Short handed in tournaments

Chugs

I've been having a real problem with one specific part of my tournament play. I actually have many, many but this is the one i want to tackle today

Specifically playing shorthanded, when down to 2 tables in a tournament

I generally feel comfortable playing shorthanded, be it NL or limit in ring games, and even 6 handed SNGs, also at final table situations where your short handed play has an effect on money places and can provide those nuances to pushing players around.


The problem specifically is that you are in a range usually by this point where everyone is relatively short stacked (no deep play, like you get in a NL ring game), but you also can't abuse the bubble effect that can very efficiently exploited, all of this with the obviously agressive effect of the blinds in short handed play.


How do other people approach this specific situation usually when down to 10-11 players, prior to breaking down to the final table. I will point out i've been facing this problem not only online but in live play. I'm having trouble not having room to play, and not being able to exploit the advantages of the bubble or ladder effects.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

ReefAquarium

I'm not an expert, In fact I suck at poker.

I'm a Clark Kent mild mannered poker rock for the first part of the tournment.
But when it's 11 handed, a big red sign in my brain goes off that reads.

STEAL LIKE A MOFO!!!

Up until then I'm playing a super tight.

But once it gets to almost the final table some players really *want* to make the final table.

Personally I'd rather risk bust out on the final-table-bubble if it gives me a better chance to accumulate chips to win the damn thing.

Exploit the final table bubble effect.

STEAL LIKE A MOFO.

For example, in an overcards vs pocket pair coinflip, go all in ...

Your attitude towards them should be, "Are you feeling lucky punk?"
Get them to fold their TPGK to your overbet draws.

You're saying to yourself, "I want to either finish first or bust out now and save time."

I'd rather have two first place finishes and 8 11th place finishes than ten 5th place finishes.

So I STEAL LIKE A MOFO with 11 players left.

Nurture your inner lunatic, STEAL LIKE A MOFO.

ReefAquarium.

Chugs

I find the steal like a mofo technique though doesn't work in shallow tournaments, which is usually what you are facing at the later stages of a multitable SNG or say 40 person tournaments also. You will get called.

I've tried getting more adept at winning pots, but not showing down hands ... the final table effect i don't think is huge in the small sng i play, it really is the money effect that does it, if people where desperate to make the final table fine ... its avoiding the calls from people who don't care about that.

scotsrule

Not sure I have any insight to add - but I play a lot of short-handed SNG's on Poker Room
Not sure if you are on Pokerroom or not but I have found by playing these a lot (I like them because they are fast) have really helped me when I play larger SNG's or MTT's - I am very comfortable playing with 5 players or less - you may want to try some
I tend to ramp up my aggressiveness and loosen up my starting hands as the table gets smaller - I think a lot of people tend to slow up at this stage, and it is a great time to punish them and steal blinds
Cheers
Scots

ReefAquarium

Chugs wrote:

I find the steal like a mofo technique though doesn't work in shallow tournaments, which is usually what you are facing at the later stages of a multitable SNG or say 40 person tournaments also. You will get called.

I've tried getting more adept at winning pots, but not showing down hands ... the final table effect i don't think is huge in the small sng i play, it really is the money effect that does it, if people where desperate to make the final table fine ... its avoiding the calls from people who don't care about that.

Disclaimer:I'm not a tournement expert:

Can you give me some specifics about the situations that you're talking about.

How many chips do you have?
What are the blinds?
How does your stack compare to the other stacks?
Can you think of a hand where you are unsure of how to play?

My personal feeling is that you should strive to Bet like a MOFO.

Go all in with small pp vs overcards or overcards vs PP etc etc.

How are you percived by the rest of the table?

I play super rock tight before I transform into Bet like a MOFO man.

SirWatts

I am going to assume we're talking mostly about on-line tourneys with a Stars/party type of structure. The key at these late points is to have a good read on the players 1 and 2 seats to your left and right. You need to know if you can steal from the guys on your left and you need to know what kinds of hands the guys on your right are raising with in steal position (usually you have to guess based on how often they're stealing) and whether they can fold to a reraise. The stacks are generally short so you are playing a preflop game essentially. Your 2 main weapons are the steal and resteal. If the guys on your left do not defend much you're going to want to be stealing a fair bit. If they come over the top of you constantly like maniacs you're going to have to wait for a real hand or make a stand with something marginal like a small/mid pair or Ax, KQ, KJ, etc. when they come over the top the next time. Usually you don't have time to wait for a real hand so you're better off going for the latter. The guys on your right you need to know how liberally you can come over the top of. I'm rarely on a pure resteal, but a lot of times Ax or KJ figures to be the best hand when they raise your BB from the button so you can just go over the top. If you have a tight image they may fold things like Ax or small pairs that are ahead. Now it becomes a game of adjusting to how your table image is changing and how they are going to react to your table image and it all gets very complicated. Ideally you would like to shift gears at some point but depending on how big the blinds are that just might not be an option. Don't be afraid of big coinflips and don't be afraid of getting all-in with slightly the worst of it getting good pot odds. That's all I can think of right now.