Tournament Advice to Ignore and Habits to Break

[RAFAELO1]

Bad Habit #4: The price was right to call.

Why isn't that not advisable? If incorporating the theory of implied odds (which is basically MAYBE I'll get there), isn't it worth the shot if you're deep stacked and have a shot at winning the hand?

I see no difference in calling a decently priced bet for implied odds and calling a preflop raise holding a small pair.

 

[Ryan Laplante]

#3 and #5 I think can be misleading.

#3:Most players dont defend their blinds enough. Heck, most pros dont defend their blinds enough!!

Against a min raise from Late Position you should defend around 70% of the time, most people are wayyyyy too tight.

#5: pot odds are an essential part of poker at all stages. Its always important to use them properly. While your tournament lufe has value, rarely can you pass on a great pot odds spot.

 

[darthdimsky]

I still suffer from occasional bouts of habit #1. While good advice for beginners, 3, 4 and 5 I believe is really situational.

Because I have a nitty image loose players at LP really try and exploit it by limping and min raising with rubbish. In certain instances while at BB I don't mind calling down small (1/3rd to 1/2 pot) river bets with 2nd or even 3rd pair on dry boards.

I also love loose big stacks that raise and call with anything. More often than not an awesome way to double up (sometimes multiple times).

 

[Debi]

#3 and #5 I think can be misleading.

#3:Most players dont defend their blinds enough. Heck, most pros dont defend their blinds enough!!

Against a min raise from Late Position you should defend around 70% of the time, most people are wayyyyy too tight.

#5: Pot odds are an essential part of poker at all stages. Its always important to use them properly. While your tournament lufe has value, rarely can you pass on a great pot odds spot.

Ugh - I am way under 75% defending my big blind from a late position min raise. What is the optimal amount to re-raise in this position - and how do you play post flop when you totally miss?

 

[laiomaycon]

There have been some games that because of an intuitive preflop led me to lose many chips just to see the final card, this is a bad habit. There are also times when I get blind when I have strong cards in my hand, I keep betting even at the risk of losing to a flush or sequence. I do not know why I do this, I just know it is already autistic and it does not help at all.

 

[eberetta1]

Bad advice? Lol, every time I hear, call him, he don't have it, he's bluffing.
Usually when I hear that, the poor soul demanding you to call is not in the hand, so I usually take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Prolaznik]

I just arrived after long absence and didn't have time to read the previous articles, so can't make any comparisons.
This author is giving a strong impression of a regular columnist, who HAS to write something - whether s/he has something new to say, or not. Though the article is far from epochal, I think the salary is honestly earned.

 

[AlexTheOwl]

Some of the worst tournament advice I have ever seen was actually a hand scenario in a book. The scenario was something like being UTG with AK at a full table with 5BB, the author was advocating only min-raising and not open-shoving for some reason and I thought this was pure rubbish.

What are you going to do if you get multiple callers and the flop comes 964? You're going to have to push all in to c-bet even with one caller, if you check it back and they bet you're going to have to call off your stack with nothing but Ace high, or fold and be left with crumbs in your chip stack. It kind of seemed to me like the author was a cash game specialist without much tournament experience, but needed something to bring the book up to the publisher's requested page count.

It depends.

Let's say you have 5BB UTG with AK in a turbo MTT. You are ranked 70th of 80 players, and the top 15 players make the money. The table is tight, and so is your table image.

If you go all in and everyone folds - a common result on a tight table when a tight player goes all in from early position - you now have 6.5 BB, and you are about to be hit by the blinds.

Your chances of cashing in the tournament were very bad before the hand, and they are almost just as bad now. You have not accomplished much.

From where you are now, you are going to have to win several big pots to succeed in this tournament. Winning small pots won't make much difference.

Your goal in these specific circumstances should be to build the biggest pot possible with your premium hand, even if that means increasing the chance that you will have multiple callers.

Having multiple callers increases the chances that you will lose all your chips, but your tiny stack wasn't worth much anyway.
Multiple callers increases the chances that you will double up - or better - which would significantly improve your chances of cashing.

No matter what happens, you need to be all-in on the flop.

 

[migesan]

I think it's the worst habit when I have a player on the table who has lost half of the stack of chips, and it's still twice as big to me that I play with such players, especially on serious tournaments, tonight I had the opportunity to encounter such a thing I encountered 3-bet, and I like in hell AK, AQ on the flop only small couples, and he as a gray game plays in my allin, and I always keep up with such that I run down the table and finally fall out, instead of waiting for the weaker move

 

[robroiii]

I do all of those, thanks for that though. First step to any problem is recognizing there is one!

 

[ebellari]

all the bad habits listed in the thread

i cant stop bluffing when its the river even if my cards are weak,its like i already know i will loose butt i go for it,my next bad habit in tournaments to eliminate is bluffing, i will try to do it less

 

[albosaltenio]

I had problems with # 1 # 2 # 4, I thought that this was correct but it never was.
and I always saw the bigstack as a major source of chips that could be mine but in most cases they happened to win over me even though I had the best hand game.

they gave me a couple of tips that really made me funny and I really did not give them importance because of how funny they seemed to me, I leave some and you do not follow them hahaha.

.- to win the hand you must go all in
.- plays pair of strong aces ( me WTF!!! ) AAblacks, the other pair fold (me :stupid: :vroam

I think with the latter is more than enough to bad advice hehehehe.

 

[Alexandr Svinarshyk]

my big mistake is that at the late stage of the tournament I'm trying to play all hands against stacks that are bigger than mine.

 

[shinedown.45]

my biggest mistake is getting into a tournament but not having the free time for it. I get in things are going good then i have to do something go somewhere or its too late. Last tournament got in at 22 o clock, then 3.5 h later i was tired i just didn't have energy to finish it. got 85 place, was out of money and had a hard day at work the next day.

I'm kinda surprised that this habit didn't make the list as I am also guilty of starting a tournament I wasn't able to finish because of being tired.When starting any tournament, make sure you are positive you will have time to finish the game.
If you feel you need to play but don't have time, play STTs or cash games.

 

[makisaa]

There always be advisers in our lifes. We must understand that everyone is tested every day from the reality. This means that we can do it better from the advisers and become the wise or the adviser also. For example they say if you have a weak pair and the other player raises again and again you better fold.
Habits on the other hand, I mean situations that an "expert" would disagree to keep on doing something, for example to play a medioum pair against a big raise, just because the medium pair is our habit, or a bad habit according to "experts". Here is an example where I played a weak pair:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZE2z0B2xrUmJ8xIl2

And another one with a medioum pair or my habit:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/lv4GEXuLKx1ZJdNp1

 

[popstani]

Yep - and then of course when you finally get brave and play back at them they happen to have a monster.

It’s happened to me almost every time, but I can’t resist. The best feeling is to dabble my stuck against the bully with to many chips

 

[walluyo]

my big mistake is that at the late stage of the tournament I'm trying to play all hands against stacks that are bigger than mine.

Yep, at the late stage i ll thinking twice to play with opponents who have same or more stake with mine.

 

[MTCashman]

I think a lot of it is situational, for example of defending the blinds. If you have an aggressive player with the button that is constantly raising your blinds you should defend instead of letting them rob you every rotation.

Some bad advice that I was given was to "Raise every unopened pot in late position" while that might be good advice if the players behind you are tight, it will all depend on stack sizes and table images.

I think one of the biggest mistakes new players make is bad bankroll management. A lot of players play above their limits and no matter how good you play variance can strike and put a dent in your bankroll in a hurry.

 

[lilu80]

IMO chat still for all conversations is very bad habbits and I know that donk. For me "habit calling with good odds" example when several players is in the pot preflop is OK to players, who can play well postflop.

Sometimes players still look only: how many now my prize, ow many now, "WOW I win" and still they look your prize in the lobby. This`s begginer bad habbits.

IMO poker is also game ego vs ego player! When ego player think very high "I`m only king" or very low "I`m very bad and all player are better", this is very bad. Players are good when they don`t forget about theirs superego nad not only think of your ego!

 

[Rijckenborg]

Habits to Break


-One of my baddest habit is to play too much tournament at the same times.Because of that , I missclick often.

-I have to stop limping when I do it only because I am curious to see others players cards.

 

[sergik1992]

Sometimes I make wrong analysis of my opponent and than I use bad habit#1.
As for habit #2 and #3 I was able to get rid of it and to my mind I have to defend my blinds more often)
Bad habit #4, I really suffer very often because of odds and waste my cheaps...
Bad habit #5, I haven`t fear of the cheapleaders and quite the contrary I can tangle with them.

 

[fabiancampos]

What a good thread..

Since I started in the world of poker I liked reading books about this sport. Many tips on how to play live or online have been defined over the years, however I think that each person is different, for example there are those who drink a beer and play better, when the tips detail that you do not drink alcoholic beverages while you play, however it is a muscle relaxant, it depends who is taking east. Tips for forgetting: wait for the bubble to burst to enter prizes, do not play low cards at the beginning of a tournament, position is important. While they are basic rules of poker, there is no doubt that it is best to review your opponents and understand who you are playing, adding that you play for fun, and never for a prize.and habits break part, I think the fear of losing, that's the worst habit I'd like to eliminate this 2018. I could add stop participating in freerolls, and deposit, study more poker.

 

[Hondo]

Coming form a cash game background i am not all that confident in my tournament game play. This article for the most part offers reasonably advice. However the parameters laid out for each "bad habit" are such that the authors assesment or advice has to be right. In an attempt to improve my tournament game I have done a fair a mount of reading and in the course of it have come accross different view points on some of the so called "bad habits"

 

[milencenov]

...
Discuss this article and let us know some of the worst advice you were ever given and any bad habits you had a heard time breaking.
...

The worst advice I were ever given is that when I play in a tournament and my stack is 8-9 BBs, I must always shove with any pocket pair and any Q-10 or better hand, because "you must take the risk to either double up or bust".


The bad habit I have a hard time breaking is that I totally forget about bankroll management and discipline when I am on tilt.


Now, I will comment on the article itself:


I've got to keep you honest

TRANSLATION:

I think you've got me but I feel like giving you some chips anyway



I don't agree that this should be named "bad habit". The decision to call, raise or fold depends on much more factors than "I think you've got me..."
I have seen so many AK/AQ/AJ holders betting like crazy post-flop, hoping that they will somehow bluff their opponents out of the pot when they missed the flop.
It is even more stunning how AK holders would even call and allin on the flop with air, hoping on maximum 6 outs with their overcards.
So, calling "to keep somebody honest" is not bad, if justified by the overall analysis and the opinion of Hero on the possible range of Villain, their positions, notes on the style of Villain, etc.


I needed the information

TRANSLATION:

I'm willing to waste my chips to see what you are holding because this intelligence will help me defeat you later



Here, I have an advice to all members of CardsChat.
Use your membership here !!! Especially, when you are in the FRC !
The tournaments organized by CardsChat are played by very limited number of players, if we compare them with other poker forums !
Take NOTES, NOTES and NOTES.
Observe the other members, and always put notes whenever you come upon direct observations on their play !
No need to "pay" for information with your own chips when you can just use long term observation and a good archive with notes.


Always defend your blinds

TRANSLATION:

When you're in the big blind or small blind, you must call any pre-flop raise



Here, I have some comments too.
First, there is a BIG difference between SB and BB.
BB pays the biggest price to play the hand, but SB has the worst position !
NEVER call a raise or a 3-bet from SB - either fold, or make a re-raise ! (or even shove !)
You really don't want to play a hand post-flop from the worst possible position - this can win you some small pots, but can lose you big pots - don't try it.
Try to make a difference between a raise from EP, from HJ or CO, and from BTN.
And observe whether the CO and BTN players are TAGs, LAGs, nits, maniacs, etc.
You would want to call more often from BB to a 2x raise by BTN if he is a LAG, but you would be more conservative if he is a TAG.


The price was right to call

TRANSLATION:

I knew I was behind, but the pot odds were so good I had to call



Here, I totally disagree with the author of the article !!!
My abilities to quickly manipulate numbers in my mind have won me a lot of money in tough situations. Especially, when I know my hand is worse, but I must decide whether the pot odds allow me to call.
You cannot imagine how many "FU", "fish" and "stupid donk" I have seen in the chat windows after calling with 7-2s and beating A-K...
And I made all those calls because I was in the BB, and the Villains went allin with small stacks - so, I had to calculate whether my chances to win (given a probable wider range for a small stack to shove with !) would justify the call.


The most tight call against me was in a CC League game 1 year ago - my friend Jeremi folded with cr*ppy hand - but he had 1:17 pot odds !!!!!!! He needed 6% chance to win to justify the call... I cannot even imagine a pre-flop combination of hand-versus-hand that is 94 to 6...


Watch out for big stacks

TRANSLATION:

Try to avoid tangling with one of the chip leaders at your table because they can take you out



Here, the author himself contradicts to his own initial statement.
First, he says "this part is true" and then he justifies THE OPPOSITE point of view.


My personal view is that you should first use any info on the big stack player that you have - notes, observations, etc.
A player may be hugely stacked, because of dumb luck in a multi-way allin.
Another one may be hugely stacked, because he outplayed another big stack.
Try to distinguish dumb luck from skilled play.
Never fear a chip leader who temporarily won towers of chips by luck, but is going to donate them all with fishy calls and stupid bluffs.

 

[fred_antunes]

There are several study fronts for game strategy, but these habits should be requirements for any beginners in the game not to play in your game! These habits help a lot in reading and ranking opponents.