Whew, there's a lot here. I'm gonna try to get to as many as I can although they may be broad strokes. And some of them I'm not sure it's possible to answer, while others I don't think I have an answer for, anyway.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
Specifically, I would appreciate:
- Where to find best one on one training?
- The best course available online or elsewhere, suiting MTT mid to high stakes Poker
- Any Australian Poker Players that would be interested in coaching or mentoring.
This one I can't really help with, because I don't know. I know some of the sites by reputation (and the reputations of the coaches on it) but not much more than that. I did buy one of Nick Petrangelo's courses on Upswing a couple years back and it was generally pretty good and thorough, I thought, although I'm not sure if I could have gotten nearly as much from the right collection of books. He does walk through concepts and lines and the logic behind them well, though.
I've been using Octopi for now because it's free. And having a pretty responsive Discord is nice. But I can't really offer any coaching recommendations since I've not used one.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
In the previous 12 months, I have played approximately 100 tournaments, won 2, Final tabled 4, Cashed in about 4 more and had a lot of early to mid departures with most departures being day 1 of multi day tournaments, other than the deep runs.
In summary, 100 tournaments, 10 cashes ~ 10% ITM
It depends on the field sizes and all, but six final tables and two wins over 100 tournaments seems like a pretty good run. Possibly running hot if you're not that experienced, but even with the relatively low ITM% those wins should make up for it. What are these field sizes and what percentage of players get paid?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
Early Stages:
So the question or requested guidance here is:
- Is it better to play tighter in the long run early on, with less hands and risking less chips on wider ranges, until a certain stack size compared to average in the early-mid levels?
- Is there an approximate balance of your starting stack, or number of bb portion that can be used for wider range play, then transition to a tighter range upon reaching a certain level of bb or % of average stack?
- How do you manage what the balance is? Using strict GTO or close to, still renders the same results on average?
I think whether I'd play tighter or looser in the early stages depends on how I feel about my edge on my table. But I never go far to the extreme. One thing you can do that will help a lot is drill down your preflop ranges for varying stack sizes and positions. You don't have to memorize them perfectly, but if you're pretty close and understand how they change, you'll probably be fine. Position matters more the deeper you are, as does being able to make a nutted hand. So you might, say, throw away ATo UTG at a full table with 100BB but open 76s, but do the opposite at 25BB.
I don't really think about particular goals for my stack anymore or a percentage of it I can "gamble" with before playing more solid. I just try to make the most profitable decision in every situation I'm faced with.
I use GTO ranges as best I can as my baseline, then I'll adjust from there to exploit mistakes players at my table are making (and play wider to play more hands with them if I'm confident I've got a good read on them and know what to exploit).
I also late register a lot of tournaments, so I don't have a ton of early-stage advice. Live, though, generally tends to be softer and more loose/passive, plus more of the worst players will be in the tournament early, so you want to find ways to take advantage of that.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
Early Mid Stages (Before Bubble)
Question: At what point is folding QQ to a pre-flop all in acceptable? Should I have considered it here?
In the hand in question, do you have 40BB and your opponent has 25BB, or is the effective stack size 25BB? If it's the latter, I'd say no, I wouldn't fold it preflop to one player's all-in. At 40, I probably wouldn't either, but depending on how tight I think my opponent is and what he's willing to get it in with, I may just flat-call the initial raise.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
I also considered the % chances of running up against KK or AA, and essentially it was a coin flip in my head as to whether it would be either of these two hands, Vs AX or a lower pair.
How did you calculate that? There are 16 combos of AK and only 12 of KK + AA. And which lower pairs do you think he's shoving?
Being able to accurately assess an opponent's range and your equity against it is a big part of learning to be a good tournament player.
Sometimes, though, you just get bad beat or coolered. At least 15BB is still plenty to come back from.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
AK Vs 44 (45bb)
Again a 1.5 Average Stack, close to the bubble, I raise pre-flop with AK on the CO, and I am called by the BB.
Flop comes AAQ, where it is checked to me. I believe my error was in checking behind, however was intending to slow play what I thought was close to the nuts. If pre-flop was raised to me, I would never have checked behind, however in this instance, being against the BB, I intended to trap or induce the bluff.
I think you should always bet this, and if anything it looks like you have an ace a lot when you don't. For one, you're the preflop raiser and this board is great for you, so you should be betting with most of your holdings anyway. You're certainly going to bet hands like T9s here to try to get folds. For two, philosophically speaking, you want to play big pots with your big hands. You can't play big pots with your big hands if you don't bet them. This is a good flop to bet small with your entire range, like 1/4 pot or maybe even less. That small, you're always getting called by Qx and some hands that are in bad, bad shape against you (like JT).
The main takeaway, though, is that you do better in the long run when you get to play big pots with your big hands than when you slowplay them to get a bet or two out on the end, even if you get paid on the latter more frequently.
As far as how the hand actually played out, no, don't fold the river, your hand is entirely too strong and the way you played it villain could certainly be value betting a worse Ax.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
88 Vs AK (15bb) (GTO I believe was correct, but should I have shoved in the first few hands on a new table on day 2)
Following the above hand, the second day of the tournament I was dealt pocket 88's on the button, and was facing a 3bb raise by UTG that was folded around to me.
Noting that GTO outlines this as a shove every day of the week, I did so and was called by UTG who turned over AK. Unfortunately AQAXX was the runout and I was on my way.
I am comfortable that this instance was the right move, however thinking back, it was early on the day (First few hands) and maybe I should have waited to get a feel for the table.
Question: Should I have waited here for a later spot, or did I make the right move?
I think it's
probably fine, although the 3x size is concerning. Unfortunately, this is where being at the table longer could have helped you because it would have clued you in more to UTG's raise sizings and what they mean. But you shouldn't pass a profitable spot just because it's a new table. Even as played you got in on the good side of a flip. Sometimes you just have to win those.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
IN SUMMARY:
These are pretty broad questions that are difficult to offer specific advice without knowing your game well.
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Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
To summarise the above, I would really appreciate guidance on how to maximise reaching the middle stages of tournaments, so I can increase the % of play for where I believe I am most sufficient and comfortable at this stage of my skills?
Again, pretty broad and I don't know without knowing a lot more about how you play. I guess try to stick to GTO lines to start-- including 3-betting lines-- while making adjustments against specific opponents to maximize your EV against them. Generally, that tends to work out in any stage of the tournament.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gingerbeer86
Lastly, during the mid play of an MTT, at what point is it advisable to risk your tournament life, when you have a decent stack, with hands like QQ, JJ, AK and even a set of AAA after all action, similar to the scenarios above?
This really depends on so many factors that it's not very possible to answer. Like, if I have 100BB, raise JJ under the gun, and there's a 3-bet, cold 4-bet, and cold 5-bet, I'm folding. If I have 25BB and open JJ on the button and one of the blinds 3-bets me, I'm getting it in. It depends on position, stack depth, and ultimately, as so many things do, what our opponents' range is, or what we evaluate it to be, in the situation.
In general, though, you don't want to be looking for reasons
not to get the money in with your good hands in tournaments.
Good luck-- I'm sure you'll have follow-up questions. I know it's not really possible live to get a complete hand history, but a lot of your questions might be better answered by a coach who can review an entire tournament of yours and break down your game.