My MTT Strategies

[Snowmobiler]

.

Now, calling a shove is a bit different. I want a little something, as there's no fold equity and you're random hand is facing an above-average hand.

I definately agree with this and its a very good point.Because of fold equity you want at least something to draw to 67 suited or a little pair.
You can definately bet hands in situations that you fold if someone bets into you.Actual chip sizes blinds ect help you make your decisions.




Snow

 

[BEERM4N]

Love this thread definalty learning alot. Playing in a $20 mtt at ftp when i get home and I'm going to follow everything that has been mentioned in this thread. Wish me luck and thanks again snow for the advice.

 

[the lab man]

I just want to say that the quality of regular players that play in the CC buyins is well above what you would find in a similar priced tourneys anywhere on the net

I thoroughly enjoy playing these tourneys and because we have so many good players here it has made it harder to cash.

Great thread Snow.

 

[Snowmobiler]

I know, i'm working on it, thought most of the time i will fold, even if theirs a raise out their.
I'm also using position more then i did before.
Build stack + keep stack = maybe a win.


I know snow, i'm off to play a 360 turbo," I WILL" get to the top 10 and i know it...

FYP


Snow

 

[buckster436]

FYP


Snow

I taught everything Snow knows about poker to him,lol , go ahead snow ill take the credit,,lol i like it, nice piece of material, i like it, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,buck

 

[SavagePenguin]

I just did 1st, i must say i don't know what i was thinking with AJ!!!!! I folded AJ the rest of the game.

Folds are dependant on a lot of things. Assuming I'll attach a picture of folds with Aces that I think are OK if it's been folded to you (and of course it's OK to fold if it's been raised to you with these hands).
I rushed this out, as I have at appointment in 10 minutes. But I this is a fair ballpark figure.

I was stealing like crazy on the FT...

When I made that fold with Aces pic, I looked up one of the better players steal stats for that game. I'll include a pic of that as well. It pretty much tells the story of what one should do as the blinds go up. (No, they're not my stats)
So yeah, you did well stealing more at the final table.

 

[Snowmobiler]

-Playing perfect poker-

I wanted to share some of the plays where I overplayed my hand and got completely outplayed in tourneys recently.

I obviously don't play perfect poker and never will.You take your shots and see what happens.I have busted a few times with 2 pair hands running into higher 2 pair and trips.I should of known by the river I was beat,but i put my stack in praying they were bluffing.Even top pr would of been a bluff on a scary board.

I pushed with 66 in early position when My M was 12.That was to soon to take this risk,I got impatiant trying to get chips to work with.If it was closer to the button I think the play would of been ok.

I had pkt 9s pre-flop on a flop of 347 rainbow and I checked to the pre flop raiser,he checks also.A 10 came on the turn , he bets and I raise thinking he was bluffing ak or aq.I had let him get there when he had A/10.This is one of the worst plays I can make imo.

I bet to small after turn card and gave the guy odds to draw to a flush,then i paid him off after it came.

I won 2 tourneys this week,but Im making to many bonehead plays and i need to focus in and make better plays.

I won't spend alot of time on my mistakes.I play Mtts because I just need to win occasionally to show a profit and I can have several bad tourneys for each win.I will make bad plays and recognizing them and adjusting will help me improve.Don't beat yourself up to bad over mistakes but always take the time to review your play and think about things you could have done better.

All of these situations (when Im playing well) I could have laid down my hands and had a better situation to put chips in.



Snow

 

[SavagePenguin]

Int hat big pic, I should clarify that when I got to the SB and BB i assumed that the BB raised.

 

[SavagePenguin]

I haven't watched these in quite awhile, but the Hole Cards Revealed and Hole Cards Revealed II videos are what got me interested in CardsChat (for other than the freerolls). I remember watching them and thinking "Well this guy knows what he's talking about" so I started coming back to explore the site's content.

 

[dg1267]

Wow, great thread, and I wish I had found it sooner!

I had taken a 3/4 month hiatus from poker and came back to find you as the most talked about player in CC tournies. I played my first tourney since I came back and I think I took 3rd place. But, like you, I keep the lobby open and off to the side so I can see what's going on. I also had your table up and watching as many hands as I could watch that you were in.

Then, my 3rd tourney back, we met on the FT of an UB tourney. You had a slightly smaller stack than I had when we started, but I caught a decent hand somewhere and went up to 17k with you around 11k, I think. But my eyes were on you every hand. I can't even remember who was the other person once it got down to 3 (I believe it was joe) but a big relief was when my pckt 3's held up to to your shove against my raise. After that, I think I won it in 3 or 4 hands.

I really enjoyed the win there, but I felt I had beaten a giant after reading all the good things I had read about you up until that point. You are a good player and I hope to meet you again.

(didnt' get through all of the posts, but to remind me... post 59)

 

[TPC]

Snow hit on early in this thread that you should practice one table SNG's. I decided to do my first ever video of a one table SNG that I just played.

Here is the thread to that video.

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/learning-poker-57/

 

[LarkMarlow]

Today I was reviewing this entire wonderful thread to update my "snowbook" because Mike and I are headed out to the boats for our monthly 3 day poker jaunt on Monday and of course we'll be playing several tournaments.

Good thing I did because I missed the following exchange which needs some clarification because my post must have been somehow misleading.

The fact is that I have a really, really decent record of cashing in live tournaments which are generally in the $60-$100 range but the freerolls were driving me crazy because of the wild play (so glad they aren't holding them this month).

So this was my 1st freeroll final table and I could never have gotten that far without my secret "snowbook" weapon. I'm still smiling about that achievement. In my conversation with the winner he said one of the reasons he was asking about my strategy was because he and a couple of other guys had never before seen me make some of the moves l did. I told him about CardsChat and this thread. He actually shook his head in disbelief! He said he didn't buy into "all that internet poker stuff". Regardless, as I reported, we had a very good conversation.

Along those lines, for the last year or so whenever I'm playing a live tourney I look for an opportunity to ask whether anyone plays online. If they say yes, I ask where and what levels and all. I've found their answers to reveal good information about how they play and approach the game. Same thing goes for when they say no and tell me why.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LarkMarlow
Riverboat Free Roll report:

Though I didn't cash, I managed to make it to the final table using Snow's tips despite being literally card dead the entire night up until the last two tables. For real. Not one hand I folded earlier would have been a winner which I think is quite rare. The hands I did play kept me alive. When we were down to 8 some railbirds gathered around and scratched their heads, saying "She's still in?!" That felt great.

From a field of 60 the top 5 were paid and I got booted at 7th. I don't feel bad about that at all because the full house I went out on was beaten by miracle quads the third in command caught on the river.

After the tourney the guy who won (and happened to be the one who took me out) came up to me and actually asked about my strategy. Doesn't get any better than that. We had a really good conversation.

Thanks, Snow





Next time your hand will hold up and it will propel you to the Victory!

Congrats on a great tourney and your 1st final table,Well Done!



Snow

 

[Snowmobiler]

Wow,What great info and videos from Trigga!
If anyone skipped over these or didnt pay very close attention, I think you are missing out. Post 151

Nice job by Savage Penguin on posting Dorkus Malorkus videos.Watching these and listening to his commentary is great info. Post 148


I had a real nice weekend at the poker tables,final tabling 4 of 5 tourneys between Sat & Sun.I had a 1st,2nd,7th,8th and a profit of just over $200 for the weekend.My buy-ins totaled $24.20 (w/1 freeroll) and my prizes totaled $229.This is my idea of a great weekend,minimizing my investment and maximizing profits.

I had 2 hands that I intended to get screenshots and discuss when I disconnected at the final table and lost them.I cant recall enough specifics to do either hand justice so I will wait for a similar situation.
I had to make alot of really tough calls and most went my way.I was talking to Savage Penguin on Messenger and he says "everytime I look up you are catching cards".I made a bunch of pot odds calls and they worked out for the most part.If I fold,I likely don,t get the 1st and 2nd which were the majority of the winnings of course.

Its nice to see dg1267 back around,and a great play with your pct 3s and that entire tourney. If my KQ off catches and I win that pot I likely get the tourney win.I look forward to tangling again also!

Im glad to hear that this thread is paying off for some of the guys that have posted their success and appreciation.It really does make it worth doing when PC 69,Lark Marlow,Kidkvno1 and others have let us know it is helping.

Gl at the tables all!



Snow

 

[the lab man]

Folds are dependant on a lot of things. Assuming I'll attach a picture of folds with Aces that I think are OK if it's been folded to you (and of course it's OK to fold if it's been raised to you with these hands).

When I made that fold with Aces pic, I looked up one of the better players steal stats for that game. I'll include a pic of that as well. It pretty much tells the story of what one should do as the blinds go up. (No, they're not my stats)
So yeah, you did well stealing more at the final table.

SP Can you clarify what the stats on the pics mean??? Post 144
I'm slow today...Thanks

 

[SavagePenguin]

SP Can you clarify what the stats on the pics mean???

It is the percentage of times this person tried to steal at various blind levels.

This is a tiny sample, but it shows that when the blinds were low, stealing wasn't an issue. But as the blinds got bigger, they stole more.

I just thought it was cute how overt it was. He averaged a 10% steal rate in the 10-100 big blind range, he stole about 30% of the time in the 100-800 big blind range, and he was a steal-machine after that. (I do not condone these numbers. Not that they're wrong, but they are situation specific so numbers don't matter. I do condone the trend of stealing more at the end though.)

Basically, stealing a 10 or 30 blind is no big deal, and can get you in a lot of trouble. Who wants to lost $150 to win $30?
As blinds go up and antes are introduced, you need to steal more to stay afloat.

The other pic was just Ace/x hands I'm happy with folding in various positions when nobody has entered the pot (with the SB & BB being hands that have one probably stealer). This also assumes you are deep stacked (early in a game) with no special reads on people.

 

[kidkvno1]

Is it safe to call a reraise, when your in the cutoff, with your table image tight, well not trying to steal??
And you know the blinds are going up again, you have an M of 20, lets say you know the BB to be a tight player, and will fold to a raise, or a c-bet.
Lets say you got AT, you know his is from A rag, up, as well 22 and up.
What would you do? You know that if you fold, your going to have an M of 17, the large stacks are stealing your blinds, you can't come back over them, coz all your seeing in the BB, SB are low cards.
Ok a bit of info, on some of his last set of hands, well in the BB, SB.
He shoved all-in, with AJ, got called by an AK, shoved with A2 in the SB.
But this time he does not shove.
Your thoughts???
Oh my 1st 2 wins on tilt are posted, i could not get past the 45 player ones, but could the 90 player ones.

 

[SavagePenguin]

OK, in English the problem I think you described is:

Someone raises.
Someone re-raises.
You have a tight image and are in the cutoff with A/T with an M of 20 (dropping to 17 soon).
The button, small blind, and big blind are all tight and likely to fold. (Note: If this is the case you should steal more, hence you will not have a tight image)

Is it safe to call...??

I fold this 95% of the time. Maybe more. The original raiser can still 4-bet it. Even if he doesn't and you pair your Ace on the flop you can't have much confidence in your kicker. You don't have to lose *any* money in this hand. Just bail and let them fight it out.

And if you tried to describe that you are acting tight and a tight out-of-position player three-bet you from the blinds, then that's a bail too. (Like, you raise in the cutoff and the BB re-raises you.) Unless he's short and you are willing to play for stacks, fold.

 

[sharkyo01]

This may sound like a stupid question... But could you apply this to cash games as well?

 

[SavagePenguin]

This may sound like a stupid question... But could you apply this to cash games as well?

Yes. There is still a correlation between hand strength, position, image, and action in cash games, so it does apply to some extent.

Keep in mind that in cash games you will (usually) be deep stacked so you need a bigger hand to justify playing for a big pot. Also nobody has to bust for you to make a profit. And the blinds do not go up so getting blinded out isn't typically an issue.
Whereas in tournaments, you're willing to take risks to get a big stack because the payout for 1st place is so much bigger. Those risks are worth the reward of a much greater payout.

So in ring games (cash games) you will generally be tighter. But yes, the same principles apply.

 

[sharkyo01]

Yes.

Keep in mind that in cash games you will be deep stacked so you need a bigger hand to justify playing for a big pot. Also nobody has to bust for you to make a profit.

So in ring games (cash games) you will generally be tighter.

Thanks I just read though most of it... A lot of seems to make sense with Rings as much as it does tournement play. But as you said play a lot tighter.

 

[kidkvno1]

OK, in English the problem I think you described is:

Someone raises.
Someone re-raises.
You have a tight image and are in the cutoff with A/T with an M of 20 (dropping to 17 soon).
The button, small blind, and big blind are all tight and likely to fold. (Note: If this is the case you should steal more, hence you will not have a tight image)



I fold this 95% of the time. Maybe more. The original raiser can still 4-bet it. Even if he doesn't and you pair your Ace on the flop you can't have much confidence in your kicker. You don't have to lose *any* money in this hand. Just bail and let them fight it out.

And if you tried to describe that you are acting tight and a tight out-of-position player three-bet you from the blinds, then that's a bail too. (Like, you raise in the cutoff and the BB re-raises you.) Unless he's short and you are willing to play for stacks, fold.

Yeah like that, what if it was suited?
Also, lets say you did call, got to see the flop, the flop came Tc 4h Qd. you got an Equity of 69.747%, well AK suited has an Equity of 30.253% to win, AK is only going to win 294 pots vs A10 suited 685 pots, Based on that you would have to shove right?

 

[SavagePenguin]

As your M decreases certain hands become less playable (drawing hands).
With an M of 17 I'm not looking for flush draws, and I still have a easily dominated Ace.

So whether or not it's suited makes little difference.

The tight guy isn't 3-betting with A/9. Probably not with 9/9 or worse either. Chasing a flush is only going to get you in trouble.

(Your A/Ts is only going to make a flush by the river once every 16 times. Save your money for a better spot.)

 

[Dwilius]

Also, lets say you did call, got to see the flop, the flop came Tc 4h Qd. you got an Equity of 69.747%, well AK suited has an Equity of 30.253% to win, AK is only going to win 294 pots vs A10 suited 685 pots, Based on that you would have to shove right?

AK? Do your opponents play with their cards face up or do you just like to put your opponent on perhaps the one hand you are ahead of in a 3bet pot? :icon_tong Seriously, 99/TT+ AQ+ are most likely hands in 3bet pots (that's why we fold AT), especially against mostly tight cc players. Was this a cc game?

...and if for some reason lower pairs are in your opponents range, then you just fold out hands with 2 outs, so no shoving AT isn't good there.

 

[SavagePenguin]

Listen to what D'wilius is talk'n bout!

 

[Snowmobiler]

AK? Do your opponents play with their cards face up or do you just like to put your opponent on perhaps the one hand you are ahead of in a 3bet pot? :icon_tong Seriously, 99/TT+ AQ+ are most likely hands in 3bet pots (that's why we fold AT), especially against mostly tight cc players. Was this a cc game?

...and if for some reason lower pairs are in your opponents range, then you just fold out hands with 2 outs, so no shoving AT isn't good there.

Great answer D'willis,

You tighten your range generally for raises and reraises deserve another level of respect!

Another example,You may have AJ an a AKJ board.If you face a raise it is cause for concern for your 2 pair and If there is a reraise you can safely lay your hand down and Know in the long run you are making the correct decision.There would be a few situations that you go with it,but not often imo.


Snow