Tournament help on loosening up my play mid-game.

[Bentheman87]

Hi, I'm a successful tournament player on Full tilt. Recently I've been losing money though, and I think I'm too conservative mid-game. I've read Harrington on Holdem Volume 2 and have a pretty good understanding of M zones. I'm naturally a conservative player and I am having some trouble loosening up. Harrington didn't go into much detail about specific hands to start playing in the Yellow and Orange Zone, so I thought we could have a discussion. Here are some hands in different positions in the Yellow and Orange Zone. Do you guys think it is a raise, call, or fold hand?

6 handed Table

Mid tournament Yellow Zone, more than 10x the pot but less than 20x.
Early Position: Ace 8 offsuit
Ace 6 offsuit
King ten suited

 

[vanquish]

All folds in EP.

 

[Bentheman87]

Ok, how about these hands in low yellow zone (M of about 12) on the button or one off the button.

Ace 2
Ace 5
Pocket 3s
Pocket 2s
King ten
King nine
King 8
Queen ten
Queen nine
queen 8

 

[Bentheman87]

And what about those same hands but in the orange zone with an M of about 7?

 

[OzExorcist]

I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but in all cases for the button / cutoff hands, I'd give the same answer: it depends.

You'll notice that Harrington always includes more information in his hand analysis: who's acted before you, did they flat call or raise or reraise, how big are their stacks, are they generally loose or tight players, what M zone are they in... and so on.

The answer to all those questions will affect the answer to "Is K8o a playable hand in the cutoff".

 

[Bentheman87]

This is all in the cases where it's folded over to me and I'm in late position. I kno if there's an early raiser it's stupid to be calling with the hands I mentioned such as queen 9.

 

[vanquish]

Ok, how about these hands in low yellow zone (M of about 12) on the button or one off the button.

Ace 2
Ace 5
Pocket 3s
Pocket 2s
King ten
King nine
King 8
Queen ten
Queen nine
queen 8

depends on blinds' PT stats/other reads on those players/their stacks/blind levels/how close to bubble/your image/total position in tournament/many other factors other than your own M

 

[Bentheman87]

I'm not asking for exact specifics here, just a general strategy of when to start playing mediocre hands in late position that you would fold early in a tourney (ace 3, king 9, queen 9, ect).

 

[vanquish]

I'm not asking for exact specifics here, just a general strategy of when to start playing mediocre hands in late position that you would fold early in a tourney (ace 3, king 9, queen 9, ect).

When the blinds are tight and not too shortstacked I suppose. (and you're not too shortstacked either)

 

[ketz]

The mid stages is where I fade out because I am not willing to play hands such as K-10 or A-8. So I would say pick your spots on where you are going to be selective. The hands don't play a part if you pick your opponents. Pick out the tight players and steal as much as you can to keep adding to your stack. If you can do this successfully then the cards will not matter too much.