Tracking you position?

[David Gibson]

I find myself watching my position in online tournaments more than I do in live play.
I just finished a small sag. And I never, not once, tracked where I was. I won the tournament.

So I am wondering your thought on if it just is a mental distraction to keep track? I know you have to check once in a while, but not every few seconds.

 

[fundiver199]

It is mostly a mental distraction, since its way more important to pay attention to stack sizes and opponent tendencies especially early in an MTT.

 

[akmost]

I don't do it often it's a distraction for me too but I do it in the bubble phases because I must change my approach(especially in satellite tournaments).
The one thing I look at and it's more important for me is where I stand whenever I have a shovable stack and what a double up will do!

 

[DS3]

I track my position from the first hand.

In fact I open the lobby and scroll down the players list until I find those who have exited and leave the lobby set that way all the way to the bubble - I literally follow the last man out and how many are left in the field. I check the leaderboard much less.

It is imperative for me to know precisely where I stand, to grasp I need to up the aggression or play better hands if I am well positioned with a bigger stack/

That said, once in a while I will get distracted, find myself playing loosely and arrive at the bubble quickly to my delight - so there is something to what you say.

 

[EarnDAStack]

With ICM, there will be situations where you will be able to make more profitable decisions based on knowing where you are in the field. In spots like being on the money bubble, as you're approaching pay jumps and approaching the final two and then final table spots all require you to know where you are in the field and your stack size in comparison to other players to make the most profitable decisions.

 

[takinitSLEAZEE]

I used to track my trny position when I first started. I don't even mess w/it anymore until the "Hand for hand mode" begins. When I'm near the $ I'll see who's in jeopardy at my table and go from there. Hopefully it isn't me.

 

[Alex70793]

When I play in tournaments, I almost never monitor my position, probably because I play tight
But in cash games, I always monitor the position, I think this is very important, it gives an advantage, for example, I can fold with AT at an early position, but I will play the same hand while on the button.

 

[AugustWest]

I don't really see where I'm at in a ACR tournament until the ATM message pops up.
That's when I take a look at position...

 

[Joe]

Personally I don't normally/usually check my position and just play one hand at a time.

It's a distraction for me and my preference is just to factor my position with regards to the players in front of me, i.e. my table.

The exceptions to this are if I've just won/lost a big pot I might take a quick glance where the hand has left me in the standings and of course when the bubble is approaching and after reaching ITM.

During 'open play' (i.e. from hand one up until the bubble) I like to focus purely on making the best possible decisions street by street, hand by hand.

Don't have much capacity left in my dilapidated grey matter for processing anything else during play! :laugh:

 

[lauestla]

I sometimes track my position but not always. The most important for me is my position in stack at the table. I just check my ranking when we get close to the bubble.

 

[ADRI7HO]

Yes, it is best if you only sometimes check how you stand in the tournament, because otherwise it will be very depressing if you get backwards and this can affect the game as well.

 

[recerveau]

I find myself watching my position in online tournaments more than I do in live play.
I just finished a small sag. And I never, not once, tracked where I was. I won the tournament.

So I am wondering your thought on if it just is a mental distraction to keep track? I know you have to check once in a while, but not every few seconds.

I checked a lot in the beginning, nowadays I don't check anymore.
I only check when it's a satellite.

 

[LFC_yllnwa]

I think, it is necessary to do this, when the number of remaining players is close to the money in order to change your game plan (the final stage of the tournament). The beginning of the tournament and the middle stage, it is very easy to play and absolutely do not pay attention to the position in the tournament and relative to other players. But you must look at the position at your table (relative to other players) before each new round (I'm talking about the number of chips, I don't mean the position when dealing cards)

 

[mariale_1990]

My case for me is a distraction, when I started playing my friends insisted that I should be aware of that, and the truth was fatal to me and it is not about not being able to concentrate on both things but that that made my game change so much and in a negative way that I do not like, so I decided to play as usual and not pay so much attention to that

 

[Roller]

Checking your position would be more of a factor in payout jumps then just tracking for the sake of tracking. ICM would dictate value of your current chips and help make proper decisions at that point.

 

[lancabcd10]

Some friends like to use this strategy, of not following the tournament numbers all the time.
However I prefer to follow the numbers, live and online, because sometimes I advance the range too much in situations where I would have to hold more.