First Live Tournament
Posted by PhilG86
Posted by
PhilG86
posted in
Live Poker
First Live Tournament
So I played my first live tournament last night in a local casino. £100 buy in which ended up with about a £2000 overlay which wasn't too bad.
I wasn't really sure what to expect, the table talk gave the impression that most guys played cash and tournaments all around the local area. It soon became apparent that the early levels involved everyone trying to see a flop with whatever they happened to be dealt. It wasn't uncommon to see 95,84 etc. hit a winning 2pair. I was also pretty amazed at how quickly the other players were figuring out how much to bet on each street as the action was pretty fast and the pots pretty big. After about half an hour I realised they had no concept of pot odds at all and were just betting whatever they felt like. I was pretty surprised that guys who seemed to play so much poker seemed to never even have picked up a book on the subject.
I played a pretty tight aggressive game to counter it which worked well and seem to completely confuse some of the regs. Shoving AKs for 22BB over a 3x open and a call raised a lot of eyebrows and comments on my odd play. Apparently I should have flat called and wait for a better hand to shove with.... Hmmm. (I was called and lost to J8 which flopped a straight obviously)
From then on every time I played I got a bit of banter about having AK which allowed me to trap a few people with AA and eventually busted when I shoved for 13BB with AQs and the villain tanked for a good 4 minutes before calling with JJ. I felt a bit slowrolled but everyone at the table seemed to have a bit of sympathy for him having to make such a tough decision.
I'm just interested to know if anyone has any tips for playing in these sorts of tournaments? I felt like my TAG game gave me a huge edge. I also wonder is it like this all over the world or is the British game just that far behind?
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In Austria it´s the same.... but I think not only in Austria.
In live poker the opponents are often much weaker than online. If you slightly beat 50c cashgames online..... you screw 1 Euro live games.
The problem in live poker is that you play far less hands per hour so luck is a bigger factor (per session). And in cashgames the rake and tip are ridiculous.
I think a TAG strategy is best there. Early in the tournament you can also try to see more flops than usual and just exploit your opponents with better postflop game. If there are one or two really big fish at your table try to islolate them as long as the tournament is deep enough. Also bluff less and value-bet bigger and more often.
Nice post Phil. You gave us some solid information to go on, and it sounds like you were extremely focused at the table, which is a huge edge in an of itself. First of all, an overlay is awesome, you're winning as soon as you register :D.
It's funny, when you first said you were amazing at how quickly they were "figuring out how much to bet", my first thought was that, well, they're probably just betting basically at random. Then right after you agree, saying they had no concept of pot odds, haha. This is a pretty common theme of tournaments of this calibur. Small field, relatively small buyin live events have this kind of play all over the world. Home in the USA certainly, which is the most developed poker market in the world I would say.
The hands you played speak for themselves. If the guy called your 22bb reshove with J8, then my god, your're going to win that event 2 times a week. Don't question your strategy, it's spot on. You're not going to be able to bluff these players, so you've got to wait for a hand. Maintain confidence in your approach and your play, you're doing the right thing. Don't let the fact that the other 8 guys are questing a 22bb reshove make you think that it's not the right play. Find out who is the type of player to call a 22bb reshove with J8, and find out who is the type of player who is looking to fold hands as big as JJ to a 13 bb shove. Adjust to each player accordingly.
Once you get to the final table with these guys, please don't chop! There will be a lot of pressure to do so because that's what they're used to doing, but it's okay to politely decline. If you feel like you'd be making a significant breach in ettiquette, than okay, chop it up with them. But you're always going to have an edge, and the more you play, the more valuable experience you'll get. I would also encourage you to jump into cash games with these guys, that should turn out well :)
It sounds like you've found a nice little niche of a casino for yourself here, now crush! Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing.
Thanks very much Nick.
That's useful info on final tabling I hadn't thought about the chop scenario. I'd have no problem saying no to it!
Mostly I just needed to vent to like-minded individuals. My girlfriend doesn't want to hear about my edge unless I come home with the money haha
Hahah, can't buy her dinner with Skalansky bucks! This is the perfect place to vent all of that out, and not to mention get some useful feedback. Thanks for sharing and good luck as you start becoming the man of that casino.
"But Guys! Ignore my actual roll... I'm Skalansky rich!"
I have been playing at my local casino in Bristol, UK, recently and I have also been finding these super loose passive fields also. however with full ring, and only half the tables with a dealer (and 15 minute blinds even on the deep tourneys!) that within about 3 orbits I am usually nursing a short stack. I gave that up a while back and now just look for those in suits on a Friday after work at the 1/1 cash tables. Gotta sit next to the Friday suit city types.
I think that's a really good adjustment man. If you like tourneys though, I would say you still have an edge! It's amazing the power the knowledge of pot odds and push / fold has in a structure and field like that, heh. Also if you bust the tourney, the good news is you didn't invest too much time, and the cash games await.
Definitely not just Britain and definitely not just low stakes. I played a €10k high roller here in Barcelona with a guy who 5bet folded for 40% of his stack then got his last 30bbs in calling pre flop with 95s because it was his favourite hand. How he didn't get there vs AKo was baffling and disappointing =P
Sounds like you adjusted well and were clearly a huge winner in the field. Keep at it and good luck.
Yeah its definitely like that all over. I live in the USA in Southern California in Los Angeles area, and I would say that this is the heart of live poker. There are many excellent players all over. But even with that in mind, many players happen to be huge fish when it comes to pot odds and playing position. The most common thing they do is over bet the pot when they have a monster, and their physical tells go hand in hand with their bad play, just like peanut and jelly. I have always been able to take advantage of all that... and whatever you do, don't be an amateur... DON'T TAP THE TANK and tell them how bad they are playing!
Live poker= <3
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