Hello guys, first post here in a long time...

I wasted a lot of time (and money) playing big MTT's super patiently and only playing premium hands, no matter how deep my stack was... That had led me to be a break even player at best (probably losing).

Anyhow, through the advice of others... I've opened up my game (cautiously) when I have a bigger stack and according to my tracking software my big blinds won per 100 hands have gone way up since I made that change.

My question is:
Is it worth tightening up and only playing premium hands before your stack gets so small that you are in "shove or fold mode"??? Or should I just play normally and continue to set mine, play suited connects, etc.? If it is worth tightening up and only playing premium hands, what range of big blinds do the implied odds disappear? My guess is maybe when you have 12.5-25 big blinds, you should tighten up and only play premium hands.

It's been a while... thanks guys!!

MTT play is so much more complex than this. It sounds like you need to start with the basics and build up from there. If I were you I would start with some books or articles that cover hand selection and stages of MTT play.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

you should tighten up your preflop opening range but make your preflop shove range wider.

For example when on 20bb+/- we can't open K9s or 89s as profitable as we could on 50bb+ but we can shove marginal hands profitable then we could at 50bb.

If you're strong post flop then it shouldn't really effect your range too much, except some of ur opening range merges with your shoving range.

Any recommendations? I've googled for articles on this and I haven't been able to find too much helpful on this exact topic.

I think I agree 100% with what you're saying. If I have 20 bigs, I am probably not folding TT too many times to a preflop all in (although it seems -EV for me to just open shove all in pre...wouldn't do that), where as I would usually fold TT most times to an all in when I have 50 bigs.

I guess my exact question is, at how many bigs, do I need to stop playing hands like K9s/89s? 25? 40? I just don't know...

I say this yesterday because I had 44 bigs (after having 100+ for hours) and I decided not to call a 4x raise with 3-3 and of course a 3 hits the board and the original raiser, who had the same stack as me, shipped it to another guy. I think maybe that was a mistake to tighten up that early...I ended up not getting any other chances to double, flipped for my stack and busted with a low payout after 7 hours of good play and good cards. Maybe that was my chance to go deep but I tightened up too early.

So the pot was or could have been multiway, we don't know your position or if calling 4x would close the action or allow a potential squeeze bet.

All of this info matters. You do need better, more precise strategy, just from your recollection of this important hand that you regret.

You are right, seek a deeper game.
Start with the basics, you can not skip over the basics.

Go with the Harrington books on MTT.
Just those alone should take you from a mildly losing player to a moderate winner.

And most of the more advanced strategy builds on Harrington, without the need to relearn it.

Don't try to reinvent your game all at once.
Make small adjustments based on what you want to incorporate into your game, and remember that s few good or bad tournament results may not indicate long term results.

At that point, you will be able to study any hand you play, and be certain you played it correctly, FOR YOUR STYLE.

Ahh yes, I own Harrington on Hold'em and I think it's the best books that I've read on tournament poker. I have read it a couple times about 8 years ago and probably need to reread it. I particularly love his concept of your "M" value and how to use it and employ it somewhat in my own game.

ok... I wish I didn't give a hand for an example. It's really anecdotal and doesn't matter that much for my question.

I guess I am asking an opinion question. For you personally, do you tighten up when you have less blinds and are approaching all in or fold? If so, at about how many blinds and how do you start to tighten up at and change your game? That's all I want to know really... I know it's not a straight forward answer that I can't Google easily and it depends on your play style, but I just want to know the general consensus and people's ideas. I KNOW it's a complicated matter and that you require basic knowledge of the game first...

...looking at my post count and calling me a beginner is not really adding to the discussion.

Come on guys. Let's talk strategy!

Of course you should tighten up as your stack gets below a certain amount, that's basic tournament strategy. That's the point some of us are trying to make, you're asking some very basic questions that anyone playing MTTs should know. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm genuinely trying to be helpful. You need to have a decent grasp of the fundamentals first, and knowing how to adjust your hand selection based on stack size is one of those fundamentals.

It's almost like someone posting the question, "When you play tournaments, do you adjust your hand selection based on your position?"

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

No offense taken. I just hate being called a beginner at hobby that I've been into for about 20 years now.

I have trouble checking my ego at the door sometimes. I thought I was making a big step admitting that I'm not a winning player usually, then I got called a beginner multiple times and nobody likes that.

I'm working on the ego thing. It's a big reason why I have played for so long and am not an expert. I have trouble accepting other people's ideas and get stuck on the same bad habits without realizing they're bad. But I am here to learn and hopefully improve!

/rant

Anyhow...

I think I found the golden thread that I can improve my strategy from.

Cheers guys!