Tournament Strategy advice needed.

ReefAquarium

Hi,

I'm a newbie at tournaments.

I played my second tournament in the last 6 years.
Usually I play cash games.

I figured I'd start with the easiest tournament I could find.

This is an 80 person $80 tournament at Brantford.

Hand 1

I chip to to over 63,000, 4x my buyin, I'm the chip leader. I've raised the last 3 hands in a row. My table image is immaculate, A+ I've won every big hand I've played. I'm just pounding the table non-stop and they are in "Take it Doyle" mode. Mostly they limp, I bet , they call. I C-bet the flop, they fold.

UTG I raise 3x, UTG+1 3 bets me for half his stack. it gets folded around to me.

Wow!

First 3 bet someone besides me has made.

I have AsKs.

He's bet a bit more than a min raise but it's about half his stack so it's the same as all in pretty much.

I don't think they have gotten their balls, I think they have picked up a hand... Do you shove/call?

compuease

He's barely more than min raised you, so say 7BB which is half his stack.. Of course get it in.. Unless he has AA, you are not enough of a dog not to get it in. It has to be a small % of your stack given your description..

sn1perb0y

All in!!!

wildbill7145

Welcome to the forum!

BlondeFish

Unless you can narrow his range to only AA, you use Sklansky's Concept No. 22 & shove. After you lose, you shout, "Brantford is rigged!" then swear that you will stick to cash games & never play any donkaments ever again. Did you cash?

ReefAquarium;370576 wroteI have AsKs.

He's bet a bit more than a min raise but it's about half his stack so it's the same as all in pretty much.

I don't think they have gotten their balls, I think they have picked up a hand... Do you shove/call?

hiphopopotamus

3x preflop open is too big and get it in with AK. They probably have a decent hand but AKs is still way ahead of their range, especially if this is the 4th hand you've raised in a row.

ReefAquarium

BlondeFish;370586 wroteUnless you can narrow his range to only AA, you use Sklansky's Concept No. 22 & shove. After you lose, you shout, "Brantford is rigged!" then swear that you will stick to cash games & never play any donkaments ever again. Did you cash?

Fast forward.

We are at the final table, I'm 4th in chips.

10 people, tournement pays 9.

One girl is collecting $$ from everyone assuming everyone will put in $$ for the bubble person.

I say, "Lets put $$ in for a last longer bet!"

I say, No, I'm not giving $$ for the bubble person.

Ist hand I get it all in with the chip leader 88<AQ and I'm out.

BlondeFish

If you've played online tournaments on the bubble, you will find the desperate pleas for a bubble prize in live donkaments very strange. It does not make financial or poker sense for above average chips stacks to give up the huge bubble equity they have, but the fact that so many live players desperately pressure for AND ACCEPT a bubble prize tells you that these live tournaments are +EV. At the GBH Deep Stack tourney, the usual $50/pp solicitations started on the bubble, but one of the smartest players quickly said no.

ReefAquarium;370589 wroteIst hand I get it all in with the chip leader 88<AQ and I'm out.

That's the hand you should have asked for tournament strategy advice! ;)

InsaneGuy

I'm curious... you're 4th in chip but you risk your tournament life (on the bubble too) with 88, why?

The_Awesome

Bubble karma.

Bfillmaff

Karma indeed - but good call to not coddle the bubble whiners!!

Details on the 88 / AQ hand? (Misstep or misread?)

mags

Every time I have played where it is usually 1 person who decides they don't want to pay the bubble they are the one that bubbles, hmmm.

djgolfcan

At Brantford, I am happily shoving AKs to any 3 bet, and you would be shocked at how many players will fold, even after sticking half their stack in pre-flop.
The hand you went out on is curious. I get that in a cash game, you take the smallest edges (52/48) and push them all day long, but in a tournament, at the bubble, against a stack that can take you out, I generally do not risk my tournament life.

BlondeFish

That's another popular myth among live players, just like "online/electronic poker is rigged." In the many live final tables I've been, the bubble boy is usually one of the micro stacks that was trying to pressure everybody into donating cash & equity for the bubble. I'm willing to do an experiment where I will automatically say no to a bubble prize (unlike before), and report back if I suddenly become the bubble boy every time.

mags;370618 wroteEvery time I have played where it is usually 1 person who decides they don't want to pay the bubble they are the one that bubbles, hmmm.

hiphopopotamus

BlondeFish;370627 wroteThat's another popular myth among live players, just like "online/electronic poker is rigged." In the many live final tables I've been, the bubble boy is usually one of the micro stacks that was trying to pressure everybody into donating cash & equity for the bubble. I'm willing to do an experiment where I will automatically say no to a bubble prize (unlike before), and report back if I suddenly become the bubble boy every time.

I declined paying the bubble at a Brantford tournament a month or two ago and then cracked queens and kings in the first two hands and won the tournament. Fwiw, I am 3/3 for winning tournaments where I refused to pay bubble.

Card Dead

Im a big fan of the bubble donation as I'm usually one of the short stacks at the bubble, if not the shortest, however, I rarely end up being the bubble boy.

So for me, it's usually a -EV proposition but it think it's bad Karma and bad manners not to play along.

And I also agree that 88 is an odd spot to bust out at that stage, unless the flop came down AQ8 or something and you then got it all in.

pkrfce9

Manners at the table?

tapatalk puts this here to annoy YOU

ReefAquarium

Bubble donation is -EV unless I'm the shortest stack. I'm 4th.

If there is no bubble prize then you have more fold equity or fear equity.

BlondeFish

ReefAquarium;370665 wroteIf there is no bubble prize then you have more fold equity or fear equity.

Many live players I've encountered don't seem to understand equity or know how to maximize equity. Some cluelessly think that the chipleader is the most evil &^%$#@! in the world if he refuses to give up his equity, and they will forever remember if you happen to get unlucky and become the bubble boy. Some think that EVERYBODY should donate to the bubble to "make the game go faster." :rolleyes:

I back up anybody that refuses, but if everybody else but me has eagerly agreed, I sometimes cave in to the "but we always do it here" peer pressure if the shortstacks are players that I know and if I want these bubble donators to keep playing and donating in the future. From now on, I think I'll be more like ReefAquarium & hiphopopotamus and JUST SAY NO.

ReefAquarium

BlondeFish;370673 wroteMany live players I've encountered don't seem to understand equity or know how to maximize equity. Some cluelessly think that the chipleader is the most evil &^%$#@! in the world if he refuses to give up his equity, and they will forever remember if you happen to get unlucky and become the bubble boy. Some think that EVERYBODY should donate to the bubble to "make the game go faster." :rolleyes:

I back up anybody that refuses, but if everybody else but me has eagerly agreed, I sometimes cave in to the "but we always do it here" peer pressure if the shortstacks are players that I know and if I want these bubble donators to keep playing and donating in the future. From now on, I think I'll be more like ReefAquarium & hiphopopotamus and JUST SAY NO.

Dealer said, "We always give $10 to the bubble"

I replied, "You go ahead and do that"