Help me improve my MTT game

[MoeJurphy]

3Bets/4Bets, what is the typical range people use to 3bet and even 4bet. When do you know to 3bet and when do you know to fold after a 3bet as you are behind in the hand.

 

[Lucothefish]

Moe do you use a hud, and do you follow strict brm? What MTT study have you done so far?

 

[MoeJurphy]

Moe do you use a hud, and do you follow strict brm? What MTT study have you done so far?

Yeah I use HM2 hud, in game note taking. I will try to have at least 30-50BI per SNG and MTT. My BRM can be a bit dogey at times which I know is bad and I need to be a lot stricter.

I'm mainly a HU hyper player and a winning player too, I keep 100+BI for these hypres tho as the swings are huge.

I have only been studying poker for a few months and have a lot of work to do. I am currently reading 'Winning at low limit holdem' by Lee Jones and also 'The psychology of winning at online poker' by Roy Rounder, I watch videos on strategies and that mathematics behind poker. I think my mathematics knowledge is pretty good but obviously always room for more!

Any suggestions for studying the game?

 

[Lucothefish]

Yeah I use HM2 hud, in game note taking. I will try to have at least 30-50BI per SNG and MTT. My BRM can be a bit dogey at times which I know is bad and I need to be a lot stricter.

I'm mainly a HU hyper player and a winning player too, I keep 100+BI for these hypres tho as the swings are huge.

I have only been studying poker for a few months and have a lot of work to do. I am currently reading 'Winning at low limit holdem' by Lee Jones and also 'The psychology of winning at online poker' by Roy Rounder, I watch videos on strategies and that mathematics behind poker. I think my mathematics knowledge is pretty good but obviously always room for more!

Any suggestions for studying the game?

I think for tournaments the Harrington on Holdem series is fantastic for new MTT players and covers most of the fundamentals like stack sizes, position, table image, hand reading & tendencies etc etc.

I asked about BRM because you posted a hand from an $11 MTT but you're struggling to FT anything, which suggests you may be trying to run before you can walk. Try the $0.50 or $1 tournaments first and see if you can FT those, or try the 180 man SnGs - all while studying as often as you can. Variance can be a bitch in MTTs too so get used to losing.

3bets/4bets - this is a topic all in itself, but until you know what you're doing keep it simple and just 3bet AK/QQ+ and have a similar calling range vs tight opponents with a low 3bet stat (low single digits). Widen a bit vs higher stats. You will also need to 3bet occasionally to defend your blinds but there's a lot of factors at play at this point - stack sizes, villains opening range vs fold to 3bet% and your image are the fundamental things to consider, generally high opening% + high fold to 3bet% and you're good to go.

In general just try to watch the table and pick up on tendencies. Many players at these stakes have terrible bet sizing tells that you can easily exploit just by paying attention. Every person is a unique snowflake in this regard, but as an example you might see that bigger 3bets pre = AK or bluffs and smaller 3bets = AA or KK. Or perhaps bigger bets on the flop = draws or bluffs and smaller = top pair or better.

idk I'm rambling a bit here, but read HoH, play more, post some hands, and pay attention. And know your push/fold game when you get to 10bbs

 

[MoeJurphy]

I think for tournaments the Harrington on Holdem series is fantastic for new MTT players and covers most of the fundamentals like stack sizes, position, table image, hand reading & tendencies etc etc.

I asked about BRM because you posted a hand from an $11 MTT but you're struggling to FT anything, which suggests you may be trying to run before you can walk. Try the $0.50 or $1 tournaments first and see if you can FT those, or try the 180 man SnGs - all while studying as often as you can. Variance can be a bitch in MTTs too so get used to losing.

3bets/4bets - this is a topic all in itself, but until you know what you're doing keep it simple and just 3bet AK/QQ+ and have a similar calling range vs tight opponents with a low 3bet stat (low single digits). Widen a bit vs higher stats. You will also need to 3bet occasionally to defend your blinds but there's a lot of factors at play at this point - stack sizes, villains opening range vs fold to 3bet% and your image are the fundamental things to consider, generally high opening% + high fold to 3bet% and you're good to go.

In general just try to watch the table and pick up on tendencies. Many players at these stakes have terrible bet sizing tells that you can easily exploit just by paying attention. Every person is a unique snowflake in this regard, but as an example you might see that bigger 3bets pre = AK or bluffs and smaller 3bets = AA or KK. Or perhaps bigger bets on the flop = draws or bluffs and smaller = top pair or better.

idk I'm rambling a bit here, but read HoH, play more, post some hands, and pay attention. And know your push/fold game when you get to 10bbs

Yeah I was playing once a week The Hot $11 Turbos, I only played this once a week and did this as my BR allowed me too. I had some good success in SNG and MTT at the beginning of the year increasing my BR dramatically. I have around 200BI for $11 in my BR, but was still mainly playing up to $5BI.

After a few bad sessions I decided to pull out my BR and take a break from poker for a month, thats me taken a break now and coming back to poker starting off with a smaller BR trying to grind it up!

I regulary play HU hypers, Turbo MTT, ST SNG and sometimes play 5NLH.

Thanks for all the advice and I'm sure to improve my game

 

[STL FAN]

3Bets/4Bets, what is the typical range people use to 3bet and even 4bet. When do you know to 3bet and when do you know to fold after a 3bet as you are behind in the hand.

Because I am different from you and you from me, I build the range from what is showdown from previous play, especially when playing at the same table for an extended period of time. I can also put them on an exact hand pre and post, but from building a range first of the cards and also their thought process from pre to river, all streets of play. Experience, I also played in smaller buy ins to practice, work on tilt, swings of play, because to improve, mistakes, information from mistakes is important.

Not having any prior information then three and four betting would be just a starting point and will gain little information until a person is used to the starting point, and build a mental model from there. Then a person can build a range that would be unique for them, trying to be systematic about a range without detailed information could be problematic for me, but this is subjective from my experience, and this is different in each person. The information from game experience, information away from the table, what is stored in our brains is different for everyone and how we each react; perceived information is also unique to each person as well. I test each situation because of what I understand about people, which also includes the information from your question, which is different in each game, each person, each hand etc.…

I do not use a HUD and play one table, but if you use a HUD then thinking about your opponent beyond their range from your question, after building that range in your head as well. Then using the information from the HUD could expand your game faster.

 

[MoeJurphy]

Thanks for the strong response guys, I am currently away from poker due to my studies but will be back for sure over the xmas holidays!

Will make sure to keep posted of any wins/losses.

Oh, I played a random 500 person Freeroll and came 1st for $10 on 888 when I was just checking out the site

 

[Terrell]

I dont feel like you should be loosening or tightening at any specific time in a tourny. play your table and the players. everything is situational

 

[jaydaddy0325]

Hello no matter whater you will be chip leader or short stack on the final table you have to win I have never won a tournament being chip leader starting final table.Usually im 5-6-7-8 however 1 all in you win and go to 3-4.I play only strong hands from early position and shove the CO BU if all players are fold to me with A+ K10+ Q10+ 22+.In the midle on the tournament the game is same.

I am 100% agreement of this as this is usually my apptroach going into FT ive only won 1 trny being chip leader. people playing tight yet AGRESSIVLY smart hands will win more often it seems. ive barely scraped into the $ on the 10K onn acr a lot and wind up FTing it often when I had 15K at ITM time. it seems strange but that works for me. u have to adjust your play and figure out your own style of play as everyone plays a little different and that's a good thing. good luck and hope ur luck changes soon !!

 

[MoeJurphy]

I am 100% agreement of this as this is usually my apptroach going into FT ive only won 1 trny being chip leader. people playing tight yet AGRESSIVLY smart hands will win more often it seems. ive barely scraped into the $ on the 10K onn acr a lot and wind up FTing it often when I had 15K at ITM time. it seems strange but that works for me. u have to adjust your play and figure out your own style of play as everyone plays a little different and that's a good thing. good luck and hope ur luck changes soon !!

Yeah this seems like a solid strategy towards the final stages of the tournament. I often find my self getting a relatively decent sized stack towards the mid stages of the tournament, I tend to open my range a bit and push people off of hands which seems to work pretty well as long as you know when to back off. I've found myself loosing stacks over hands I shouldn't of even been in in the first place.

My my aim is to learn how to adjust better to each player instead of each table.

I understand I have a lot of work to put into this to see an improvement on my game.

 

[MoeJurphy]

I dont feel like you should be loosening or tightening at any specific time in a tourny. play your table and the players. everything is situational

What I mean by that is, pre antes ion a tournament you want to be tight and playing little to nothing as the pot sizes are tiny. Towards the bubble you might want to loosen up and be more aggressive as players will often tighten up to make the money. Mid staged big blinds your going to be wanting to tighten your range up and be looking for spots to steal.

I understand each decision you make is entirely on the player your up against but also having some kind of strategy placed for the tournament structure cant be a bad thing?

 

[ph_il]

What site do you play on?

I might want to take a shot at coaching since I don't play online as often as I used to, but still want to do something poker related.

 

[MoeJurphy]

What site do you play on?

I might want to take a shot at coaching since I don't play online as often as I used to, but still want to do something poker related.

I mainly play on PS, but can play on PP BCP full tilt 888.

 

[MoeJurphy]

upload]


(Fish_sucker) is me I don't know why my name is that on BCP
Needing some help in this final table, Final 2 payed short stacked!

 

[MoeJurphy]

Doubled up to 22k 2nd place, lost a coin flip against 14k short stacked and lost down to 6k shoved A4o lost

Was a promotional tournament from BCP.

 

[ph_il]

Post hand history of your 22k vs 14k flip

 

[MoeJurphy]

Post hand history of your 22k vs 14k flip

Double up -

Game started at: 2015/12/3 3:8:13
Game ID: 522596679 500/1000 Golden Ticket - Mega 100, Table 1 (Hold'em)
Seat 5 is the button
Seat 1: dzags (48128).
Seat 5: m0nst3r (25193).
Seat 8: Fish_Sucker (10679).
Player Fish_Sucker ante (125)
Player dzags ante (125)
Player m0nst3r ante (125)
Player Fish_Sucker has small blind (500)
Player dzags has big blind (1000)
Player Fish_Sucker received card: [Kh]
Player Fish_Sucker received card: [Qh]
Player dzags received a card.
Player dzags received a card.
Player m0nst3r received a card.
Player m0nst3r received a card.
Player m0nst3r raises (2000)
Player Fish_Sucker allin (10054)
Player dzags folds
Player m0nst3r calls (8554)
*** FLOP ***: [10c 8s 6s]
*** TURN ***: [10c 8s 6s] [Qs]
*** RIVER ***: [10c 8s 6s Qs] [6c]
------ Summary ------
Pot: 22483. Rake 0
Board: [10c 8s 6s Qs 6c]
Player dzags does not show cards.Bets: 1125. Collects: 0. Loses: 1125.
Player m0nst3r shows: One pair of 6s [Ah Js]. Bets: 10679. Collects: 0. Loses: 10679.
*Player Fish_Sucker shows: Two pairs. Qs and 6s [Kh Qh]. Bets: 10679. Collects: 22483. Wins: 11804.
Game ended at: 2015/12/3 3:8:29

Loosing hand -

Game started at: 2015/12/3 3:8:46
Game ID: 522597154 500/1000 Golden Ticket - Mega 100, Table 1 (Hold'em)
Seat 1 is the button
Seat 1: dzags (46378).
Seat 5: m0nst3r (15264).
Seat 8: Fish_Sucker (22358).
Player m0nst3r ante (125)
Player Fish_Sucker ante (125)
Player dzags ante (125)
Player m0nst3r has small blind (500)
Player Fish_Sucker has big blind (1000)
Player m0nst3r received a card.
Player m0nst3r received a card.
Player Fish_Sucker received card: [Qs]
Player Fish_Sucker received card: [10s]
Player dzags received a card.
Player dzags received a card.
Player dzags folds
Player m0nst3r allin (14639)
Player Fish_Sucker calls (14139)
*** FLOP ***: [6c Kc 7h]
*** TURN ***: [6c Kc 7h] [5d]
*** RIVER ***: [6c Kc 7h 5d] [7s]
------ Summary ------
Pot: 30653. Rake 0
Board: [Jc Kc 7h 5d 7s]
Player dzags does not show cards.Bets: 125. Collects: 0. Loses: 125.
*Player m0nst3r shows: One pair of 7s (kicker A) [Ac 4s]. Bets: 15264. Collects: 30653. Wins: 15389.
Player Fish_Sucker shows: One pair of 7s [Qs 10s]. Bets: 15264. Collects: 0. Loses: 15264.
Game ended at: 2015/12/3 3:9:2

I understand I made a bad move, and its not really a flip he is ahead holding an Ace. I knew at very worst it was a flip, he was shoving often stealing blinds making me think his shove range was high especially after loosing half his stack. To be honest I made the call with my drawing hand to try and get a quick knock out and take 2nd place. (patience would of been the best play)

 

[MoeJurphy]

Now I'm reviewing the hands I got it in both times behind him luckily hit the first hand doubling up. I don't see anyreason why I called a shove with most of my stack with Q10s tho..

 

[MoeJurphy]

I was playing The Big $11 today, just wanted your guys opinion on my final hand.

I ran my stack up to just under 6k 2 levels into the antes coming in (was playing very tight if any hands pre ante) took a bad beat KK vs JJ villian hitting a J on the flop bringing me down to around 26BB to play with then I had this hand:

pokerstars Hand #144770867150: Tournament #1397770948, $10+$1 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level V (30/60) - 2015/12/03 19:49:25 WET [2015/12/03 14:49:25 ET]
Table '1397770948 112' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: AndisR1 (2660 in chips)
Seat 2: Surviver101 (6525 in chips)
Seat 3: MoeJurphy (1560 in chips)
Seat 4: LogicalHope (5511 in chips)
Seat 5: mikitok (1381 in chips)
Seat 6: damraise2008 (2605 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: Xevinix (5316 in chips)
Seat 8: PokerAlex84 (6632 in chips)
Seat 9: krempf1980 (4871 in chips)
AndisR1: posts the ante 5
Surviver101: posts the ante 5
MoeJurphy: posts the ante 5
LogicalHope: posts the ante 5
mikitok: posts the ante 5
damraise2008: posts the ante 5
Xevinix: posts the ante 5
PokerAlex84: posts the ante 5
krempf1980: posts the ante 5
Xevinix: posts small blind 30
PokerAlex84: posts big blind 60
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MoeJurphy [Qd Jh]
krempf1980: folds
AndisR1: folds
Surviver101: raises 60 to 120
MoeJurphy: calls 120
LogicalHope: calls 120
mikitok: folds
damraise2008: folds
Xevinix: folds
PokerAlex84: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [2c Jc Qs]
PokerAlex84: checks
Surviver101: checks
MoeJurphy: bets 180
LogicalHope: raises 780 to 960
PokerAlex84: folds
Surviver101: calls 960
MoeJurphy: raises 475 to 1435 and is all-in
LogicalHope: calls 475
Surviver101: calls 475
*** TURN *** [2c Jc Qs] [Ks]
Surviver101: checks
LogicalHope: bets 3951 and is all-in
Surviver101: calls 3951
*** RIVER *** [2c Jc Qs Ks] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Surviver101: shows [Ac 6c] (a flush, Ace high)
LogicalHope: shows [Jd 2d] (two pair, Jacks and Deuces)
Surviver101 collected 7902 from side pot
MoeJurphy: shows [Qd Jh] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Surviver101 collected 4860 from main pot
LogicalHope finished the tournament in 9162nd place
MoeJurphy finished the tournament in 9163rd place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12762 Main pot 4860. Side pot 7902. | Rake 0
Board [2c Jc Qs Ks 3c]
Seat 1: AndisR1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Surviver101 showed [Ac 6c] and won (12762) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: MoeJurphy showed [Qd Jh] and lost with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 4: LogicalHope showed [Jd 2d] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Deuces
Seat 5: mikitok folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: damraise2008 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Xevinix (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: PokerAlex84 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: krempf1980 folded before Flop (didn't bet)


I was fully aware with 2 other player in the pot post flop that atleast 1 of them had a flush draw but after flopping 2 pair short stacked I decided to gamble and shove. Was this the best move or would waiting to the turn to not be a club and then shove?

 

[MoeJurphy]

How many BBs should you try and keep throughout the tournament as a minimal?

 

[Lucothefish]

bet flop bigger 340 or so, reshove was fine we're never folding there with top two

 

[MoeJurphy]

bet flop bigger 340 or so, reshove was fine we're never folding there with top two

Yeah it's a hard hand to get away from considering the stack sizes. I agree a bigger bet on flop of helped us along with shoving on the turn when a c doesn't hit hopefully giving the villain bad odds to call.

 

[MoeJurphy]

Its Hands like these that annoy me..[/B][/B]

PokerStars Hand #144777648547: Tournament #1392782092, $0.50+$0.05 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (25/50) - 2015/12/03 21:46:10 WET [2015/12/03 16:46:10 ET]
Table '1392782092 125' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: pappakia (2905 in chips)
Seat 2: havalka (2635 in chips)
Seat 3: krisus83 (4560 in chips)
Seat 4: A.Gusarov (2960 in chips)
Seat 5: ADJ9 (3000 in chips)
Seat 6: skastudio (2335 in chips)
Seat 7: MoeJurphy (5215 in chips)
Seat 8: Poi$on 1vey (940 in chips)
Seat 9: 71acrox (8450 in chips)
havalka: posts small blind 25
krisus83: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MoeJurphy [Kc Kd]
A.Gusarov: folds
ADJ9: folds
skastudio: folds
MoeJurphy: raises 150 to 200
Poi$on 1vey: folds
71acrox: raises 200 to 400
pappakia: folds
havalka: folds
krisus83: folds
MoeJurphy: raises 350 to 750
71acrox: raises 750 to 1500
MoeJurphy: calls 750
*** FLOP *** [9s 7c Ts]
MoeJurphy: checks
71acrox: bets 2000
MoeJurphy: raises 1715 to 3715 and is all-in
71acrox: calls 1715
*** TURN *** [9s 7c Ts] <font color='red'>5♥</font>
*** RIVER *** [9s 7c Ts 5h] <font color='red'>3<font face="arial">♦</font></font>
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MoeJurphy: shows [Kc Kd] (a pair of Kings)
71acrox: shows [5c 5s] (three of a kind, Fives)
71acrox collected 10505 from pot
MoeJurphy finished the tournament in 2090th place
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10505 | Rake 0
Board [9s 7c Ts 5h 3d]
Seat 1: pappakia (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: havalka (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: krisus83 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: A.Gusarov folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: ADJ9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: skastudio folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MoeJurphy showed [Kc Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 8: Poi$on 1vey folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: 71acrox showed [5c 5s] and won (10505) with three of a kind, Fives

 

[Lucothefish]

If you're planning to play a lot of MTTs you need to get used to losing / paying off fish because it will happen a lot

Still, ouch lol

 

[MoeJurphy]

If you're planning to play a lot of MTTs you need to get used to losing / paying off fish because it will happen a lot

Still, ouch lol

Yeah i've been an MTT player for a while so I'm fully aware of the swings, just hands like this after I've pot committed myself still hurts. I'm normally not effected by bad beats, hey I got it all in KK vs %% it's just unlucky he hit the 2 outer. I was just running really well barely playing any hands managing to triple up before the Ante stages. Was more disappointing I didn't run deeper.

It was only a 55c BI MTT I busted from the $11 MTT earlier