Live MTT Strategy

GTA Poker

When playing deepstack live tournaments I tend to accumulate lottttts of chips early on when I am 100-300+ bb deep. I play the opposite of many tournament theorists in that I play lots of hands and make moves just like in a cash game. I have to take run fairly bad not to accumulate a fair amount of chips early on as the field is usually weakest at this point and I have the deep stack to take advantage of my edges.

Inevitably, unless I run super well in the middle stages I end up with 20% on the field left with a 20bb average...usually vs many unknowns (and I unknown to them) as it seems that these days the tourney donks;)/players do not seep into the cash games much at all. I sometimes have a decent stack around here, but I sometimes am treading water with a few steals and am staying around the average. I usually feel a bit handcuffed at this stage as I am not used to playing with only 20bb and it seems that many of my multistreet plays are gone.

So, here I am relying on my better understanding of hand values and M values to try and double up vs. playing more complex multi-street poker. Often times I get impatient at this stage and make a play in a bad spot for live poker...this leak is easy to correct, but do I need a better overall strategy around here?

To all the good/great MTT players on here how do you view this stage of the tournament? I tend to view tournaments as playing enough to get to this spot and then needing a bit of rungood to get a stack again...I really feel that you need to pick up some cards to win a MTT whereas I can consistently beat cash games making moves and making hands.

Thoughts/advice?

sn1perb0y

I'm not from the good/great players but here is my view.
For early tournament when you are deep, since you are a cash game player and have a solid post-flop game, you are best to keep doing what you stated in the OP and own them. Me personally, i'm not great post flop so i stay tight and try to double up with my value hands.

Later stages, play most hands from LP and don't play marginal hands such as A3o, K9o etc from EP since there is very little play and the chips you have is more valuable and loosing 3-5bbs in these hands is substantial.

Even if you are card dead stay patient i know it gets tough when you are not getting hands so keep a solid preflop range.

Try to bluff less since in spots where you are might get caught in, I have lost tons of tournaments by trying to bluff river and cripple my stack.

Mostly steal from LP, try to take it down with a c-bet and try to value all street when you hit.

Try to play less with bigger chip stacks unless you have a premium hand and punish small stacks, It is okay to get it in when you are lets say 30bbs and someone has 8bbs as a 40-60 or 30-70, 30bbs and 22bbs is not a big difference if you loose it, but when you win, its one players less, you get momentum and get a steady chip up.

Lastly run good is very important to win chips, every tournament winner is a luckbox when they ship it.

Wetts1012

Win flips.

Wetts1012

That's a serious answer btw.

Wetts1012

MTT endgame is not street poker #cocacola

BlondeFish

GTA Poker;372357 wroteI play the opposite of many tournament theorists in that I play lots of hands and make moves just like in a cash game.

Mike Caro hates tournaments because he thinks the best poker play becomes different from a cash game, but IMO, chip EV = $EV until close to the bubble or final table, e.g., a +EV bluff/call/raise in a cash game would also be +$EV for most of the tournament.

Inevitably, unless I run super well in the middle stages I end up with 20% on the field left with a 20bb average...usually vs many unknowns (and I unknown to them) as it seems that these days the tourney donks;)/players do not seep into the cash games much at all.

I think there are more choices for tournament players. For example, after I ran into a full house during WPT CSC, rather than play the cash game with $15 max rake/hand, I signed up for a SNG instead. At WPT Fallsview, there would be 3-4 SNG tables going, so after finishing one satellite, you see your name on the next satellite & don't bother playing a cash game.

To all the good/great MTT players on here how do you view this stage of the tournament? I tend to view tournaments as playing enough to get to this spot and then needing a bit of rungood to get a stack again...I really feel that you need to pick up some cards to win a MTT whereas I can consistently beat cash games making moves and making hands.

While the cash games you regularly play will have an M of >= 66 (or 100 BB) for many of the players, in tournaments, most players battling for the money will have an M < 20. It's like playing a 1/2 cash game, but even the biggest stack only has $60 left (instead of $200+) and there are a whole bunch of shorties with <= $18 left so your options are limited compared to everybody having at least $200.

InsaneGuy

I have the same problem when I play in my weekly donkament, it's not a huge field (30 players usually), 50% of the time I reach the final table and I'm on of the 3 biggest stack but at this point (and I have the same problem online) I don't switch gear, blinds get bigger and I don't play position well enough, I still play the cards and it's a thing that's really lacking in my game.

MadMax

Best strategy for me in these stages of the tournament without damaging your stack is stealing in late position...either pre-flop when weak players are still limping in or post-flop when their has been passive play. Semi-bluffing in these spots is incredibly profitable but beware of your table image...if they perceive you as loose agressive you may get played back at with marginal holdings. If you are perceived as pretty tight its an excellent opportunity to chip up even with junk hands like Q3 off. Middle stages of tourneys are all about chipping up steadily by stealing as premium hands only come around so often.