Playing Supertight Early

[Kangaroo 0]

Well in the last few tourneys (8-10) ive played Ive been playing super tight early and in 1 or 2 ive done decently but the others ive jsut been getting blinded down to a rediculous level where ill push with trash with about 6BB and get called by nothing great but be knocked out.could I be playing too tight or should I be waiting for AA-JJ, AK, AQ in the early stages of a tournament. It just seems lately Ill get AQ or AK once raise it up and face a massive reraise then fold.now I realise i havent given much evidence in the way of HHs but what is your guys stance on this Ive had a few good players tell me to tighten up early and read it just wondering if im overdoing it.

[Rocketwadster 0]

Matusow (and one other player I can't recall right now) did an interview recently talking about the early stages of a tournament. In their opinion, when you are starting a tourney with some deep stacks, it just doesn't make much sense to be splashing around with junk playing for nothing pots. They listed an example of a "pro" doing just that, who ended up busting out very early due to his recklessness. Tight is right!

[Briguy 0]

the others ive jsut been getting blinded down to a rediculous level where ill push with trash with about 6BB and get called by nothing great but be knocked out.

I don't understand how this can happen on a regular basis if you are playing tight. The BB/stack ratio is high enough to avoid losing a large portion of your stack early unless you are incorrectly folding postflop a hellalot. Maybe you are selectively remembering a few tourneys where your big hands got cracked early, just because of bad luck? Maybe you are overplaying big pair hands on crappy flops?

[....Ian.... 0]

tight is right. but early i will take flops w/ speculative hands in LP in an unraised potABC pretty much tho. except when i get super premium i overbet, cuz it will get called

[benhoug 0]

Basically there are two schools of thought. One is, play tight early b/c there's not enough in the pot to make it worth fighting for. The other is, you can afford to splash around w/ less than premium hands and hopefully hit a lucky flop where you can bust someone w/ a big hand.10K main events w/ a long, slow structure are a far, far different animal from online MTTs w/ starting chipstacks of 1500 and fast levels. I still don't know which is right, but then, I'm a tournament Donkey anyway.

[Mercury69 3]

tight is right. but early i will take flops w/ speculative hands in LP in an unraised potABC pretty much tho. except when i get super premium i overbet, cuz it will get called

I generally go that way also, regarding the "speculative in LP" limps. Maybe just pick a hand before the tourney that you will play, like 98s or A5, and bet it like it was a premium hand, if only to juice things up. Really depends on circumstances, though.

[Bizzle 0]

I generally go that way also, regarding the "speculative in LP" limps. Maybe just pick a hand before the tourney that you will play, like 98s or A5, and bet it like it was a premium hand, if only to juice things up. Really depends on circumstances, though.

Take all advice by Mercury at your own risk.

[Drwnded 0]

As stated, I agree with tight play early online. In LP, I will also play speculative hands like small pairs and suited connectors, but I disagree that the pot must be unraised. I'm happy to call a small raise because if I hit my hand hard and make two pair or better, or a big big draw, then you'll often break someone with an overpair. Also, if the original raiser has a two-broadway type hand and misses the flop, he'll either check the flop to you and you can often steal the pot with a bet, or he'll make a lame, obvious probe/continuation-type bet which you can then raise significantly with any two cards and often take the pot down.In general, the looser you play, the better you must play after the flop, and the stronger your reads on your opponents have to be. Most tourney players suck at post-flop play.

[blakheart 3]

The biggest leak that I have been working on is letting the math justify a lot of longshot, speculative hands that usually don't payoff. So for example, if I have 9 3 off in the sb I do not complete no matter how many limpers come in. By avoiding these chip sucker hands you can go longer before you are in dire situations. If I am going to a speculative hand, I will try to play something where I have a clear decision post flop. So small PP's are more appealing then say 78 suited. Not an expert by any means, but just my thought.

[iggymcfly 0]

The idea that you should play supertight the first few levels of the tournament is ****ing stupid. The "tournament players play badly postflop" applies way more to your opponents than you if you have any idea how to play a deep chipstack. Honestly, you'll find worse play in the early levels of a $100+9 than you will in a .25/.50 cash game. This is where you need to take advantage and build your stack. I'd probably play 87s UTG and T9o for a raise in the CO in the early stages of a MTT. Folding small pairs isn't even on my radar.The other thing is that just the chance to double your stack early up is +EV, as doubling up once and going out once is usually preferable to just staying the same due to the chance you get to maximize your wins later. I don't know who's idea it was to stay out of the way the first few levels, but whoever said it, I'm just glad that there are so many people following him.

[cu in 4years Dan 1]

in live deepstack tournies its best to play normal.online tourneys i play loose and reckless in the early stages to build something big