Early stages strategy for micro stakes MTT

[Sam70wto]

Hi all,

This is my first post on Cardschat and I’ve only been playing online poker for just over a month. I have mainly been playing 9 max SnG’s but want to start playing MTT’s more regularly. I was wondering what kind of strategies people tend to apply in the early stages of these tournaments because it appears to be very easy to bust due to the aggressive play that I’ve seen in the games that I’ve played so far.

Any help would be appreciated, cheers.

 

[VIP_TARIFF]

Hi all,

This is my first post on Cardschat and I’ve only been playing online poker for just over a month. I have mainly been playing 9 max SnG’s but want to start playing MTT’s more regularly. I was wondering what kind of strategies people tend to apply in the early stages of these tournaments because it appears to be very easy to bust due to the aggressive play that I’ve seen in the games that I’ve played so far.

Any help would be appreciated, cheers.

At the very beginning of the game, you need to adhere to the strategy of a tight-aggressive player, when you collect a fairly good amount of chips to play a little loosely passively, in order to attract players to give you chips. On stronger games, show all your game skills and take your cherished first place. Good luck at the tables.

 

[Jeff Gross]

Hi all,

This is my first post on Cardschat and I’ve only been playing online poker for just over a month. I have mainly been playing 9 max SnG’s but want to start playing MTT’s more regularly. I was wondering what kind of strategies people tend to apply in the early stages of these tournaments because it appears to be very easy to bust due to the aggressive play that I’ve seen in the games that I’ve played so far.

Any help would be appreciated, cheers.

Hey! Welcome to CC. I love SNG's and this is mostly how I started as well. I would say super tight is right. If you want to watch some really fun SNG style play; type in YouTube: Premiere League VII poker -- here is the 1st episode as matter fact.. I was playing/commentating most of this $125,000 buy in SNG format 8 handed (6 heats). Let me know what you think!

 

[Jeff Gross]

At the very beginning of the game, you need to adhere to the strategy of a tight-aggressive player, when you collect a fairly good amount of chips to play a little loosely passively, in order to attract players to give you chips. On stronger games, show all your game skills and take your cherished first place. Good luck at the tables.

This is great advice! Love the quote as well. Great stuff, keep helping the community! See you at the tables!

Jeff

 

[sillymunchie]

ABC poker all the way in micro, bluffs will get called down eventually, coin flips are a gimme, and early in the tournament blinds aren't worth anything so unless the table is overplaying stupidly small hands wont get anywhere

 

[TheDude6622]

ABC poker all the way in micro, bluffs will get called down eventually, coin flips are a gimme, and early in the tournament blinds aren't worth anything so unless the table is overplaying stupidly small hands wont get anywhere

This is very true in micros. I have been called by bottom pair almost religiously when trying to bluff. The best way is trying to convey a story of a bluff is starting pre-flop.

 

[Sam70wto]

Hey! Welcome to CC. I love SNG's and this is mostly how I started as well. I would say super tight is right. If you want to watch some really fun SNG style play; type in YouTube: Premiere League VII poker -- here is the 1st episode as matter fact.. I was playing/commentating most of this $125,000 buy in SNG format 8 handed (6 heats). Let me know what you think! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHE0llIGWtY

Thanks a lot for the reply, great to get some insight into the SNG's with theses videos, just trying to absorb as much info as i can at the moment so this is really helpful. Cheers again!

p.s got yourself another follower on Twitch lol

 

[Jeff Gross]

Thanks a lot for the reply, great to get some insight into the SNG's with theses videos, just trying to absorb as much info as i can at the moment so this is really helpful. Cheers again!

p.s got yourself another follower on Twitch lol

I appreciate it!

All the best & see you on there!

 

[pepsilv]

Welcome my friend. Don't forget to play TAG in the beginning of tournaments its the key of success.

 

[duson]

As others have mentioned playing tight and aggressive early on in the tournaments and then as you build your stack you can either loosen or tighten your range as you see fit. Just make sure to pay attention to the players that are at your table. You will get moved but you'll still play a lot of hands with the same people each tournament.

 

[Sam70wto]

Thanks for the replies, they’ve all been very helpful.
Going a bit off topic here but what kind of bankroll size would you suggest for these MTT’s. Considering I’d be playing around $1 buy ins.

 

[tmfnsanders]

around 40-50 buyins for $1 mtts should be fine.

I actually play the exact opposite. I use the early stages to see cheap flops with just about any 2 cards, take advantage of position and using my postflop advantage (imo) to chip up nicely before the blinds get high. Just lose the small pots and win the big pots, not the other way around lmao.

 

[MatMackenz]

Early stages of tournaments is drastically different from the other stages of the tournament and should be played with a different strategy.

The main differences are:

- No antes in play, Pot odds are generally not as lucrative as in later stages.

- Stacks are very deep and Stack/Pot Ratio is high

Because of these two factors you generally want to play a bit tighter in these stages and not take excessive risks. The saying comes to mind "You can't win a tournament in the early stages, but you can lose it" Doubling your chip stack this early does not get you much closer to winning, avoid coin flip situations and the like.

Because of the deep stacks, you will want to play hands that can make nutted combos, and less hands that are high-card hands with reverse implied odds.

Hands like low pocket pairs and suited connectors that can hit big hands like sets or straights/flushes and stack your opponents go up in value, while High-Card hands like KT or AT go down in value because of the reverse implied odds from the deep stacks. (*When stacks get short, value of High card hands go up and Low pairs Suited connectors goes down)

Take the small ball approach and chip up slowly, avoid unnecessary risk, or playing big pots OOP unless you have a big hand. Build your stack for the middle stages. I consider the middle stage to be once antes begin and/or late reg. is over, so aim for doubling or tripling your stack by the end of late reg. time and you should be above average chipstack and in a good spot to play the rest of the tournament.

 

[dedok0525]

It depends on the depth of the stack from the tournament structure, speed. The smaller table, the wider the range. Take a look at your opponents and your position at the table.

 

[gryphon3005]

Hi Sam, welcome to the forums. You'll find great advice and interesting posts here. I would suggest you search for articles on playing position and starting hand selection. At the start of an mtt play tight, follow a starting hand chart if you find one, and, when you are in position with a hand don't be afraid to play. You already know about the aggressive play in the low end mtts so you're going to have to pick your spots. Best of luck.

 

[brettlums]

i try to play tight and aggressive at the start of tournaments. usually people will call very light when they have little time invested in the tournament tbh. you can quickly build a stack so you can create some fun spots as you go deeper into the tournament.

 

[BelFish]

Simplified strategy for the early stages of freerolls is to fold all hands except QQ+/AK, with which you immediately put all -in )))
If you play against a very loose opponent, you can expand this spectra a little by adding hands such as JJ and AQ.