How do u play at final tables?

[swingro]

Spell Check is your friend :hmmmm:


Snow

Sorry man. English is not my native language and all the english i've learned is from movies or reading articles from the internet. But as in compensation, i've also learned italian and french. I am not perfect but i still can make a decent conversation on the internet.

 

[volpereira]

Depending on my stack.

As one of the three biggest in chips, i play a little lose and try to steal the pots.

If i'm a little short, ver tight, waiting to others fall down and going allin with monsters.

 

[jecolgan]

NOTES

take notes througout the tourny..it could very well help you with your final table play..watch your opponets very carefully to try to get a feel for their range of hands..and remember that 1st is what you are going for..each hand is merely a means to an end..the final hand..notes,,notes,,notes,,if you happpen to sit with a player you have extensive notes on it can greatly imporve your chances to take it down...there are many players who after making a certain amount of money are satisfied..they can be spotted by trying to steal too often..they dont care if they lose,,they are "happy" with their cash thus far and are not serious about winning...

 

[Panamajoe]

i'm hoping your getting to the ft with an average chip stack. if not maybe the problem is the play leading up to the ft. anyways my suggestion is to learn how to play 9man SNGs. these will give you lots of ft experience. how to play has everything to do with the actual size of the chip stacks at the ft as wll as the payout structure.

THIS!

I have really picked up my game , imo, since i started playing the 9 man games. Of course play within your bankroll.

A few tips from a minor leauger:

• Play strong starting hands ONLY in the beginning
• Expand the starting hands when your M < 12 or only 6 left at table
• Start stealing mid game in position but watch the stack sizes carefully
• And finally, don't play scared. If you play within your bankroll you should be able to make the right moves without being overly concerned if you don't make it itm.

 

[bolda3]

I would play a basic TAG approach. Study how your opponents are playing and learn your payout structure. Learn where the big jumps occur and where you are willing to take your chances and flips if necessary. Once blinds creep up get more aggressive. Good Luck!

 

[dwolfg]

Think of the poker pro you most look up to and mold your game after then ask yourself what would that person do.

 

[Nukking Futs]

Position means alot in these but you also need to remember many people will take extra risks in the first 5 to 10 mins at the FT. They tend to be more aggresive and loose and a few will knock themself out quickly, so I suggest holding tight even if you are the shortest stack. I have entered the FT in 9th and won the whole things. two people knockec themself out before I played a hand and I got AA shoved all in and got three callers and trippled up, the next hand got KK did a 3 bet and got called by the middle stack at the table ended up taking half of his chips, the next hand I got AQ and floped 2 Qs the one guy went all in and I called and knocked him out. but final table lay is waiting for good hands and stealing with position.

 

[swingro]

I just played last night on full tilt the romanian freeroll with 2150 entrants. I got to the final table medium short stack about 20 BB (big blinds were 12K) One player out and we were 8 left. I got QQ in the small blind raised 3 BB and everybody folded. Next hand i got AK at BB. One player limped from medium position and also the button limped. I raised 4 BB and the player from medium position called, button folded. Flop was A23 . I raised half of the pot the other player called. K on the turn. I raised other player called. The river was 9 so i went all in hoping he will show me an AQ or AJ. Damn player showed me AA and i went out with 3 dollars. How should i had played??? My readings were good . He was a tight agressive player , still never knew what will gonna hit me. This is the kind of bad luck that makes me throw the computer out of the window.

 

[fletchdad]

At what point during final table play should I start shoving regardless of my cards? Is it when I have 10 big blinds or less, or should I open it up to shove any ace with 15 big blinds? I really would love some advice on this, because I often find myself bleeding chips as the final table plays out.

Depends on a few things really. If you are down to 2-4 BB, and close to the blinds, (or maybe not) then ATC, IMO. If you still have 10 it depends on position, how many players left, and table dynamics. When u r SS the chance is not small that u r gonna get called, so its obviously better to have at least a decent hand, but u dont always have a choice. For me its fold or push at 10 BB on down, but, like I said, it depends on position. If the table is still 7-9 players, and u r on the button, you can wait - but I tend to push any decent hand at this point - If you have 15 BB, ur a bit better, it still depends on points mentioned above. My play differs greatly regardless of my stack (unless 6-7 BB down) depending on how many players still on the table and position, position being my biggest factor in deciding what to do. The more players, the bigger the luxury of rounds between the blinds.if your on BB every 4 hands, it is a big difference to being on the blinds every 10 hands.

Having spewed off all this "great advice" I should mention that I play small stake tables, and I think that has a lot to do with my way of playing. If u play larger buy-ins, you may do well to ignore me.......

 

[fletchdad]

I just played last night on full tilt the romanian freeroll with 2150 entrants. I got to the final table medium short stack about 20 BB (big blinds were 12K) One player out and we were 8 left. I got QQ in the small blind raised 3 BB and everybody folded. Next hand i got AK at BB. One player limped from medium position and also the button limped. I raised 4 BB and the player from medium position called, button folded. Flop was A23 . I raised half of the pot the other player called. K on the turn. I raised other player called. The river was 9 so i went all in hoping he will show me an AQ or AJ. Damn player showed me AA and i went out with 3 dollars. How should i had played??? My readings were good . He was a tight agressive player , still never knew what will gonna hit me. This is the kind of bad luck that makes me throw the computer out of the window.

Only thing u could have done was push all in PF, but it would have changed nothing as he would be with you all the way with AA. With a premium hand, I personally would have pushed harder, but, in this case, as I said, it wouldnt have made any difference. And once that A fell on the flop, hes there till the end as well. Congratulations for final table, very nice anyway!!

 

[woody19]

dont no cant remember what a final table looks like lmao joke

i usaly play super tight but agressive

 

[swingro]

After revewing the hand and thinkg it again about 100 times, i think nobody can play that hand to his advantage (to just fold) on the internet. The only place where u can get away from that hand is a live tournament where with some luck u can read the opponent and see he has a monster preflop and go away since the begining of the hand. Even though i am not sure someone will go away even if the opponent screams an laughs and raise hands. The way the flop and the turn hited my cards is like this hand was ment to kick me out of the table

Anyway i am not crying for the money (first place takes only 15 dollars) . I am upset cose i did not won the damn tournament. I was sure i can overplay any of the players at that table.

 

[swingro]

dont no cant remember what a final table looks like lmao joke

i usaly play super tight but agressive

So u would have lost all the chips as i did. How tight and how agressive can u play to not get trapped in such a hand Only Aces ?) The biggest problem was that is like he knew exactley how to chose the moment to limp with damn aces . He didn't raised preflop and he didn't reraised me cose if he would reraised me i would've folded after some thinking. So the only thing i was thinking at that moment is that he had an ace with an weaker kicker than mine. So i've played like i was trapping him making him think that i was protecting the blind Bad thing was he was thinking how to milk me of my chips.

 

[8Michael3]

I think final table play has alot to do with where you want to finish.

If the pay is bigger than youre used to then moving up a place or two becomes important. Waiting for legit hands to play becomes the norm as well as only stealing from others who are doing the same.

If Winning is the only thing that matters because its the only place that pays something thats worth your time then things change somewhat. eg. you final table the CC freeroll first pays $45 and second isnt bad either. In this case I really only want first or second so even 30% equity (A7 vs AK/KK) is fine by me on a gamble. losing means I win 3-5 doll. but winning that hand if the stacks are big enough gives me a huge shot at taking first which is my original goal.

But other than that, Egons thread is the way to go.

 

[mig2169]

Alot of online players reach the final table and just go crazy, and get agress lose. I have made several final tables in private tournys and my thought process is, alteast half of the table i have been playing with so i know them the other half might be the x factor. I like to sit back and play tight agressive and size up the table. If ur short stacked, well u need no advice just fina a hand and push. If ur right there at the average or above average, u have real shot at final two. that is my thought when i reach final table, i want heads up and what ever happens after that happens. I like the tight agressive play early and when u get a full handle on players put pressure on them until they cry. Gl

 

[Goodwooter]

early at the final table i play really tight...remember a few of the players are going to be inexperienced in this situation as well, a few of them will be excited and make poor decisions and bust themselves out...once you are down to 6 players or so its gut check time...consider your chip stack in relation to the remainder of the players at the table...depending on that information you must decide if you are gonna be the aggressor or sit back and wait for a monster!!!

the perfect way to practice for final table scenarios is 5 dollar single table sit and gos...any stake lower than this i feel will not have the quality of play that most final tables will have...



cheers and gl
wooter

 

[damours21]

play a solid tag style. in tournaments all the money is in 1st-3rd so dont try to "survive" until 6th or 7th to make a couple extra bucks. go for 1st and take all the money

 

[BeaverTrump]

I do not know book about play on final table...... but i think the right to play TAG strategy))))

 

[LizzyJ]

It's been a while since I've played in tournaments. But what I do remember is that when you get to the final table you need to take some time to figure out who your opponents are. I would concentrate on the two opponents on your immediate left. You need to figure out if you can steal from them, as stealing is going to be your first method of maintaining your chip stack. Then you need to figure out the two opponents on your right. Are they limpers? Are they raisers? Do they slow play? Can you re-steal from them?

Play tight to establish your table image but if you do play a hand, play it aggressively. Be patient and let a few people bust out. At this stage pay attention to stack sizes, the general rule of thumb is: don't mess with the large stacks, except with premium hands. Don't try to steal with trash hands with the small stack. Terrorize the medium stacks. Also, steal from those you have observed to be tight/weak. Re-steal from those who are high blind limpers. This should keep you afloat as the blinds (and possibly antes) are gonna get quite high and people are either going to try to survive to move up in the money or are going to try to steal/resteal in an effort to bully the table. If you do get a premium hand, you need to put people to the test, NEVER call with a premium hand. RE-RAISE, if you have your opponents who is tight/weak and have them outchipped, shove it all in. They will most likely fold, if not you will probably have the lead.

Good luck, getting past your own fears and survival instincts is sometimes the hardest aspect of becoming a good final table player.

 

[Weregoat]

I like the reccomendations for playing SnGs.. However one thing you have to keep in mind is anybody can come into a SnG from any skill level, already tilted, and get a fresh start...

At the final table of a big tournament, everybody will have endured a lot of poker to get there, everybody comes with a different chipstack... and most everybody is going to play a very solid game. Remember, the final table in a big tournament - most people who are there got there for their skill.

However they've been playing full table poker for a very long time, being able to make the transition from full table to short-handed is important...

So as the final table gets smaller, it's your job to adjust accordingly.

One mistake I made at the final table was I put too much importance on stealing the blinds, and ended up in some raised pots with less than premium holdings and some clown ends up looking you up for a ridiculous amount of chips... Anyway - don't steal unless you need to...

That's a huge problem I made in my 3-handed game, and it cost me sorely. (As well as my suspicions of chip-dumping... grrr)

Anyway, if you have a strong enough full table game to make the final table, then I'd say focus on your shortstack game.

One thing that helped me immensely was to add up the amount of money I would get every time somebody got knocked out...

Oh, 10th is out, that's another $250 in my pocket. 4th is out? That's another $3,000 for me...

 

[fletchdad]

Ive been lucky enough to sit at a couple FT lately, and a comment lizzyj made really stuck out to me. Getting past your own fears.

I was FT, on the button with 7 other players, and got AQ clubs. utg raised 3 bb for I think around 1800, my stack was about 9k. He had been tight but had also shown aggression a time or 2 only to back down to resistance, playing a little scared so I tossed 4500, and he shoved back...........
I folded ( I did think about it, and due to his response, placed him on KK-QQ, maybe even AA or AK) and managed to hang in a couple of hands b4 I had to shove again. 1 player busted out b4 I did, so went out 7th, but I should have thought about my options here, and was so sure he was gonna fold to me, that I didnt consider my response to his 4 bet, which means I played real bad aka scared and not thinking to the end. And I never got to see what he had.......
When u make the FT u need to play aggressive, or fold. Shoving back would have been right for 3 reasons (at least).
1. I was a not bad off in any case with AQ clubs. Easily a good hand, coin toss well worth doing here.
2. I was too committed to the pot already
3.. Better to go out 8th fighting then to wimp my way into 7th.......

 

[edogg503]

really TA (tight aggressive) and try to steal pots...and good luck

depends on my stack big stack i play tight and steal the bb as much as i can.:icon_pira small stack 15bb or less shoving anything.

 

[crowhui]

i think it's really depends on your goals and how you feel about the table....if you don't mind goin' out early since you only aim for the top,you could play really aggressive,if not..just stay it out and see some cheap flops and take from there.....

 

[slgalt]

Practice at one table S&Gs. I often find I'm short stacked at the final table, I play pretty tight, I will move all in against either players I can pressure with enough fold equity or with hands I hope to double up with. Since I'm a tight player and the blinds are high, I can often steal blinds to survive. When I'm big stack I play tight but will pick off short stacks and pressure tight players.

Final table or any new table you find yourself at, you should take some time to figure out how people are playing and give yourself time to adjust before you make any moves.

 

[hano2323]

I try to push smaller stacks around, and just tend to play a little more loose and tighten up post flop.