Tourney Pot Odds

[ed1776 0]

Was playing in a small 2 table live tourney this weekend and I kept running into this situation. I was by far the big stack at the final table. At least 25k in chips with second probably around 12k and a few more players around 4k-5k. Blinds were generally anywhere from 250-500 to 400-800. I was getting above average cards and making pretty healthy raises (5x-7x the big blind) trying to force the other players to make a decision. The situation I kept running into was I was getting great pot odds to make calls but didn't have the strongest holdings. A guy moved all in for 2800 into a 17k pot when I was holding AKo and the flop came all uncoordinated under cards. A guy moved in for 2k into a 28k pot and I was holding middle pair with a strong kicker. This probably happened another 2-3 times. I generally made the call because of the ammount in the pot but I ended up losing about 60% of the time. The players were generally very loose. I'd get a lot of callers with subpar holdings even when I would make large preflop raises and pot sized flop bets.Are pot odds enough to make these kind of calls in the situation I was in?

[gobears 0]

Why are you making your standard raise 5x-7x the BB with blinds at 250/500 and 400/800 and your stack at 25K? You're building up huge pots before the flop so of course you're getting nice pot odds on many of your hands with the shorter stacks.As the big stack, you can keep your raises at 2.5x-3x the BB and other players shouldn't tangle with you unless they have a hand. By keeping the pot small, you can get away from A high or middle pair more easily after the flop.

[Actuary 3]

^^^^^^^^^^^^what he said.

[blakheart 3]

Great point Bears- People tend to fall in love with a magic preflop raise amount, and in a tournament stack sizes are very important for determing preflop raises. I often shrink down my preflop raises when M's are between 10 and 20. Otherwise, both the villian and myself may feel pot committed. If You have a huge stack and you raise that big, you are playing that hand to the river. I would rather pick off a lot of lttle pots rather than gamble with their stacks all the time, if I have a choice. Smaller raises allows you to get away from a hand if you should, and they can too so your reads are more resonable.

[Rocketwadster 0]

the higher the blinds get, the lower your pre-flop raises should be (in relation to x times the BB). No sense making a big pot with good but not great hands IMO. Your smaller raise will serve the same purpose, with much less risked.