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Pot odds? The reality is if you are calling somebody's all-in when you have JT, you are gonna lose more often then not. Do you think at the final table that people have M values much above 10-15?
If the blinds are 10K 5K w blinds of 500 then to have an M or 8 you would need about 155,000 chips. The leader may have 400,000 chips and the low stack might have 20,000 chips. Everyone else is in between 400K-20K. If the 400,000 chip leader is calling the guy with 155,000 in chips with JT (cause as you claim he has pot odds), don't you see how easily the guy with an M value of 8 goes to 310,000 chips (and probably the new chip leader, while the previous chip leader now has 245,000 chips and an M of 12-13. My point is as chip leader do make calls with things like JT, cause there is no need to at all. Let everyone else donk each other out, and you sit on your stack till you get premium hands, or the field is reduced to 2-4 players when you have to get very active.
If you are at a final table calling with JT swiggidy, cause you feel you have pot odds, chances are you are not winning tournaments. To call an all-in for 30% or more of your stack when you know you are behind at least 60-40, but as much as 92%-8% is why you don't go far at final tables. Every final table I've made I've finished in at least 2nd place (out of 12 final tables). But I have also missed alot of final tables in 12-18 place trying to accumulate chips to make the final table.
Here's the stages of a tourney for me.
1 - Early game I play only premium hands, and look for oppotunities to double up through donkeys.
2 - After the first break I like to get active if I have a big stack putting pressure on others at the table to get a LAG image. Then I tighten my play up once the image is established, and look for more premium hands with which to double up some more on. After I am seen as conservative again, I go back to LAG, and continue to do this pattern until we near the bubble.
3 - Bubble Play is where I steal pots like mad. Doesn't really matter what cards I hold, I"m just attacking weak players whenever possible (those who are afraid of not making the money), and letting those that are just as aggressive to take pots from me unless I hit a premium hand and can come over the top of them.
4 - In the Money, this is where i get extremely tight, as all the rocks on the bubble loosen up there play after hitting the money and start to throw around there chips once again. I look for truly premium hands, and try to get all my money in against short-medium stacks who just aren't willing to fold AJs when I have AK or JJ+.
5 - The good payday zone is when you get down to the last 4-5 tables. Now the money gets good, and it only get's better for each table higher you finish, and when you hit the final table for each spot higher you get. This to me is the second bubble. Once again I work on stealing pots and building my stack for the run at the final table. The key here is to play like a rock when you first hit the new money zone as short-medium stacks will loosen up again, and then when you are 1-4 away from the next pay out go back out there and build your stack.
6 - Final Table is where i play tight if I have the stack, or if I"m short stacked I"m looking to double up as often as possible. I like to maintain a M value of 8 if possible which seems to be right about average for the table. If you double up from an M value of 8 it normally makes you first or second in chips.
The final table I approach differently from 3 angles.
1 - Chip leader, As chip leader I do not want to donate chips to anybody at the table. I will play extremely tight waiting for the medium stacks to knock each other out along with the short stacks, waiting for them to build to where I am. If I get a premium holding I will play it aggresively, and in most casses try to make it an all-in pre-flop as holdings like AK or AQ do best when you can see all 5 cards.
2 - Medium stack, all I want to do is stay afloat. If I have an opportunity to steal I take it, If I meet too much resistance I fold. My goal is to stay in the middle as people continuously get knocked out. Opportunities to double up through a chip leader who applies pressure is what usually ends up happening. I get raised every single time by the chip leader in BB and fold. He continues to do this until I get a good hand, and push over him. More often then not he will call my JJ+ with hands like JTs or KQs or any other hand that I have at least 55%+ on.
3 - Short stack I am playing very loose. My goal here is only to improve my current position. If I am 9th in chips then anything above 9th is considered a good thing. I will play things like A2s All -in from MP3 or MP4 with no callers/raisers in front. I will play any pocket pair above 7 as if it were AA, as I can't wait for better opportunites. An exception to this would be an all-in with a caller already as a low pocket like 99 is almost certainly dead in the water, and even if it isn't you could have the best odds at winning the pot, but less then 50% odds at winning it, meaning that it is still a -ev play.
Anyways this post was a lot longer then I thought, but at least it shows my thought process to how large MTT play out. No matter what anybody says, a final table with thousands of dollars on the line plays very differently then a $10-20 sit-n-go where people bluff, and donks are abound. If you make that final table people think of the cash, and about all the great things they can do with out. They then play very cautiously as they don't want to make a mistake. It's this bit of knowledge that should let you exploit them mercilessly. Making your way to the final 3-4 and the bigger payouts. Sit-n-go's are by the way great training for when you get down to 3-4 players so you can learn how the values of hands change (ie suited connectors become worthless and Ax becomes a lot more valuable. Pockets of all kind start to look like AA) and will give you valuable heads up experience, which will definelty be used.
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Chucked at the Final Table
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Originally Posted by swiggidy
