table. You don't need as strong a hand to open raise and the blinds will be coming around faster for everyone, so stealing and re-stealing becomes very important.

Since payout structures are usually top-heavy, you will have the most success by aiming for the top 3 places and playing accordingly - do not pass up good spots to make chips because you are afraid of being eliminated.

Good luck to you!

wildgremlin said:

What is your aggression like in the later stages? as a lot of players tend to tighten up towards the cash.

Click to expand...

The same is a problem in the game at the late stage of the tournament .. The tight game is good, but what if nothing happens? Or comes A8, A7, K8 and all that?...

Thanks for your posts. I'm going to see how I do in a 5 or 6 person game. Thanks again!

LFC_yllnwa said:

The same is a problem in the game at the late stage of the tournament .. The tight game is good, but what if nothing happens? Or comes A8, A7, K8 and all that?...

Click to expand...

Depends on your chip stack and those around you I'd say. If your stack is below 10bbs for instance you should be jamming with hands like you mentioned in late position if it's folded around to you. I guess if you have a large stack you can have the luxury of playing a tighter game as you will not be blinded away. But conversely you can use a large stack to bully the small stacks who are waiting to shove.