[Slagar]

I do well in the beginning of tournaments and when down to the last 3. My problem is mid-way through the tournament. This goes for both MTT and STT.

I just use the same strategy that I use at the beginning, based off of Brunson's strategy in SS. I play pocket pairs, connectors, cards that are one apart (like 75), and of course face cards, but not with low kickers. In freerolls with 1000-5000 entrants, this strategy consistantly gets me in the top 20% but I can't seem to get beyond that. I also have trouble when SNGs are down to 4-6 people.

I have this problem both online and in B&M tournaments.

What can I do to change this? I would like to start actually cashing, that would be nice for a change.

[jojobinks]

in the middle levels, when the blinds are getting big and you don't have a huge stack, playing speculative hands like connectors and one-gappers is too expensive.

brunson's NL section is for cash games, where speculating tends to be more profitable/less harmful...

in tournaments, you'll need to conserve chips for your most likely moneymakers; that means big hands and aggressive plays in position.

i recommend HOH2 for more info: the essential part is this, though; when the blinds start to be a bigger portion of your stack (starting pot > 1/20 of your stack), you'll need to be very selective about when you put chips in the pot. at that point, it becomes more important to win the hands you become involved with.

that's difficult to do when you limp with T8, right?

[yeltzen]

All depends on how many chips you have sir.
If you have an assload, you can keep playing that way and try to make big hands that can bust the shorter stacks. If you have a medium stack, then you can't because calling the BB with those hands takes a big chunk out. You gotta make sure you're only getting into the pot with a hand that doesn't always need the flop to hit it upside the head since people will be going all in left and right.

I am an expert of mid-tourney strategy, of course.

[99%evil]

Can we define what an "assload" of chips is?

[yeltzen]

Originally Posted by 99%evil

Can we define what an "assload" of chips is?

It's a new term defined in HOH3.

[99%evil]

I'll have to get that to update my terminology.

[gwilkx]

i agree with jojo 100%.

during the middle levels, i'm looking for 2 things:

1) an opportunity to steal the blinds, or get a weak call from one of the blinds that i can take the pot from on the flop

2) an opportunity to double up

my strategy / approach differs from some, in that i'm not looking to make the money. the majority of the time, i'm shooting for a top 3 finish, so accumulating chips during the middle levels is critical to being able to make a run at the final table without having to suck out a bunch of times.

it's also very important to understand how your table is working. if it's passive with lots of pre-flop limping, then an occaisonal T9s isn't that bad. but putting chips in with a one-gap hand like 7-5 is almost never going to work out for you in a NL tournament.

also - you don't need to play pots against the big stacks during the middle levels, unless you have the goods. because they can bet you off your hand with the threat of elimination, you don't really want to be in a tough decision spot when your opponent can play more liberally.

gw-

[yeltzen]

Originally Posted by 99%evil

I'll have to get that to update my terminology.

Basically, it means that:
a) you need more than 5 people to carry your chip racks to your new table
b) the people at your new table need to change their pants after watching you stack them

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by yeltzen

Basically, it means that:
a) you need more than 5 people to carry your chip racks to your new table
b) the people at your new table need to change their pants after watching you stack them

Personally, I liked the use of "sir" and assload" in consecutive sentences.

As for strategy, I can't add much to what gwilkx and jojo already said.

[Slagar]

Thanks for the replies.

What is the difference between HOH1 and HOH2? I have neither but am looking to pick up one of them for now and get the other later. Should I start with 1 and then get 2? Do they each address different levels in the tournament?