When your the final 36 out of 700+

Okay so when I'm the final 36 I tend to play like no hands.. except pocket pairs big flush cards.. I usually fold hands I wouldn't for big pots like A K off suit, or AQ JJ even, POCKET 10'10 get folded easily to.. just feel like I get put all-in with these hands and I lost 70% of the time.. but when I fold and wait for better spots I end up making FT like 40% of the time when just being top 36 my chances to make the FT is 25%... but yea hate AQ hate AK for sure in big pots late in tournaments hardly wins for me. anyone else notice this pattern? Early it does great, late it does horrible

I feel like your playing too tight. You should wait on a specific hand.. it should still be about the spots in which you are playing in. Notice the ppl that are playing tighter and exploit that!

This is one of my leaks , I seem to tighten up after the BBL . I've been working on it. You are not alone lol.

I also tighten up late in the tournys. And as far as I see whats being flopped, I'm playing right. Sometimes I will wish I had called a hand, but they are far and few between. But here lately I'm just card dead no matter what game or site I play on. I sit awhile ago for 2 hours and never got over 7000 chips. And got knocked out holding AK suited in an all in pot. Sometimes nothing works. GL to you

Look, noone likes flipping with AK against pocket pairs .And especially late in tourneys.

But you got to do what you got to do.

The money isnt gonna come to you. You have to take risks. Your gonna have to go all in or play sooner or later.


If its you time to lose then so be it. But you cant be folding AK and TT just because you want to run deeper.

The chip leaders that have millions of chips at that point already took their chances and won.


Moral of the story: Dont fold hands that you should be playing cause your scarred of losing because you wont be winning anything in the end by doing so.

Like i can understand if your like 40BB deep and your late in the tournament and your chip leader or in top 10 positions to fold AK versus someone with the same stack as yourself. But if villains stack is smaller than your then i dont think flipping or calling shoves with good hands is a bad idea.

I preffer to flip with smaller stacks than with big ones unless im holding AA-KK of course, in which case im probably not folding versus anyone.

Too many factors to consider. Position. Stack sizes, etc. Like vinyl says, if you are deep stacked and a small stack shoves, you would be foolish to fold premium hands like AK or AQ. Small stacks start to get desperate in those situations and will shove any ace, suited connectors, broadway cards or small pocket pairs. You can't be afraid of coin flips. If you have put yourself in position where losing them doesn't hurt then there is no reason to shy away.

Never the less i think you should raise at least 3bb with AK or AQ and raise 2bb with JJ and 10 10. These are the cards you should at least see the flop.

xmarus91 said:

Okay so when I'm the final 36 I tend to play like no hands.. except pocket pairs big flush cards.. I usually fold hands I wouldn't for big pots like A K off suit, or AQ JJ even, POCKET 10'10 get folded easily to.. just feel like I get put all-in with these hands and I lost 70% of the time.. but when I fold and wait for better spots I end up making FT like 40% of the time when just being top 36 my chances to make the FT is 25%... but yea hate AQ hate AK for sure in big pots late in tournaments hardly wins for me. anyone else notice this pattern? Early it does great, late it does horrible

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Folding big hands like AK, 1010 could be too tight, but it depends on effective stack sizes. This late in a tournament, you dont need to flip for 50+ BBs with AK. But if effective stack is only 10 BBs, then folding would be bad.

Playing this tight, what is your stack size at the final table? I would assume it's fairly small if you were around average stack at 36 players left. Do you feel comfortable making FT with a short stack? Or would you rather make FTs less frequently but with a much larger stack to play with? Making FT 25% of the time is pretty good, so why not set yourself up to win more often entering with a large stack?

As the blinds go up in tournament play , you have to begin to loosen your ranges or your stack will start to dissapear just paying to play . You have to learn to accumulate chips throughout all stages of the tournament. Your opponents will be opening light in some spots and you need to learn to take advantage of this and get the chips . Do some study on ranges for 10bb-20bb play , and I think your results will improve .

Yes I have had this problem, but since relising my mistakes, I have been able to cash at my local casino and also at full tilt, just be weire about what cards you want to play with, yes play tight and yes if you want to win take chances, I never hardly play q10 or anything like that later in the tournament, mostly any ace ect.

I'd definitely call with AK and JJ late in a tournament, it's probably the best hand. Low pairs and suited connectors are my favorite late-game. Everyone is playing an A or a K, but your 45s just hit you a straight flush...

Man last 36 is good, i need to fight for 1 place, not to be eat by the blinds.... Play to win, don't play to win more 5usd... In my opinion you're playing to tight, last phase of the tournament u need to put pressure in the players.... Steal the blinds, 3 bet light.. U need to be tight at the beginning then u must change your strategy....
bprpm

You'll rarely, if ever, make the final table if you don't loosen up. This goes for even before the bubble honestly.

I must say, the biggest improvement I ever had for my tourney play was playing to win instead of playing to cash. Play the positions you're in and take chances. Even if that sometimes means taking a chance before the bubble too. You'll be in a lot better shape for winning the tourney and have a better ROI in the long run.

Learn when to steal blinds in position, or when to squeeze the short stacks before the bubble. Make it all about giving yourself the best advantage to make the final table and win rather than barely last until the bubble.