Hi.

I'm now playing a regular limit hold'em tournament (1 rebuy, 1 addon) at my local cardroom. The field is small (50-70) and includes at least 50% of major donks, most of them loose-agressive/passive (they're playing no limit cash games the same way...).

Structure is 50 starting chips, 1/2 blinds escalating every half hour (2/4 - 3/6 - 4/8 - 5/10 - 15/30 - 20/40 - 40/80...)

I'm not doing too bad playing tight ultra agressive, then semi-lose agressive after addon.

Lost the last one in 14th place only because my KK lost to JJ with a J on the river and crippled me.

I think I could play them better. I'm notably thinking about beginning raising with marginal holdings (like, T9 soooted for instance) after the first break to have them fold marginal hands on the flop/turn (if I hit something) fearing for their stacks with the blinds escalating.

I wondered if any one of you had suggestions for a basic strategy. Limit hold'em tournaments are not a common topic.

With a starting M of 17 it doesnt seem like you can afford be too tight...the blinds will hit you quickly.... or too aggressive...make the pot too sweet early on and you give the loose-aggressive players the odds they need to chase to the river and if one of them draws out once youre already in bad shape.

I would wait until I built some sort of a chip lead before getting too aggressive here. Play tight, see a few flops, and jam when youve got the best of it by a good margin. If the deck runs cold you'll be put in a lot of mandatory steal situations, so knowing how the players immediately to your left protect their blinds could be critical.

If you play a lot of no-limit you may need reinforcement on the importance of position, which is somewhat diminished by the ability to go all-in from the blinds. Particularly in the late stages accurately reading weakness in the hands in front of you will steal some pots at a point where the game has become a crapshoot because the blinds are so large relative to the stacks.

Also, without the weapon of the all-in, stack management in moving up the prize structure becomes much more of an art. Without the ability to double up quickly if they get crippled the smaller (but not tiny) stacks are probably going to be tighter than you are used to in NL, so a big stack should be able to apply plenty of pressure to stacks with an M in the yellow and orange zones. Red zone stacks are basically going all in when they commit to a hand, so they are going to be just as loose as NL.

One hour Rebuys , but I read you.



Mostly what I do.

.

Unless I draw a good seat, that's mostly impossible. Close to half of them are loose-agressive-passive weird donk players. They want to gamble their starting hand and they reevaluate on the flop (going to the river if they hit anything). Any two suited cards, any acen, is worth a raise preflop to them. Especially during the rebuy period. After the addon, stealing becomes more possible, unless they hold an ace (any ace).



I'm more a limit player, but I read you. In the latter stages (2 tables left to final table usually), it does become more and more like a no limit tourney. Hence my original reflexion.



Ok. So you advise not to get as loose as you usually do in a NL tourney against the smaller stacks ? Seems good.

I'll try those adjustments this evening. There is a 30€ rebuy/addon limit tourney.

[quote="Rokuban
[quote]Also, without the weapon of the all-in, stack management in moving up the prize structure becomes much more of an art. Without the ability to double up quickly if they get crippled the smaller (but not tiny) stacks are probably going to be tighter than you are used to in NL, so a big stack should be able to apply plenty of pressure to stacks with an M in the yellow and orange zones. Red zone stacks are basically going all in when they commit to a hand, so they are going to be just as loose as NL.[/quote]

Ok. So you advise not to get as loose as you usually do in a NL tourney against the smaller stacks ? Seems good.

I'll try those adjustments this evening. There is a 30€ rebuy/addon limit tourney.[/quote]

Not quite... the conclusion from my supposition that they will be tighter with small stacks then in NL (sorry I didnt post it the first time) is that while your "Gap" narrows...you have to be more cautious about calling...you can be looser when first in because their "gap" has narrowed even more, when compared to NL.

Here is another thing I noticed yesterday when I lost, again, in 14th place (not too bad).

They apply some usual NL strategies to LHE tourneys, but that surprised the cash player I am. For instance, when they have what could be the best hand, they don't raise and let you bet into them (or check-call)which, at that level of blinds, is as killing for you as it can be in NL.

I lost most of my yellow zone stack when I raised the flop then bet my AdQd on a flop of 7 2 Q rainbow to someone that had 22.

Then lost the rest of it going "all in" with KQ against a A7 which flopped AAx.

Except that occurence, the tuned strategy we were discussing seems to work nicely, as I had a way better tourney overall that last time (in spite of the final result). They actually get way tighter when rebuys are over and blinds get high allowing you to steal (or win) a lot of pots with marginal holdings if you're agressive enough.

I'll just have to be wary of what i was saying earlier because they do get that tight (or that tricky, depending on the player). TPTK should apparently not be played as agressively in the latter stages of a limit tourney than in a cash game.

With what you have described (the way the tourney is structured), I think you need to play a little looser early on, when the blinds are low, hoping to get some lucky flops. I am not saying to be ridiculous, but rather to see some cheap flops with hands other than Hellmuth's list 8)

I'm actually playing any playable hand regardless of position which, in this loose agressive passive game (til the rebuy period ends), doesn't mean anything anyway.

Then I pound and/or trick on a favorable flop. It allowed me both times to obtain a decent stack before buying the addon.

That's the play after that which becomes tricky. Plus, most of those players are very special. It's the least I can say. I have trouble to read their hands. Some get ultra tight, then decide to bluff Q5o to the river. I think they're mostly no limit players and will try to exploit that new discovery next thrusday, where I hope to make the f...ing money.

Read Sklansky's TP4AP.

Mmm. I have that and haven't gotten to it yet.
Don't tell me there is a limit tournament section

essentially, all of it is geared toward limit games. there are like 3 pages on NL theory.

Agree.

I wish Sklansky would let up with his big-bet hating. There's some skill in NL, too :roll:

I dont think he is big bet "hater", its just not his strength and would rather focus on the technical/math side, and leave NL to the NL players. He's got the luxury of being able to do that, especially with the way poker books are selling now.