Play tight or loose early in live MTTs?

[LuckyBundy13]

The general idea which I'm sure has been mentioned is you have to feed off what the table gives. If you can understand this then it pretty much defines how you can adjust to the structure/players.
arty:

 

[NeverEnough]

The general idea which I'm sure has been mentioned is you have to feed off what the table gives. If you can understand this then it pretty much defines how you can adjust to the structure/players.
arty:

I am generally a pretty tight player. The last couple MTTs I have tried to loosen up early while blinds are small & just don't get the cards &, lately when I try to steal, I always pick the wrong spot. :eviltongu

 

[RamdeeBen]

Play the opposite of what the table majority is doing.

 

[OzExorcist]

200bb's deep. By all means try to see some flops with them - - be happy to ply speculative hands (that have potential to flop (& play) well in multi-way pots)... ie. 54s, 97s, AXs, small pp's. < hands you're hoping to get paid off well on when villain won't let go of overpairs & TPTK/ TPGK type hands.

20 minute levels though, and I'm guessing the next level will be 50/100. If you're really lucky you'll get 75/150 next, but a lot of places will jump straight to 100/200 after that.

So in less than one round of the button (if you get 7 or 8 hands into a 20-minute level you're doing well) that 200BB starting stack will be cut to 100BB, then maybe 50BB before the end of the first hour.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the above strategy per se, just that you won't necessarily get very long to apply it.

 

[gotchips]

i have herd of people playing both ways. but personally i like to play a little tighter in the beginning but maybe a little looser in positions reason being high risk generally low reward.

 

[NeverEnough]

20 minute levels though, and I'm guessing the next level will be 50/100. If you're really lucky you'll get 75/150 next, but a lot of places will jump straight to 100/200 after that.

So in less than one round of the button (if you get 7 or 8 hands into a 20-minute level you're doing well) that 200BB starting stack will be cut to 100BB, then maybe 50BB before the end of the first hour.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the above strategy per se, just that you won't necessarily get very long to apply it.

After 50/100 it goes to 100/200. Sometimes it can be about 7-8 hands per round, but other times more if no one gets cards.

 

[Beanfacekilla]

I am surprised how many of you answered playing loose early is ok. To each his own.

I like to let the donks do what they do early. I try not to get to committed OOP, or with marginal hands.

However, I recently played a live MTT where everyone was playing ultra tight early on. I chose to exploit them for this. I raised wide from LP and stole quite a few pots post flop. You can build up a decent stack at the right table.

But if you get to carried away, someone will trap you and you will wind up crippled.

In general I play very tight early on, and wait for good spots. There will be alot of multiway pots (regardless of a LP raise) in most tourneys I have played. Bad players playing badly. People are calling OOP with tiny suited aces and all that. And they seem to catch often
when there are 4 of them in the hand with you.

It all depends on table. Tight play early on is my general opinion.

Edit:
The blinds are small, so risking your stack to win small pots might not be the best move. You can't win a tournament in the first hour.

 

[NeverEnough]

I am surprised how many of you answered playing loose early is ok. To each his own.

I like to let the donks do what they do early. I try not to get to committed OOP, or with marginal hands.

However, I recently played a live MTT where everyone was playing ultra tight early on. I chose to exploit them for this. I raised wide from LP and stole quite a few pots post flop. You can build up a decent stack at the right table.

But if you get to carried away, someone will trap you and you will wind up crippled.

In general I play very tight early on, and wait for good spots. There will be alot of multiway pots (regardless of a LP raise) in most tourneys I have played. Bad players playing badly. People are calling OOP with tiny suited aces and all that. And they seem to catch often
when there are 4 of them in the hand with you.

It all depends on table. Tight play early on is my general opinion.

Edit:
The blinds are small, so risking your stack to win small pots might not be the best move. You can't win a tournament in the first hour.

I don't think anyone, at least I'm not, saying rick your stack early. I recently got JJ early. Blinds at 100/200 & someone raised to 925. I re-popped him to 2,500 & he shoved. I felt he had AA so I folded. He showed AA.

Anyway, I generally play tight overall, but very tight early & never seem to be able to build a stack lately.

 

[MaDaMan]

i like to play tight at the beginning.not super tight but """tightish"""
i play any suited ace,any suited connector,any pocket pair. and i play them aggresively but i fold everything else.
i dont even bother trying to steal the blinds cause i could care less to win a 60 chip pot. only start stealing pots when blinds are 75-150 and above.
i will raise ANY two cards everysingle time if its folded down to me on the cutoff btt or sb

I really like your views on poker and you seem to be a pretty great guy

 

[Beanfacekilla]

What is tight? It seems we may have different definitions. I think I would fall into the category of an extremely tight nit in some games.

However, it seems lately that if I make one mistake (even a little one) it costs me every time. Yet there are people playing sooooooooooo bad at my table and they just keep hitting limping OOP with Q-7 suited.

 

[Zorba]

"It depends"
It depends on the structure (how deep of stacks we're playing, how fast the blinds increase).
It depends on how the others on your table are playing.

^^^this^^^

 

[MasterOfDisaster]

Yes PO's comment won!

 

[NeverEnough]

i play any suited ace,any suited connector,any pocket pair. and i play them aggresively but i fold everything else.

What happens when you are card dead & don't get any of these hole cards to play?

i will raise ANY two cards everysingle time if its folded down to me on the cutoff btt or sb

But not BB?

 

[left52side]

I tend to see more hands early on in a tournament, ie. suited connectors king ten jack nine small pair type hands.
I always try to focus more on betting patterns early on and early raises. toward the middle I start to tighten up a bit and pick my spots more closely.
If im deep in a tounament and just on bubble range I tighten up hard depending on chips of course.
Late play all depends on table,chips,cards etc...
I always change it up to depending on different factors like how hot/cold im running,what the players seem to be like etc...
If I have the opportunity to buy alot of pots the stage of the tournament doesnt bother me.

 

[Sean Pilgrim]

start at 25/50. 20 minute levels. No antes. 10k starting stack

These types of low buy-in live tournaments really leave you no wiggle room. 20 minute levels live are a joke (at least in my area). You're lucky to get one full orbit before the blinds escalate due to "thinking" and slow players. What has really helped my game and may help yours with these short live levels is practicing with short stack hyper turbos because that is essentially what you're getting yourself into with these $35-$45 live tournaments. In general the house doesn't give a crap about tournament players because they make more money from raking cash game hands and therefore you're lucky if you find a decently structured tournament for that range of buy in.

After 50/100 it goes to 100/200. Sometimes it can be about 7-8 hands per round, but other times more if no one gets cards.

As stated above. Not even a full orbit before the blinds escalate in most of these tourneys. I really do think playing tight and being patient is going to be your number one friend here and if you top it off with practicing super turbos online you can be better prepared for this type of donkament if it gets to shove or fold time. Again this is just from my own personal experience from live play vs online and what I have personally experienced.

 

[RiverMeTimbers]

In the beginning of MTT with 12 minute levels I play looser than normal and wait till I can get a hand to earn some quick chips in the beginning. I never risk any bluffs or cold calls until I make a nice bit of chips.

I would never play so loose as to shove all in pre flop with P5's in the first 2 levels of the tourney but I play hands like J9o and 34s to try and make a monster hand when It only costs me 20 chips to play.

 

[kanselau]

loose is good if table dynamics are right

 

[kanselau]

i have herd of people playing both ways. but personally i like to play a little tighter in the beginning but maybe a little looser in positions reason being high risk generally low reward.

This is quite the opposite of why you would want to play loose early on -
blind level at 50-100 (200 BB) if you play a little looser , you can invest a small portion of your stack to win a huge pot .
For example A donk who is almost jumping out of his seat has AK , raises to 300 u know hes got a monster , through the excitement in his eyes and the interest hes showing.
MD position fish calls , CO also calls , you are on the BTN with 5d7d, it costs you 300 getting 3-1 pot odds , so you call. (pot 1200) Flop comes out A57 , the UTG donks for 800, MD folds , CO folds, you raise to 1800 , donk slow plays his AK and calls (pot 4800) turn is a 5 , donk leads for 3000, you anounce all in , donk snap calls. We double our stack in the first blind level and invest a very small portion of our stack pre flop.
This is a true story in a tornament I played reacently in Melbourne.
Moral of the story is we can invest alittle to win alot
1) we can see alot of cheep flops 2) all the fish are still there 3 ) if we dont hit hard we have wasted 20% of our stack and put on the brakes, if we hit and stack someone we have just made 100% of our stack, witch we can put to good use when the blinds go up.
Playing loose does however come with a warning sign
- It must be done at the right table - wouldnt really want to do it with a bunch of maniacs sitting to the left.
- You must be decent enough post flop to know where your at , no good playing 5 7 hitting top pair and investing 30% of your stack with it.

 

[kanselau]

These types of low buy-in live tournaments really leave you no wiggle room. 20 minute levels live are a joke (at least in my area). You're lucky to get one full orbit before the blinds escalate due to "thinking" and slow players. What has really helped my game and may help yours with these short live levels is practicing with short stack hyper turbos because that is essentially what you're getting yourself into with these $35-$45 live tournaments. In general the house doesn't give a crap about tournament players because they make more money from raking cash game hands and therefore you're lucky if you find a decently structured tournament for that range of buy in.



As stated above. Not even a full orbit before the blinds escalate in most of these tourneys. I really do think playing tight and being patient is going to be your number one friend here and if you top it off with practicing super turbos online you can be better prepared for this type of donkament if it gets to shove or fold time. Again this is just from my own personal experience from live play vs online and what I have personally experienced.

I thought the faster the blind levels the faster you play ? correct me if im wrong
im no expert in 20m live tornaments , but you cant exactly play tight and wait for premiums can you ?

 

[snklzona]

Myself i tend to play looser early on to see as many
cheaper flops and as stack ratio either climbs or falls
that dictates how tight or loose I play...also depends on
table and length of blinds....

 

[needaGF]

Why playing tight early on? The blinds are small and you have more change to see the cheap flop at the beginning and this is your advantage actually. I think I would rather play loose.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

Why playing tight early on?

Because a lot of other people are thinking "The blinds are small and you have more chance to see the cheap flop at the beginning and this is your advantage actually", so they think they would rather play loose.

 

[steveiam]

It depends on your overall style of play, Personaly i will play tight early i dont want to bust out against the fish, pots are quite small but you can still get into some awkward situations. I prefer to open up once i have a feel for the game.

 

[needaGF]

Because a lot of other people are thinking "The blinds are small and you have more chance to see the cheap flop at the beginning and this is your advantage actually", so they think they would rather play loose.

Well... Then maybe they should try late registration and start playing from the high blind level lol

 

[MediaBLITZ]

Well... Then maybe they should try late registration and start playing from the high blind level lol

Actually know some guys who do that - crazy,

But there is a big difference between playing no hands early and being a 15%er