Hi all,

I am new here and got here being referred to an article of Kowboy

So I read the article a couple of times and was ready to use my knowledge in a $3000 freeroll

I found out the strategy works well, I was well ahead in the first stages because some lives ones betted into me when I got the goods. I got a lot of good cards thereafter and it seemed like I was bullying the table. I had about 4500 in chips and was in 37th position with 300 ppl to go (started with 500)

Now the blinds where at 75/150 and went into tight aggressive mode, but I didnt have many cards to get aggressive with. When the blinds got to 200/400 I had about 3000 left and I was feeling I had to make a move (steal even with marginal hands) I raised in LP with KJ and was called by 3 or 4 ppl. the flop came J88. it was checked to me with one guy behind me and went all in. The guy behind me called and I knew I was doomed, he had Q8o.

That was the end of the tourney, pretty disappointing although the strategy worked I still made one big mistake putting my tournament life on the line.

My question is how to handle this? I mean I felt I had to make a move before I became a shortstack.
Or do you still wait for those hands and become a shortstack waiting to double up with a big hand?

I feel like when the blinds get higher you need more and more luck

Small point to consider, were there any antes by the 200/400 level? When you had KJ in LP, and with 3000 left, you have to make a move here, either all in or fold. If people already limped in preflop which looks to be the case here, an even better reason to move in. Let's assume 2 people limped preflop for 400 and there are no antes. As it stands there is 1400 in the pot which is almost half of your 3000 stack. If you move in and don't get called, you'd have 4400, which is not too bad. It would buy you a few more rounds of blinds. Even at 4400 I think you would still need to be moving in or folding, since you would want to add that 600 to your stack without much resistance.

With KJ, it wouldn't be the worst situation in the world if you called by say AQ or even QQ. With your stack, I would easily take a coinflip situation in order to double up, against say a TT or 99.

Agree with suhleafs. It's an all in or fold situation. Your M is 5, which is the high end of the Red Zone. You have about 5 rounds to catch a hand. The problem with going all in in this position is you are not the first in, which means most likely one or more of those already in the pot are going to call. That lessons the strength of your hand, which is marginal, anyway.

This being the case, I would have folded and hoped for a better spot where I can get a fold or two in front of me before going all in. With your chipstack, you can do damage to many at the table, which gives you more fold equity than you have this situation.

You rarely have easy decisions in MTTs. This is another close one.

CJ

ps--the guy with the Q8 was a donkey. Bleh.

One thing to keep in mind what a free roll is to one player is not the same thing to another. Just as one players $10 bet can be just as important to him as another persons $100 bet. What I am getting at is some players are going to call you down in a free roll with any 2 cards just because they can.

Now lets talk about being short stacked. You went from 4500 to 3000 before you felt short stacked. If you went that many rounds just paying the blinds then it just wasn't your day. But I suspect you played a few marginal hands and ended up having to lay them down to a big bet.

The big myth is if the blinds are 10% of your stack then your short stacked. If the blinds are 50 and 100 and you have 1000 or less then yes your short stacked. If the blinds are 100 and 200 and you have 2000 or less again your short stacked. But once you reach the 2000+ any double up and your around the chip average. With the blinds 200 and 400 and your stack only 3000 your hurting but dont push the panic button just yet. You being in LP means your just paid the blinds. At this point it is all in or fold. I want to triple up but if I dont have A10 or better or PP 8's or better I am not playing a hand unless I am first to act. Now if I know there is a table bully I want to get heads up with him with any A.

In this hand if the pot was entered before me by more then one player I am either calling or letting the hand go. Pot odds tell me a call is correct then if I hit I am all in. If I miss I am all in on the next Ax hand. Now if I am first to act and I have KJ I am all in. But I would rather have Ax to make this move.

You have about 17 more hands before you are truely short stacked and have to play any 2 cards. So steal the blinds and get another free round get a monster and triple up. What I am saying is pick your fights don't let them pick you.

Well done, Kowboy.

Being first in the pot is paramount when you're getting down in chips. Harrington calls it first in vigorish. Sklansky calls it the Gap Concept. You need a better hand to call than to raise.

Watch how many times you see your opponents call with a smaller hand than the original raiser. It's clearly a mistake, one which is made over and over. Honestly, there aren't too many things that a good player knows which most of his opponents don't. (Well, there are a lot, but not many this easy to remember.) Be first in, most often raise or fold, and have a better hand for calling than you would to open.

You might open or raise with A8 in LP, if you're first in the pot. If a player in EP calls, then you need more like AJ to call, AQ or AK to raise. It seems easy to get, but it's not as easy to remember.

If you guys don't see this violated over and over, I'll pay your next entry fee for any freeroll you want to play. In rereading the hand post, isn't this exactly what happened?

CJ

WTF is M?