As a MTT Live / Online player - don't play many cash games or anything like that I feel like I have a few little bits I can share. Wall of text, mybad. Also I know you were just asking for starting hands, I'm bored and thought I would dump a bit here to help other than just "play these." It doesn't teach anything. If your more experienced that the stuff I'm going to post, sorry, hopefully it helps somebody at some stage. If not, sorry again. God I'm sounding Canadian. xD Also - I'm not giving "direct information" more advice that you can google and research to find out more, sometimes going down that google rabbit hole looking for answers gives you some solid little tricks or insights you wouldn't have found otherwise if people just gave you an answer straight up.
In no particular order:
1 - Pay attention to whats happening
You'll see a lot of people, sit at a lot of tables (most of the time) and you need to figure out what type of players you have at the table. Support software will help you with this if you play online. Live is a bit different, but if you generally just play locally you're going to see the same faces around. You can pick up on betting patterns online: when player x is holding something strong do they always raise 3 x big blind in position but only 2.25 early? What about player y, do they always limp with monsters and runs the clock down to zero before checking/calling? Does player z use the 1/4, 1/2 pot buttons when
bluffing but manually add value bets? Use the notes system and support software. It'll help.
2 - Don't limp
If you're going into a pot, you should be willing to raise/call a raise with what you have in your hand. Limping is a good way to conceal a monster however, every player in the pot potentially decreases your
equity thus you're chance to be out flopped or drawn out - plus with a monster you want their chips in the middle, not behind the line. The only time you should be limping is for a sneaky play where you have a read on somebody and you know they'll pay you off or you have a marginal with decent odds for a call in position and the chips to spare. But remember, you need to know when you're beat, even pre-flop. This is one of the reasons position and understand players ranges in those positions is so important.
3 - Don't just shove all-in just because of High Pairs or High Connectors.
Suck out central and it's basically asking anybody that knows anything about theory to start sprinkling fish food in front of themselves so your chips head their way.
See a flop without pot-committing yourself. If you have position, raise/re-raise. If you don't and it's already raised, just call and conceal, if it's not, raise if you should. Use your common sense and at least see three and evaluate where you stand. A/A is busted out all the time on the flop but if you see it first, you can get away from it if it's horrible for you. Caveat: If you're really short stacked late ( <10-15bb ) and you want to play the hand, shove. Either way you're committed.
4 - Play your position with a range of hands for that position then play it aggressively.
This may sound counter intuitive considering what I stated in number 3, but there is a difference between aggressive and reckless. A 2.25-3 raise is generally enough to get the point across that you potentially have something. Early stages you can goto 5-7 but rarely, late position and only with monsters because you're basically committing yourself to the river. This goes the other players too. Watch them and figure out their ranges and exploit it.
Figure out your comfortable and playable ranges in all seats on the table. Tight early with only good pairs and high suited connectors. Mid you can add some high/mid range connectors you wouldn't play early and late you can play possible gutshot straights and alike - but keep them to a minimum if possible.
5 - Figure out the math & theory.
Understanding the underlying theory and levels of poker take years to completely understand and are constantly changing, however, the fundamentals are always constant and vital to profitable play. Research it, understand
pot odds, equity, implied odds, reverse implied odds, what makes a call or raise profitable, effective stack sizes and how to size your bets. Just because you have a A/Jo, doesn't mean its playable... and if you played it, profitable, even in position.
Then move onto some of the more advanced stuff like levels of thinking like exploitative play vs GTO for example.
6 - When you think you have the best hand, check again.
Don't just assume your set of 6's on a paired board is the best hand out there. There are flushes, full-houses, straights that can all beat you on a nasty flop/turn. Think about it, is there something that could be hidden that you're not seeing? What's his position? What's his range in that position? How has he played from that position in past hands? He just donk bet into me, why? Why did he just check - am I being trapped? You could be beat and not know it because you're playing your hand, not the table or the player.
7 - Understand in MTT's, you're going to bust more than you win so play without fear.
MTTs are tornys. You're going to bust out in all stages of it at some point or another - sometimes even on the first hand. So much so that most of the time you'll likely struggle to the bubble.
Generally MTT players win one and a lot of cash (relative to the buy-in) then lose many after before their next big cash. Some constantly make the money, but only just and have a little bit of profit to go along with their BI. Some live players I regular with have never made the money and most of the time, no fault of their own. It's just a reality of MTT play. Get used to being sucked out on the river, thinking you're in front only to be surprised by a hand you didn't think they had. Missing a concealed hand because you just missed it on the board and even just something as simple as you made a mistake and it cost you everything. It happens. There is something to learn from every lost hand and every failed play.
Also - Look out for players that govern their choices based on feelings instead of informed choices. A lot of them play live and look at you and make a call into a semi-
bluff thinking you got nothing then out draw you on the river. Even though their equity was less than 2% and by all logical reasoning they shouldn't have been in the pot in the first place, let alone at the turn, there are people that can, do and will play by feel - it's exploitable, but only if you spot it early, otherwise it's more likely to bite you on the ass.
Go for first place, not the bubble. You won't make it final table without some coinflip plays, all-ins and risks but it's about choosing the right times to do it. Poker is about making the right choice at the right time.
Getting tired now so that'll do.
Most of all, be kind to yourself when you make mistakes. Enjoy the game as it is just a game. If you don't enjoy it, feel yourself getting frustrated, drawing dead all the time even when you played well, just walk away for a bit. Do something else. Come back fresh and ready to play to win.
Night all