MTTs

i have been doing ok in MTT's on PS, but when i get to about the final 100, i seem to kinda slip. it seems like i dont get any cards but i know there has to be something else. because i just cant get bad cards that mnay times, i must be doing something wrong. My first MTT i played in awhile was about 4 days ago, with 350 left i had less then 20x the BB, which is commonly considered a short stack. i played it down to 25th and i NEVER broke 20x the BB. i play tight in later stages, but i also keep in mind that aggression is usually helpful here with lesser hands because people tend to play tighter but it seems whenever i try to use this strategy, i blow a lot on a bluff. how do you all play once your in the money or close to it? it seems i go out in the middle of the tourneys, i usually always last over an hour and a half, but then right before the second break, something happens.


can anyone diagnose this problem or give me some hints as to what you do if you are succesfull on large MTT's?

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THFSOP Event #4 Champion
THFSOP Event #8 Champion
THFSOP Event #10 Champion

Current count: 3 Bracelets

You may be waiting too long before you get aggressive. There is a point at which you have to start making your own moves if the cards are not there for you (i'm sure you know this). You can't express this point as a number in terms of the BB because it depends on not only the BB compared to your stack, but also how the average stack matches up with the BB and those at your table (as well as their styles but for the sake of simplicity forget it).

You may be miss judging when this point is if you find you are busting yourself bluffing on one hand. Can you explain a couple situations that you execute a steal in. It's difficult to explain how to judge when its time to get agressive but it may be best to just post up some situations and ask for insight from players.

Also, it may be the way you get agressive that is busting you. If you are executing a steal and doing so in a way that conflicts with the style everyone is reading you on, then you may be shooting yourself in the foot, making them think the opposite of what you want them to.

I know this post if very vague but you picked a concept that is difficult to explain

ty cowboy, i will post some hands when they come up. thanks for the advice, i know i picked a tough situation to explain, but there are a lot of those in poker it seems as you get more advanced the more complex and hard questions you come upon. thanks again, i appreciate your advice and i will consider this in my next MTT

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THFSOP Event #4 Champion
THFSOP Event #8 Champion
THFSOP Event #10 Champion

Current count: 3 Bracelets

This is probably the area in poker that I need the most help on. I usually have the same problem as rw. The one piece of advice I can give is what's usually one of my problems. When I get near the money, I tend to focus on making the money, not building my stack to make it far in a tournament. This tends to lead to me playing very tight and eventually getting shortstacked. Along the same lines, when I make the money, even though I don't want to think this way, I am usually "satisfied." This causes me to make stupid decisions because I might not be as worried about getting elimintated. Also, I sometimes want to make the next tier of money, so that could lead to me playing too tight.

This might or might not be what you're doing, but it tends to be my problem. The bad thing is that it's mostly if not all mental, but the good thing is that I know about it. For any problems that you might be having like the ones you talked about rw, I know that the more experience you get, the better you will get at it. The only thing is, it is hard to get to that stage in a tournament and once you get there, you don't want to be trying out different strategies to see what works and what doesn't.

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cky12 - PokerStars
cky12 - FullTilt

My Poker Journal

I haven't been playing much poker lately, but today, I played a rebuy for the first time in a while. The reason I'm posting this is because I never paid any attention to how many players were left or even how many people make the money. I was fairly shortstacked for most of the tournament, but I continued to be aggressive. I eventually was knocked out about 25 spots from the money. I had no clue I was that close. If I was paying attention, I probably would have made the money but not much else. Without paying attention, I gave myself a chance of doing well. This might be a good strategy for me and any others that might tighten up when close to the money. I'm fine with bubbling if over time, I have a good chance of making it far.

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cky12 - PokerStars
cky12 - FullTilt

My Poker Journal

In most MTTs you will play, there is a point at which the blinds take a notable jump, and your stack shrinks drastically in relation to the blinds. On pokerstars, it's level 13 to 14. Blinds go from 1,000/2,000 to 1,500/3,000 a 50% increase in the blinds. If you had an M of 10, 20,000 in chips, in one hand it drops to an M of less then 7.

What I'm getting at is you need to be aware of not only where you are currently vs the blinds, but where you will be in 5 minutes. When this jump is coming, you should recognize that realistically, your M has already dropped some, and react accordingly. Now I don't know how much your play will change with this information, but keeping that in mind should help you out.

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When your not getting cards ,youre not geting cards.Play the ones you like and play them strong.You cant hit the final table in every tourney,sometimes you have to get what you can out of it and sometimes you have to go for it.

The later you get in the MTTS the worse the cards the lowstacks seem to play and the bigger stacks will call those all ins or come over the top.Simple rule for me,dont go out on a hand youre embarrassed to show(which I break more now then I ever did ).MTTS seem to be streaky,outlast your cold cards watch people go out and the wait for some cards.Once you hit the final table,ask someone else I still havent got that figured out.

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