[Stevo]

I play in a weekly home game, tournament, usually between 8-16 players. I play tight and aggressive and have a pretty decent record but I want to make sure I'm playing it right.

We start with 5000 in chips, 50/100 blinds which go up every 20 minutes. At a full table (10) we don't get an orbit in before the blinds go up. The blinds roughly go like this...

50/100
100/200
150/300
200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1000
750/1500
1000/2000

I know that's pretty damn close.

Anyway, I tend to play tight/aggressive and I don't like to play at a full table unless I have a nice hand and can come in for a raise and am in position. The problem is, with the blinds to stack ratio and the short time between blind jumps, you can't be patient, in my opinion. Basically, I end up waiting on a hand and by the time I get one, I am almost at the point where I have to push all in preflop. If I don't and I play a hand for raise preflop, if I lose the hand, I'm practically short-stacked right then. It's brutal.

So, any general ideas on how to beat this? More aggressive preflop? Limp with more hands in hopes of hitting big? The problem, as you can see, is if you limp a few times and don't hit, within an hour, you're gonna be short-stacked (less than 10 times bb).

Thanks for any thoughts.

[OnTheButton]

The blinds look very gentle to me...

You might try a bit more pot stealing in the early (cheaper) rounds, so you can endure a few more levels of the later blinds without feeling as if you are just waiting for that "one good hand to push with."

[miasmata]

playing some turbos online should help you adjust to fast-paced play....

I'd make sure to agressively play pre-flop, steal some blinds, etc.

But the big thing is, why are you demanding good cards and position and being able to put in a raise before you put some money in?!? That seems overly strict.

Other players are probably playing aggressively and showing down enough that you can get a good feeling for what they're willing to lay down and play with. Then adjust your play to suit that. Just play slightly tighter than them/push them off (semi-bluff) some hands and you should keep your stack intact long enough to make something happen.

Also, with rapidly increasing blinds you're just going to have to be comfortable with playing M < 10. It's not really being short-stacked if everyone's having the same problem with the huge blinds compared to avg sack size.

oh, and yea, if others are limping and it's a good number there's no reason for you not to limp also and look for some type of monster. You can have some huge pots odds to put in your limp is a number of other guys have already limped.

[abby99]

Are there a couple of people who have consistently good results in this game? How are they doing it?

[Sneds]

If you've got 25's in the game then you may as well get a 25/50 blind level in. (also a 75/150 level?)

If it's 50 chips I would recommend 50/50 and 250/500.

Also, unless you're introducing antes somewhere there is no need for 25/50 chip to be on the table in the later stages as I'd imagine they kinda just sit to the side of somebodys stack?

Try
400/800
500/1000
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000

This adds in an extra level as well, to give more playing time - although I would recommend if you want a slower structure that you adjust the lower levels first.

However, all these extra levels will obviously add time to your tournament, if you're under fairly rigorous time restraints, I would rather lower the blind level time to about 15 minutes and put in these extra levels. But I think it's down to personal preferences.

And obv if you have no time restraints, add in those extra levels, and put more chips on the table!!


EDIT: Just read this back and realised it wasn't a blind structure question at all. I would shove a lot of marginal hands and pick up the blinds whereever possible. Just try to dominate the table really (although you may have to wait a few levels first so that blinds have enough value with regard to your stack to stealing)

Assuming 5k stack at all times - 300/600 would be a great time to switch gears

[jmc]

You've told us the blind structure and your playing style -- but you've told us nothing about your opponents' playing styles! Do they tend to be:
1. Loose or Tight (pre and postflop)?
2. Passive or Aggressive (pre and postflop)?
3. Do they resteal and/or understand what a resteal is? Do they ever fold to reraises?
4. Do they understand ICM?
5. Do they cbet? Do they fold to cbets?

Without any additional info, I'd probably plan it out this way:
50/100: Play tight, try to get a feel for how everyone is playing. I usually don't play hands unless I'm open-raising. However, I'll play small pairs if there are limpers and suited connectors in CO/button if there others in the pot.

100/200, 150/300: Look to open raise and take down a pot. Start raising more from late position to steal blinds. Only play small pairs if you don't expect someone to raise preflop (but I mostly muck em), or as a blind steal. Stop playing suited connectors.

200/400, 300/600, and above: Open raise or fold. Look to resteal/shove against someone opening light or try to steal from the limpers by pushing ~10BB. If you've accumulated some chips, keep an eye on your opponents' stack sizes and make strategic adjustments. Open raise/push if you're <10BB.

[Stevo]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. As for the people who have success, it's anyones ballgame but I would say that me and two other guys tend to finish in the money more than most. One guy is sort of weird - he is aggressive when betting but will fold a lot of solid hands to bets. I have seen him make some laydowns that I simply could not justify and I have also seen him raise with hands that I would fold pre-flop.

The other guy who is successful is all over the place - he really just seems to catch cards and I don't have a ton of respect (yet) for his game - if there is genius in it, I'm not seeing it.

As for the rest, the problem is that you just never know who you're going to get. A lot of hands just don't get shown down and people will (mostly) call to their draws and call the re-raise and that's what often gets me in trouble, even though I am fine with it because over time it will pay off.

This past weekend, as an example - we are into the second blind level 100/200. Couple of limpers and I am on the button with KQ. I raise to 600. Two callers. Flop is Q/10/2 rainbow. First to act checks. Second bets out 500. I am certain I have the best hand and raise to 1500 total. First to act folds and Second calls the 1000 raise. At this point there is about 4500+ in the pot. Turn - a 10. Second checks. I know he has made his set and I am furious. I check behind. Last card is a 4 and he leads with 1000. I have top pair and am nearly certain I am beat, but I call with my top pair due largely to the pot size and he shows his 10 and takes it down.

Does this hand bother me? No. What bothers me? The fact that the blinds are about to go up to 150/300 and I am now sitting with about 1800 in chips after getting beat. Maybe I shouldn't have called the grand, but my point is - one bad hand and your done. It's all in or all out time. That's what pisses me off about this blind schedule - you want to make hay when you can but when you lemonade turns to piss, it's tough to recover.

[Sneds]

Well then as my previous post said, why don't you get more levels in the game and/or increase the stack?

[jmc]

Originally Posted by Stevo

Thanks for the thoughts guys. As for the people who have success, it's anyones ballgame but I would say that me and two other guys tend to finish in the money more than most. One guy is sort of weird - he is aggressive when betting but will fold a lot of solid hands to bets. I have seen him make some laydowns that I simply could not justify and I have also seen him raise with hands that I would fold pre-flop.

The other guy who is successful is all over the place - he really just seems to catch cards and I don't have a ton of respect (yet) for his game - if there is genius in it, I'm not seeing it.

As for the rest, the problem is that you just never know who you're going to get. A lot of hands just don't get shown down and people will (mostly) call to their draws and call the re-raise and that's what often gets me in trouble, even though I am fine with it because over time it will pay off.

This past weekend, as an example - we are into the second blind level 100/200. Couple of limpers and I am on the button with KQ. I raise to 600. Two callers. Flop is Q/10/2 rainbow. First to act checks. Second bets out 500. I am certain I have the best hand and raise to 1500 total. First to act folds and Second calls the 1000 raise. At this point there is about 4500+ in the pot. Turn - a 10. Second checks. I know he has made his set and I am furious. I check behind. Last card is a 4 and he leads with 1000. I have top pair and am nearly certain I am beat, but I call with my top pair due largely to the pot size and he shows his 10 and takes it down.

Does this hand bother me? No. What bothers me? The fact that the blinds are about to go up to 150/300 and I am now sitting with about 1800 in chips after getting beat. Maybe I shouldn't have called the grand, but my point is - one bad hand and your done. It's all in or all out time. That's what pisses me off about this blind schedule - you want to make hay when you can but when you lemonade turns to piss, it's tough to recover.

Ok, I'd characterize your game as being fairly loose if this is the type of action you're seeing. If you decided to raise with KQ, I'd tend to make it a bit larger, at least 4xBB.

So on the flop, your stack is 4400 and the pot is about 2k. After the 2nd guy leads for 500 the pot is ~2500 and you're confident you have the best hand. If you want to make a 1/2 pot raise (and offer 3:1 to your opponent), you need to make it at least 2k to go -- I'd probably push the flop. If you had made it 800 to go before the flop, then you have a fairly easy push on the flop -- call it poker when he sucks out .

So my advice would be for the following:
1. Raise more, especially with loose limpers in the pots.
2. Don't be afraid to bet/raise more on the flop with your good hands.
3. Learn what hands you should be pushing with (and from what positions) with <10BB
4. You may have more time than you think. If you have like 7BB and most of your opponents have ~15, you're not that far behind. (i.e. it's not time to pick ATC and go home)

If your opponents are a little loose/crazy, patience may allow you to outlast a few of em and using a correct strategy from #3 may allow you to squeak into the money, despite having an earlier disaster. Never Give Up!

Beyond that, I don't think there's much else you can do besides changing the structure to allow for more play. The blind jump from 100/200 to 150/300 is pretty standard. Perhaps you guys need more time per level since you're not getting a full orbit in. With my group, we've gotten pretty quick with our decisions that we usually get slightly more than an orbit in 15min.

[Stevo]

Thanks JMC for your comments. In retrospect, I was thinking that I should have pushed the flop and gotten it in good. My feeling was that he would have folded however and as the board was not really a drawing board (I know there was a Q/10 but it was otherwise rainbowed) and as I was certain I was good right then, I wanted to get the most out of it. At the flop I put him on a Q with a worse kicker. I had planned to push the turn until the board paired and when he nearly wet himself and checked to me, I knew I was done. Maybe in retrospect I shouldn't have called his river bet. I don't know...