Poker Strategy

[Jonathan Freake]

Do you think its a good strategy to play a wider range of hands early in a tournament when the blinds are cheaper and progressively get tighter as the blinds raise?

 

[pakyut]

Yes. Less than 25bb you should play only premium hands and bigger pairs like TT above.

 

[fundiver199]

To some extend yes. There are certain types of hands, that play better with deep stacks, like small pocket pairs. So early in an MTT we can often find profitable spots to set-mine, but later we might need to fold small pairs, unless we are short enough to open shove. But there are also factors, which pull in the opposite direction.

Early in an MTT other players might be very loose, and if an UTG open often get 3-4 callers, then we want to play a tighter range rather than a wider. So for instance a hand like A4s can be a fold UTG in a loose game, whereas we can open it, if we often get to pick up the blinds uncontested or only get called by BB, because people are playing conservatively.

 

[300HPGOD]

There is something that is not being mentioned in this and that is the antes. Pre ante I actually think you should be tighter since there is less to fight over in the pot and less incentive to try to steal the blinds. Others will naturally play looser early since the entry fee (blinds) is less. Once antes kick in though there is more incentive to get involved for pots and attempt to steal the blinds. Also factor in your opponents stacks and what you think of their play. At the start, everyone is deep so they may call down a bit more for better or worse. Eventually when players start to get more uneven stacks at the table then you can target certain players judging from their abilities (as by this time in the tourney you have an idea of how they play) and their stack size. 25-30 BBs stacks can be awkward to play so you could play a little looser against them if you can isolate them whereas early on, no one has a 25-30BB stack yet.

Don't get me wrong there are hands you can play deep that you shouldnt play short and that will add some more looseness to your game deep stacked but don't overlook the ante factor and looking for spots to make a move later on in a tournament.

 

[black and]

This is a good strategy, but only for advanced players. For beginners, this strategy is not suitable, because most likely it will be a losing one.

 

[makisaa]

You can play a wider range of hands at the beginning because of the small blinds, but the risks of playing many hands are the same, and the profits are low because of the low blinds. So I play a little easier at the beginning and I grab chances for good profits.

 

[Gallarado777]

yes i do this is the right poker strategy

 

[Branimir84]

It works out only if you are a competent post flop player. The fact is that early in a low buy MTTs players are looser and later tighter. Which is an exploitable fact for good players.

 

[dreamer13]

It is only after losing a few deposits and a lot of time that people begin to think about the need to study poker strategies and tactics. There is no ideal strategy for playing poker, but there are strategies that bring players stable dividends. The constant growth of the blinds and the associated change in strategic techniques leaves its mark on tournament poker strategies. The main principle of tournament play is a tight-aggressive approach, during which the emphasis is on playing only strong poker hands aggressively enough.
Believe me, they are far from random. This game is the most difficult of all invented by mankind.