Tourney strategy

[Eman885]

Good Luck. I don't really consider 45 people a big no-limit tournament, but if winner takes all u have to play aggressively. Don't be afraid to raise and reraise. With this tornament format u have to play like Gus Hansen. Hopefully you will pick up the cards and pots to win the tourney and once again goodluck.

[Aequitas58]

Why do you have to play like Gus Hanson? Being loose aggressive is only one "tournament strategy." I would imagine in a home game where there are a lot of loose players, it would be better to tighten up, especially in the beginning rounds.

[ChipFish]

If it's a "homegame" type of tourney, you will get the chance to limp in to hands with 6-8 callers...
Suited connectors, Any suited Ace, and any pocketpair are your friends in this situation.
As well as the usual "top hands",

[tazmision89]

I just played 2 free roll tourneys this past weekend. Saturday there were 151 players (I placed 35th) and Sunday there were 136 players (I placed 10th). How was I able to do very well in back to back tournaments? Easily, basic stagerdy in the begining of the tournament always helps out. Play tight and when you make your move, make it aggressively. When your chips stack up, then start making your move on pots. Aim for the short stacks. I rather have their chips then someone else.

But just keep it basic up front and change up in the later rounds.

[omahilo]

yeah thats a basic plan in every tourney... play tight, play your big hands aggressively, etc...

This is why Phil Hellmuth and other pros dont even show up during the early stages, they rather not get involved in a big pot early on.

[The_Gunt]

Take my comments with a grain of salt I am good at tournaments but not great. Maybe some of the other comments will help you more but these are just some general thoughts from my one year of playing.

One of the most important thing is to have patience in the middle to later rounds. If you are playing tight and there are a lot of players you will not play many hands. You will see lots of chips flying around and you might try push it by playing cards that are marginal. Think about maximizing your time at the table hang in as long as you can waiting for that premium hand. The chip leaders will be watching every all in hoping for knock outs. If you can wait them out you might be able to wear them down and get them to call your all in when you hit a good starting hand.

It does pay early on when the blinds are low to play a little loser but avoid the early knock out. This early loose play will give you an image that might pay off in later rounds. I find myself limping in or calling small bets and folding after the flop. Usually you will get a few flops that pay and that offsets the small losses. Avoid all ins early unless you really don't want to stick around or the buy in is low and side games will be started. If you have AA maybe you can call the guy who is going all in with KK but do you really want to take that chance? Also make sure you leave enough time to play the whole game. If you are playing at a home game you probably are setting aside enough time but, I have fallen into the trap of trying to squeeze in a quick game online. Next thing I know it's 1AM and I need to go to bed so I start playing looser than I should.

If you do make it to the final table don't get too upset if you lose a big hand, unless of course you went all in. If you have a short stack but the blinds aren't too high slow down take some deep breaths and wait for the right cards. When I first started playing tournaments I would freak if I lost a big hand towards the end and start playing all in on mediocre hands. If you pick the right cards and double up a couple times you can still have a shot at the money. Just think about the time you have invested up to that point and don't piss away all that work by playing junk.

When the blinds are climbing and you are holding a smaller stack you need to hold on as long as you can. If you have a mediocre set of starting cards in early position and you can still play a couple blinds you should fold. Hold your load as long as you can but make it pay when you fire the money shot. If you are in late position or on the button and you have a mediocre hand with few or no callers and no bettors you can play more aggressive. As always position will play a big part in your play.

Other things you may consider if you are playing a home game and there is alcohol flowing don't drink. In fact I make it a point to bring lots of beer with me and drink only one and end up giving away the rest. But then I am the type of guy who can drink only one, for others this may be too much temptation.

If anyone has issues with my comments please reply, don't want to give bad advice.

Oh yeah, have fun!

[Talking Poker]

I have issues with this:

I'm not sure if you meant to say "...but with KK..." or not, but either way, I'm never going to fold AA preflop (period), and in order for me to get off KK preflop, I would have to be certain I'm up against AA... and I don't know that I'm a good enough player to be able to do that yet. In fact, I can't imagine many players in the world capable of getting off KK preflop.

My point here is, I will happily push my chips into the middle preflop with AA and KK every time.