Raising in a MTT

Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush, I'm new to the online poker thing. I strictly play MTT's with a low buy-in, usually one that has a few thousand players. I've been keeping track of my finishings, which are usually around the top third. No wins, but no quick losses either. Finished ITM a few times, nothing really special though.

My PROBLEM is I'm too conservative. Preflop I fold nearly any hand (save the top tier; AA, AKs, KK, QQ) to a raise. If the flop shows some rags and a guy with a much larger chipstack than myself comes in for a bet that's 1/3 of my stack or more, I'll fold without top pair, and even then if I do have TP and there's 4 to a flush or straight, I'm out.. I can't bring it to myself to play middle pair..just seems useless in the face of overcards.

I need an overhaul. Should I play more loosely and not worry about what I finish?

no it sounds like you are doing ok. Once youhave a stack and a read you might want to try calling middle pairs when you think the other guy has overcards etc. but usually i think MTTs are about fold equity. Most of the time you want to be raising and taking pots without showdowns. You only want showdowns with your real monster hands when all you are thinking about is extracting the most value from a hand. Dont play weak cards without reads just because you are scared of being too tight. In low buyin tournaments you should be able to do pretty well by playing your good hands and then adding plenty of steals in when you sense the opportunity.

Raising is FAR superior to Calling in 99% of MTT situations IMO. (Folding shouldnt be neglected either if you think you are actually up against a hand).



Edit: If you are new to online poker you should give some of the low buyin 1 table sit and gos a try. You are going to be waiting a long time for a decent ITM finish (i.e. final table) in a MTT that size even if you play perfectly. A single table SnG would give you much more regular payouts for playing well.

lol you are not too tight folding top pair with a 4 flush or straight on board. And if you are new you shouldnt be getting crazy with middle pair anyways just stick to the basics.

Your problem is you lack postflop skills, and you don't make relative strength reads (ie: "Is my AJ better than what this aggressive douchebag is raising?"). You probably make very few reads of any nature. This is absolutely normal. These skills are aquired. It takes a while to know what to do when a tight preflop raiser continues weak on a 447 flop when you hold any two cards. There are countless other situations that you simply have never encountered and/or mastered. Poker is not as simple as it seems. It's actually very complicated. Keep learning and don't worry about it. Try to recognize mistakes you make, and correct them.

I agree with Rondavu - it looks like you are playing solely based on your cards. This will get you past that ugly first hour better than most beginners. But by the second hour when blinds and pots are higher, you need to start looking for chances.

If you are going to start loosening up your game, do it from late position and do it by raising early.

read everythign you can find on the site about mtt and revamp your game - rilla, radashack, soupie, scgolfer, (i guess me but I learned from those guys). Do that and see where it takes you. I could start a mtt monologue but it's all here for the taking. read the entire mtt threat - every post, all the stickies. Then you'll go - OK, now I can start building a strategy that works for me.

I'm overly tight and don't have the best post flop skills in mtt's and I've made my share of final tables. Check out the mtt winner's circle and read all the posts from the people who win the most. (btw i never posted my wins there. it never really did anything for me.)

good luck