I have a few questions

[KPC16]

So I have been playing nothing but tournaments and freerolls since I started poker. I play tight and aggressive poker and today I noticed a few things that I'm not sure if it's good or bad. My stack never really goes anywhere it stays about the same throughout the tournament. I would give you a number but it really depends. I will give you an example though. Today I played a 7-hour tournament my stack stayed around 50k to 60k the entire tournament. I felt very comfortable at that amount of chips and the people around me had around 100k to 200k. The table knew that when I raised pre-flop I had something good they either folded or treaded very lightly. This allowed me to bluff a few times didn't bluff a lot because I didn't want anyone catching on. However, my chips did slowly increase on the backend of the tournament. Whatever I'm doing is working because I have made the final table 3 days in a row.

So my questions are these.

1.) How to know when you're playing too tight?
2.) Is it important to get the most chips or just maintain chips?
3.) When you get good hole cards and on the flop, nothing falls your way is that a good sign to fold?
4.) I looked at a range sheet and saw the best hands you can play. Could I drop some of those hands that are on the lower end?

I know four may sound a stupid question but I want the best opportunity to win hands and the game. I never have good luck with the lower cards and end up losing chips because they got beat.

 

[Phoenix Wright]

So I have been playing nothing but tournaments and freerolls since I started poker. I play tight and aggressive poker and today I noticed a few things that I'm not sure if it's good or bad. My stack never really goes anywhere it stays about the same throughout the tournament. I would give you a number but it really depends. I will give you an example though. Today I played a 7-hour tournament my stack stayed around 50k to 60k the entire tournament. I felt very comfortable at that amount of chips and the people around me had around 100k to 200k. The table knew that when I raised pre-flop I had something good they either folded or treaded very lightly. This allowed me to bluff a few times didn't bluff a lot because I didn't want anyone catching on. However, my chips did slowly increase on the backend of the tournament. Whatever I'm doing is working because I have made the final table 3 days in a row.

So my questions are these.

1.) How to know when you're playing too tight?
2.) Is it important to get the most chips or just maintain chips?
3.) When you get good hole cards and on the flop, nothing falls your way is that a good sign to fold?
4.) I looked at a range sheet and saw the best hands you can play. Could I drop some of those hands that are on the lower end?

I know four may sound a stupid question but I want the best opportunity to win hands and the game. I never have good luck with the lower cards and end up losing chips because they got beat.

Everything is situational to the tournament structures (blinds and antes especially but also the payout structure itself too) as well as how tight/loose the tables are playing and what you can "get away with" against them.

1) Everything is relational again. Too tight? For 9-player tables, typically 10%-25% of hands played is within the norm of a solid player. Tighter would be closer to 10% of hands and maybe 5% or so might be a little nitty (too tight), but again: it all depends on the situation.

2) Combination of both, but I think maintaining chips is more important than always being the chip leader. Keep in mind though that "maintain" usually means you would be winning, since blinds and antes rise as the event goes on and rise even faster for Turbo and faster formats (of course "freeze-out" format is where the blinds/antes do not rise, but this is less common). Reaching the final table and end of MMTs usually takes "maintaining" but pursuing larger chip stacks gives you a better fighting chance at winning. Remember that eventually one player will have all the chips, so to win: you must be the chip leader when it counts

3) Depends on many factors again. Say you have AK on a board that completely misses you (like mid-low numbers), then folding in the face of pressure is usually best. However, you can easily semi-bluff, float, check-raise and all sorts of plays when you don't hit the flop. Remember that you will only hit the flop about one-third of the time, so most of the time, you won't have a "made hand." Of course, if you miss the flop but can continue cheaply, then continuing is certainly reasonable in many situations.

4) By "sheet" I take it you mean a chart like "preflop open-raising charts" or something similar? With all of these, they are guidelines and everyone "builds" their own based on their preferences and play-style. Many good players even "change gears" and adapt their ranges based on opponents and other factors they face. Dropping some of the "lower end" hands is perfectly fine. If a chart has you shoving any pocket pair in a certain situation, you can only shove 99+ is you feel more comfortable this way. Nash Equilibrium charts are also helpful for this because they reveal the math "boundary" for profitability or not, so you can choose which hands you want from there. You don't have to play EVERY hand that is supposedly profitable. This is especially true if you are not comfortable with playing it; the mistakes you prevent will make up for it; you are not a computer that can attempt to play optimally. Some human players imitate computers with GTO perspectives, but that is a play-style and not an absolute. Personally, that isn't really me: I am more inclined to make real-time decisions for other factors like live reads/tells, play-style of opponents and other situational factors of the particular game.

Hope my lengthy response helps

 

[KPC16]

Everything is situational to the tournament structures (blinds and antes especially but also the payout structure itself too) as well as how tight/loose the tables are playing and what you can "get away with" against them.

1) Everything is relational again. Too tight? For 9-player tables, typically 10%-25% of hands played is within the norm of a solid player. Tighter would be closer to 10% of hands and maybe 5% or so might be a little nitty (too tight), but again: it all depends on the situation.

2) Combination of both, but I think maintaining chips is more important than always being the chip leader. Keep in mind though that "maintain" usually means you would be winning, since blinds and antes rise as the event goes on and rise even faster for Turbo and faster formats (of course "freeze-out" format is where the blinds/antes do not rise, but this is less common). Reaching the final table and end of MMTs usually takes "maintaining" but pursuing larger chip stacks gives you a better fighting chance at winning. Remember that eventually one player will have all the chips, so to win: you must be the chip leader when it counts

3) Depends on many factors again. Say you have AK on a board that completely misses you (like mid-low numbers), then folding in the face of pressure is usually best. However, you can easily semi-bluff, float, check-raise and all sorts of plays when you don't hit the flop. Remember that you will only hit the flop about one-third of the time, so most of the time, you won't have a "made hand." Of course, if you miss the flop but can continue cheaply, then continuing is certainly reasonable in many situations.

4) By "sheet" I take it you mean a chart like "preflop open-raising charts" or something similar? With all of these, they are guidelines and everyone "builds" their own based on their preferences and play-style. Many good players even "change gears" and adapt their ranges based on opponents and other factors they face. Dropping some of the "lower end" hands is perfectly fine. If a chart has you shoving any pocket pair in a certain situation, you can only shove 99+ is you feel more comfortable this way. Nash Equilibrium charts are also helpful for this because they reveal the math "boundary" for profitability or not, so you can choose which hands you want from there. You don't have to play EVERY hand that is supposedly profitable. This is especially true if you are not comfortable with playing it; the mistakes you prevent will make up for it; you are not a computer that can attempt to play optimally. Some human players imitate computers with GTO perspectives, but that is a play-style and not an absolute. Personally, that isn't really me: I am more inclined to make real-time decisions for other factors like live reads/tells, play-style of opponents, and other situational factors of the particular game.

Hope my lengthy response helps

Thank you so much for your response and for taking the time to write the entire thing out for me. I think being around here is going to help me.

I've only been playing a month and I think my play style and technique will develop as time goes on. I just need to play to gain experience