i've done it ... again... i started to play in tourneys. (yes, i'm seduced by the tv-shows ). and as always i played tight, got blinded out or sucked out.

but in one tourney i got into the final table. and one player who sucked out on me (but he had the chiplead) told me that i was too tight. and that what i hear quite often: you have to accumulate a lot of chips early on to abuse the players who tighten up on the bubble and to accumulate even more chips.

then i reviewed the tourney and i simply couldn't find spot where i could have been more aggressive. my hand starts to shake when i have to put money in preflop with Q2o.

what are these "mysterious" spots?

I end up the same a lot, recently I have been doing better in tournaments. I think you have to play with what you are comfortable doing. If that is playing tight, then so be it...but, you do need to loosen up at points. Around the breaks and around the money (or change in level of the money) are the easiest spots to go for some chips, and I am sure with some more work you will see other times to go for some also

There is some spots you could investigate:
1. Limp in from SB with any 2 cards. Suprisingly often you can win the pot by checking the flop if you miss it and steal it with a raise on the turn. Occationaly you can trap the other players if you hit the flop hard by check raising. SB is an excelent traping position.

2. Bluff with medium connectors like T9s/o or 87s/o from late position (not all the time offcourse and with max 1 limper before you). If you get called it propably is with strong hand like AQs. You can get this pot if the flop is right (only low cards, and preferably rainbow) but ease down your action if scare cards comes or the other player bets big out of position. He probably has an over pair. In that case you must have hit the flop hard with both your pocket cards (2 pairs, stright or open ended strigt draw or maybe a flush (dangerous because you dont hold the nuts)).

Using these two additions (if not allready in your tool box) should increse your wpip from around 11-17% to 17-25%.

Another point worth investigating is the pf beting amount: 3XBB or 4XBB is the two most common values if you are first in. I find it much more profitable to use 2.5XBB. At first this does not seem like a big difference from 3XBB but lets say you bet 3XBB and get called by 2 players. The pot would now be 9XBB. You decides to bet halfe the pot on the flop and is forced to let it go because one of the other players reraises you all in. In this scenario you would have lost a total of 7.5XBB. If you do the same calculations for 2.5XBB you would loose 6.25XBB. Using 2.5XBB will save you 1.25BB every single time you end up in this situation. As we all know: A crucial part of winning money is to loose as little as posible when you loose.

thank you

what about hands like AQ, AJ, AT. i normally fold them in early and middle position. i find myself in very bad spots every third or fourth time i open the pot with them. I'm often dominated or flipping. i think early in the tourney its good to open only 2.5xBB (as you suggested) since i can get away easily after the flop. but how do i play them near the bubble when the blinds are big. i think i can't stand a RRAI there. so i autofold them preflop.

Another spot (and you actually shouldn't listen to me, as I'm more of a cash player, but this is from what I've read on the subject) is stealing when people have limped in, and the total pot will add a significant amount to your stack (say, more than 10%). Ex, blinds are 50/100, average stack at the table is 3k, you have 1700, 4 people limp, and you have 55 in the SB. Shoving has huge fold equity and also if you're caught, you still have a chance to win it.

Start limping in late position early in tournaments with 2 suited cards, connected cards, trying to hit a flop hard and stack off early on.

when the blinds get bigger you can tighten up but at times you will have to steal with junk from late position.

Defend your blinds, especially early on, sometimes this means call the villains raise but I often like to re-raise, especially from the bb.

hope that helps

You have to be willing to gamble on a flip for your entire stack in many situations in tourney play in order to have a chance. Remember, the only time you should ever be considering 'just cashing' is when you are short stacked on the bubble, and not even always then.

You should be raising and reraising (situationally) with the hands you mentioned. I personally prefer to find the right spots to 3-bet jam preflop against people who have a mentality like yours....very profitable.

imo, i think there's been some quite bad advice in this thread as regards to pickin spots in tourneys. im a tourney player so hopefully this can help a little bit, but its only my opinion and what works for me...

i see what ur gettin at but SB is the place should aim to play as few pots as possible from. SB and BB are where ur goin to lose ur most money naturally, and so u shouldnt worry about losin money here. i fold the majority of my hand from SB, unless there r loads of limpers in the pot and i have 68s or something like this. u dont need to b puttin in any money from the SB with q2 just because there r 5 limpers. u can trap from SB only when u have monsters because the positional disadvantage is so great.

this is an underused strategy by players. when there are 2 or 3 players before u and u r in position this is a perfect opportunity to pick up dead money. when on the button and this happens raise 3x BB +1 for every limper and u'll b surprised how many players limp/ fold. even, if u get a call or maybe 2 u can pick up an inflated pot on the flop with a simple continuation bet. note i havent specified any hand ranges as u can do this with literally anything. just be wary to slow down against resistance. abusing ur position is a great way of pickin up chips that u wouldnt of otherwise. this can generally only be done a few levels in to the tourney so u have built up an image and the total donks r already out.

This is another great tactic for later on in the tourney, especially near a big moment (i.e. bubble/ final table bubble) as people will b tighter. when a medium stack raises, u re- pop them. this puts huge pressure on them, because they are a medium stack and they do not want to slip into the territory of becoming a short stack, and so will often fold to ur re- raise as it shows huge strength. this works best with medium stacks because big stacks can afford to try and knock u out, and small stacks are getting desperate to push with anything.

hopefully this helped a bit to explain reasons for making moves a bit. a couple more points; abuse ur late position and pick on tight players when they r in the blinds. i often find that u have to go through a couple of players but they will back off if uve raised as they dont want to get in a confrontation

i'm not much of a tourney player but from what I've heard a great spot to be agressive is as SB when folded around to you. Lets asume that you're fairly late in a tourney and that blinds are rather large compared to stacks. if you in this situation is in SB and it's folded to you it's profitable to shove ATC as BB's calling range is way to narrow. As you said yourself, you don't want to put your tourney life on tha line with a hand like AJ so you would have to have a huge hand to call. I know for this advice is good in SnG less sure about it in MTT but I still think it's very valuable. Also remember when putting yous stack on the line that you would rather have one 1st place finnish than ten 10th place finnishes so you're playing to win, not to make it into the money.