Need some tips (tournaments)

[ScanX]

Hi,

I've started to play a few Sit&Go's recently (5$+0.50$ Fixed Limit) and doing fairly ok (finished 2 times 3rd, 1 time 2nd and 2 times 1st out of 8 or 9 tries)

My only Holdem knowledge comes from Lee Jones' book 'Winning Texas Holdem' but I've had the feeling that tournaments are played way more differently than ring.

I was wondering how I was supposed to play it properly...play weaker hands in the start ? in the end ? never ??

I also have the feeling I have a problem when I only have 1, 2 or maybe 3 opponents left. Whenever they bet or raise me and I have a 'not so good' hand, I fold cause I fear. Any tips ?

For the litterature :

At the moment I play :

- Sit&Go Fixed Limit $5+$0.50
- Ring Fixed Limit $0.25/$0.50

Are there some books I should read concerning tournament or just holdem poker in general (I'm planning to keep playing ring too) ?
"Tournament Poker for Advanced Players" by David Sklansky ?
"Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players" by David Sklansky ?
"The Theory of Poker" by David Sklansky ?
"Doyle Brunson's Super System" ?

Which one would you recommend in first place ?
Does "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players" require to play PL or NL tournaments or is it ok for Fixed Limit ?

As a new player do I have to stick to Fixed Limit for a long time before switching to PL or NL ?

Thanx in advance

ScanX

[highscty]

The key to sit and goes is patience. The first three rounds you really don't have to play anything. Wait till you have AA,KK,QQ or AK. Always raise about 4x the bb with these hands. Maybe play JJ or AQ if the pot is unraised. Play very tight early on and wait for people to get eliminated. As the blinds escilate you may want to try to steal the blinds ( you should have a tight image by this point.) Once your down to the final 4 your in whats called a short handed game. You can't just wait for AA because the blinds hit you so often. Unless you have a reason believe players will become eliminated quickly, you have to be aggresive. Any top pair is gold on the flop, mid pair maybe as well. Bluff and semi-bluff frequently. You change gears from super tight to super aggresive. This is my game plan at least, and it has worked for me

It is my opinion that sit and goes are a very complex form of poker and people who tell you differently have not yet mastered the art. It takes very different skills to be great at sit and goes than it does at ring games. Although this is how I play no limit ring games, limit ring games should be played similarly. The difference is that you can play slightly weaker hands like low pocket pairs in an attempt to hit a set.

[Poker_Vendetta]

I believe the best two books on tournament poker are, "Championship No-Limit holdem and Pot-Limit Hold'em, the road to The World Series of Poker." That is by TJ Cloutier and Tom McEvoy, I believe that the is most well known tournament book. Then you have, "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players," by David Slansky. I'm sure that one is great as well, but you probably have to be a pretty experienced player to understand what they are talking about so beware. From what I know, and I say it all the time you should go by one simple rule: "Slow in the beginning, fast at the end." As the blinds raise you should be more aggressive, you will get the hang of it.

[ScanX]

Hodem Poker for avanced players (Sklansky) won't give me the notions I need to understand for the Tournament for advanced players one ?

[Poker_Vendetta]

I do not exactly understand what you said but David Sklansky is a pretty complex guy from what I hear. It might be pretty hard to understand some of his ideas but I'm sure you can handle it. But you may want to get his book, "Theory of Poker" with it to. Sorry I've never actually read them but I'm just going on what people say.

[Nighttrain]

Books...........super system doyle brunnson,then read tournament poker for advanced players.You will not understand all of it at first but when you do you will place higher more frequently.That is the real goal finish in the money,and if the cards fall right you have put yourself in position to win.
As far as play is concerned..play your position,play tight but aggressive,and learn to fold.ALOT

[ScanX]

Thanx all for the answers !

I will fold A LOT then as this seems to be the advice everyone has given me...although in Fixed Limit, people are not losing all their chips very fast...often after round 3 there are still 9 players at the table.

Do I have to wait to have 3 or 4 opponents left at the table before playing more agressive or do I have to start it when the blinds reach a certain level ?

By the way I just ordered SuperSytem and Sklansky's Tournament for advanced players, hope this will help me :)

[JimTheBullet]

I think in the last post you make you have pretty much nailed down the best strategy.

I have found that it is not worth being aggressive in the early rounds. I play on Paradise Poker and in the sit & gos there are 10 players, you start with 1000tc and in level 1 the blinds are 5, 10 - level 2 the blinds are 10, 20. I have experimented with different styles of play and it seems to me that the best strategy is to play tight for the first 3 rounds (except in round 1 where if you can get into an unraised pot it is worth gambling 10 tc with any two because the implied odds are massive and the initial investment is paltry). If you have played tight for the first 3 or 4 rounds, only showing down when you have the best, or nearly the best, hand then when you start to get more aggressive later on you will get respect.

The next few times you play, take a note of who was chip leader at the end of level 3. On Paradise Poker the chip leader at this stage typically has around 3000 chips and there are about 7 - 8 players left. The chip leader at this stage is the chip leader because he has won 1 or 2 BIG pots where the odds were slightly in his favour (or slightly against and he got lucky). I am rarely chip leader at this point (unless I got dealt the nuts and played into early on a couple of times) because I have been playing tight and trying to end any hand I play no later than the flop. The guy who leads at this point will rarely win because he gambles too much - further the amount of chips sitting in front of him make him more inclined to gamble whereas, in fact, if he was any good his stack would make him LESS likely to gamble. He got lucky early but sooner or later, I (or somebody else at the table) will put in a big raise with a big hand and he will call. As I say, take a survey of the early chip leader and check out how many times he goes on to win, you will find that it is very rare even if he has a seemingly commanding chip lead.

Another thing I have realised is that it does not generally pay to defend the blind in the earlier rounds. If you have a guy sitting to your right who steals the blinds every round, let him! Let him steal 10 tc off you and 20tc off you and 30tc off you because it doesn't hurt you, only play back at him then if you have a big pair in the pocket and make sure you let him know what you had if you don't show it down. Then, when he puts in 600tc to take your big blind (200) and the small blind (100) play over the top of him. He can only call this reraise if he has a monster and you get back all he stole off you and more in one hit. This play has a great side effect which is that from here on, he will only raise your blind if he has a hand which means that in the later rounds (100, 200 - 150, 300 - 200, 400 etc) you will pick up a lot of pots in the big blind uncontested.

I have learned to differentiate between strategy (how to win a tournament) and tactics (how to win a hand). I think it is one of the best things you can do to make a profit in the long run.