Seems the only time I get knocked out of tournaments is during a preflop all in with jacks or better - now I know short stacked you just need to shove and hope for the best but when you have a decent stack and a player with more than you shoves is it really worth risking your full tournament life in this situation ? I’m starting to feel that even with aces - maybe it’s best to wait for a better spot post flop when you can better assess your strength …
I know you are usually a favorite but more times than not I bubble with a big pair when inhad a good size stack - - I spend hours building a stack using post flop play and it all goes down the tube because some idiot decides to shove with 5-8 off against my aces and they get lucky smh
In my opinion, No it’s not worth it, I remember when I first realized this, and realized I could get much further by just limping or smooth calling with anything less then these two hands, unless I’m chip leader or close to chip lead:
1) AA
2) AKsuited
In my opinion, these are the only two hands where it’s okay to ship preflop before the money, of course there are extenuating circumstances like if your heads up against someone with less than 10 BBs and you have at least 30-50BBs and have like KQs AQs AJs and sometimes QJs.
KK used to be on that list for me too, but I took it off after I got called all-in preflop by hands like A6offsuit and they hit an A on the flop, where as if you limp or smooth call with KK QQ or less, and you have good pot
odds, then you might be able to put them on an Ace if on comes on the flop and get out of there with a minimal loss, better to be safe than sorry. I don’t consider position as much when I have KK but but with lesser pairs position is a huge factor, having a decent stack w like 50-100BBs also helps.
Then there’s Table Image, you need to show down at least two strong hands first thing in the tournament and people will fear you and you’ll then be able to acquire more blinds if if your patient and don’t play a lot of hands people will be quick to fold to your bets.
I like to limp with lesser pairs and suited connectors because it allows me gauge where the other players hand strength might be at. And if there are re-raises then you’ll be able to get an even better picture of what the players might have, if there are a couple more callers than it might be worth smooth calling to see the flop if there are good
pot odds.
If I’m on the button or one before and everyone folds then I might ship it with anything between TT JJ QQ KK AA AKo AKs with any stack size assuming I have a strong table image. And it’s possible to have a strong table image with less than 10BBs, for example if the way you got down to 10BBs was, you were ahead the whole way and get sucked out on on the river.
You strike me as a player with a very strong intuition or gut feel, otherwise I don’t think you would have posted this type of thread. I would hone in on that if you can and try to trust your gut more.
Players tell a story in the way that they bet, and some times if you’re able to read that story then you can play along and make some really great bluffs. But seeing the story is key, and that’s when gut instinct Is key also and can help us to pick up extra pots!
Don’t be afraid to experiment by betting strong preflop with a pot sized bet (if a pot size bet is 1/20th of your stack size or greater) and then checking it down just to see what they had and begin to develop a range for each player. Sometimes just that little bit of extra info is worth not trying to value bet bc I might not have gotten it otherwise.
Color coordinate your players with aggressive colors for aggressive players and softer colors for softer players, this will also help you to keep track of who you’ve played previously and their style of play. It’ll also change the way you view the game in the software it’s self making it easier to read players faster!
Timing is everything, timing
tells the story, pay attention to a players timing , especially your own. Never feel rushed and don’t let players in chat make you feel rushed or try to influence you. Sometimes I’ll close the chat so I don’t see it. I used to disable it, but if you can get to a place mentally where what anyone says in chat doesn’t effect you and you contribute in a positive way, then it’s only free information that will tell you more about the player chatting and what their mind-state is. The longer you take to make a decision even if you know instantly even if you know immediately what you want to do WAIT 7-13seconds or so, because it will help disguise what you have in the future when you need more time to think about a hard decision and be able to preserve your table image at the same time.
It doesn’t matter how much or little you’re winning per pot as long as you’re winning more than you’re loosing. So just limp or smoothcall don’t try to
bluff alot, and you’ll save a ton chips while improving your reads on each player, then as you get towards the money you’ll have a superior understanding of what you can get away with and how each player plays.
Lastly I wouldn’t pay attention to the money too much or the bubble point and just keep playing the way you would early on in the tourney to ensure you make it through the bubble, then once you do you can turn up the volume again! [emoji6]
Good Luck!
(Labor Under Correct Knowledge)
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