Throwing away a chip lead.

A

Acewild

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 17, 2016
Total posts
2
Chips
0
I am pretty new to Poker, I started to study and play on free Apps such as wsop and Zynga and believe I have a sound understanding of the fundamentals of Poker and this past week I decided to start playing real money. At the start of multi table tournaments I have played solidly and in several instances been the runaway chip leader at some stages but I seem to throw it away for some reason as the tournament progresses.

I start loosening up with the intention of further increasing my chip lead but then in a couple of hands I just make almost greedy calls, decimate my stack and go on tilt, furious with myself for making a decision I knew was not optimal play. I am just looking for some tips for tournament play when you start well and build so you are a large stack. How do you find the balance between building your stack and consolidating your lead and avoiding going broke?

Should I tighten up when I have a lead and just play premium hands or should I apply pressure on the blinds really often?

Also if anyone could recommend some software so that I can record my gameplay and then be able to analyse it, would be hugely helpful.
 
Last edited:
Dunc8b

Dunc8b

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Total posts
660
Chips
0
This sounds sooo much like me.

I have tried to review my behaviour and I think what I was doing (and still do) was playing looser "because I have lots of chips" but not really being aware of just how much the blinds were. It only takes 4 or 5 speculative calls at 1000/2000+ blind to take a big chunk out of your chip stack later in the game.
 
M

Mantones

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Total posts
658
Awards
1
Chips
0
Just don`t make many greedy calls,try to study your opponents,and protect your hand in an aggresivly way :)
 
P

PW300

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Total posts
105
Chips
0
Keep playing in the way that got you the chip lead in the first place. So many times I see players with big chip leads getting involved in every hand trying to steal blinds and pots with their big stacks. The problem is they are playing hands they would have thrown away earlier and are losing to all in shoves from short stacked players. I'd keep to your normal game but play your premium hands more aggressively.
 
S

sponsor

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 22, 2016
Total posts
104
Awards
1
Chips
3
holdem manager is very popular
 
S

stevenparker91

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 6, 2016
Total posts
81
Chips
0
From time to time I have this problem. The trick is to catch yourself before it's too late. Usually the first big hit I take whether it was a bad call or a bad beat. I stand up, take a drink of cold water, and cool off. It does take practice to recognize it quicker, but that's usually what helps me. If I'm online and not live I'll even do some stretching to cool off. I know it sounds dumb, but it works for me
 
mbrenneman0

mbrenneman0

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Mar 19, 2016
Total posts
1,536
Awards
1
Chips
0
I thought I had a solid understanding of the game too from zynga... You can absolutely destroy on zynga and still not be a good poker player, and that's okay.. I was tripling my bankroll daily on zynga when I started playing real money and blew threw a couple hundred in about two months... Its okay to not be good, but just know that you have a lot to learn..

My very best advice is to get yourself a copy of Arnold Snyder's "poker tournament formula" and study that book religiously. He talks about how the style of play changes as the tournament progresses and how to adjust as well as the dynamics of different chipstacks. How to play big stack vs big stack, big stack vs small stack, small stack vs big, small vs small....
 
gjwalk

gjwalk

Legend
Platinum Level
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Total posts
2,329
Awards
14
Chips
261
Zynga and any other game that's not played for real money is not poker. My experience with playing those games is usually a bunch of players going all-in every other hand. Playing slightly sensible poker will usually be enough to build a huge fake bankroll. Real poker involves real money and is a whole different game. My guess is that you're probably playing way to aggressively and you may want to scale back a little.
 
N

Nutcracker69

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 10, 2015
Total posts
692
Chips
0
I was going to post something to try and help you but I don't think it will.

Just out of curiousity, how much did you have on Zynga and WSOP, respectively that told you you were ready to play for real?

(Disclaimer: No one is currently better on this site at blowing big early leads (or just big leads in general) than I am. That is definitely my bread and butter, as opposed to the good old days when I could hold it down whether facing 8 or 8000.)
 
3

3ccasd

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Total posts
244
Awards
1
Chips
0
Use Hold'em Manager, and Honor Harrington book, there is a well-told by the concept of tournament poker
 
Top