Joined: Mar '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39 (F)
Posts: 48
been plaing alot of tournaments and small stake sit and go - i find im less prone to tilt in tournament format and play tighter
if the cards come early than fine, but my question is - as good as it is 2 play tight and wait for the right cards ive found myslef short stacked feeling i have to make a move in order to stay in the game with less than optimal hands, so when should you play looser in order to rake some money in and what sort of hands do you play, any ace? any suited connectors?
and when the blinds get big, do you think it is worth raising in the small blind to see the hand regardlesS?
Joined: May '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 97
Well that depends. I usually play the same in tournaments and I watch all players and try to learn their style. If get short stacked by not playing many hands I just make a raise when I fell like I can steal the pot or blinds, but not with s**t hands like 92, at least a suited ace or suited connectors or even K7s, J9s or similar. Most of the time this works, if you pay attention to the table.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 58 (M)
Posts: 2432
At any given tournament is coming the moment to take a risky move,Sooner or later you make that move to climb in the rankings and get in the money zone.It require some luck and knowlidge.Depens on what type of players you have on the table,is no general rule.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
We take some decisions at SnG's that we don't do at ring tables. For instance, yesterday i was playing $0.02/$0.05 and i finally got an AA. With all the will and greed to win the most possible, i slow played more than i should and i ended up loosing all my stack, knowing that would most probably happen. So i had AA, one opponent raised, i called, and there's a second call. Flop 3,5,7, one bets half pot, and me, instead of raising, decided to just call. The third guy also called. Turn, 10. First guy bet half pot ($2,75 at the moment), and i realized i could have probably just lost my oportunity to win that pot. The second guy folded and me, later than it should have been, went all-in. Of course i got the call with pocket 10's and the river didn't helped me. Somehoe i know this wouldn't be happening in an SnG, but i can't explain why, it's just because i play different there...
Joined: Nov '11
Location: Estonia
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 614
cash tables and tourneys are 100% diffrend ..... ive learned that hard way i suck badly at cash tables loads of sharks there who wait fishies like me i shoulda stick with 1-5 usd tourneys sit-gos only at least til i learn to control myself
Joined: Feb '12
Location: Canada
Age: 64 (M)
Posts: 6036
There's nothing worse than just seeing your stack slowly bleed away. It happens when playing tight like I do too like you...
Folks notice that you play tight, so when you actually DO make a move,...they take you seriously. I like to raise BIG or shove in that situation in the small blind, on the button,...or even 1 place behind the button. If you have a decent pocket, particularly if you have an ace,...you should do well,...most of the time they'll fold unless they have a huge stack.
Of course,....if you're playing a BankrollMob freeroll, or maybe a Hubble,...all strategy or tactics go RIGHT OUT the window....
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
Posted by steffi500: been plaing alot of tournaments and small stake sit and go - i find im less prone to tilt in tournament format and play tighter
if the cards come early than fine, but my question is - as good as it is 2 play tight and wait for the right cards ive found myslef short stacked feeling i have to make a move in order to stay in the game with less than optimal hands, so when should you play looser in order to rake some money in and what sort of hands do you play, any ace? any suited connectors?
and when the blinds get big, do you think it is worth raising in the small blind to see the hand regardlesS?
cheers!
Hi Steffi....... this is a common problem and is supported by the good advice above...... however, it would be worth your while finding a thread, an article or get a book that refers to HArringtons explanation of the M zone. This (in case you dont know) will assist you to know when to mix your hands up a bit and start playing looser. Essentially its the sum of the blinds plus any antes for a whole a table of play, relevant to your stack. The bigger your M, the tighter you can play. The smaller your M, the looser you have to play or face limping out!
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
and when the blinds get big, do you think it is worth raising in the small blind to see the hand regardlesS?
G'day mate
The answer is no.If you always raise just because you are in the small blind it will cost you money and chips in the long run. people figure out that type of play very fast and you will be throwing away good money when you try to steal to often with crap.
Play good poker and remember most times the best move you can make is to fold.
Joined: Jun '10
Location: Belgium
Age: 51 (M)
Posts: 1457
Well I copied a thread of Nightmare161 with deals with the different zone in a tournament
This can be helpfull
The most important aspect of tournament poker that you should know.
(I copied and pasted)
The Zone System was first introduced by Dan Harrington in his highly acclaimed book Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II: The Endgame. The system divides a poker tournament into five different zones based on a player's stack size as compared to the blinds and antes. Each zone will affect your play and correct strategy will vary dramatically as a result. The ratio of your stack compared to the blinds and antes is referred to as your "M." For example: You have $750 in chips and the blinds are $25/$50 with no antes. This means that you have 10 times more than the starting pot and your M is 10.
The Green Zone: M is 20 or More
In the Green Zone all weapons are at your disposal and you can play in all different kinds of playing styles. This is the place to be but you must be careful to balance your play in a way that allows you to continue building your stack while simultaneously protecting it. You can afford to play in both a super conservative style as well as in a super aggressive style.
The Yellow Zone: M is 10-20
You can no longer play conservative (tight) poker. The blinds and antes are starting to hurt your stack and you must loosen up your play and take more risks. Certain types of hands become less playable, such as small pairs and small suited connectors. This is because these hands now lack the implied odds necessary to turn a profit: The stacks have to be big in order to achieve this.
The Orange Zone: M is 6-10
You have now lost the ability to make more advanced moves. For example, you can't come over the top against a raise and a re-raise because, even if you make an all-in raise, your bet will not be big enough to discourage a call from even the weakest of hands.
Your main concern is to be first in whenever you decide to play (unless you have a monster hand like AA-QQ and A-K). You must try to preserve your chips for an all-in move, such as an all-in re-raise when you are in the big blind and suspect a steal. This means that you should not make marginal calls in the big blind or small blind, or limp in with drawing hands the way you could when you were in the Green or Yellow zone.
The Red Zone: M is 1-5
Your only move is basically to move all-in. Even if you make the minimum raise you are pot committed and can't get away from the hand. If your M is 3 or less then you will most likely be called by any two cards when you make your all-in raise. Small pairs and small suited connectors are again playable but only as a means to making an all-in move. You need to steal as many blinds and antes as possible and hope to get lucky if you are called (most likely you will be the underdog) or pick up a monster hand and hopefully get called.
If you are first in and sitting in a late position you can move all-in with plenty of hands; AA-22, any two cards 10 or bigger, A-x, K-x, Q-x, any suited connector, and any connector if your M is 3 or less (such as 9-8 off-suit and the like).
The Dead Zone: M is less than 1
As implied by the heading, you are as good as out of the tournament and every move you make will be instantly called. You need a lot of luck to get back into the tournament. The most important thing to consider is your play before you enter the Dead Zone. If you have blinded yourself down to this position then you have made a mistake. You should only end up in the Dead Zone by losing a big pot when your stack was bigger than it is now and your opponent had slightly less chips than you had.
You should make your move when you are first in and before the big blind arrives (this means moving in with any two cards when a first-in opportunity arises). This way you at least have some chance of getting the pot heads-up against a random hand.
Joined: Mar '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39 (F)
Posts: 48
good article fly, cheers
just won $8 out of a freeroll - which 4 me starting out, im delighted about!, came 30ish out of 2000, but i found myself having to play cards w/ no choice, need to play looser i think later in the game and realise my zones!
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 1646
Posted by steffi500: good article fly, cheers
just won $8 out of a freeroll - which 4 me starting out, im delighted about!, came 30ish out of 2000, but i found myself having to play cards w/ no choice, need to play looser i think later in the game and realise my zones!
Nice result Congratulations! i hope you can turn it into a nice bankroll. I would say that when you get REALLY low in chips (less than 12bb's) its always better to shove with suited connectors than with Arag. Good luck
Joined: Jun '10
Location: Belgium
Age: 51 (M)
Posts: 1457
Posted by steffi500: good article fly, cheers
just won $8 out of a freeroll - which 4 me starting out, im delighted about!, came 30ish out of 2000, but i found myself having to play cards w/ no choice, need to play looser i think later in the game and realise my zones!
Well hope you had something about it. As I stated before this article was posted in a former thread of Nightmare161 and he also copied it from somewhere ... but still it s usefull info
Hope that you keep on going and be carefull with you 8$ profit
a tip for freerolls : in the early stage it can be profitable to call 3 or 4 BB raises when you have suited connectors --> when you hit something , it can bring a lot of chips (especially when your opponents have monster starting hands and do not wanne fold)
Congratulations! i hope you can turn it into a nice bankroll. 
