Amateur Poker League

Alright, I admit it: I've been playing in the Amateur Poker League games here in the Dallas area lately.

For those who aren't familiar, APL (amateurpokerleague.com) is a brilliant idea: FREE NL hold 'em tourneys in bars and restaurants, mostly on off-nights, designed to bring people to the joint and make money. Absolute genius; I wish I had thought of it.

So the tourney plays like most freeroll and play money tourneys online, in my experience. There are anywhere from 40 to 80 players most of the time, and I think I've identified a few general types:

1. Folks who don't know much about NLHE or poker in general, and consequently call and call and call and call.

2. Folks who may or may not know what they're doing, but (since it's free) throw their chips around and try to muscle people out of every hand.

3. Folks who may or may not know what they're doing, but don't really care and just want to screw around (all-in preflop every other hand, etc).

4. People like me who can't afford to play for money that often and want to play poker, become better players, win something, etc.

Here's the suck: because APL does two MTTs each night at a venue, the tourney has to be over in less than 3 hours. Thus, the blinds go up at an enormous rate (10/20, 20/40, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 500/1k, 1k/2k, 2k/4k, etc) every 12 minutes. So when you get to the first break, the blinds are already at 50/100; by the second break, they're at 500/1k.

This really accents the crapshoot factor, as does the fact that people will call with any two cards.

So, I guess my question for you all would have to do with general MTT survival. I've read a lot of what's been posted here, and some I agree with (especially soupie's posts). But I sort of waffle back and forth between my instinct to survive the BS that inevitably happens in the first round or two, even to the point of laying down monster cards when two or three people go all-in preflop on the first hand, and my instinct to destroy people who are screwing around when I finally catch the good cards. What's a fella to do?

I've become a much tighter player than I once was (though I'll never be a post-and-folder), which I like, so I suppose the shitty play at APL games has helped my game. But I want to win these things, too, as well as the cash tourneys I do play, so I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

First, in that structure you obviously have to get lucky and win more than your fair share of coin flips.

Play tight. If you have wild players at your table or short stacks, don't get involved in a hand in early position unless you have every intention of going all the way. That means AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK. If you don't get your share of premium starting hands you will soon find yourself on the short stack where you push on any pocket pair, or medium A.

One thing to consider is, don't wait until your stack gets too short to move into AI mode. If you are going to steal blinds or double up you need a big enough stack that it will give your opponents pause to call and if you double up it will actually matter.

If you can, see as many cheap flops as possible from late position.

Identify your opponents as soon as possible. Learn the player who is a good player and will respect your bluffs and lay down a hand vs. the crazies that you just have to show down a better hand.

Molinero,

In that structure, you have to play for the triple and quadruple ups. Never lay down the "monster" cards in the first 2 rounds. You are the dominant player at the table, play like it.

Good luck,

soupie