Played in two $3000 Guaranteed Tourneys yesterday. One in poker.com and one in bodog. Busted out in the first one due to a stupid play where i semi-bluffed with a J10 middle of the tourney. Luckily I managed to cash on the 2nd one with a 5th place finish.
It took close to 5 hours to finish the 2nd tourney as there were around 400++ players. My back and butt was numb but I am quite happy with the ITM. Sucked out near the money when my JJ reraise all in was called by a slow playing AA. Turn was the J which kept me alive.
Was pretty much low stacked and card dead during the final table. But patience and some bluffs got me to 5th. At that point, the other 4 players had more than 100,000 in chips and I had around 30,000. Finally had to go all in when I flopped middle pair with half my stack in the pot. Of course, somebody flopped top pair and that was it.
One thing I've realized about large MTTs as I begin to play more and more of them. You really need some luck to survive. I mean, skill will take you deep. But there is always an instance where you have to be ready to risk everything and hope to get lucky.
This is especially true near the end part where the blinds are high relative to your stack. There is really no waiting for the nut hand before commiting your whole stack. I mean I had to play 92 and other garbage hands or I would have been blinded out. You just had to pick the correct spots and hope not to get called.
That is why a large enough stack for final table play is crucial. This allows a buffer for those suckouts which are bound to happen and gives you more flexibility in your play for the chance to take down 1st. Because as we all know, 1st is where the big money is.
But my observation is that you really have to be aggressive in the whole tourney to take a big stack with you to the final table. And this is the part where I am still lost. I play a generally TAG style with some bluffs/steals here and there. Sometimes if I'm really hot, I get a somewhat large stack. But most of the time, this style takes me deep/ITM but I always end up short stacked. And then I really have to hustle and take a lot of risks just to make the final table.
I will have to improve on this part of my game. How ? Don't know yet. But to be a profitable MTT player. I don't think TAG is the answer. So I need to adjust my style a bit and loosen up. Just gonna have to figure out when and where.
I am also susceptible to going on tilt when somebody suckouts on me for a big amount. Sometimes, I still have a good enough stack to carry on. But I end up donkeying it all away on marginal plays after I go on tilt. So another leak that I'm trying to fix.
Hopefully as I gain more experience, these things will come. =)
It took close to 5 hours to finish the 2nd tourney as there were around 400++ players. My back and butt was numb but I am quite happy with the ITM. Sucked out near the money when my JJ reraise all in was called by a slow playing AA. Turn was the J which kept me alive.
Was pretty much low stacked and card dead during the final table. But patience and some bluffs got me to 5th. At that point, the other 4 players had more than 100,000 in chips and I had around 30,000. Finally had to go all in when I flopped middle pair with half my stack in the pot. Of course, somebody flopped top pair and that was it.
One thing I've realized about large MTTs as I begin to play more and more of them. You really need some luck to survive. I mean, skill will take you deep. But there is always an instance where you have to be ready to risk everything and hope to get lucky.
This is especially true near the end part where the blinds are high relative to your stack. There is really no waiting for the nut hand before commiting your whole stack. I mean I had to play 92 and other garbage hands or I would have been blinded out. You just had to pick the correct spots and hope not to get called.
That is why a large enough stack for final table play is crucial. This allows a buffer for those suckouts which are bound to happen and gives you more flexibility in your play for the chance to take down 1st. Because as we all know, 1st is where the big money is.
But my observation is that you really have to be aggressive in the whole tourney to take a big stack with you to the final table. And this is the part where I am still lost. I play a generally TAG style with some bluffs/steals here and there. Sometimes if I'm really hot, I get a somewhat large stack. But most of the time, this style takes me deep/ITM but I always end up short stacked. And then I really have to hustle and take a lot of risks just to make the final table.
I will have to improve on this part of my game. How ? Don't know yet. But to be a profitable MTT player. I don't think TAG is the answer. So I need to adjust my style a bit and loosen up. Just gonna have to figure out when and where.
I am also susceptible to going on tilt when somebody suckouts on me for a big amount. Sometimes, I still have a good enough stack to carry on. But I end up donkeying it all away on marginal plays after I go on tilt. So another leak that I'm trying to fix.
Hopefully as I gain more experience, these things will come. =)
3 comments:
hey nova! how much did you win 5th place?
Goodluck on the other MTTs!
5th was around US$200 I think.
goodluck to u 2. i heard you won nick's freeroll. Good job man.
nova
thanks! hehe... got lucky on the final 5. :D
Post a Comment