Full House
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Cretaceous Park
Posts: 701
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by fakepro
This only works if you have a lot of discipline because there will be a lot of temptation to get involved in pots that you otherwise would not if you adopt a conservative style and you initial starting stack is a lot more important than any other additional chips you may gain in the early stages, due to those the fact that a lot of players will call you down with nothing so a bigger chip only begins to become more advantageous during the later stages of the game.
the play that Locuthefish talks about might give you the chip leader early on , but will cost you the game, that style is know as the super aggressive style employed by Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and only the really advanced poker players can make this work in the longer run due to it need for tell, table positions and great memory. it may be very draining for neophytes like myself who have won a few FR using this super aggressive style but suffer devastating drain can wreck your poker game in the long run. I would recommend reading the the 8 point article by soupie which was was linked above for any one interested in good general MTT strategy. Have not finished reading the additions by xanti so I can't recommend it yet. |
You're talking about Utility here - Gaining 1500 chips early is far less important than not losing 1500 chips. You're absolutely correct.
What I meant by "first few hands" was "first 2 blind levels", where I'm more than happy to limp in late to a 5 way pot for 1/50th of my stack with unsuited connectors, Axs, hands that are worthless at later stages but could make you a bundle now. As you also pointed out, people will call you with anything at these early stages so if you've got the nuts then shove (in a multiway. Heads up, a check trap would be the better play against aggressive opponents). It's not really 'super aggressive', it's opportunist play. I probably didn't explain it well in my last post.
Destee, it's worth playing honest poker through the first few blind levels, you should catch good cards often enough to keep you going. Of course, if someone checks both flop & turn, feel free to take the pot down with a 1/2 pot bet, whether you have cards or not. Your pre-flop raise should be 3xBB early on, and 2.5xBB when the blinds get high.
Most of the time you're in a flop it will be heads up. Your course of action will depend on what you've got, whether you're In Position (IP) or Out Of Position (OOP), who your opponent is, his likely range, and the effective stack size (who's got the shorter stack and how will it affect your play).
Being OOP means you're first to act post flop. Being IP means you act last. If you're OOP you essentially have to guess what your opponent will do before he actually does it, which can make things quite tricky if your hand isn't a monster or a throwaway. This is why it's important to watch for betting patterns when you're not in a hand, you need to get inside your opponent's heads to give you the edge post-flop.
Do you likely have the best hand?
Are they likely to shove over the top of a small bet?
Are they likely to fold to any bet if they've missed the flop?
Are they likely to bet if you check to them, or check behind?
Are either of your stacks so small that it's a shove or fold situation?
Watching hands you're not involved in will give you this information, knowing what to do with it will only come with practice.
You mentioned that you get far but you're always short stacked. Do you steal more blinds in the late stages? How often do you shove AI on the flop? You need Cajones and luck to get through a MTT, often it involves taking the initiative on the flop and shoving lighter.
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