Aggressive play towards as you near the end of a tournie

[fcumred]

Having followed much of the advice I got off here recently, I took part in a freeroll today, and up till the break I was trotting along nicely. Initial 5000 competitors reduced down to about 900 with me in about 100th place. So swimming along nicely.

However the hands just dried up completely. Rag after rag, with absolutely nothing to even call with. The blinds were creeping up and my stack was reducing down. The antis of course were a constant drain.

As it reached the final 100 players I was now seriously short stacked and if I didnt make a move soon then I was going to get blinded out anyway.

I finally managed to get A 5 hearts and raised pre flop. Lo and behold someone comes over the top at me. With only enough for about 2 blinds left I just hit all in, in panic.

His pocket kings held up against my pair of 5s which I got on the turn..

What I want to know is how you steal some chips to prevent you from dropping out like a brick. ( meaning of course that I needed to basically bluff my way into getting someone elses blinds ).

 

[Jillychemung]

Here's what I do.

When your M starts getting close to 10, you need to be aggressive in MP/LP especially against other medium stacks in the blinds. Bet out the suited A, K and suited connectors JT, T9, 98 plus your normal 99+, AJ+, KJ, KQ, QJ. Stay tight against bigger stacks and very small stacks. Attack the other middle stacks.

When your M drops below 10, start shoving all of the above and any PP.

You really want to try and build your stack back up when your M is 10-12.

 

[fcumred]

Thanks for that.

What I had was too very aggressive loose players in front and they were seriously heavy in comparison to me so each time I had anything that remotely resembled a hand they had already raised to a level way above what I could sensibly afford to risk on cards that would not stand up. And seeing the flops afterwards my caution was well founded.

I guess it was simply a case of I didnt get the hands and my luck ran out later on. Nothing you can do if you I guess.

 

[Jillychemung]

Yep sometimes yes you will be in a tough spot. If you have the HH I would be glad to take a look at it, not claiming to be any great tournament player but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night

 

[theskillzdatklls]

Loosen the cards you play based mostly on position:
if you are on the button and all fold to you, many hands can be raising hands (but don't be dumb, 29 is still folded) 78o connected works great as a raising hand in the late game when your super poor or super rich. start to question raising play on weaker hands with limpers in front of you and especially raisers in front of you.

Second, after position, use your chip stack as the second guide to how loose you need to play. Lower chip stack obviously equals more risk.

Just be very careful to draw the line between loose play and stupid play. Once I started to figure this boundary I started to make my comfortable bankroll from a $0 start.

A good way to check this out is to watch the replays of the sunday million and freezeout on pokerstars, they execute these maneuvers perfectly.

 

[Ronaldadio]

I finally managed to get A 5 hearts and raised pre flop. Lo and behold someone comes over the top at me. With only enough for about 2 blinds left I just hit all in, in panic.

His pocket kings held up against my pair of 5s which I got on the turn..

What I want to know is how you steal some chips to prevent you from dropping out like a brick. ( meaning of course that I needed to basically bluff my way into getting someone elses blinds ).

You are not going to steal chips when someone is holding KK!!!

What I can`t understand is why did you not push all in? He would have still called, but what were u going to do - fold with only 2 bb left pre flop

You got your chips in and u were a little worse than a 2.5:1 dog - it could have been worse, he could have had AA or A bigger than A5.

Also, listen to what Jillychemung said.

Another point. When I`m playing MTT`s I will sometimes go as low as 2/ 3 times the bb. When u have found yourself short stacked however it happened, you then need to check your position in the MTT v others.

So, if I was in say 20th place and the blinds had just passed me by, I have say 3 BB left, I then look at the rest of the field.

If 3 or 4 people have less than 5 bb left and still have the blind coming to them, I will take a chance of waiting if moving up was gonna significantly make a difference.

If u need to move up 5 places to make a difference, u may as well take a punt with any 2 cards - there is an argument for gambling with any 2 cards below 10 e.g. 57s, 64, etc - more chance of having 2 live cards than say K5, A4, etc

Just my opinion

 

[fcumred]

All really helpful thanks..

I am doing well today now. In 15th place out of 400 with only 50 left.

Looks like I will have to put these tips into practise soon

 

[fcumred]

Perhaps not. Just got busted.

QQ. Raised 4 times the blind.

Player comes over the top

I call.

He has AA and an A turns up on the flop.

Wipeout

 

[feitr]

Don't be afraid to shove in position. Remember that hands like J9 really aren't that bad if you push all in first. In fact, i would probably rather shove with J9 than A5 often times because if somebody calls you with A5 you are probably outkicked and dominated but at least you are likely to have 2 live cards with something "worse" like QT etc. Even if the blinds are holding overcards (unlikely) you still have a 40% chance of winning.

Then apart from that just try and steal blinds whenever you can in position. But be careful of who you are tryign to steal from...ie. don't raise short stacks that will just shove no matter what etc.

 

[Jillychemung]

Perhaps not. Just got busted.

QQ. Raised 4 times the blind.

Player comes over the top

I call.

He has AA and an A turns up on the flop.

Wipeout

Nothing you can do about coolers.

 

[ItsMe]

Don't be afraid to shove in position. Remember that hands like J9 really aren't that bad if you push all in first. In fact, i would probably rather shove with J9 than A5 often times because if somebody calls you with A5 you are probably outkicked and dominated but at least you are likely to have 2 live cards with something "worse" like QT etc. Even if the blinds are holding overcards (unlikely) you still have a 40% chance of winning.

Then apart from that just try and steal blinds whenever you can in position. But be careful of who you are tryign to steal from...ie. don't raise short stacks that will just shove no matter what etc.

This is the way imo to do it. I'd like to add that the players directly behind you are important. If they are constantly raising or re-raising then you will have problems. But if they are moderately stacked and tight then you will get some joy from the above. Raising 3 to 4 blinds from cuttoff with any reasonable hup hands if its folded to you is the correct play when your M is over 10. In some cases even a minimum raise works as a double-bluff - he's trying to look weak so he's probably strong then I'd better fold. Be wary of re-raises after you when a reassessment of your hand is necessary.

If your M drops below 5 then in all probability you have left it too late to be taken seriously - you need to be a credible threat to the people you're moving against - they need to fear that if they butt heads with you then their tourney life is at stake.

 

[arahel_jazz]

Just experienced it this morning in the $.10 PS stupidfest.

About 20-30 to the money. I have M less than 10.

UTG with AdJd, raise 3x BB, all fold around, button calls.
Heads up.
Flop x,x,A.
I push. Button calls.
No threats/help from the board.

He shows AcQs.
I'm out.

 

[soccerfreakjj10]

I will let you all in on a little tournament secret I wholeheartedly believe this is a much more profitable strategy than the ones advocated earlier.

When your M gets between 6 and 10, which is fairly short but you are not in the red zone, i go into what I call "reship mode." I really disagree with what some of the other members are saying about this stage. Unless I am misinterpreting their advice, I really think it is a bad idea to loosen up your opening up range in this zone, because your stack cannot handle that size of a raise, and you will usually spew your stack down very quickly. ALSO, and this is very important, in the lower limits, most players do not fold! Many of these players do however respect the all in bet. They think, "He is willing to risk his tournament life on this hand. He must have me beat." Of course there are the players that say, "I have an ace I call," but they are in the minority. What I do instead is move in over someone who raises. The requirements I need to "reship" are:
1. The person raising is either loose, or raising from a position where he is likely to be stealing (ie. raising when it is folded to her/him in the cutoff.)
2. Although there are situations where you can be reshipping with any two cards, I like to wait for connectors or hands that aren't dominated. KJ would be the worst hand to push with because there are so many hands that can call that have you crushed. If your M is closer to the 10 side, you can wait for AJ+ to reship, but as it gets to 7 or so you need to find a spot and go with it. After the premium hands, I find the best hands to reship with are pocket pairs, then suited connectors.