Hey guys, I wanted to start a thread where we can collect some wisdom about playing in poker tournaments. I'm looking specifically for inspirational stuff - sayings, quotes, lessons learned, that have really helped you become better at the game. Maybe it was a quote from a poker pro, or something you read in the forums, or even something you've learned the hard way that you'd like to share with others. I'm hoping this can become a kind of go-to place for words of advice, either for beginners starting their journey or experienced players who are struggling and need to improve their mindset or improve one aspect of their game.

Who wants to start?

First!

Dont raise in a tournament if a reraise will make you throw up

- Sklansky

That's a good one.

Here's a concept I read years ago in the forums that stuck in my mind. I'm paraphrasing but I'll put it in quotes to help it stand out.

"In general a bet should have one of two goals: to get a better hand to fold or a worse hand to call. If betting won't accomplish either of these things, there's no point betting."

In general, weak tournament players play too loose when the stacks are deep early, then tighten up later when the stacks get shorter relative to the blinds.

Winning tournament players do the opposite.

My own for my students:

Winning small stakes MTTs whether online or B & M requires 3 things:

1) Good fundamentals. Forget about fancy plays and balance and focus on learning good fundamentals and you will be better than about 90% of your competition.

2) Learn how to exploit their weaknesses. Most players play too loose early and too tight later. Play opposite of the table and you will exploit their errors.

3) Learn short stack play down cold.

Good stuff, keep it coming

The most important pieces of advice I ever received:

1) Big hands = big pots and small hands = small pots, and one pair is almost always a small hand.

2) From a Lee Childs poker seminar- "When you think you might be good, is a good time to fold."

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. You wouldnt happen to have a good guide about playing short stack, would you? Im having trouble determing which range to be shoving with in the 12-20 BB range.

Elimination only leads to Sto-vo-kor!

majQa'

I recently heard on JCarver's Twitch Stream that " tournament poker is all about survival."

He was referring to knowing when to pick your spots

FWIW, I love being at a table full of people who think it's "all about survival."

There is tons of stuff out there, both in books and on the net, about playing the shortstack. Because it's all mathematical it's the one aspect of the game that has been "solved" and hasn't changed much over the years.

Agree, this is the mentality I've been trying to change in myself. That is great min-cashing advice.

There are certainly important concepts about picking your spots and stack preservation, but simplifying it down to survival is outdated tournament thinking. The game now is a lot more aggressive and more complex than it was when the older generation of pros wrote their books.

First one is so true. So easy to overvalue a hand like top pair and get burned.

Second one is really interesting. When I first read it I wasn't so sure but then read it more closely as, "I think I might be good here." That's often what we say/think when we are trying to convince ourselves our hand is better than it actually is. Good advice.

Yeah, there's a balance. Survival is important. But so are stack utility decisions. I see many players pass up a stack utility decision for the sake of survival, when clearly the utility decision outweighed the importance of survival. "The fold and wait for a better spot" crew is all over the forums and in the games still and these guys are so far behind the current trends, they still make the game profitable. Because if they are all over the min cash spots, that leaves more opportunities to run deep.

I wrote a few articles a couple years ago on short stack play:

http://www.pokerforums.org/poker/pok...ack-part-1/484

http://www.pokerforums.org/poker/pok...ack-part-2/497

http://www.pokerforums.org/poker/pok...ack-part-3/511

Slightly discouraging but the best advice i can muster ....with daylight 2nd

Volume and variance are so insanely under estimated, esp in todays game. Whatever u do ....dont bink decide u rock and put too much of your life/career equity into this game (ive seen these train wrecks and it aint pretty)

Context/Brag: i am a low-mid stakes MTTer with 30,000 mtts under my belt, the vast majority played pre dec 2012. Around 120k profit at ~35% roi highest bink $7k. These days i just play for fun, its just_not_ worth it anymore (as a Western grinder anyway)

Play part time, enjoy your poker, live a good life. GL

Chips lost are worth more than chips gained.

Heh, I think I can honestly say that none of my biggest cashes were my 'best' games, in every single one I've had a hand or two where I've made a bad move and got lucky. Typically my A++ games have ended with a big pair aipf getting cracked before the big money, so there's this huge disconnect between play and results for part time grinders like myself who can't get the volume in

Very true, dealing with variance requires accepting that success in any given tournament depends on many factors outside one's control. No matter how well you play it often boils down to a few key moments when you need a hand to hold up, or you get unlucky running KK into AA or whatever. I had this debate with a friend recently who loves to brag about how often he bluffs and steals pots but he completely overlooks all the times he wakes up with a big hand at the right time, or flops a straight that holds up against a set, and so on. You can't win tournaments solely by bluffing and stealing pots - you have to get lucky and have things go your way at the key moments.

Thanks I will have a read when I get a chance. I'm curious though, have you modified your strategy at all since you wrote these? Do you find there are any aspects that don't work as well as they used to?

This is very true. Ive learned to focus on making good decision and dont worry about the rest.

Ok my two penny's worth

"A fish's raise is strong" - I read that in a forum post - normally true and easy to forget

"It's better to start shoving too soon than too late" (can't remember where that's from)

and then one of my own - make sure you use ALL the information available before you make a decision (so for instance if you're getting short don't get wedded to gambling with your AJ when the action beforehand tells you you're unlikely to be good.)

Maybe. I haven't come to a conclusion yet, but in the more modern strategy with more min-raising in late game, I am starting to question whether some of my shoves are better off being min-raises instead, but I am still studying it and discussing the options with some good players. But most of these are math based plays, so all in all they are still valid, but I am always looking for way to make the math better.