Tournament Study Journal

I study everyday and I feel like having a spot online where I can keep track of what I'm studying would be a good thing. Anyone that has thoughts, a differing opinion or questions feel free to comment.

I'm pretty much going over anything and everything involving tournaments right now. I will post stuff that seems fundamental and also things more advanced. It all needs to be studied constantly to stay fresh.

This year as of 10-11-18 I'm down $3975.00 in MTT's. My buy-ins total $4865.00 and my cashes total $890.00 Luckily I'm a solid cash game player so I'm not down for the year way up actually. But I feel I'm missing something when it comes to Tournament play. My hopes are to strengthen my tournament play and by end of next year, or maybe this year fingers crossed have a profitable tournament year.

First portion will be 7 tips for tournament poker

1. Steal a lot, but don't go overboard.
Against weaker opponents raising small and often works well in late position

2. Defend your big blind a lot HU
In multi way pots only play hands that play well multi way.

3. Be wary of 4bet shoves when 25-40bb's deep
If they’re going to continue with silly hands, but never 4-bet without a monster, we can 3-bet for value with little fear of being blown off of our equity.Choose blocker hands just below your calling range as 3-bet bluffs against good and aggressive players. 3-bet a more value-heavy range against passive fish.

4.Deep stacks? 3bet like it's a cash game.
With deeper stacks, your opponents are more incentivized to continue against your 3-bets, which can lead to tough situations with marginal hands. with super-deep stacks you want to have a somewhat linear, high card-heavy 3-betting range against fish, and a polarized 3-betting range against regulars.

5. Don't continuation bet every hand

Ask yourself these questions

• Whose range does the flop hit the best?
• Who has the most nutted hands on this board?
• What does my range look like to my opponents?
• What does my opponent’s range look like?

6. Have a plan for future streets

7. Practice playing Heads up


This is what I will be studying today I hope to have something different each day. or at least a few times a week.

Good post, You have a follower here
I also regularly study my game in tournaments looking to improve my game. As recommendations, I could tell you that it helped me a lot to dissect the tournament moment according to the blinds that we have. Since each hand is played different depending on the blinds you have.
For example, my pocket pairs game will not be the same with 14BB as with 24BB. This has helped me a lot lately, to know that wants my hand at every moment

MrHachiman said:

Good post, You have a follower here
I also regularly study my game in tournaments looking to improve my game. As recommendations, I could tell you that it helped me a lot to dissect the tournament moment according to the blinds that we have. Since each hand is played different depending on the blinds you have.
For example, my pocket pairs game will not be the same with 14BB as with 24BB. This has helped me a lot lately, to know that wants my hand at every moment

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Thanks for that. I completely agree. It is my plan to really break it down into the ranges for every BB and position as well. Both Ours and different villain types. Also, different types of tournaments.

Ex. Bounties, Knock outs, Deep stack, Super stack, short stack, Free rolls, Micros, mid stakes, SNG's, 6 max, full ring, 8 max, Guarantee's with layovers, 1000+ entries, 300+ entries, 100-300 entries, under 100 entries.

I try and look at each street, as it's own little mini tournament that I'm trying to win.

Great thread idea. As a micro-stakes MTT player, I hope I am able to contribute decent information/thoughts/ideas/etc.

ohshootmybad said:

Great thread idea. As a micro-stakes MTT player, I hope I am able to contribute decent information/thoughts/ideas/etc.

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I encourage you too! Even if you're not sure about something post it. Don't be afraid to ask questions, we never will get an understanding of certain things, if we don't ask.

I'm sure you will contribute decent info. and thoughts. I encourage you to post as much as you can. I believe all information is valuable and appreciate when people contribute.

The coolest thing about this game is there are so many different ways to arrive at the same result. I'm constantly learning every day. and look forwards to sharing my knowledge and gaining everyone else's.

Do not just study it know it feel it breathe it taste it good luck Memphisgrind nice thread
This might sound crazy but tournaments I do well in am folding JJ or AA even on a ten high flop because just know opponent just hit their set.
Big laydowns dodging bullets is the best thing you can do to improve your tournament results wait until you are sure

hugh blair said:

Do not just study it know it feel it breathe it taste it good luck Memphisgrind nice thread
This might sound crazy but tournaments I do well in am folding JJ or AA even on a ten high flop because just know opponent just hit their set.
Big laydowns dodging bullets is the best thing you can do to improve your tournament results wait until you are sure

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Thanks Hughblair I always enjoy your posts! I figured it would be good for me and the CC community to document what I'm studying and also have it be interactive. It helps me to have stuff documented so I can review. You're right with what you said regarding folding. My best hands are not the ones that I called down and won, but the folds that are correct. There is SO much money you can "make" by folding.

This type of nerdy shit is right up my alley.

I'm in!

missjacki said:

This type of nerdy shit is right up my alley.

I'm in!

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LOL Heck yes! That's the spirit We can unleash some heavy subjects in here. The "nerdier" the better.

Nice thread man, hoping to learn a few things from this and improve my overall tournament game, thanks for great thread.

tweedy_1313 said:

Nice thread man, hoping to learn a few things from this and improve my overall tournament game, thanks for great thread.

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Hey thanks! I really appreciate that. We are all learning, it's a constant battle. I hope that it will be useful. and improve both our tournament game.

Heres one last hand in oss event 75 $66 satellite 30 tickets for $540 main event position critical 29th out of 31.
Folded kk raiser ace rag hits aces on flop knocking out phil helmuth on bb making him bubbleboy worked this time but would you call here and risk elimination to try to chip up?
If I called here would have been bubble boy

hugh blair said:

Heres one last hand in oss event 75 $66 satellite 30 tickets for $540 main event position critical 29th out of 31.
Folded kk raiser ace rag hits aces on flop knocking out phil helmuth on bb making him bubbleboy worked this time but would you call here and risk elimination to try to chip up?
If I called here would have been bubble boy
View attachment 219161

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If I was certain that I could fold my way to the seat then that’s what I would’ve done. Not concerned with chipping up because all places pay the same

I love this thread idea. I like many here have been really working on studying my game. I will put together some things that I have been working on in the next couple of days. I have been really working on 3 and 4 betting preflop as well as post flop play recently.

Okay, so today I will be studying short stack strategies in tournaments. I personally feel It's a position we don't want to be in, but unfortunately fall into this spot for numerous reasons sometime out of our control.

Being a good short stack player in my mind is one of the most important strategies to have under your belt. It can save you from an early exit, and get you back to a healthy stack. Hope to hear everyone's opinions and thoughts. I will be studying this all day.

Entering First In

The range of hands we open depends on a range of factors including position, the way the table is playing and our stack size. When our stack is at 20 BB, however, we will usually want to play a fairly strong range from most positions when first in.

Opening hands like 8/7ss or suited aces from early position, but when faced with a re-raise we are left with no real options.
Even when facing a single call, you will likely have to risk some more of your limited chips post flop to win the hand and if unsuccessful can leave you near-crippled.

Going for light steals with this kind of stack can still be good if in late position or if the players behind you and in blinds are tight. You can also widen your open range if everyone behind is sitting with more middling 30-35 BB stacks since they can not easily shove over your open, but be careful if they are willing to 3bet you small.

On the other hand, opening light into too many small stacks behind you or in the blinds is not smart because they will tend to shove a much wider range.

In many short stack situations you will only want to open hands that you would welcome action with, namely 99+ and AQ+(maybe slightly wider), where you will comfortably be calling off your stack against a shove, hoping to flip or better.

Remember, a very important part of why we don’t want to lose chips on light opens at this stage is because we want to preserve our fold equity for when we want to shove over an open ourselves.


Shoving Over Opens

3 betting all in over an open is the most powerful play you can make when your stack is in the 17-25 BB range. Your opponents will often be fairly oblivious to the stacks behind them or they will simply see you are the only re-shove stack behind them allowing them to open light. This is your opportunity to significantly increase your stack whether you have a premium hand or not.

Your larger stacked opponents will still be playing a deep stack oriented game, opening light and giving themselves room for post flop maneuvers. We can take advantage of this as the short stack by employing a well thought out re-shove strategy.

Depending on how aggressive the opener has been and how many players there are to act after you, there are spots where it can be profitable to literally re-shove 100% of your hands, but such situations are not THAT common.
Situations where it is profitable to shove a 30-40% range on the other hand are very common, especially in the situations where the villain is opening the button, cutoff or the small blind.

In these spots, their raise will most often be a steal and if you shove your stack in, they will have no choice but to fold a large percentage of their range.

Moral of the story:

Be vigilant about tracking the size of your stack and stacks behind you and use all that information to your advantage. Use your 20 BB stack as a re-shoving weapon and you will see your stack grow back up to a healthy one fast. Do too much calling and min-raising and you will see it shrink, costing you fold equity and the opportunity to grow your stack.

Don't do's

1. Limping to see flops

2. Not effectively defending the big blind (Don't be overly tight here or overly loose)

3. Open shoving for too many chips
Take care though not to be shoving your short stack too liberally.
Let’s say it folds to us in middle-to-late position and we have 20-25 BBs with a hand like A/9 off suit or A/6 suited. There might be a temptation to open-shove to keep from having to raise-fold such hands or try to play them post flop against a tricky player in the big blind. This is a mistake because it risks way too much for very little gain. In such a spot an all-in raise that gets everyone to fold would only earn me around 2.5 BBs.

Instead, We should take our chances with more standard raises if we expect the players behind to respond in a way that is profitable, or just fold if we expect those players to give us trouble with effective responses to our raises. Instead of taking marginal open-steal spots vs. good players, it is better to save our chips for re stealing.

4. Re-stealing with no fold equity
If you have not played your 20-25 BB stack well, you will soon find yourself with a 10-15 BB stack once the blinds increase. At this point, even the tightest of players will realize that they are slipping closer to the desperation zone.
It's unfortunate and you will see players who were tight the whole tournament get tired of a player raising their big blind and finally decide to take a stand and re steal for their last 10 big blinds with a hand like A/10 off suit. The problem for them, though, is if the player trying to steal has something like K/9 off suit or even 8/6 suited, They can call because with their short stacks You would only need around 35% equity against their range.
“How can you call with that?” is a question often heard in such situations. But had they made the same move when they had just a few more chips, The player could not have called profitably.

5. Blinding off

Conclusion

At some point, almost every poker tournament becomes shallow. If you want to improve your play, you must learn how to play a short stack well. If you are primarily a cash game player who wants to play a tournament but you don’t have much experience with short stacks, you might occasionally play some sit-n-gos to work on these skills.

This is a great thread and thank you for sharing all this information so that we all may study and hopefully improve our game. As we have already discussed I have a lot of leaks in my game that I am hoping to plug and become a profitable tournament player. Following and studying

Splitpot88 said:

This is a great thread and thank you for sharing all this information so that we all may study and hopefully improve our game. As we have already discussed I have a lot of leaks in my game that I am hoping to plug and become a profitable tournament player. Following and studying

Click to expand...

Thanks for following along. That's alright we all have a lot of leaks. Thank's to CardsChat for having a forum like this where people can get together and build together!

Have one here Memphisgrind and lads that I am struggling to comprehend opponents call any insight be appreciated thanks.
Watch boom see how hand played out cheers.:dontknow:
https://www.boomplayer.com/en/29024014_DB81B895CA

hugh blair said:

Have one here Memphisgrind and lads that I am struggling to comprehend opponents call any insight be appreciated thanks.
Watch boom see how hand played out cheers.:dontknow:
https://www.boomplayer.com/en/29024014_DB81B895CA
View attachment 219351

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Would you be struggling to comprehend the call if you had won the hand?

Your shove is standard. As far as the call goes, I can't speak for that player but it's a call I might make myself in this situation seeing as I only have 10BBs. Especially if blinds are going up next hand/very soon and I'll have an even shorter stack to work with. A lot of it also depends on how you were playing at the table, but if I'm in a ~35/65 spot (or better) based on your UTG shove range, I have no problem calling here, especially if I expect blinds to fold behind and it's HU.

Is it a great call? No but,IMO, you have sometimes take these risks.

This was in a $10 Free roll with 43 players left and 10 making the money. I have no issues with my shove or his call. Just didn't work out but if anyone would have done anything different here I would like to know.

Game started at: 2018/10/14 20:20:0
Game ID: 1291308547 300/600 $10 Freeroll - On Demand, Table 15 (Hold'em)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: dukbil1 (2859).
Seat 2: geantvert10 (9233).
Seat 4: actionlex11 (7935).
Seat 5: folding station (50560).
Seat 6: Thomas _psta (31216).
Seat 7: coco crispy (7561).
Seat 8: DOUGLASZ (32060).
Seat 9: Splitpot88 (11644).
Player Thomas _psta ante (75)
Player coco crispy ante (75)
Player DOUGLASZ ante (75)
Player Splitpot88 ante (75)
Player dukbil1 ante (75)
Player geantvert10 ante (75)
Player actionlex11 ante (75)
Player folding station ante (75)
Player Thomas _psta has small blind (300)
Player coco crispy has big blind (600)
Player Thomas _psta received a card.
Player Thomas _psta received a card.
Player coco crispy received a card.
Player coco crispy received a card.
Player DOUGLASZ received a card.
Player DOUGLASZ received a card.
Player Splitpot88 received card: [As]
Player Splitpot88 received card: [Ks]
Player dukbil1 received a card.
Player dukbil1 received a card.
Player geantvert10 received a card.
Player geantvert10 received a card.
Player actionlex11 received a card.
Player actionlex11 received a card.
Player folding station received a card.
Player folding station received a card.
Player DOUGLASZ calls (600)
Player Splitpot88 allin (11569)
Player dukbil1 folds
Player geantvert10 folds
Player actionlex11 folds
Player folding station folds
Player Thomas _psta calls (11269)
Player coco crispy folds
Player DOUGLASZ folds
*** FLOP ***: [2c 5c 9h]
*** TURN ***: [2c 5c 9h] [10s]
*** RIVER ***: [2c 5c 9h 10s] [5s]
------ Summary ------
Pot: 24938. Rake 0
Board: [2c 5c 9h 10s 5s]
Player dukbil1 does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
Player geantvert10 does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
Player actionlex11 does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
Player folding station does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
*Player Thomas _psta shows: Two pairs. 7s and 5s [7d 7c]. Bets: 11644. Collects: 24938. Wins: 13294.
Player coco crispy does not show cards.Bets: 675. Collects: 0. Loses: 675.
Player DOUGLASZ does not show cards.Bets: 675. Collects: 0. Loses: 675.
Player Splitpot88 shows: One pair of 5s [As Ks]. Bets: 11644. Collects: 0. Loses: 11644.
Game ended at: 2018/10/14 20:20:37

Thanks for making this journal. You've got some material in it that I can relate to. My acid test to determine how good a player I am is to play with people like yourself and other experienced forum members in the free rolls.

Splitpot88 said:

This was in a $10 Free roll with 43 players left and 10 making the money. I have no issues with my shove or his call. Just didn't work out but if anyone would have done anything different here I would like to know.

Game started at: 2018/10/14 20:20:0
Game ID: 1291308547 300/600 $10 Freeroll - On Demand, Table 15 (Hold'em)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: dukbil1 (2859).
Seat 2: geantvert10 (9233).
Seat 4: actionlex11 (7935).
Seat 5: folding station (50560).
Seat 6: Thomas _psta (31216).
Seat 7: coco crispy (7561).
Seat 8: DOUGLASZ (32060).
Seat 9: Splitpot88 (11644).
Player Thomas _psta ante (75)
Player coco crispy ante (75)
Player DOUGLASZ ante (75)
Player Splitpot88 ante (75)
Player dukbil1 ante (75)
Player geantvert10 ante (75)
Player actionlex11 ante (75)
Player folding station ante (75)
Player Thomas _psta has small blind (300)
Player coco crispy has big blind (600)
Player Thomas _psta received a card.
Player Thomas _psta received a card.
Player coco crispy received a card.
Player coco crispy received a card.
Player DOUGLASZ received a card.
Player DOUGLASZ received a card.
Player Splitpot88 received card: A♠
Player Splitpot88 received card: K♠
Player dukbil1 received a card.
Player dukbil1 received a card.
Player geantvert10 received a card.
Player geantvert10 received a card.
Player actionlex11 received a card.
Player actionlex11 received a card.
Player folding station received a card.
Player folding station received a card.
Player DOUGLASZ calls (600)
Player Splitpot88 allin (11569)
Player dukbil1 folds
Player geantvert10 folds
Player actionlex11 folds
Player folding station folds
Player Thomas _psta calls (11269)
Player coco crispy folds
Player DOUGLASZ folds
*** FLOP ***: [2c 5c 9h]
*** TURN ***: [2c 5c 9h] 10♠
*** RIVER ***: [2c 5c 9h 10s] 5♠
------ Summary ------
Pot: 24938. Rake 0
Board: [2c 5c 9h 10s 5s]
Player dukbil1 does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
Player geantvert10 does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
Player actionlex11 does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
Player folding station does not show cards.Bets: 75. Collects: 0. Loses: 75.
*Player Thomas _psta shows: Two pairs. 7s and 5s [7d 7c]. Bets: 11644. Collects: 24938. Wins: 13294.
Player coco crispy does not show cards.Bets: 675. Collects: 0. Loses: 675.
Player DOUGLASZ does not show cards.Bets: 675. Collects: 0. Loses: 675.
Player Splitpot88 shows: One pair of 5s [As Ks]. Bets: 11644. Collects: 0. Loses: 11644.
Game ended at: 2018/10/14 20:20:37

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Just curious why did you 3bet Jam with 20 bigs UTG+1? Not saying I don't like it just asking your reasoning?

Polytarp said:

Thanks for making this journal. You've got some material in it that I can relate to. My acid test to determine how good a player I am is to play with people like yourself and other experienced forum members in the free rolls.

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Hey, Thank you! I really appreciate that. That means a lot, seriously.

I appreciate CardsChat for having this space for us all to be able to learn and grow together.

hugh blair said:

Have one here Memphisgrind and lads that I am struggling to comprehend opponents call any insight be appreciated thanks.
Watch boom see how hand played out cheers.:dontknow:
https://www.boomplayer.com/en/29024014_DB81B895CA
View attachment 219351

Click to expand...

They can call 8.30% of hands from the button against a 10bb shove from UTG which includes 66+ ATs+AJo+ and KQs I agree that it isn't a good Call but they are most likely hoping that they will be flipping. Some people get to a point in the tournament where they have been card dead and K9 looks like Ace's lol

MemphisGrind said:

Just curious why did you 3bet Jam with 20 bigs UTG+1? Not saying I don't like it just asking your reasoning?

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The table had been playing pretty tight and I knew I needed at least one double to even have a chance at the top 3. Judging from how everyone had been playing I figured I would probably get only one caller and worst case pick up the blinds. It worked out exactly how I wanted it to but the cards fell in his favor. Your thoughts on the play? What would you have done and what would your reasoning be for doing it? Thanks and keep in mind I do not have the knowledge that a lot of players have as far as position, bet sizing and many other things. The reason I am here studying and trying to learn.