Tourney play - When to sit tight & when to loosen up

[jimmer]

Appologies for this post, I have a lot of random thoughts going around in my head at the mo.

Up until a few months ago, I never really spent time playing tourney's as I couldn't guarentee I wouldn't be interupted half way through.

Now, as I have changed jobs there is more consistancey in my life and I plan to start playing more poker. For the first time ever I have started playing at my local casino and I'm also finding the time to play the $1 45 seater sng's (which usually takes around 2 hours).

However I seem to be really struggling with the increase in blinds. For a while I sit there tight and wait for premium hands. Then, as with all tourneys, before I know it my stack starts to dwinddle and I need to change my tactics.

With the cash games this has never been a problem, but as I'm now starting to play tourneys I'm really struggling to learn when to change gears. I'm either sitting too tight, or open raising in position to take down a small pot.

For example; Is there any point open raising 3xbb from the button with A9 (when each starting stack is 1,500) and the blinds are 10 & 20 or should I wait until the blinds are at least 25 & 50, or should i not even be considering this thought process?

I guess the question I'm really asking is; when do you start changing gears? When do I loosen my calling range and what types of scenario's are you looking for to get all your chips in the middle (i.e If I had 1,500 chips and i got dealt K6 on the BB and checked preflop with one opponent, if the flop came KT5 and the other guy puts me all-in, if the blinds were 10/20 I would probably fold, if they were 100/200 this is probably a good position to call his all in bet.

What sort of scenario's do you look for before adapting your play.

I just don't seem to have the right balance at the mo.

All advice welcome.

[Jernej Zorec]

i mostly play the 18 man turbos,
but i thrown a few 45 ones in
the play for me is pretty much same,
i might limp some pps early on if people dont raise much, other than that i just wait for premiums except in lp maybe, but pretty much avoid unnecesary play early on

once the blinds get higher its just push or fold pretty much

i might raise 3x (only coz i cant type 2.5 while 12 tabling) sometimes if i got 12-15bb stack
but anything below its usually just a push

turbo or non turbo u just need to get a good grasp of shoving and calling ranges, i dont think there is much point to play mediocre hands even in level one
profit in these comes from stealing blinds and being better at push/fold at high blinds than others

[jimmer]

Ok, so the first problem could be I'm letting my stack get too small before shoving. (I usually let it drop to around 5-7 bb's before pushing all in).

Edit; oops, I mean 7-8 bb's (when my m is around 5 without any antes etc and the pot is unopened).

[HalfSugar]

(I usually let it drop to around 5-7 bb's before pushing all in).

That's definitely bad, particularly online where calling off a shit load of chips is a mere button click rather than a physical move like it is in live games. That may sound dumb but people definitely stack off lighter online in my experience.

Also, I assume that 'bb' means big blind rather than big bet seeing as I assume you are playing NL games? Since Harrington would argue that your 'M' being less than 10 puts you in push/fold poker territory, going as low as ten big blinds (or 5-7) is very bad. I'm not sure I necessarily subscribe to the Harrington way but as a benchmark, he's obviously right and you should start reassessing your situation a lot earlier by the sound of things.

[Ciso_B]

Jerne's points all pretty much ring true. I would say picking up pots without showdown is pretty important at them things too, like citing good spots to reshove on a frequent late position raiser. Obviously the move is best suited if you have some fold equity.


I choose to change gears when the table dynamics have changed, like it might be really loose passive early levels, then more tight agressive later on. So this could entail abusing people's tight play later on.

You can argue about multabling till red in the face, but imo, the best thing to do is observe people. This is obviously easier if live and change gears based on that. OR based on people's perception of you. If they have u pinned as a loose guy, nows the time for lockdown tight poker. If they think you're a nit, who doesnt open with less than AK. Then abuse that image.

Changing gears isn't something u can really plan on, or at least it isn't for me lest I understand the tournament and its players in advance. It's a feel thing.

To the point you made about raising 3x etc, early on, fighting for those small pots isn't really necessary, sure you could open raise/ call or even fold and its all ok. But later on when the blinds are more meaningful is where you're preflop decision making is more critical.

My advice for these things , is to make sure you have a good grasp of what most people shove in these things late on, and get a good grasp of pot odds, so you're making correct decisions. I find at those stakes, people making horrible raise/folds and horribles folds from teh bb when they're being laid ridicolous price. It's not about always having the better hand when its an all in showdown late on. It's about making the correct play. eg- lp shoves, u have 56os in bb and getting laid 3.5-1 and close the action from the bb. easy call.gg.

[Jernej Zorec]

btw in these if i get 3:1 in bb i call any 2 unless its bubble and there are short stacks i know will bust before i do and i have good chip position

also people in these do not notice how u play
and yes shoving over lp openers is good unless they tight, but keep in mind they rarely fold, so overshove any good hand for value

so loll when guy with 10bb opens lp i shove my KQ or w/e and they snap with T6s