Sassy Santa is one of the ones you have to watch for.
1 Like
or because sometimes 9th in a 2k buyin , pays more than 4th in a 1k buyin … 
1 Like
I concur with SunPowerGuru. I too would have shoved on the flop in order to prevent two players from seeing the turn and river. If two of them are silly enough to call a huge reraise pre-flop with marginal hands, one of them most likely will call your shove.
LOL, and like you said, you were as predictable as could be pre-flop and they still went after you. You really can’t be your real poker self in those events.
1 Like
Thanks SS. To clarify though, you are suggesting using a traditional MTT strategy as I would in say one of the 15K league games with a far deeper format? That would bring me back to uber-tight early then TAG after the smoke from the donkey bombing clears.
It seems to me that I can use this method and either catch some hands early or resign myself to short-stack play at about the midpoint and go from there or do what SPG suggests and either build a stack early or bust early. I’ve been doing the former and while I’ve had moderate success, my percentage of “cashing” has been lower in these formats than they are for deeper tournaments. That struck me as odd since I assumed the level of play would be weaker in these.
Went 0 for 5 yesterday. That’s the longest string of these I’ve had without cashing and its frankly embarrassing. Based on past experience, I would have predicted 2 successes in 5 tries. Being blanked is certainly possible without anything being “wrong” with my play but can’t say I’m happy about it. We’ll see how it goes today.
Best of luck to you and once again, thanks for your help.
1Stack2Stack - thanks again. Guess you aren’t an economist - no “on one hand …”, you just flat concur. I totally see the point in doing this but how far are we carrying it? Why not just cut out the foreplay altogether and ship my whole stack pre-flop? Or would you stick to the opening raise and shove the rest unless an A came on the flop? What about a paired board? Suited board? In what circumstances would you not have shoved the rest?
I think I could have played the hand face up and the guy with Q10 still would have shoved on top pair, meh kicker or not. The vast majority of players in these things don’t seem to pay attention to anything but their own cards. I have to laugh because if I ever made a move like that in the live games I play or with players from the sites I previously played on, everyone would fold and call for a misdeal because I was obviously dealt pocket-trips. Its odd playing where I’m not being given the slightest bit of respect yet. It will come in time but not a great feeling for the moment. May even be an advantage if good players are calling me light? I’ll have to think on how to best exploit that.
OK, 1 tournament does not prove anything one way or the other but I made the “cash” in the 2nd satellite I played today, ending a 6 game losing streak. Part of the reason I had a stack to play with was being more aggressive with really monster hands, like pocket A’s. Apparently, people will call absurd raises pre-flop with absurdly weak (but pretty) hands. Q10 suited seems to be a fan favorite here. Is there a merit badge given out for that hand or something I don’t know about?
To be honest, when I had the pocket A’s, I raised for about 1/3 of my stack and 2 people called before a 3rd went all-in. I called and 1 other did as well. The A’s held against the K-rag who went all-in and a Q10 suited. It was a much larger score than I would have normally had because of the oversized raise pre-flop, That seems to induce a sort of crazy response from some people who feel they need to crack your big hand with crap and so call whatever it was you bet. Who knew?
Will let you know if this strategy continues to work. It would help if I kept getting pocket rockets if anyone in programming at Replay Poker is listening. Hey, I just want them for scientific research
GL all and thanks again for all the help and advice
Well, I did.
1 Like
Maybe Replay Poker could send out a memo or something to let us newbies in on it when we sign up?
I can see why this is a valid strategy. If your hands hold, you have a stack to start working people over with. If your hands don’t hold, then that’s that. Sooner better than later I guess?
As an FYI, coasted to another cash just now so that’s 2 for 3 today. Not great hands but making the early ones pay outsized rewards is kind of useful. Its the total opposite of how I had been playing and its kind of amusing at the moment. Lean into the donkeys - how fun!
GL. Get out of the satellites as soon as you can.
1 Like
TY - I am a cheap, cheap man
Really, just want to win some extra chips in the promotional leaderboard thing they have going until the 28th. An extra 100K or so would be nice right now.
Sooner is better than later. The idea here is that the weakest players will all bust out pretty quick, and somebody ends up with their chips. It might as well be you, right?
You can then afford to tighten up and, as you said, more or less “coast” to the finish.
1 Like
Warlock,
Depending on total entrants, either last 18 or 27 ( 9 ppl tables ) is where the niche lies. How you get to that point is your call, and hopefully not in the bottom 30% stack wise. From this point till final 9 is what counts. It will also make a difference if there is a current “promotion” that includes the sattalites.
For a while I was doing fine, then went on a dry spell and realized somehow I had started playing that small window incorrectly… once I corrected that I started “cashing” again in the sattalites.
( and even 2k entry for 15k ticket is +13,000 , sometimes in the cheap MTTs 4-5th place is less than 13k, and the sattalites prolly have fewer ppl to go thru )
1 Like
Any queen ten suited or not owns on this site.
1 Like
Webagel,
Isn’t that the truth though! What the heck is up with that hand? Is it the official Replay Poker suck-out hand or did some yahoo write a blog claiming it was the new A’s? No idea why people find it so amusing or why they call what they do with it. Insanely frustrating.
GL Webagel - I see you in many of the same satellites and hope you do well in them.
Sassy_Sarah -
Thanks again for the response. Ah, if I only had a single issue to correct There is absolutely a shift in strategy that goes on when the game enters basically the final stretch of say 20 or under from the initial field of 80-100. How I’ve approached that part of the game is highly dependent on the stack size I have relative to the rest of the field. If I’m short-stacked I go almost dormant unless I can take a shot at a medium-stack who is also playing defensively and doesn’t want to risk his/her place and so will likely fold to my shove.
If I’m on a medium stack, I am tight and if I’m a large stack I try to attack (within reason) the medium stacks. To me, the medium stacks are the ones most susceptible to attack because they feel if they play tight, they can outlast the short stacks. Short stacks are dangerous and I wont attack them unless I am prepared to put them all-in.
One thing I actually cant stand is when a large stack sits out and leaves the table hoping just to outlast being blinded out. It is such a cowardly and weak way to play. Big stacks have a role in the game and sitting out isn’t one of them. Just a pet peeve of mine though. Another might be running the clock down on every freaking hand to try and make someone else blind out. Weak, but more acceptable than sitting out I guess.
In short, I play the final stretch in a satellite almost exactly the way I play the bubble line in live tournaments. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have a good amount of experience staring at that line and trying to figure out how to get across it. You have to look at the rest of the field, your table, your stack and just about everything going on around you. Its a state of hyper-awareness for me where the goal has shifted from winning hands to crossing the finish line. Sounds odd but that’s the way I see it.
If you have some tips to share, please do. I am all about working on my strategy to improve my performance. I also agree that the ROI on a 2K buy-in can be pretty nice, assuming the field isn’t too bloated. The promotion just adds to the EV of each entry so the fields expand.
I divide a tournament into 7 stages and play a different baseline strategy in each. This baseline strategy is then modified by relative stack sizes at whatever table I’m at.
Changing gears like this creates “transitions,” where my new style is at odds with my table image. This can be very profitable, assuming those at the table have taken note of my table image.
Taking notes on me is generally counter-productive. You could well end up having me down as loose/aggressive when I am now in tight/passive mode. Mix up your game, make yourself hard to read, and reap the rewards.
SPG - Just a few comments to make here.
-
Since you have played large live tournaments, you had to develop a strategy for each stage of the game. I don’t think many people are familiar with tournaments on that scale. From my limited experience in multi day tournaments, I can attest to the fact they have many phases. You have a goal for each stage and each stage sets you up for the next one. However, the deepest tournament here is perhaps a 2-3 hour event. Have you streamlined your strategy down to say 3 phases here or just abbreviating your 7-stage strategy?
-
Keeping notes - Once you have played with someone enough times, notes aren’t really necessary as reference to how they play. However, while getting to know a bunch of players, having them is useful to me. Mostly they aren’t notes so much as warning labels. A one word note to remind me which basic creature I’m dealing with is extremely profitable for me, both in taking pots and in avoiding situations I don’t want to be in.
-
Would you consider “hosting” a thread on tournament strategy? I think there is a lot of information out there and tournament play is distinct from cash play. Might be a valuable resource for people to learn from and teach through. Just a thought.
1… I have abbreviated my 7-stage strategy. The stages still exist, they are just shorter.
2… If notes help you, take notes. My point was that taking notes on me won’t help much, and might hurt you.
3… Host a thread teaching everyone how to beat me? Probably not. That being said, I do try to help the community get better so they will enjoy the game more. This is why I try to share what experience I do have. I’m not the best player here, but I do know a thing or two.
Now if they had a dedicated strategy section, I would probably write more strategy-type articles.
( thought process in a hand with SunPowerGuru )
I know , that he knows, that I know, that he knows, I know he knows… what he knows…