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BatOneHat

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Q - Why do I seem to do well at the beginning of Tournaments but fade in the middle or towards the end? Generally, I can get to about 1 1/2 hours doing well, then drop off quickly. Not sure why.
 
perrywh

perrywh

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As the tournament gets older the players get better! The bad players are put out first and you end up with the best of the bunch. Keep playing and learning and you will end up on top!
 
Phoenix Wright

Phoenix Wright

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Another reason might ("might" because it "might not" be the case here as well, but still worth mentioning) be because you aren't adapting play-style to the ever changing stack sizes and rising blinds/antes. In the early tournament stages, it is usually best to play safe and solid - waiting for good spots to pick up some chips and gain a little momentum. However, in the middle-stages and especially towards the end of the tournament: you typically need to adjust in one or two ways - even if that is as simple as tightening up or loosening up. Towards the very end, there are many spots where you should not be afraid to get all of your chips into the middle - this is seldom ever correct at the beginning of an event.

For a little bit more on this, check out the "Tournaments" forum section in cardschat, or look up "ICM"/ICM pressure. In short, a single chip isn't really "worth" the same at the end as it is at the start of an event.
 
COMIRRR

COMIRRR

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Given that a tournament lasts a few hours, maybe you start to get bored and not concentrate as well as at the beginning of the game and this can be seen in your result.
 
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Mikeloti13

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There can be a few factors involved. Maybe you lose concentration, but that shouldnt be happening after only hour and a half. Maybe you cant adapt, you need to change your game based on your stack, on your opponents stacks and blinds as well. You can't play the same throughout the whole tournament.
 
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dregan

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As the tournament progresses, weak players leave and you need to consider that the best remain. Or maybe you relax after building a stack and lose focus.
 
Panda1010

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You may be getting bored. Learning patients goes along way when playing tournaments. ;)
 
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300HPGOD

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Depends on what you are saying when you write drop off quickly. If you mean you are at 50BBs and then are out in a hand or so it could be that you are not reading your opponents hands correctly and over valuing your own. If you are at 25 BB or less and same is happening then it could be you are re-jamming enough or trying to steal enough. When the blinds get bigger adjustments have to be made from your starting hands to re-jams, calling ranges, etc. If you have a HUD look at the stats that you have for yourself based on stack size.
 
SwaggyJ

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Q - Why do I seem to do well at the beginning of Tournaments but fade in the middle or towards the end? Generally, I can get to about 1 1/2 hours doing well, then drop off quickly. Not sure why.



What is your definition of "doing well"? Can you elaborate more on this?

In my opinion you need to base your "doing well" in terms of how many BBs you have at each level.

Let's us know so we can help you out in making that deep run in your tournament play!
 
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ronn6583

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You seem to be playing a lot of hands early on and hitting the flop quite successfully.
By the middle, you can have a decent stack. You continue to open many hands as before, but you do not hit the flop so well and plus opponents start catching you with better hands.
If so, after creating a comfortable stack, you just need to change the style from loose to tight.
 
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LFC_yllnwa

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What problems have you tried to find out? play very few hands? are you afraid to play against a player who has a lot of chips? Are you afraid of being eliminated from the tournament? To solve the problem that does not give you a continuation for the game, you need to know what prevents you from playing successfully. Think about it, analyze your game. What style of play do you use? What do you bet on in tournaments? What strategy is good for you?
 
thehangdude

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You know those pretty suited connectors like JQ and TJ? You can get away with playing them from any position early in the game. Raising only costs you about 1/20th of your stack, so when they hit you can make a good profit. But when it costs you 1/8th of your stack to open, you need to have position or really good cards.

My guess is you are opening too wide. In early position, you want at least AQs. In middle position, you can open up KQ. Only from late position do those pretty connectors make you money.

You might also be calling too much. I know calling is cheap when you're in the blinds, but you will be out of position the rest the hand. Whenever you call, make sure you are using the raiser's range. A hand you might raise from the Button is not good enough to call an UTG raise.

Get a opening range chart and learn the different opening hands you should play from each position. You don't have to follow the chart, but it will give you an idea of other player's ranges.

Also learn odds when drawing. Don't chase a flush or straight if the price is too high, and make the price too high if you believe villain is chasing. The 4/2 rule says multiply your outs by four for turn and river, and by two for river alone. So a flush draw is 9 outs. That means about a 18% chance you'll draw one each street.

Finally your opening bet size. Once you are down to 30BB, you want to open raise for about 2.5X the BB. So with 3000 chips and the big blind at 100, you want to open for 250. This gives you a good fold equity, but if someone shoves behind you, you save yourself chips when you fold. At about 10BB, you want to either go all in or fold. Trust me. Smarter people than me have proven it to be so.

And finally, if you are unsure, bet or raise. Nobody like playing against aggressive opponents. Put the villain in a position to make a mistake.
 
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BatOneHat

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Number of BB

What is your definition of "doing well"? Can you elaborate more on this?

In my opinion you need to base your "doing well" in terms of how many BBs you have at each level.

Let's us know so we can help you out in making that deep run in your tournament play!


The last tournament I was just in at the one hour mark - 41 BB, 161 of 900. I lasted another 25 mins after that before I busted.
 
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