Just got in from a local MTT at the dog track. Busted out way too quickly, but I don't know, it might not be a Cactus Jack problem. It could be a tournament structure problem that causes me to lose, sooner more than later. This is my third loss. Probably my last, too.

It's a $45 buy-in, paying to the final table of nine. First usually is over 2K, so it's worth playing. The chip stack to start is 1000 and the blinds are 50/100 going up every fifteen minutes. The entire tournament is designed to last less than 3 hours. That, I believe, is my problem.

If you don't get off to a fast start, you are blinded out pretty fast. People play pretty loose and suckouts are all too common. Plus, this is the only time I play live. It's so different than playing online as to be a different game.

Should I pass on this from now on?

Should I play some $1/$2 at the place to get more comfortable with playing a live game?

Any advice?

HELP a brother out?


CJ

You start with 10BB... if your cards run cold for half an hour you could be out without playing a hand. I wouldn't play it, unless you're playing it for fun.

If you're determined to play, you're gonna have to loosen up big time. You'll need to double up every couple of blind levels. Hands like AQ, JJ, KQs are probably gonna need to be pushed all in, until you have a real healthy stack.

Don't even consider playing a tournament with a structure as bad as this. At the minimum, a tournament needs to give you 50xBB to start, and blinds shouldn't go up any faster than 30minutes. Towards the end of tournies they might speed it up a bit but this is an absolute crapshoot. 15minute blind level means that at the most, you'll see one round of hands before blinds go up. This is an absolutely horrible structure and you should stay away from this unless you want to be involved in a total crapshoot. You can find plenty of places to play that provide better structure, even in home games.[/b]

Cactus Jack

I really think you should seriously think about playing live regularly. Playing online gives you convenience and the ability to multitable, but honestly there is no comparison between the two. Playing live gives you a much better read on the players, gives you a much better idea of how the table plays, and subsequently you will have a much greater edge if you are better than average. It is very hard to put any psychology into online games but at a live table it becomes a huge factor, which makes the game more complex and less mechanical. Overall I think it makes for a much more exciting and fun game.

As far as ADD is concerned, well, since you successfully sat through 12+ years of school I'm sure you can manage to sit through a poker game without losing interest.