Update: Things I learned. (formerly Any and ALL advice needed)

ryanhealy

Ok guys,
The UB 1 Mil guarunteed tourney is coming up on the 15th. Its a $500 buying tourney which I won my way into it and as of right now there are just under 1600 players registered. (I imagine there will be close to 2000 by Sunday as UB isnt known for their overlays)

The biggest tourneys Ive ever played in buyin wise are the Pacific 200k tourneys, and the biggest field Ive ever final tabled from was just under 1000.

To be honest, since my investment in this tourney started at about $30, just cashing would be a great ROI, but regardless Id like to go deep and make it as far as possible.

So this is what Im asking...

Anybody here whos played in a large buyin tournament, with a large field, i.e. the big Stars tourneys or anything like that, PLEASE, give me any words of wisdom you can.

Im looking for any and all advice I can get on this one from people who are experienced with these tourneys.

Thanks
Ryan

Unknown

I'm not known for my great success in these events but it seems that you have had some success in these situations before, so try and think about what made you successful in those events, and then try to be even more patient, and stay out of trouble. I assume the stacks will be a little deeper than UB's usual 1500 starting chips, so you should have the opportunity to really settle in and get a feel for things.

Best of luck man. Try to keep the forum posted on your progress.

GTA Poker

I'm not a huge MTT player, but I know people who are. There are still lots of donks early in these things. You aren't playing against the top 2000 intenet players by any means. Basically play tight for the first couple of rounds, get a feel for your table, and play your cards until you feel you can do otherwise -- ie -- have pegged a weak player that you can run over. A masseuse and a bottle to pee in don't hurt either. GL.

DJP

Try to get a lot of rest the night before. It helps.
Shut off your phones, disconnect your doorbell, and
use music or tv to blot out the noises of the world. lol

Try not to focus on the prize. Stay in the now. Keep
an eye on the average chip count for reference. I've
been well below average count sometimes and still gone
deeper in the field than I thought I would, so it's not
always a given.

These are 5 to 6 hour events, so it's a marathon not a
sprint. If you had more time I'd suggest practicing in
a few of Stars 6000 entrant freerolls. lol Those are
gruelling.

You could always play a SNG the night before, or just do
some reading and studying. Whatever works for you.

Large fields also mean more chances to get beat. Longer
tournaments give you more chances to make a mistake.
Concentration has a tendency to fade in and out after hours
of play sometimes. Thats usually about the time monkeyman
shows up.

Sometimes the cards just don't come either. Sometimes you
aren't playing your best that day, for whatever reason.
Sometimes the poker gods are just against you. Sometimes,
all of the above. lol

I've played in enough large prize events now, either cash or
satellite events to wpt or whatever, to realize that
sometimes it's just out of your control. You can play great
for 4 hours, and make one mistake that wipes it all out.

Just try to pay attention, stay relaxed, get your money in
with premium cards only, and hope for the best. Use position
to your advantage when you can. Try not to play too many
hands. Sometimes adrenalin can do that. heh

Good luck!

magithighs

What DJP said.  And, NEVER, EVER, EVER give up and toss your last chips in when you know you're beat.  I've won two tournaments where I was micro stacked -- one was an entry into WSOP 2004.

Also, it's but one tournament.  Lots of things have to go your way to win.  Don't sweat hands that you "could have" won.  Only focus on where you are and where you need to get to -- next break, next blind level etc. 

Just try to play good doing the things you've done. Don't worry about trying new stuff or trying to out play others. 

Cheers
Magi

ryanhealy

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Finished 371/2774. Top 200 payout. Pretty disappointed.

I was just not meant to win today. The whole tournament I was being served a healthy diet of bad beats, missed draws and card deadness.

Early on had my KK cracked by JJ, two outer which almost knocked me out, down to 400 chips, less than 10 BB. Came back and continuted that sort of streak, many times being beat by guys going allin with junk in last ditch efforts. AK down to Q9, AQ lost to A10, etc

A couple times I flopped straight flush draws with great odds and nothing came down.

I did get AA once, and it held up which was nice, but my 1 out of 2 KKs got cracked, my QQ got cracked and I got JJ about 4 or 5 times only once of which I didnt have to fold on the flop (I won that one).

The last hour I played I only got one pair higher than 7s, which was queens, and those were beat in a race by AK to knock me out.

I did make a couple big mistakes too though of course. The first I got lucky, a big stack who was raising a lot raised preflop and I called with AK. I missed te flop completely and he bet out. I figured he was just stealing and being aggresive as usual so I pushed, and he called and turned over pocket 8s. I caught a K on the turn to win the hand. That was my suckout for the game.

The other big mistake was a really dumb one. Just a brief lapse in concentration. I called the BB from one off the button with A7off. Already not a very good play. Then when the flop came 7 high it was checked around and I bet out, only to be check-raised. For some reason I called the check raise. We both checked the turn and he went all in on the river and I threw my hand away. That hand knocked me from 19000 to about 12000 and was the beginning of the end.

By the time I got the QQ, I had been picked away by the blinds and antes down to 8000 chips and the guy who called with AK had about 35000 so it wasnt a big call for him to make with such a strong hand. A K on the rurn and Im done in 371st.

Needless to say Im very disappointed with this. Sucks to wait a month to play a tournament, last so long and then lose. A combination of bad beats, crap cards and a big mistake on my part and I was just not gonna win this one.

Hopefully Ill be able to do better in the next one I play.

ryanhealy

Things I learned:

Much in aggreance with a lot of DJPs points, I learned the following.

1) Even over the course of such a long tournament, any given mistake can still be the end of you. For me the killer mistake was playing an A7 preflop and then overvaluing it on the 7 high flop.

2) With more time, there will come more bad beats. I got beat down more than my fair share tonight. None of them knocked me out though and I was able to rebuild each time. Regardless it was very frustrating when everytime I would build my stack up, some small stack with crap would go allin on a last stand against my good hands, hit to win and knock me right back down to where I was or worse.

3) Concentrating over that long period of time isnt as hard as I thought it would be, however, even the smallest lapse can be a killer. So its important to keep concentration through 100% of the tournament, much more so than in shorter tournaments.

4) Bigger tourneys arent that different than smaller ones. At least online and for the majority of the tourney. This was a $500 buyin tourney with at least a few pros playing (I saw Helmuths name and people were talking about a few others), but the skill level on average didnt seem like it was a ton higher than the $20-$100 buyins Ive played. It may be higher at the final tables and deep in, but at the point I was knocked out, with 371 left, the skill level seemed pretty level with the smaller buyins.

harthgosh

I played in this tourney also (SCNII).  I also played the stars 215 at the same time.  Overall today must have been one of the biggest days in the history of online poker, every site had MASSIVE tourneys...

In the Ub one i built my stack up nicely to 9500.  Then lost with AA, KK.  Watever, just some bad luck.

The funny thing is the guy on my left busted me out with 23.  Yes 23.  I was pretty shocked.  At the time there was around 550+ish players left.  My stack had been devestated but i was hanging around with 3500.  Anyways, long story short, folded to me in small blind, i push blind basically (blinds 200 400 w/ante), and the bb who has a stack of 8000 insta calls with 23.  He won.. 

I have got to be the luckiest guy in the world being called by 23 in a 500 dollar buy in.  First time for everything (its not like he was priced to call me, it was nearly half his stack).  He went on to double up right after my bustout, followed by his own bust out 5 mins after that (he blew 20k).  I am 100% the 23 hand put him on tilt even though he won it. 

Stars was fun, had 21k went all in at 600 1200 level and busted with ak vs At (also very lucky of me to get such a donk call).  The stars tourney was a fun crapshoot.  I enjoyed swinging around with marginal holdings and busting people out.  Reckless tourney structures are fun!  4000 entrants aiyah!  Felt like an expensive freeroll... 

cole woods

cant forget about the 1000$ buy in on paradise poker master`s