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Any Ideas (Tournaments)


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There are alot of tournaments in my area, my problem is the way they are set up. They all start with 1500 in chips blinds start at 25 and 50, but then double every 15 minutes: 50-100,100-200,200-400,etc... I have gotten to quite a few final tables, but never with enough chips to do any damage. Any ideas on how to play these type of tournaments. My biggest problem is if you don't catch cards in a hurry your done.

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My biggest problem is if you don't catch cards in a hurry your done.
These tournaments are popping up everywhere, personally I prefer slower moving tournaments, I feel the lower the blinds, the better a chance I have against the players I am against because I am a bit more experienced than them. You have to steal pots and when even when you don't have a "great" hand. Position is extremely important in this type of game, Position is always important but when it comes to the blinds moving up this fast, your ability to stealing pots is exemplified and you have to be able to do that so when you get to the last table, or down to the last few people, you aren't the small stack. The key to this type of tournament is getting in or near the chip lead, don't "push" hands though, and don't get involved in pots where you think you're behind, but if you think you're ahead, win that pot. If you think they have you beat, but you feel like they aren't as confident as they should be, BET.
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having in played in numerous blind structures in tournaments over the years I'd have to say I generally play the same way regardless of the initial chip stack size. I find that if I concentrate on how few, or how many, chips I have then I won't be playing optimally.I tend to play aggressively and fast and I like to build my chip stack early. If I can't due to cold cards or bad flops etc, then I will adjust accordingly. I used to go into short stack panic, but recently I have made some major adjustments and decided to just play more solid and aggressive even when facing elimination from being blinded out.

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I haven't played any real life MTT tourneys, but when my friends and I play a tourney and start with 9 or 10 we just raise the blinds to the next level once we get down to 7 and then raise them again after another person is eliminated, we find it works great, and once you get to heads up action the blinds are still small enough that there can be betting and you can play your opponent more, rather than waiting to move in on your first decent hand.

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  • 2 weeks later...

i totally agree with jayson weber's reply. I play in a similar tourney and have been to the final table or final two tables at least 3rd in chips. from the start i play an agressive game because most pots you play can decide what type of shape you'll be in for the duration of the tourney, especially if you don't catch cards. these fast pace tourneys (blinds jump every 15 min) luck is a greater factor than skill. you have to take down the pots your involved with and at the same time don't play alot of hands. i'm not really talking about playing tite because i will bet at pots that i feel are mine. but i want to emphasize winning a healthy size pot , quality over quantity...today i placed 20/130, 8 away from the money and the whole time my stack never reached more than 11,000 with at least 200,000 - 300,000 in rotation. the most important lesson i learned today is stealing blinds and antes. when i am sitting comfy on a decent stack, i can play a few hands out of position, but when you're trying to survive, move up in the money, or just make a nice chip stack into a healthy one- then learn to steal blinds. try your best to steal those antes berfore the blinds go up again, that will buy you some time to see a few more flops...the most important asset i believe i have is sensing weakness, im not perfect at the skill but i have noticed great improvement in my reads ...feel out the texture of the players and try to isolate the shorter stacks...its hard to say on how to get a feel on people but always try to be truly observative...focus on watching and analyzing

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they level the playing field...skill becomes much less importantthey free up the casino's table for more profitable ring games.The biggest mistake I see is loosening up too much in a fast rising limit rebuy tournament. You should be thrilled to see people rebuying 2, 3 or 4 times, going all in with weak holdings trying to "build a stack early". Just dont be the one doing it.You can loosen up somewhat in response to their looser play, but not to that extent. You are bound to run into a real hand and get caught in rebuy mode yourself.

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