all right, sometimes i use the rx like my own personal diary, and this is one of those times. just some quick thoughts here on how i'm playing and how i might improve. keep in mind, i've only been doing tourneys for about a week now. so far i've gotten into about 10 of them, and cashed in 3. i'm not sure what the optimum percentage is, but 30% seems like a pretty good number. also, don't mean to bitch when i spend 5 hours on a tourney and make 15 bucks -- after all, making money's the name of the game.
1) got to stay consistent on the amount i buy in for. it doesn't do any good to cash in a $5 tourney and then turn around and squander my winnings in a $20 tourney. bankroll management 101 i know, but i'm a degenerate and have to be reminded of this regularly. This is what a guy told me once.....Look at what the tourny pays for 3rd place..Thats what your bankroll should be to enter it.
2) rebuy and add on tourneys. is it doing me any good to spend a buy in to add 2k in chips at the break? on the tourney today, my total amount spent on the tourney was $15 -- so i made $14, not $17. i was somewhere around average stack size during the add on period; i should have saved my 3 bucks, i really don't think a couple K in chips is gonna do much one way or the other at that point. also, how much of an advantage does one get for adding on right at the start? the next few tourneys i get into, i am only coming in for a single buy in. had i just done an original buy in today, i would have almost doubled my profits. I can agree with you in small buyin tournys where people are really bad/loose..but as u go up in stakes its important to have as many chips on the table at all times as possible....And if your not taking the addon you may not fully realize the value of the chips or you dont like your chances all that much...
3) i changed up my play a little today, and it seemed to pay off. early on, when i was in the cutoff or on the button and no one had raised, i was limping with any two cards. now, how about the jackass in the blind with 4 limpers, he's gonna raise the minimum, then the guy UTG pushes all in, and everyone else folds, including the blind. you idiot, just check so we can all see the flop. it's why i won't raise in late position early in the tournament unless i'm strong -- i'm not gonna be calling an all in with 75.
I heard you talking yesterday about limping.....ofcourse nothing is ever 100% but limping anytime in a tourny may be ok but its never the best play. In tournys your options should be raise, fold call in that order with only a very rare limp ....People say "how to play a small pair in EP in an unopened pot"...you raise just like you would with AA or any other hand or you fold...limping and calling, especially after the antes go in can just never be the correct play...
4) i think tomorrow i'm going to play all the free rolls i can. experiment with different approaches, as a lot of people treat the low dollar rebuys the same way they do a free roll. patience is key early on. after the first break and the rebuy period is over, people tighten up and start trying to play better poker. All u can do in these games is wait for big hands and play em fast...get as many chips in the middle with a big hand and let the deck decide it after that. You cant try to outplay a barrell of monkeys, 1 of the monkeys gets lucky every time.
5) i have got to learn to fold when i know i'm behind. somewhere around the mid point today, i had a nice sized stack and had A/Q suited in early position. i get one caller to my raise. i flopped an ace, bet it, and the other guy raised. he'd been playing pretty solid, and i knew he wasn't making this play with a weak ace. he had either flopped a set or 2 pair. he would have called his draw. but i pushed any way, and he turned over a set of 6s. this left me with about 2k in chips, yet i was able to battle back and at one point i had it over 100k. any ways, the point is, what the fuck. had i put him on something different, that's fine. i'd shrug it off. but the fact that he had what i put him on and yet i stayed in the pot, well, that makes me a donk. only a donk plays when he knows he's about a 20 to 1 dog. That is a good observation...a good solid player would not want all his chips in without something that could beat top pair...But telling the good solid player from the bad ones is the hard part sometimes...lol
6) i still need to get more aggressive in the latter stages to give myself a better shot at winning. i finished 107th today and the payout was 29 and change -- the payout for 234th was 23.....only a $6 difference in a 100 spots. the payout for 1st was $4500. something to keep note of: when you're getting close to the money, small and medium stacks tighten up so much you could hear a mouse fart. this is an excellent time to steal some pots, especially if you have a big stack and no one can bust you. nobody wants to finish on the bubble, even if the payout won't even buy a cup of coffee. now, once you reach the money, these same guys loosen up and and start shoving -- you could sit out for a few hands and move up a couple spots in the money. but the objective here is to keep building your stack -- the blinds and antes are so high at this point that you don't have a prayer if you don't get in there and play. fuck making an extra 62 cents by moving up one spot -- i want the big payoff. again, for the next day or two i'm gonna fuck around at the free rolls and see what works. True but for me anyway much harder to do than say, although i have to admit lately i have been playing much more around the bubbles, its cost me a few minimum cashes but in the long run its the right way to play
hno:
