my first tournament

i have my first real life tournament coming up, its not too big of a field, only 90, but i'm still nervous. I watched leif force from fsu make it close to the final table by seeing sometihng like only 5 flops the entire tournament or something rediculous, and i was wondering if i should just close up like a book and play as tight as i can to make it to the final table and get itm? or does anyone have any general suggestions about playing in your first tournament

Depends how good players you are against, the blinds structure.. starting chips. As a general rule the worse the players, the more basic TAG poker you should play.

Originally Posted by jiggajake

i was wondering if i should just close up like a book and play as tight as i can to make it to the final table and get itm?

No, you are playing to win. Do not play to get in the money, that's what everyone else does. Generally speaking, small tournaments have faster blinds and shallower stacks. This means you should be stealing a lot if you think the blinds will fold and finding other such ways to accumulate chips. You should still be playing tight poker, but be aggressive and be smart. Don't play scared. When it gets to the money bubble, take advantage of the fact that no one wants to bust without making money. This is very important.

Good luck!

Post the blind structure and the starting stacks, tournament tactics can dramatically change based on this info

Originally Posted by courtiebee

Originally Posted by jiggajake

i was wondering if i should just close up like a book and play as tight as i can to make it to the final table and get itm?

No, you are playing to win. Do not play to get in the money, that's what everyone else does. Generally speaking, small tournaments have faster blinds and shallower stacks. This means you should be stealing a lot if you think the blinds will fold and finding other such ways to accumulate chips. You should still be playing tight poker, but be aggressive and be smart. Don't play scared. When it gets to the money bubble, take advantage of the fact that no one wants to bust without making money. This is very important.

Good luck!

I concur.

blinds will doublhalf hour every
starting at 25-50
Probably start with 3000 value in chips

Originally Posted by jiggajake

blinds will doublhalf hour every
starting at 25-50
Probably start with 3000 value in chips

You will have to get chips fast. This tournament will be over in a little over 3 hours when the BB will be 3200. The whole tournament may only be 100 hands, so you are going to have to take some chances almost from the beginning. See any cheap flop possible the first hour with a reasonable drawing hand (this does not mean you should bleed off half your stack calling too many raises and limping too much in EP). You need to be smart about it. It is possible you will not be able to take this strategy because someone is making a big raise preflop almost every hand.

With 90 players I dont think it will end in 3 hours, probably closer to 3:30+, but it is a fast paced tournament.
Basically you have 1 hour of relatively chip blinds, then if you maintain your starting stack your M falls below 10. You need to take your chances, especially if you dont build a nice stack in the first 45 minutes.
After about 90 minutes it will probably be a pushfest

thank you i appreciate it everyone, the tourny is about 2 hours away so its time to hit the books for a half hour, maybe shower, then the last hour is all meditation baby...everyone wish me luck, ill post the results and some tough hands after the tournament

Update??