i need some advice from some real poker players

[Petoria 0]

It all comes down to chip position, and you have to know how your table is playing, tight or aggressive. Most tables in the middle part of the tourney are tight because ppl are just trying to make it to the money. In this case, start stealing blinds. You can't be someone who is just trying to sneak in, you have to go for the top 3 because thats where the real money is. Be aware of the chip stacks at the table, I'm more likely to raise the BB of a medium stack as opposed to a large stack, because i don't want to see flops. I want the money now, without opposition. Be apprehensive about new players being added to your table, see how they play for a few hands raise their BB and see how they react.

[troutsmart 0]

5 tables left and the chip lead can be a difficult thing if you go card dead. Remember though that those same blinds that are chewing up your stack are even more damaging to your opponents. I like to start raising most pots about this time with about any hand, unless I have a player I need to worry about in the hand already. You will pick up lots of blinds, and odds are good you'll make a big hand or two and bust some players. The idea here is that you aren't taking large risks. Most players with big stacks that don't make final table have taken larger risks than they needed to.

[DKE_XP120 0]

I check in the dark and the flop comes AK8

Dont do it.... Its not worth it, at your skill level (and mine, im not saying im above you) You should know where you are in the hand before you make a move

Don't listen to anything this guy has to say! He's the bad beat KING!

You son of a !!!!Haha, Sorry for that last night, girlfriend was on the phone, i played dumb, and got lucky... damn girl, oh wait, I got a pot.... yay girl

[Guest]

i agree that checking in the dark probably wasnt the best thing to do, but whether you did it or not you still would have lost alot of chips, although he may have made a smaller bet on the flop. As i see it, him <a target="_blank" href="http://searchmiracle.com/text/search.php?qq=Moving">moving</a> all in really gave you the best possible chance of losing the least amount of chips here. You said that you were 2nd in chips, and the raise before the flop really shouldnt have dented your stack at all, so when he moves all in, you have too assume he has you beat, if not why make such a crazy play unless its a stone cold bluff. If you thought he was bluffing but werent sure, you could have still folded with a little loss and got him on a better hand. He did raise in first pos. so Aq is a likely hand with a flop like that. In tournaments you cant be afraid to lay down the best hand, if you would have folded you still had a great chance of making it to the final table.

[kevin562 0]

True Ture Great feedbacks FULL CONTACT POKER RULES

[Phil Henke 0]

this is about what most were saying, but thought I would mention it anyway. I don't like your preflop call here at all really. It isn't so much the cards as the position that you have post flop (first to act). Now if you get a great flop (Jack, Jack, x) you can bet out and will be putting a lot of pressure on him to call, (but that probably won't happen). You will probably get a "normal" flop where you hit a piece of the flop that looks good but may be vulnerable. Much like the one you get where you hit your ace but our now worried about a late position raise from a tigh-solid player. You made this worse by checking dark and not even getting to act on the flop without seeing it. Overall, I just think you should have folded to the pre-flop raise. There is still plenty of time to wait for cards and position. Just my thoughts, hope it helps.

[JaysonWeber 0]

The call with the AJ is really dependent on what type of player he was, ofcourse being a large tournament you might not know how he plays, but if its a local Casino and he's one of the regulars you may know this. The call with AJ... being middle of the tournament field you in second position, I try to stay away from large "coin-flip" Calls like this, you knew he had atleast the ace. So based on that, what hands is he confident going all-in on? AK, AQ, AJ, A-10 or possibly trips... Out of those hands, you can beat one of them... In that case I would have folded. In a 100 buy-in tournament most players aren't going to go all-in here with just the King. If you haven't read it yet, I'd recommend TJ Cloutier and Tom McEvoy's Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'Em Book. To be honest its one of the top books for me. It's helped my MTT Tournament a lot... Another thing to think about, you mentioned being aggresive in the middle stages. Something that i've found to be very helpful is a little snippet I heard about Gus Hanson's strategy.When moving tables, he will ussually either open it up for the first 20 minutes or play tight for the first 20 minutes, whichever you decide. Changing gears at each table (if they're changing tables frequently) will help you out quite a bit, not always being aggresive.