Best strategy for early stages of tournament?

[Alta fini123._-]

There is something they don't teach in poker and I hope someone can tell me a concrete and effective answer.
What should we keep in mind when starting a poker tournament? Specifically, when we sit at a table at the start of a tournament.
Or do we just have to put into practice what has been studied for various situations?
I ever heard Moneymaker say that he would just stay out of danger and try to stay in the tournament as long as possible and only move with an advantage, it sounds good, but poker always makes us make difficult decisions, so how would that be possible?

 

[dannystanks]

You will have a lot of blinds when you first start the tournament so you can get in and mix it up or play snug. If you play snug for the first couple rounds you need to pay attention to all the player frequencies that are happening so when you do get in and get dirty you will know who to go after. Always pay attention.

 

[Easylu]

What I recommend is to play each tournament independently, either if you are low on chips try to risk some hands and not try to stay too short on chips, if you have a good stack make your range of hands wider and be aggressive when you must in order to earn chips and consequently win the tournament. I hope I've helped

 

[fundiver199]

The beginning of an MTT play just like a cash game, except for the fact most MTTs play with an ante from level 1. The presense of an ante mean, we should play more hands than in non-ante games. But other than that its just like a cash game, and for tournament players the most important adjustment is to understand, that a 100BB stack-off range is significantly more narrow than a 30-40BB stack-off range. So this is when, you need to sometimes be able to fold for instance an overpair, if the opponent wants to play for all the chips.

 

[mervin88]

play premium hands only early

 

[Poker Orifice]

play premium hands only early

um. no.

 

[makisaa]

At early stages you have to be patient and careful. No risky moves, you don't want to leave the game at these stages!

 

[pentazepam]

At early stages you have to be patient and careful. No risky moves, you don't want to leave the game at these stages!

No risk, no reward.

As stated earlier in the thread, most MTTs start as deep as most cash games: so play it as a cash game. Do you never bluff in a cash game?

 

[scobido]

Of course patience and waiting for the best cards is a basic rule in my opinion and of course observing the playing style of each opponent.

 

[fundiver199]

play premium hands only early

On the countrary the early stages is the time, where stacks are deep enough to play some speculative hands like small pocket pairs (setmining) or suited connectors. With shorter stacks its more common, that these hands need to be folded.

At early stages you have to be patient and careful. No risky moves, you don't want to leave the game at these stages!

That might be true for the wsop main event, which only runs once a year, and where no reentry is allowed. Here an early bust is a bit of a lost opportunity. But for basically anything else there is absolutely nothing wrong with busting from a tournament in the early stage, if you did so by making a long term profitable play. Like maybe stacking off with a set and losing to someone with a flush- or straightdraw.

What you are describing here is an old school SnG mentality, where "tight is always right", because in a 6-man or 9-man SnG ICM is important right from the beginning. In the past there were usually no antes, and the other players were often so bad, that you could just nit up and increase the value of your stack by watching them bust each other. Some coaches still recommend this strategy even today, but its outdated, and its never been for MTTs.

 

[choprav]

Play your good hands strong and most of the time defend your big blind, esp.if deep - can win some big hands defending blinds when stronger starting hands miss!

 

[Pavel1203733]

I just play with good cards. Middle stacks are big enough. And it's better to not be too aggressive. I think so.

 

[pentazepam]

What you are describing here is an old school SnG mentality, where "tight is always right", because in a 6-man or 9-man SnG ICM is important right from the beginning. In the past there were usually no antes, and the other players were often so bad, that you could just nit up and increase the value of your stack by watching them bust each other. Some coaches still recommend this strategy even today, but its outdated, and its never been for MTTs.

At the beginning of online poker, you could register and sometimes forget to play a SnG and still place in the money occasionally. It was wild.

 

[Rost]

I follow very simple rules.
1. I don't play with junk.
2. I don't take risks if I don't have enough confidence in the strength of my hand.
3. I carefully observe the game of my opponents and from time to time I make notes about their game.
4. My main goal - ITM.
5. I play with concentration and do not get distracted by anything else.
And this simple approach to the game gives me quite good results, at least my bankroll grows

 

[fundiver199]

At the beginning of online poker, you could register and sometimes forget to play a SnG and still place in the money occasionally. It was wild.

Occationally games are still good at the smaller buyins.

This was hand number 3 in a $5 6-man:

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This was hand number number 5:

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After 5 hands and still in the first blind level half the players were already gone. After a lengthy heads-up with Wasobee I ended up winning the SnG.

 

[Gallarado777]

just play passively at the beginning of the tournament watch others play write down information about them also take notes see which hands they play how much they bet what bets they use against which players and all this will give you an advantage in the future, also play very carefully yourself only with strong hands that are strong for you play against weak players

 

[dreamer13]

There is also such a thing as relative position - this is the position after the flop in relation to the first raiser. This must be taken into account in the early stages of the game, when we will often fight for the pot with several opponents. Therefore, sometimes it is worth discarding seemingly good cards, saving most of your stack.

 

[pentazepam]

Occationally games are still good at the smaller buyins.

This was hand number 3 in a $5 6-man:

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This was hand number number 5:

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After 5 hands and still in the first blind level half the players were already gone. After a lengthy heads-up with Wasobee I ended up winning the SnG.

Maybe I retired too early.

 

[UmSoPlayer]

I'm still very raw... I read some comments and I seem to have expanded my horizons... but my bankroll keeps falling so I can tell you what not to do. Regardless of your hand strength, don't play too many all-ins, regardless of the level! (laugh)

 

[aquilex2799]

What I see at the beginning of the tournament, when players are usually deep stacked, is the best players opening a lot of hands and winning the premium hands.

 

[Gavincwb]

At the beginning of the game, it's a good idea to observe and make notes about the players, especially the two in front of you and the one behind.
At this stage it is best to play only premium hands against the crazy ones and speculative hands only in position.
Identify that aggressive player and play those hands in position against him. When you get it right you take a lot of chips away from them.
These are some of the main things you have to master at the beginning of the game.

 

[akmost]

What works for me? I play straight forward , the loose players will donate their stacks no matter what , I always leave the fancy moves for the later stages when the better players of the field have remained.
This works for me so far , may not be the best approach but why not?

 

[kaynbergo]

the most important rule in online poker is not to forget to turn on the monitor, it will be much more difficult to play with off) at an early stage of the tournament, it is advised to play only with cum on your hands, I don't agree that when you have a large stack and small bets, you have a chance to make a strong combination with different hands and increase your stack

 

[kapos77]

play aggressively with a good card

 

[Amigodzzz]

in my opinion At the start of the tournament, play very tight

During the first three blind levels of the tournament, your strategy is simple: play tight. Most of your opponents in low stakes Sit & Gos will play way too wide and see way too many flops with weak hands.