mtt strategy
04-25-2011
, 06:56 PM
04-25-2011
, 10:50 PM
04-25-2011
, 10:52 PM
Quote:
04-25-2011
, 11:03 PM
Here's something I sent a friend a while back who was very new to tournaments. I'll be the first to admit that it's not perfect but got some decent enough concepts for someone just starting out in tournament poker. Sorry if it seems basic I dont know how new you are to it all. Just thought I'd help 
Tournemant poker:
Tournaments imo are the most profitable form of poker. They have large prize pools which attract fish who hope to make a deep run. The only problem with tournament poker is that variance is a bitch.
Variance:
Because Tournaments are filled with bad players, this leads to bad calls and bad beats. But it all evens out in the end.
Stack to blind ratio:
You asked me a lot about what I should be playing a lot yesterday, and it all depends on your blind to stack ratio which in the poker world is called M.
M = the number of orbits before you are blinded out
example we have 1500 chips and the blinds are at 25/50
so for each orbit assuming we never play a hand we are losing 75 chips
So our M = 1500/75 which = 20
Now if there is an ante of 5 and we are 9 handed then we are losing 145 each orbit.
So now when we calculate our M = 1500/145 = 10.3ish So you can see how big a deal an ante makes.
In tournament poker we can play as tight or as loose as we want if our M is 30 or bigger.
However this is rarely the case as you saw yesterday where the average stack is roughly 20BB after a while.
As a general I'd say if your M is + 20 you can play how you want.
The lower your M gets the more risks you ave to take. Make sure you're always calculating your M
When your M is below 10 you need to start making moves (25BB with an ante) And you need to be prepared to play for all your chips.
E.g we have AK in the BB and have 18BB, theres a raise and a call in front of us.
When we call we are out of position against two opponents which is far from ideal and end up check folding a lot.
But say we shove, we irradicate position and put the raiser and caller to a decision. And we give ourselves two ways to win the pot:
1. they both fold
2. they call and we make the best hand
I'll go with some shoving ranges for when we have different amount of BB's When the pot is unopened
8BB or less: suited connectors prob starting at 76, any suited ace, any pair, any two cards above a 9 and A6o+ (really try not to let it get to this stage)
9-13BB A9s+ A10o+ 4's+ KQo KQs
14BB-17BB AJo+ 7's+ KQs (can do 6's depending on position
)
18BB-20BB 8's+ AJs+ (can do 7's depending on position)
When we face a raise, we have to shove a bit tighter So e.g use the 14-17BB shoving range for the 9-13BB reshoving range and when you have 14-17BB use the 18-20BB range.
Also if you are facing a raise from late position you can shove wider. E.g I have 6's in the BB with 19BB and the button raises. I'm probably ahead of his range and will usually shove all in.
You dont have to stick to these 100% but they are pretty good.
The only problem with open shoving hands when you have over 15BB is that your opponents can play perfectly against you. That is they can give you a realistic range and call profitably
I'm more tempted to open shove from early position than i am from late position. This is because I dont want to get called and be out of position on a bad flop.
However if i'm in late postion lets say I have 10's on the button, its folded to me I will prob raise and try and let them make a mistake. E.g the SB has 12 BB and he shoves all in the BB folds and now I have an easy call, seeing as 10's are so far ahead of his range.
Also note that when in the SB and on the button you can shove more hands if folded to you.
As you get better post flop, you dont have to open shove so much and you can raise pre flop instead.
Calling shoves and Reshoves:
This all depends on how deep your opponent is, The deeper they are the tighter your calling range has to be. E.g lets say we have a nice stack, we have 6's in mid position and raise, its folded to the SB who shoves a 20BB stack. calling is very marginal here and you are only hoping to see AQ or AK here imo but he has 8's + a lot as well so we should probably fold.
Also note that all these ranges are dependent on how tight or loose your opponents are.
Download Pokerstove it's great for equity range calculations.
Pre flop raise sizing:
Never open limp, it sucks imo. You end up c/f way too many flops. Take the iniative and raise. If i'm the first into a pot pre ante I raise 2.5BB
e.g if the blinds are 25/50 i raise to 125.
With an ante I raise 2.2BB. we're risking less to win more so our steals have to work a lower amount of time.
Isolating limpers:
Say we have 7's and someones limped, instead of raising to 2.5BB raise to 3.5BB, having the initiative in poker is really important as it lets you take down more pots post flop. (or 3.2BB with an ante)
(generally add 1BB for every limper)
Times to limp:
when your getting good odds with a speculative hand, e.g say we have 4's and two people limp, now we can limp. The pots a decent size.
Or say we have A10 and there are 4 limpers and your in the SB with a deepstack. If we raise to like 5BB and the first limper calls, the other limpers are all priced in and we're now playing a 25BB pot out of position which we really dont want. But by calling we under rep our hand.
3 betting:
In general I raise between 2.5X the opening raise when im in position and a little bit bigger than 3X the opening raise when im out of position.
E.g i have K's on the button the blinds are at 50/100 and we're deepstacked, some guy raises to 300, i reraise to 750.
E.g I have in the BB AK, someone from mid position raises to 300, i reraise to a 1000.
Keep your sizing siimilar if you 3 smaller with aces than you do with AK people can pick up on it.
Always no matter what the position 3 bet A's and K's.
With Q's and J's I'm more likely to call against early position raisers because you keep their opening range wider and you dont want to 3 bet them and then get 4 bet.
Although if you are in late position facing a late position raise you can 3 bet here.
AK, I generally want to 3 bet a lot of the time to balance our 3 betting range so it's not always A's or K's etc.
Also look up 3 betting light
Tournemant poker:
Tournaments imo are the most profitable form of poker. They have large prize pools which attract fish who hope to make a deep run. The only problem with tournament poker is that variance is a bitch.
Variance:
Because Tournaments are filled with bad players, this leads to bad calls and bad beats. But it all evens out in the end.
Stack to blind ratio:
You asked me a lot about what I should be playing a lot yesterday, and it all depends on your blind to stack ratio which in the poker world is called M.
M = the number of orbits before you are blinded out
example we have 1500 chips and the blinds are at 25/50
so for each orbit assuming we never play a hand we are losing 75 chips
So our M = 1500/75 which = 20
Now if there is an ante of 5 and we are 9 handed then we are losing 145 each orbit.
So now when we calculate our M = 1500/145 = 10.3ish So you can see how big a deal an ante makes.
In tournament poker we can play as tight or as loose as we want if our M is 30 or bigger.
However this is rarely the case as you saw yesterday where the average stack is roughly 20BB after a while.
As a general I'd say if your M is + 20 you can play how you want.
The lower your M gets the more risks you ave to take. Make sure you're always calculating your M
When your M is below 10 you need to start making moves (25BB with an ante) And you need to be prepared to play for all your chips.
E.g we have AK in the BB and have 18BB, theres a raise and a call in front of us.
When we call we are out of position against two opponents which is far from ideal and end up check folding a lot.
But say we shove, we irradicate position and put the raiser and caller to a decision. And we give ourselves two ways to win the pot:
1. they both fold
2. they call and we make the best hand
I'll go with some shoving ranges for when we have different amount of BB's When the pot is unopened
8BB or less: suited connectors prob starting at 76, any suited ace, any pair, any two cards above a 9 and A6o+ (really try not to let it get to this stage)
9-13BB A9s+ A10o+ 4's+ KQo KQs
14BB-17BB AJo+ 7's+ KQs (can do 6's depending on position
)
18BB-20BB 8's+ AJs+ (can do 7's depending on position)
When we face a raise, we have to shove a bit tighter So e.g use the 14-17BB shoving range for the 9-13BB reshoving range and when you have 14-17BB use the 18-20BB range.
Also if you are facing a raise from late position you can shove wider. E.g I have 6's in the BB with 19BB and the button raises. I'm probably ahead of his range and will usually shove all in.
You dont have to stick to these 100% but they are pretty good.
The only problem with open shoving hands when you have over 15BB is that your opponents can play perfectly against you. That is they can give you a realistic range and call profitably
I'm more tempted to open shove from early position than i am from late position. This is because I dont want to get called and be out of position on a bad flop.
However if i'm in late postion lets say I have 10's on the button, its folded to me I will prob raise and try and let them make a mistake. E.g the SB has 12 BB and he shoves all in the BB folds and now I have an easy call, seeing as 10's are so far ahead of his range.
Also note that when in the SB and on the button you can shove more hands if folded to you.
As you get better post flop, you dont have to open shove so much and you can raise pre flop instead.
Calling shoves and Reshoves:
This all depends on how deep your opponent is, The deeper they are the tighter your calling range has to be. E.g lets say we have a nice stack, we have 6's in mid position and raise, its folded to the SB who shoves a 20BB stack. calling is very marginal here and you are only hoping to see AQ or AK here imo but he has 8's + a lot as well so we should probably fold.
Also note that all these ranges are dependent on how tight or loose your opponents are.
Download Pokerstove it's great for equity range calculations.
Pre flop raise sizing:
Never open limp, it sucks imo. You end up c/f way too many flops. Take the iniative and raise. If i'm the first into a pot pre ante I raise 2.5BB
e.g if the blinds are 25/50 i raise to 125.
With an ante I raise 2.2BB. we're risking less to win more so our steals have to work a lower amount of time.
Isolating limpers:
Say we have 7's and someones limped, instead of raising to 2.5BB raise to 3.5BB, having the initiative in poker is really important as it lets you take down more pots post flop. (or 3.2BB with an ante)
(generally add 1BB for every limper)
Times to limp:
when your getting good odds with a speculative hand, e.g say we have 4's and two people limp, now we can limp. The pots a decent size.
Or say we have A10 and there are 4 limpers and your in the SB with a deepstack. If we raise to like 5BB and the first limper calls, the other limpers are all priced in and we're now playing a 25BB pot out of position which we really dont want. But by calling we under rep our hand.
3 betting:
In general I raise between 2.5X the opening raise when im in position and a little bit bigger than 3X the opening raise when im out of position.
E.g i have K's on the button the blinds are at 50/100 and we're deepstacked, some guy raises to 300, i reraise to 750.
E.g I have in the BB AK, someone from mid position raises to 300, i reraise to a 1000.
Keep your sizing siimilar if you 3 smaller with aces than you do with AK people can pick up on it.
Always no matter what the position 3 bet A's and K's.
With Q's and J's I'm more likely to call against early position raisers because you keep their opening range wider and you dont want to 3 bet them and then get 4 bet.
Although if you are in late position facing a late position raise you can 3 bet here.
AK, I generally want to 3 bet a lot of the time to balance our 3 betting range so it's not always A's or K's etc.
Also look up 3 betting light
