Tournament Strategy

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 01:48 PM

One other thing on the short-stack play:

* Many players get disgusted w/ their BAD HOLDINGs IN THE big blind.

I've seen All-ins, where the Big Blind only needs to call 1 to win 5. +500 odds. But they fold, b/c they're embarrassed by their 52 (offsuit).

Have even seen worse. BB is holding crap hand. Super-short stack goes all-in, for < 1BB. BigBlind hates his hand so much, that he mucks. He wouldn't have had to put in a penny to play it.

**blankoblanco** · 06-15-17, 06:21 PM

You're absolutely right, Chucky. There are a lot of players who are too obsessed with always getting it in with the "best" hand, rather than actually evaluating the math involved in poker. Many of them are the same players who blind out trying to find a strong hand to shove, when they needed to just shove their 98 in a decent spot. You might finally find that AA after you've whittled yourself down to 2 BBs. You're still screwed.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:11 PM

One other thing on the short-stack play:

* Many players get disgusted w/ their BAD HOLDINGs IN THE big blind.

I've seen All-ins, where the Big Blind only needs to call 1 to win 5. +500 odds. But they fold, b/c they're embarrassed by their 52 (offsuit).

Have even seen worse. BB is holding crap hand. Super-short stack goes all-in, for < 1BB. BigBlind hates his hand so much, that he mucks. He wouldn't have had to put in a penny to play it.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:12 PM

Right on, Blanco. Had one Big Blind hand that I'll discuss in a minute.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:32 PM

On Thursday, played the 2pm. Per usual, only a few hands of note:

* Was dealt QQ. Flop comes Ace-hi, w/ 2 spades. Bet and get called. Try to double-barrel bluff, maybe he's on spades. Get raised, and I fold.

* I call QJ(offsuit) in BigBlind, 4-way pot w/ no betting action on Flop. Turn puts Ace-King on board, w/ 3rd heart. I have gutshot w/ a big-Heart. I bet 2/3 pot and steal it.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:35 PM

I have KK in BigBlind. Early limper at 200. Mid-pos raise to 550. I don't want to blow him off the hand, I raise to 1100. Limper folds, original Raises bumps it up to 3500. $ is going in, I'm all-in, he calls. He has AA! I stand up...turn is a King! I suck out and double up.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:41 PM

Hand I went out on is a pretty marginal play:

* In BB, I call mid-pos Raiser w/ 62 (spades). Flop is J64, w/ one spade. Middle pair, and only one Face-card, so maybe didn't hit raiser's range.

Turn is offsuit 3, probably the ultimate fool's gold card. I knew I needed to improve on Turn to continue. Really I needed a Spade to give me sufficient outs, or I needed a 6/2 to get to 2pair+.

He bets enuf to put me all-in. I (regrettably) call. Only way I'm getting right price there is if he's bluffing X% of time. River is a brick, I'm out.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:44 PM

Played the 5pm. Even fewer noteworthy hands to remember:

* Very card-dead. WAs hardly involve in any hands.

* Did have KQ in SmallBlind of a limped pot. Board is Queen-hi. I bet on Turn, figuring that I surely have BEST queen. Get called by a guy who limped AQ in mid-Pos.

This tournament's Blind structure goes up quicker. Before too long, I'm into shove mode.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:46 PM

* Mid-pos opens w/ raise. I go all-in w/ AK behind him. Folded back to raiser. Good bit of $$ in the pot, and modest amount to call. He's getting at least +200 and folds! Strange, but not surprising. As I referenced, a lot of people just don't contemplate Pot Odds. They view their hand more as a black/white situation of Good/Bad.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:51 PM

The hand I went out on, I have no problem with it. I'd do it again, in a second.

Mid-pos Raiser, everyone else Folds. I'm in BigBlind (at 4BB in back) w/ KT(suited). This leaves a lot of dead $$ in the pot. I calculate odds to be about +190. 24 to win 46.

EZ to put raiser on a Ax hand. Only hand I'm not getting fair odds is vs AK. I call, he has AJ. 41% heads-up, so very profitable call. He hits an Ace and wins the hand.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:53 PM

Was in the same room as the 6max players. Name players like Selbst/Sands/Silver. I won't say I'd be intimidated to play vs them. I'm not a nervy guy. But I will say that I wouldn't feel as well-prepared as I should be.

A lot of bright young minds. A guy like Max Silver has run several simulations. Just have to feel like he's prepared for all situations. Don't want to bring a knife to a gun-fight.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-15-17, 11:54 PM

In the 2pm, I saw next to a large but cool guy from Chicago. We shot the bull about the Bears. He did again peg me for a Jamie Gold clone, so that reference hits for the 40th time.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 12:44 AM

Been out here for the better part of a week now, on the poker-scene. Can make an observation or two:

* 95% of the players are enjoyable + ez to get along with. Man...5% are dicks. Just saying.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 12:46 AM

Plan for Friday is to play the Golden Nugget, 1pm.

On Sunday, I plan to play the Rio 2pm again. If any of the SBR guys want to play in that tourney, just let me know.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 06:16 AM

Wanted to comment on one hand from the recent One Drop tourney:

* I'm not evaluating whether Polk was right or whether Jacobson was wrong. Just understand that tournaments swing on one decision. Results change in an instant.

Polk won it, but the big hand was a semi-bluff that he got thru. In rough terms...

* Polk gets to Turn w/ AT (diamonds) on King-hi board w/ two Spades. Pot is ~ 2000. Polk has 4000 behind.

He goes all-in w/o a pair, but a nut-flush draw. So, he's 12 outs to top-pair+. Any diamond or any Ace.

Jacobson is getting +150 odds, 4000 to win 6000. He tanks and folds. He had KJ (spades)! He had top-pair, w/ a flush draw.

I'm not evaluating whether he was right. But, no one is gonna call him a donkey if he makes that call. And Polk would have been drawing very thin on River.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 06:19 AM

Doug got it all-in behind with his short stack, but was able to outflop Jacobson and secure a key double. It was the next hand against the same opponent, however, that was the most talked about hand of the night.
Blinds 120k/240k/40k. 9 Players Remaining.
Doug is in the big blind with A♦ T♦
Jacobson raises to 525k from middle position. Only Doug calls.
Flop (1.2M) K♦ 4♦ 2♠
Doug checks. Jacobson bets 450k. Doug calls.
Turn (2.1M) 3♠
Doug checks. Jacobson bets 1M. Doug moves all-in for 4.5M
Jacobson tanks for four minutes before folding K♠ J♠
The hero fold from Jacobson sent a boat-load of EV over to Doug, who was now sitting in the top 3 with 7.6M chips.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 06:21 AM

I missed the part where Polk also picked up a gutshot on Turn. So, he had 15 outs.

Strong enuf to semi-bluff, in Polk's mind. If he had a pot-sized bet behind, I'd say that's a great play.

The tricky part is over-betting the pot. Of course, that looks super-strong.

**gkramerica** · 06-16-17, 07:30 AM

Originally posted by ChuckyTheGoat

I have KK in BigBlind. Early limper at 200. Mid-pos raise to 550. I don't want to blow him off the hand, I raise to 1100. Limper folds, original Raises bumps it up to 3500. $ is going in, I'm all-in, he calls. He has AA! I stand up...turn is a King! I suck out and double up.

Earlier, you refer to using a standard bet size for preflop raises, and the same should apply to 3bets. First raise should be 1800-2000, I would think.

You had a similar comment in this thread when flopping a set with 66, then trying to decide between min-raising or bombing it. Both are wrong (imo), unless your opponent is a complete novice. Again, I would raise a normal amount with your whole raising range.

**gkramerica** · 06-16-17, 07:57 AM

Originally posted by ChuckyTheGoat

Hand I went out on is a pretty marginal play:
* In BB, I call mid-pos Raiser w/ 62 (spades). Flop is J64, w/ one spade. Middle pair, and only one Face-card, so maybe didn't hit raiser's range.
Turn is offsuit 3, probably the ultimate fool's gold card. I knew I needed to improve on Turn to continue. Really I needed a Spade to give me sufficient outs, or I needed a 6/2 to get to 2pair+.
He bets enuf to put me all-in. I (regrettably) call. Only way I'm getting right price there is if he's bluffing X% of time. River is a brick, I'm out.

Don't have stack sizes, but 62s is fold PF. Sure the pot odds are right, but these low card hands have such negative implied odds. Usually, you flop nothing and have to fold. The other times, you get a piece and have to decide between folding and giving up your equity, or calling down while beating only air.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:03 AM

Disagree on the 62s hand. Correct defense of BigBlind is pretty wide.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:07 AM

Elky's Tournament strategy book would have BB defending a lot of low suited cards. The hands that AREN'T good BB defense hands are many Ax holdings. Reason being that you're often trapped vs a bigger Ace, where u feel obligated to call down.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:10 AM

The top-pros defend BB extremely wide.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:50 AM

Originally posted by gkramerica

Earlier, you refer to using a standard bet size for preflop raises, and the same should apply to 3bets. First raise should be 1800-2000, I would think.

You had a similar comment in this thread when flopping a set with 66, then trying to decide between min-raising or bombing it. Both are wrong (imo), unless your opponent is a complete novice. Again, I would raise a normal amount with your whole raising range.

Fair comment on the bet-sizing. I don't like to give bet-sizing tells at all. My opinion is that bet-sizing should look the same pre-flop. Post-flop, I don't agree.

As far as Pre-flop betting increments, I use smaller than most. Some players vary their PF bet-size, such that an opponent could scale their hands and see thru the backs of their cards. IE:
* 2.0x, that's just an open. KJ.
* 3.0x, he likes his hand. TT.
* 4.5x, he has a premium hand. JJ+ or AK.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:54 AM

If I'm opening the pot, I use a standard size. I don't want anybody scaling my hand to a formula. If I'm 25+ BB, I use 2.5x or even a little smaller. The pros will tell u that u get the same Fold%, regardless of sizing. So why not risk less?

As I get shorter stacked, I bet 10% of MY stack. And when I get to 14-20 BB, I Min-raise. Some of my BEST pots have come when I Min-raise (or close to it). OPPONENT has a mindset of scaling bet size to hand-strength. No, I sized it relative to my chip-stack. I've min-raised AA and had stupid action behind - once had Q7(o) go all-in as a steal attempt.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:55 AM

On the KK hand, I agree that I should have sized a little bigger. If I had used 2.5x increments, should have been closer to 1350. I just don't like to bloat pots.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 10:58 AM

My opinion on post-flop is that bet-sizing should be relative to wetness of board. Think about the hand you're REPPING, not so much the hand u actually have.

If you have a big pair and feel like your opponent is on a draw, u want to charge him heavy. I think the msg-board guys would say that a ratio ~ 1.0 pot-size bet is appropriate on the flop.

On a dry board, there aren't that many hands that can continue, so smaller bet-size should be appropriate. I think half-pot bet is considered standard, where u aren't revealing much information on your hand.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 11:00 AM

That's one of my observation from sitting in poker-room for better part of a week:

* Bet-sizing on the flop is incredibly transparent.

Subtlety? What subtlety? I have a hand..All-in.

Position? What position? I'm all-in.

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-16-17, 11:05 AM

One other observation on Pre-flop Bet-sizing tells:

* I swear the 6x incremental bet is (always) JJ.

I've seen this so many times. Players have been taught to press this hand PF to clear out the hand.

They're scared to death that it's going to flop poorly. IE, w/ 1 or 2 overs. And their premium hand is now crap.

If u act behind them and go All-in, how would they respond? Can they let that hand go?

**SharpAngles** · 06-16-17, 01:20 PM

Chuckster poker is all about finding your edge and pushing it in the right spots.

You need to use this Jamie Gold edge properly so get out there and start selling pieces of "yourself" in the WSOP events. Maybe throw in a couple movie projects that need investors for diversification. This edge could be worth six figures but may not last long so I suggest pushing it now!

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-17-17, 02:56 AM

Sharpy, I might be too late. Jamie is old news.

Like I said, I play up the angle sometimes at tournaments:

"NOt every day u get to play with a world champ! Hey...I played my way DOWN to the $60 tournaments."

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-17-17, 02:57 AM

Played the 1pm Golden Nugget on Friday. Bricked out, but I recommend it as a good tournament:

1 p.m.

Daily No Limit Hold'em

$20,000

$150

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-17-17, 02:59 AM

For the guys staying Downtown, this should set up as a nice tourney:

1) Blind structure is similar to the Rio 2pm. 15k stack, start w/ 300 BB.
2) Buy-in is a little cheaper. $150.
3) Player pool is a little smaller, like 300.
4) 1st prize was ~ $7000.
5) Should finish up significantly earlier than the Rio (which ran until 5am).

**ChuckyTheGoat** · 06-17-17, 03:00 AM

My plan is to play:

Sunday 6/18: Rio 2pm.
Monday 6/19: Golden Nugget 1pm.

**gkramerica** · 06-17-17, 09:27 AM

Originally posted by ChuckyTheGoat

The top-pros defend BB extremely wide.

- top pros are better than you post flop. Would elky have gone broke here?
- you aren't deep enough to play post flop
- 62s is a bottom 10% hand. You can't defend 92% of hands, especially when your stack is dwindling
- negative implied odds!!! Pot odds not as important as implied. This isn't a sports bet. Or if it is, the house has the option to ask for more money after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter.

**gkramerica** · 06-17-17, 10:19 AM

Originally posted by ChuckyTheGoat

Played the 1pm Golden Nugget on Friday. Bricked out, but I recommend it as a good tournament:

1 p.m.

Daily No Limit Hold'em

$20,000

$150

Thx for the tip. I was looking for a reason to head downtown. Gl today