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mikec7809 · Two Pair Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 55

I'm trying to decide if my play was right, or too aggressive. There were 5 people left in the tournament. The chip leader had about 6500, and was playing very passively.
Everyone else had around 1500 in chips, and they all seemed to be just trying to wait around to get in the money. Basically, there just weren't a lot of contested pots at all.
Because of this, and because the blinds were already at 160-320, i was moving in on a lot of pots. With the blinds as high as they were, and my stack being around 1500, i felt like if I made a move, it had to be all-in. So I was pushing it in with hands like Ax, KQ or any pocket pairs.
I was getting pretty decent cards, so I was pushing in fairly often, usually just picking up the blinds. I was called once when I had A2 and my opponent had Q9, but at that point he had been short stacked and I had been building, so when he drew out on me I only lost about half my chips.
But anyway, eventually I went in with a KQs in the small blind (the blinds were 240-480 at this point) and was called by the big blind with A-10 and got knocked out.
At the time, I told myself that I had made the right play, that my strategy was right. But I wanted to see what everyone else thinks. It seems to me that with the blinds this high it's just becoming a crapshoot anyway, and I need to be pushing these hands. I was happy just to be picking up the blinds. But on the other hand, I'm the one putting my chips at risk over and over again while my opponents could just sit back and wait to get a hand to pick me off with.
I'm thinking that they were playing way too tight (other than the call with Q7), and my play was correct, but it was just a high variance situation. But even though they were playing very tight, there were 5 of us left, so that is more hands i have to worry about.
It occured to me that with my opponents playing so tight, I may have been able to pick up the pots with just a minimum raise and less risk, and then if I lost a hand go back to my all in strategy and build back up again. But that just seems like such a weak play with the blinds as high as they were.
Is it right for me to be pushing with these hands, hoping to take down the blinds, even though I'm likely to be behind when I get called? (Unless of course, they run into one of my big hands)
What do I need to consider to know if my strategy was sound?

Zuchov · Royal Flush Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 646

Sounds like proper bubble strategy to me. Push. The fact that they keep folding and you keep stealing big pots (a 480 pot when you have 1500 in chips is big) should tell you all you need to know. Except, don't do the min raise thing, that's just begging to be called with junk and forced out on the flop. When you get this shortstacked, you are correct when you say it's all in or not.

frostbjte · High Card Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 11

You should consider your overall position in the tourny and your overall objective. Do you want to just get in the money or win the tournament. If wanting to place is your objective and your position at the moment is in the money, playing tight would be a good idea because if everyone was to blind out, you'd keep yur position. If you are trying to win the tourny, you have to take some smart risks. Steal pots, bluff and semi-bluff some hands. What works for me is that I tend to push around the bigger stacks. It sounds like a bad idea but they don't want to get involved with you and potentially lose their chip lead.

Was your strategy a good idea? Yes and no. It sounds like you were trying to take too many pots and 5 people is still 10 cards you have to look out for. I think you were playing a little too aggressive for that point at the table.

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject:

None of your pushes sound overly aggressive..you sounded like you were playing the right way. If anything I bet there is a chance you weren't aggressive enough, missing out on a lot of +EV pushes. If you have 1500 and the blinds are 320, you should be pushing a ton of hands w/ good position. If it's folded to you in the SB, you can basically push any2 as long as you haven't done it a ton of times in a row.

wbtczn · Pair Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 28

urban's last comment is the important point to me. I was in a sng recently where the only button one of the players knew was "all in". That will work for awhile, but eventually someone is going to wake up with a hand and take the person down.

Wabbit03 · High Card Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 1

I like the play and use it myself. It doesn't matter if everyone knows what you're doing, they still won't get involved unless they have a strong hand. You might run into a big hand but you really have no choice.

At 160/320 and your stack at 1500, each orbit takes 1/3 of your stack. You need at least one steal on every orbit at this stage just to tread water. Missing one round makes you virtually insignificant even though there are other stacks similar in size to yours. A lot of people wait too long to push and their bet is an easy call for most any hand. Get in there while you can still do real damage.

Being the first person at the table to understand the situation and act gives you an advantage. You might get knocked out while the more timid players get to the money, but you give yourself a real chance to win when you gather a few chips and the other players wait until they are too short stacked to matter.

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