ok ive had it, im sick and tired of continually building a nice stack in the first hour (3-5k) of these full tilt tournies and then bustin gin the second. My biggest problem is if i play one hand the blinds are usually up around 100-200 which ill spend 1k on couple this with losses from blinds and ive got a m of like 10 where im looking to push by the time the antes kick in.

Whats the best approach to play this second hour? I really need help.

I need help with this too. I think in some ways playing STTs build bad habits because you often skip this phase of the tourney. In most STTs I play tight to start. If I get lucky I may get a bit looser and more agg but generally just bide my time until I"m in the money and it's push/fold. If I get short before the bubble it's push/fold. I can do all that. The problem is when you're average or a bit above average and far from the bubble.

I've been playing with loosening up and doing more stealing at this phase. A lot depends on the table texture and stack sizes around you. If you get stuck with a bunch of decent LAGs it's really tough. I generally give up limping hands hoping to hit big which I do in the early stages - small PP, suited connectors, small suited broadways, Axs, etc. I generally switch to open raising things like mid pockets and KJ+. I'll limp some speculative hands in LP with a few limpers up front. I've played a couple 5 table SNGs to try to work on this a bit.

The way I play in the second hour is greatly dependent on my stack and table, mostly my stack though. If I can get through the first hour with 4500+ chips, I stay aggressive and try to pick up lots of pots and also keep pressure on the people who could not double from their 1500 starting stack in the first hour. If I am somewhere under the 4k region after the first hour I keep playing tight and play solid poker looking to double so I can open up my game a little.

The hardest part about these MTT's (to me) is getting the stack healthy early, I usually need a good hand, or hope some maniac does something stupid. After that though learning to lean on the weak players is crucial for the rest of the tournament. It just takes a lot of practice in tourneys to learn how to lean without giving up any chips. But back to the focus of your question the second hour (and basically the entire tournament) your play should be dictated by your stack and how much room you have, for me that # is 4500 after the break.

I play alittle like fischman. Loose tight loose. Into the 2nd hr, if I got a good amount of chips, I'll try scooping pots with marginal hands when I can, but generally just play tight. And I also adjust my raises. If 3-4bb eats too much of my stack preflop, I'll go 2.5, if it gets me the desired result. My goal at all levels of the tournement, is to have 40+BB. I think you should try to accumlate more chips earlier, as its easier to withstand a colder deck later on. If you play tight, from my experience, you tend to either gain alot of chips when you score hands, late, or bust on a push of some sort.

If you can maybe scoop more pots from the start, you'll be in a better position late on.

I think one really has to change gears frequently and it's stack dependant (using the M concept), rather than what hour it is. I like the notion of playing a little tighter as you go on, as people are going to be more and more desperate if they don't have much of a stack

Short stacked: Be very patient, jump on opportunities, position and quantitiy of players seeing the flop are important

Middle stacked: Conservative with the occasional aggression tossed in. As blinds go up, though, you'll find yourself unable to buy into more flops, so keeping a tight mindset will help, esp if you don't get the cards

Large stack: Here, obviously, is where you have the most play, but can also come to the most harm. Try to observe the other big stacks and, generally, avoid them unless you have a strong hand. Putting pressure on the middle stax is important, but getting cocky can cost you that cushion you worked so hard to get.

Patience and timely aggression is your friend...

I play LAG in the 2nd hour if I have 4500+ in chips. If less, I'll play LAG in position, and take advantage of the steal positions.

Full tilt is the best place to run a looser strategy, bc the blinds go up slowly, and there isnt as much pressure put on you by big jumps.

Stars is a little different bc of the 100/200 ante 25 jump to the 200/400 ante 25 level. I believe I'm not as successful there for that reason.


Shortstacked, you need to play tight, but still take advantage of position.


At least that's how I play it.

Wouldn't this also make it a great place to play tight? Just pickin on you. But I am betting that UB's structure is slower, I love it.

Here is how I roll, and I seem to do alright


Play TAG for the first 20-30 min or so, slowly picking up chips

I think on most places it would be around 2500 or so (I play party), then I start playing LAG as the blinds start going to the 25/50 level or so and hope to end up with 4000's at least, I think in the beginning levels that one is the most crucial to pick up chips, then blinds start going up more rapidly

FOr second hour, unless I have around 6k+ I play pretty TAG for the most part

Depends on your table/how many chips you have

Much of this is table and stack dependent but for the most part I will mix it up, steal the blinds for 3 out of 5 hands playing very loose then tighten up a little hoping to get someone playing back at me when I am very strong. Then once I have shown down a strong hand or 2 I will loosen up again. Basically whatever the table view of me is, I tend to do enought to get that view and then switch the other way. But, all of this is assuming I have a decent stack and no maniacs at my table.

Yeah, but the jumps are bigger on UB. The jumps should help dictate your style. UB is slower though.