What am I doing wrong?

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ShadyLady57

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Hi all!

I mainly play in mtt's, and I cash for the most part but problem is when I get close to or on final table.
I can be super stacked and for every 10 times at ft I will hit 1st 2nd 2 times...just to give you an idea.
I seem to play super tight while the chips are flying around the table and cannot believe the cr@p they play and ultimately take the pot down.

Am I playing too tight? My style is tight aggressive but when the blinds are huge I cannot wait around for those premium hands without it crippling my stack. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any input.
 
AKQ

AKQ

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You need to practice doing 10 man sngs to simulate final table short hand play, your probably too tight and didn't adjust to 6 handed play. if you're actually serious about this game you need to practice headsup and short handed play. 1st place is usually reserved for those that understand all of these concepts and can apply them properly.

Heres some motivation!!!

 
TeUnit

TeUnit

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Maybe try running some of the hands through an icm calculator like sng wiz or icmizer. Or maybe take an icm quiz and see how you do. You could also post some of the hands and see what people think.
 
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ShadyLady57

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You need to practice doing 10 man sngs to simulate final table short hand play, your probably too tight and didn't adjust to 6 handed play. if you're actually serious about this game you need to practice headsup and short handed play. 1st place is usually reserved for those that understand all of these concepts and can apply them properly.

Heres some motivation!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdOLB3Qd9Fo

I have taken down many mtt's but not as much as I should have. 2nd seems to be what I hit and most times in the money.


Since they have made all those changes to BOL, I started playing 6 max Hyper SnG's about 6 months ago and doing really well. I must admit it has improved my game.

I also read "Holdem Wisdom"- Daniel Negreanu, "Play Poker Like The Pros"-Phil Helmuth.

I am now reading "Small Stakes Hold'em"- David Sklansky which I think is much better than the above books.

Thanks for the motivation! lol
 
puzzlefish

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I have taken down many mtt's but not as much as I should have. 2nd seems to be what I hit and most times in the money.


Since they have made all those changes to BOL, I started playing 6 max Hyper SnG's about 6 months ago and doing really well. I must admit it has improved my game.

I also read "Holdem Wisdom"- Daniel Negreanu, "Play Poker Like The Pros"-Phil Helmuth.

I am now reading "Small Stakes Hold'em"- David Sklansky which I think is much better than the above books.

Thanks for the motivation! lol
When you say that you haven't taken down as many MTTs as you should have, why do you say that and what do you mean? What percentage of MTTs (and at what stakes) do you think an above average poker player should take down versus yourself?
 
finaltable1

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Hi all!

I mainly play in mtt's, and I cash for the most part but problem is when I get close to or on final table.
I can be super stacked and for every 10 times at ft I will hit 1st 2nd 2 times...just to give you an idea.
I seem to play super tight while the chips are flying around the table and cannot believe the cr@p they play and ultimately take the pot down.

Am I playing too tight? My style is tight aggressive but when the blinds are huge I cannot wait around for those premium hands without it crippling my stack. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any input.

Depending on buy-in and number of open tables when i aproach to final table I usually open all remaining tables and gather the infromation about possible final table opponents. You can use HUD to collect the data or write notes or use colors, or use it all. Some players are on tilt at this late stage, others are too tight and keep waiting for premium hands, throwing away small pairs and mid aces/kings. You have to start playing the players, not cards... Raising 3bb with 83os in late position with hyper tight players behind you is a good option. Folding preflop AK to player who goes all-in with any pair is another good option. 3bet in position vs player who most probably just steals blinds is also a good option. 70-90% of time you need to finish everything in a preflop battle. If your opponent is sure about his hand, you clearly see that he wants value or defends his hand, then you must fold if you're not sure about your hand. When you've opened the flop, it's better to ignore flush or straight draws and rest of the speculations like overcards or bluff. Tight preflop players wait for premium hands, tight post flop players win with quads vs full house. Strong draw on flop is the one when you're also having a top pair. Most of the players at early stage of final table simply don't want to risk and they wait for others to make mistakes, you need to know who is on tilt, who is the fish, who is the boss. Sometimes you can fold preflop after 3bet, if opponent goes all-in, it's not easy when you're pot commited, but keep in mind that it's possble and it happened many times when players have won the tourney after having 1bb left. Happened to me many times, few times had 1bb left at the first level of blinds and won that MTT several hours later.
 
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ShadyLady57

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Depending on buy-in and number of open tables when i aproach to final table I usually open all remaining tables and gather the infromation about possible final table opponents. You can use HUD to collect the data or write notes or use colors, or use it all. Some players are on tilt at this late stage, others are too tight and keep waiting for premium hands, throwing away small pairs and mid aces/kings. You have to start playing the players, not cards... Raising 3bb with 83os in late position with hyper tight players behind you is a good option. Folding preflop AK to player who goes all-in with any pair is another good option. 3bet in position vs player who most probably just steals blinds is also a good option. 70-90% of time you need to finish everything in a preflop battle. If your opponent is sure about his hand, you clearly see that he wants value or defends his hand, then you must fold if you're not sure about your hand. When you've opened the flop, it's better to ignore flush or straight draws and rest of the speculations like overcards or bluff. Tight preflop players wait for premium hands, tight post flop players win with quads vs full house. Strong draw on flop is the one when you're also having a top pair. Most of the players at early stage of final table simply don't want to risk and they wait for others to make mistakes, you need to know who is on tilt, who is the fish, who is the boss. Sometimes you can fold preflop after 3bet, if opponent goes all-in, it's not easy when you're pot commited, but keep in mind that it's possble and it happened many times when players have won the tourney after having 1bb left. Happened to me many times, few times had 1bb left at the first level of blinds and won that MTT several hours later.

Thank you for your input. That is really great advice. I am putting this in my notes :stupido:...thank you! ;)
 
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ShadyLady57

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When you say that you haven't taken down as many MTTs as you should have, why do you say that and what do you mean? What percentage of MTTs (and at what stakes) do you think an above average poker player should take down versus yourself?

I would say that most times I do make it to the $ by not bubbling even if it means just coasting. I'd rather cash than bubble and at least get my buy in back. Once I get that far I start to play again. What concerns me is at the ft's I rarely hit 1st - 2nd's yeah.

I'm sure above average players would take down more 1st's than 2nd's. Although I can play, I do not consider myself "above" average.

I'm not so sure about percentage but I believe I'm not hitting them like I should. I think when I'm at a ft I play too tight afraid of blowing my stack. In the meantime, I see players shoving with nothing, (which of course, unless I have a premium hand I fold) chips flying etc. Maybe I am just expecting too much.

I play $2.20-$6.60
 
puzzlefish

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I think there was a discussion around here not long ago about the balance between risk in play and win rates. The riskier the play, the less ITM overall but when ITM then the final result is better than the more conservative type of play. However, I don't think this is what you're talking about. You seem more interested in your play at the final table, regardless of what chip stack you enter the FT with. Perhaps you're not doing anything wrong from the perspective of playing optimally, but you would just need to take more risks to take it down (but at the cost of busting out in lower FT position than you are used to). A lot of it has to do with luck and risk aversion. Perhaps you could try dedicating some of your final tables to more reckless play against looser opponents and see how it goes.
 
ZenGreen

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Review your hands and see if youre the mistake or if the site is just helping you out of your bankroll

Making top 3 is no joke
 
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LuisBoaC

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I think you answered your own question. You say you are "super stacked" and play "super tight". If you are very tight you can't be losing many/large pots so the blinds must be eating away at your stack. If you have a large stack later on in a tourney I would loosen up, taking advantage of position and stack to pot ratios (both yours and your opponents') to steal some blinds and stay ahead of your opponents. If they have shown they're playing, as you said, "cr@p" hands your own range needn't be so tight to beat them.
Also you said your style is tight aggressive, I would say this is good at the beginning of tournaments but you need to not stick to one style through a whole MTT, for the reason I stated earlier and to stop your opponents from having a solid read on you when you do reach the final table.
 
MarloRae

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I also read "Holdem Wisdom"- Daniel Negreanu, "Play Poker Like The Pros"-Phil Helmuth.



These are the two books I'm reading right now! I feel like I read some of them and then I go back and re-read stuff to fine tune.
 
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