Tournament Strategy Recommendations

AlwaysLearning416

As someone who plays pretty much only cash games, my tourney skills aren't as great as I'd like them to be.

I can still cash and play decently well in tournaments, but am looking to take my tournament game to the next level.

I was just wondering how all the tourney players on here got to be where they're at and what resources they used.

Any recommendations for online training sites, books, or whatever would be appreciated.

Cheers.

BlondeFish

AlwaysLearning416;358987 wroteI was just wondering how all the tourney players on here got to be where they're at and what resources they used.

I read the standard tournament books such as Dan Harrington's three volumes, Little Green Book, Poker Tournament Formula I and II, NLHE: Theory and Practice, and FTP :rage: Tournament Strategy Guide. Then I started taking shots at West Side Poker Tour and Casino Brantford.

The online training sites I've tried have nowhere been as profitable as ACTIVELY applying the details that I read from good poker books, as opposed to passively watching a video or reading a book once. If you decide to take a shot at live tournaments, the $90+$10 electronic tourneys may be the best to start with at Mohawk, Western Fair or Georgian Downs Racetracks. If you decide to take your shot at online tournaments, avoid PartyPoker as you will be screwed with the currrency exchange and other charges upon both depositing and withdrawing.

AlwaysLearning416

BlondeFish;358988 wroteI read the standard tournament books such as Dan Harrington's three volumes, Little Green Book, Poker Tournament Formula I and II, NLHE: Theory and Practice, and FTP :rage: Tournament Strategy Guide. Then I started taking shots at West Side Poker Tour and Casino Brantford.

The online training sites I've tried have nowhere been as profitable as ACTIVELY applying the details that I read from good poker books, as opposed to passively watching a video or reading a book once. If you decide to take a shot at live tournaments, the $90+$10 electronic tourneys may be the best to start with at Mohawk, Western Fair or Georgian Downs Racetracks. If you decide to take your shot at online tournaments, avoid PartyPoker as you will be screwed with the currrency exchange and other charges upon both depositing and withdrawing.

Thanks BlondeFish, I was kinda hoping you'd see this and share your insight :)

Appreciate the feedback. I have a ton of books from when I first started getting into poker, but I kept seeing people saying that they were outdated. As I look up blogs, even of online pros, I'm starting to realize the outdated books are only those on cash games and limit hold 'em and not so much on the theory of playing tourneys and strategies for tourneys.

I do believe I have 2 of Harrington's 3 books. I want to give those a thorough read ASAP (luckily my TTC ride to school is now an hour each way, plenty of time to read and re-read those ones).

I have Negreanu's as well, which I saw somewhere was a decent book. Have you heard anything about that one?

All in all, I think I'll go through Harrington's, maybe skim a bit of Hold 'Em in Super System (2), pick up the little green book and snag another book on theory or two.

I'm hoping to get through a bunch of books in about a month or so and get practicing online and then at Mohawk and the like, with the goal of (hopefully) giving the WSOP-C a shot down here in February (I know, being optimistic on that front lol).

Thanks for the feedback though!

Hopefully in a few months we'll be battling it out at the FT in Brantford on a regular basis! :p

BlondeFish

I also read Negreanu's Power Hold'em Strategy book, but it is one of the few books that I did not make much money from after reading it. I remember after reading Poker Tournament Formula, I started posting about Patience Factor and Skill Level and a few members made fun of me, but it was that book that made me start winning at casino tournaments.

AlwaysLearning416;358991 wroteI have Negreanu's as well, which I saw somewhere was a decent book. Have you heard anything about that one?

GTA Poker

If you are a winning cash game player you will find the fields in most live tournies <$500 pretty soft

piggypie123

I own "Power Holdem Strategey", and I think it will be good for you since your just starting out. Theres a good section in it on tournaments for ameteur poker players.

Good Luck!

AlwaysLearning416

BlondeFish;358993 wroteI remember after reading Poker Tournament Formula, I started posting about Patience Factor and Skill Level and a few members made fun of me, but it was that book that made me start winning at casino tournaments.

Nice. Who's the author on that one? I've also heard about "Kill Everyone" which is apparently a phenomenal book to read after you've gone through the more basic ones like Harrington, etc.

AlwaysLearning416

GTA Poker;358998 wroteIf you are a winning cash game player you will find the fields in most live tournies <$500 pretty soft

Nice. I'm thinking that I'm going to run a separate tourney bankroll to monitor my progress as I start playing live tournaments, so <$500 tourneys are the only ones I'll be playing to start off anyway.

AlwaysLearning416

piggypie123;359000 wroteI own "Power Holdem Strategey", and I think it will be good for you since your just starting out. Theres a good section in it on tournaments for ameteur poker players.

Good Luck!

How basic is it? I've read some stuff on tourneys and can cash and what not, but I'm looking for something to take my game to the next level. Along the lines of building early stacks for middle stages, etc. so when the money hits, I'm in a better spot to make deeper runs. I feel like early stages and up to the bubble is fairly easy to master, but the problem is that I'm not positioning myself well enough for once ITM play starts.

Keep in mind this is all online too. Don't know how different the live game is.

piggypie123

AlwaysLearning416;359011 wroteHow basic is it? I've read some stuff on tourneys and can cash and what not, but I'm looking for something to take my game to the next level. Along the lines of building early stacks for middle stages, etc. so when the money hits, I'm in a better spot to make deeper runs. I feel like early stages and up to the bubble is fairly easy to master, but the problem is that I'm not positioning myself well enough for once ITM play starts.

Keep in mind this is all online too. Don't know how different the live game is.

Your probably better off listening to one of these other guys other then me. I don't have much experience playing live and I've only read a couple of Negraneaus books. Good Luck getting better, I should do the same.

AlwaysLearning416

piggypie123;359012 wroteYour probably better off listening to one of these other guys other then me. I don't have much experience playing live and I've only read a couple of Negraneaus books. Good Luck getting better, I should do the same.

Yeah. I wanted to get started earlier and get some practice in to potentially play the WSOP-C in MTL, but I got lazy lol. Don't think I'll have time to improve enough to make it worthwhile to play any of them...

BlondeFish

Arnold Snyder.

AlwaysLearning416;359009 wroteNice. Who's the author on that one?

GTA Poker

AlwaysLearning416;359010 wroteNice. I'm thinking that I'm going to run a separate tourney bankroll to monitor my progress as I start playing live tournaments, so <$500 tourneys are the only ones I'll be playing to start off anyway.

That's good. Just remember that almost always MTTs< $200 have pretty crappy structures.

BlondeFish

GTA Poker;359024 wroteJust remember that almost always MTTs< $200 have pretty crappy structures.

Except in Ontario. The $75+$5 and $90+$10 tourneys I've played at OLG Slots have decent Patience Factors. Luckily for AlwaysLearning416, there are almost no live or online tourneys that have lower rake than the 6% of that $80 - except for the $220+$10 Deep Stack (4%) and Casino Rama's $285+$15 (5%). :cool2:

hiphopopotamus

BlondeFish;358988 wroteIf you decide to take a shot at live tournaments, the $90+$10 electronic tourneys may be the best to start with at Mohawk, Western Fair or Georgian Downs Racetracks.

I get that these electronic games are basically live poker players playing at online game speeds but I can't be the only one who enjoys playing with and handling real cards/chips? I haven't given it a shot yet but I don't think I'd find it as fun.

Erick Lindgren's book really helped me out with my early tournament play. Killer Poker was the first ever book I read and I really liked that one too. They're both pretty basic but they're the ones that helped me the most when I was starting.

BlondeFish

hiphopopotamus;359034 wroteI get that these electronic games are basically live poker players playing at online game speeds but I can't be the only one who enjoys playing with and handling real cards/chips?

I love live poker, but both online and electronic formats have their own advantages, so it's good to try all formats. Probably my biggest poker regret is not taking a serious shot at online poker much earlier. I see some winning live players make the same mistake, e.g., Fallsview pros and semi-pros who still haven't tried if Woodbine's hands/hour, 50¢/hour reward, no tipping and no BBJ rake will make them more money.

A few players are addicted to playing with chips so they bring them to the electronic table.

GTA Poker

Please kill me if 50 cents an hour is ever a motivation in my game selection.

BlondeFish

GTA Poker;359038 wrotePlease kill me if 50 cents an hour is ever a motivation in my game selection.

Just like rake, rakeback, $1 tips, $1 BBJ, etc., it is one of many factors that all adds up to a HUGE amount in a lifetime of playing this NEGATIVE sum game! Fallsview grinders may gain ~$1,000/year in cashback rewards by switching to Woodbine. I'm not a Fallsview pro so I haven't bothered to do all the analysis.

AlwaysLearning416

hiphopopotamus;359034 wroteI get that these electronic games are basically live poker players playing at online game speeds but I can't be the only one who enjoys playing with and handling real cards/chips? I haven't given it a shot yet but I don't think I'd find it as fun.

Erick Lindgren's book really helped me out with my early tournament play. Killer Poker was the first ever book I read and I really liked that one too. They're both pretty basic but they're the ones that helped me the most when I was starting.

Yeah I hear ya on handling chips. Haven't done it in ages and I think I'm heading to a casino here in South FL (Pompano, beautiful room by th elook of the pics and even during weekDAYS they have 4-7 tabels of 1-2, 4-7 tables of 2-5 and a 5-10 table) so I'm looking forward to handling chips again :p.

As for the books, thanks for the recommendation, I'll take a look. I think I'm gonna go with the Harrington's, pick up the little green book and "Kill Everyone" along with Arnold Snyder's and then get playing (practice ultimately is what will help me improve and apply the stuff I learn).