Last Friday's tournament was fun. Dealing table 2 I managed to survive until the final table with a short but workable stack. Down to 5 players, this hand came up. Playing the big blind with 10K in chips, blinds at 1/2 K, it is folded to the small blind who limps in. I discover QQ and go all-in, while the small blind, a very savvy and tricky player snap calls. He has pocket kings. Rut Row! The flop almost destroys all hope, A/K/10. The turn is no help but the river is my jack for the gutter ball straight. Now much healthier a couple of other players are eliminated and I win some more chips. The 3 of us are pretty close in chips, as the chip leader I suggest a 3 way chop of the $1100 total prize pool. One player wants to play it out, but the other suggests we each take $300 (2nd place money), and play it out for the rest. We agree, one is eliminated and I am heads up against the non-chopper. I eliminate him within 4 or 5 hands and take home $500. Nice to win and be on the right side of a gigantic suck out for once.
Now for my topic of the week: "Risk of Ruin"
Re-reading Annie Duke's book, "Decide to Play Great Poker", the topic of how tight to play in different stages of a tournament is discussed. Her contention is that at the start of a tournament with blinds very low, your "risk of ruin" is low as well, so you should play very tight. The reasoning being that it is very difficult to lose your seat so you should wait for premium hands, good position, etc. Later, when the blinds are larger in proportion to your chip stack, you must loosen up your play as your risk of ruin is much higher. I have had lots of discussion with friends on this topic, and many believe and play like "well, the blinds are so small that I can gamble earlier, and tighten up later if I don't win any chips". That is true, and early aggression or catching huge with weak cards can create the monster stack that can bully its way to the final table (or just limp there). I have tried it both ways and am not sure of the best answer. What say you?
3 comments:
Hi Phil
I tend to play looser early on and tighten up as the blinds get higher.
This comment gives me food for thought.
Thanks
I agree with Dave. I like playing loose early because I can see more hands cheaply and once in a while I will hit a monster and knock out 2 or 3 players and have plenty of chips to make the final table. I tend to play tighter later on but make bigger raises when the blinds are bigger with my premium hands. Hmmmm. Maybe I should change it up now and then now that I've told you my strategy. Blast!
Good job on that $500 win. That's awesome!
So, I've been thinking about this all day and I'm convinced that Annie has this one wrong. Oh well. Even the pros screw up from time to time.
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