9 replies to this topic

[mo]

does any one out there besides me play agress in the first half hour cause theres alot of tight players not wantin to go out early and just bully thim arounf let me no how you feel

[allinbluff35]

how else would you play a tournament, honestly, if you aren't willing to die in the beginning of a tournament you don't deserve to win

[Socrates]

I don't believe playing overly aggressive is the way to go either. I play rather tight in all beginning stages of tournaments and I find that I place much more often than any of the aggressive players I know. I guess I'm just a believer in Harrington and that old school poker can still be sucessful today - it's worked for me for years and I didn't change once the t.v. generation started playing and I still do well.

[Scott3705]

I honestly don't believe there is a lot of tight players in the beginning of tournaments now. So many people are just looking to double up that they're willing to put all their chips in whenever they feel they have a coin flip situation. I'm not saying just sit around and wait for monsters. You should play. I just don't think that ibeing very aggressive in the early stages of the tournament is worht it.

[NormanHaupt]

The Norman method includes playing tight as hell, then loosening up somewhere in the middle. Not because of bubble players being scared, but because you get tired of having suited_up two seats to your left harassing your every flop.

[GT123]

I have started experimenting with different styles, I have found playing too tight early on leaves me severly shortstacked by the middle stages. Early on I try to see as many flops as possible with hands that are capable of making monsters. And I raise once in awhile with suited connectors for image and to keep other players guessing what I might have. In the middle stages I tighten up a bit until the shortstacks are done going all in and get busted. I never like sticking to a certain style, I'm constantly changing the way I play during a tournament, depending on the table I'm at. Passive table= play more agressive, steal more pots, play more specualtive hands.agressive table= play more tight, wait for a good hand and good flop, and try busting the overly aggressive players.I'm still learning tournament play, and experimenting with different playing styles tight,loose,passive,agressive..etc still trying to find the style thats suits me best.

[CobaltBlue]

In SNGs, I seem to be doing really well lately. I mostly play tight and let the maniacs kill eachother off...then start playing more aggressive in the middle stages. If anyone was paying attention at all, they'll usually respect that I've been playing tight.It's just a matter of winning one or two key hands when it gets to shorthanded...then totally outplay them when it's down to 3. I find that I actually go back to playing tighter heads-up and three-handed. So often I see people going all-in and raising with absolute crap. It usually seems pretty effective to wait for something half-way decent.Okay...upon looking at my notes...I've placed in 17 of my last 22 SNGs (6 1sts) using this strategy.Side question...is the fact that I've placed in 56/107 SNGs big enough of a sample to be significant? Seriously...I don't know what a good percentage is, and I heard y'all call some guy out the other day when he claimed a really high percentage.

[kung fu]

i think in the early stages you need to be pragmatic. i usually play fairly tight, cos there is a lot of a maniac action going on for the first level or two. and in those hands you can usually pull off a real easy double up. the other day this one guy went all in 4 times out of 10 hands. the last time, i sighed and played along with QQ. he flipped over A2. needless to say, i won. but on my last tournament, i was getting no face cards, almost nothing. i won only one hand at showdown, maybe stole a couple blinds, but somehow i managed to be alive with about 1/3 of the original field. obviously, i was pretty shortstacked. the average stack was about 7 times mine at least. then i hit a freakin royal flush & a full house in a row, with 2 other payers in both. cleaned them off the table, then began to play on fom that stage and made it well into the payers. i think being aggressive wins tournaments, but only if you have some cards most of the time to back it up. aggressive doesn't mean loose.because there are a lot of bad players early on there is a lot of loose money up for grabs, but you have to remember, to beat bad players you need the cards.

[ddoggphx]

I play according to Harrington on Hold Em.Tight and play good hands. Take down the maniacs with good hands and build your stack up. Try to isolate, play mechanically until it is shorthanded.Works for me.

[mo]

im not saying play stupid play aggresive if you got the nuts try and throw a punch out blow early to a couple people