MTT Mid tournament and beyond noob.

[Jeffakong]

Hey guys how is everyone. I just wanted to know if anyone could give me some tips about my mid tournament play and late tournament play. I know my general weakness but I am still finding no luck in fixing it.

Right now I am sitting at a ratio of 80/20, 80 being the number of times I make it the first hour and 20 being the out in the first hour. Then after the first hour my stack size is usually average or just below. The problem I have when I get to this point is I know I need to mix things up a bit but I am seemingly doing it all wrong.

What I try to do is to mix up my game a bit and look for opportunities to take down some easy pots or catch some nice cards and hit the monsters. Sounds about right for mid tournament play, right? Or, wrong? Because when I try to do this I think I play too loose and I am out very fast. Then while trying to think "Ok, you know what you need to do just don't over do it" I play too tight and then find myself drowning trying to kick and flail to save myself with any decent hand and then BAM! I'm dead in the water sitting there out again going "WTF just happened? How did I have no opportunities?" When in reality I was just too cautious and missed them all.

Right now I don't have the money to add a bankroll to a site so I can get practice. I am just playing free rolls to try and figure out a game plan till I get some spare money. Any ideas of what I should be trying out, what types of hands I should be playing or even how I should be playing them. I try and raise my suited connectors and "big rigs" for some steals but I always get shot down. So I guess another weakness is not playing the right hands the right way in this stage.

Anyway this is a long enough help request. Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to the helpful criticism you have to offer.

[drmcboy]

How do I play MTTs?

fyp

welcome to FTR, stick around, read the stickies here and in the BC, post specific hands, read HOH, you'll get better. If we could give it all to you in one post you wouldn't need it.

[frreshprince]

hey man, one strategy i like to use is pacing you play. what i mean by this is when you sit down at any MTT. look at the lobby and multiply the number of players who are signed up, by the number of chips that you start with, and then divide all that by the number of people who will get into the money.

so you said you're doing freerolls right? i think theres usually like 10,000people in those x the number of chips you get (probably 1500 or close), and say like top 800 people get somthing back so now...

10,000 x 1500 / 800 = 18,750

so 18,750 is going to represent what the average chip stack is for the people who make the money. Now since you're only starting with 1,500 chips this may make you nervous as to how you're going to aquire all those chips but you should get some time to do it. (freerolls blinds and antes may go up faster than real play im not sure).

What im trying to say is Dont base your play from the average stack or especially the big stacks of the tournament, but rather use the Blinds and antes as your guideline. try to always stick to atleast 20xBB to help keep pace, if you get a big hand and have alot more than that you can tighten up even more. because you know your goal is somewhat close to 18,750 if you want to get into the money spots.

Once you reach the money, you can set new goals to the final table by doing the same equation. hope this helps you in some way!

[Jeffakong]

i'll have to practice that pacing idea. Usualy i just set my goals as make it through the first hour and then try to land in the money.

Also I have read the first harrington on holdem book but i really do need to get around to reading his second one. Any idea of how much it is or if its just as good as his first?

[hopeful]

bad ass outlaw has a cool blog on freerolls, check it out he seems to be doing really well and puts lots of tactics in his blog. Sadly there is no quick fix.

[Jeffakong]

Cool i'll have to check out his blogs. Thanks for the direction. And i know there is no quick fix it takes lots and lots of practice and lots of learning. I was just looking for some strats to work on while i practiced.

[Zazu0526]

...when you sit down at any MTT. look at the lobby and multiply the number of players who are signed up, by the number of chips that you start with, and then divide all that by the number of people who will get into the money.
10,000 x 1500 / 800 = 18,750

so 18,750 is going to represent what the average chip stack is for the people who make the money...

Thank you for this example. It helps me put the numbers in perspective. I usually do well to mid tny, but end up with problems later on.