heading for the fishbowl

fi33er

Hi Guys,

I wrote a post a while ago about how to improve and got some really great advice and posts back.  They were very helpful and have made a big difference to how i play and also my cash game results. I have actually won for the last 2 months (not very much, i think £130 in total) but it has certainly helped me play better and i would like to say thanks to the people who took time to offer advice which is learnt over a long time to someone like me. THANK YOU;)

I have started to play Mtt's now, and i have shark scope which i have joined.

I was down £500 at the start of this month, and i was aiming to get it back to zero by the end of the month.

For the last 10 days i have lost every single night with the best hand, except today when i flopped trips and then called an all in on the river when the 3rd flush card appeared. 

I have played 3 tourneys tonight, the one i mentioned above and another 2.

I lost 1 with aa vs kj all in pf

1 with ak vs j9os all in pf.

Is the varience in tournies more?

what can I do except get my money in as a fav? 

I have lost so many flips this last week for tourney double ups and heads it has been a truely terrible week.

I know it is suppost to be good when people call with junk, but they have won almost without fail this week. 

I am heading for the fishbowl on sharkscope but I know i am playing my best poker ever, and getting my money in as a big favourite or at worst on a flip. any advice please wlould be much appreciated, when i am a tourney winner i will remember you;)

gl fi33er

GGGGCCCC

In Response to heading for the fishbowl:
if you keep goin out with the best hand it could be your playing too tight and getting blinded down while waiting for a big hand. Maybe try being more aggresive early on and building a stack that can take some damage without knocking you out of the tournament.

PRees

It's totally normal to lose lots of MTTs in that situation. It just hapens so you need to get over it.

Playing with money you can easily afford to lose helps a lot - robust BRM

A few years ago I watched some videos of a pro on youtube, seeing the way he just shrugged off bad beats was a huge turning point for me.

Just be confident in your decision making and it will work out long term. 

jordz16

you need to be looking at things over 100+ mtts to have a rough idea of how you are doing... Post some of the hands you have played in the poker clinic, not the all in hands where you have got unlucky but instead spots during the tournament where you have been really unsure about what to do... I wouldnt focus on exit hands or the premium hands but instead look at how you are playing your suited connectors, how you are playing out of position and what your reputation at the table is. Im sure if you are prepared to take on lots of advice and allow for some constructive criticism then you will be profit by the end of the year.

PS Yes there is lots of variance in Mtts but playing on sky with the smaller fields is the lowest variance of mtts to play.

hhyftrftdr

I've just gone out the £11 and £22 BH's with AA beaten by AK and AK beaten by A8 AIP so I feel your pain

Yeah ideally you don't wanna be flipping for your tourney life. It's impossible to avoid them over the course of an MTT, but if its not for our stack then it's not gonna be a make or break hand.

Some people do call off very light in BHs for a head prize, so its inevitable our premiums will be cracked occasionally. If you're playing the same MTTs most nights then look to gather as many notes as possible on players whom you have a decent chance of encountering multiple times; if they show a penchant for chasing head prizes then make a note and use this to your advantage.

Also, try getting it in bad sometimes, it is possible to come up smelling of roses occasionally 

Curt360x27

Firstly yes MTT's have greater variance compared to cash games. They offer a chance for you to win big but on the flip side you have to play very well/run very well to do this. One mistake in an MTT or losing one flip can be very costly. 

How many MTT's are you playing per night? You said you played three tonight. If that's your average per night then its absolutely inevitable that you will go days without even cashing. Remember even the best MTT players in the world can go on long droughts without even getting a sniff of a final table. Its just the nature of the beast.

I would recommend you stick to playing BH's as they are easily beatable as well as being lower variance compared to freezouts given the opportunity to make money without always having to cash. 

As GC said if you are ALWAYS getting your chips in good then tbh you probably aren't playing that well and you may need to work on your MTT game. If i were you I'd post some hands in the clinic so people can see how you are playing certain hands in relation to stack sizes etc. as just posting 'lost with AK v j9' has no real benefit when it comes to giving advice. That player might have played his hand correctly if he shoved on you or may have called off correctly depending on chip stacks. Its impossible to say given the info you've given.   

PRees

Great points by the last 3 posters, but I would say a root and branch change in mindset is needed before before any strategy advice.

You just have to be able to laugh off the bad beats and coolers.

Doesn't matter how well you play post flop if you go into meltdown as soon as your AA gets cracked.

Itsover4u

In Response to heading for the fishbowl:

Hi Guys, I wrote a post a while ago about how to improve and got some really great advice and posts back.  They were very helpful and have made a big difference to how i play and also my cash game results. I have actually won for the last 2 months (not very much, i think £130 in total) but it has certainly helped me play better and i would like to say thanks to the people who took time to offer advice which is learnt over a long time to someone like me. THANK YOU;) I have started to play Mtt's now, and i have shark scope which i have joined. I was down £500 at the start of this month, and i was aiming to get it back to zero by the end of the month. For the last 10 days i have lost every single night with the best hand, except today when i flopped trips and then called an all in on the river when the 3rd flush card appeared.  I have played 3 tourneys tonight, the one i mentioned above and another 2. I lost 1 with aa vs kj all in pf 1 with ak vs j9os all in pf. Is the varience in tournies more? what can I do except get my money in as a fav?  I have lost so many flips this last week for tourney double ups and heads it has been a truely terrible week. I know it is suppost to be good when people call with junk, but they have won almost without fail this week.  I am heading for the fishbowl on sharkscope but I know i am playing my best poker ever, and getting my money in as a big favourite or at worst on a flip. any advice please wlould be much appreciated, when i am a tourney winner i will remember you;) gl fi33er
Posted by fi33er

you should be trying to get your money in as little as possible.... pick spots to chip up with minimal risk

unknown_username

Some great advice above....

MTTs have a much higher variance, so try to build a stack rather than get it all in with a pair. Once we have built a stack, we can take a few more risks without comitting all of our chips on a flip.

Remember what my Nan used to say.........

The bigger the cushion you have, the less it hurts when/on your behind

shakinaces

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

Some great advice above.... MTTs have a much higher variance, so try to build a stack rather than get it all in with a pair. Once we have built a stack, we can take a few more risks without comitting all of our chips on a flip. Remember what my Nan used to say......... The bigger the cushion you have, the less it hurts when/on your behind
Posted by POKERTREV

That sounds simmilar to advice my grandpa gave me that 'the bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'' - not sure what he meant though?

What tournies are you playing Merlin?  Different dynamics depending on what you are opting for, as a cash game player the easiest bridge across to tournis may be the deepstack games which play in a fairly similar way during the early stages and get you a bit more play for your money than the 'wham bam thank you ma'am' (another grandpa saying) or turbo freezeout/BH games.

HENDRIK62

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl : That sounds simmilar to advice my grandpa gave me that 'the bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'' - not sure what he meant though? What tournies are you playing Merlin?  Different dynamics depending on what you are opting for, as a cash game player the easiest bridge across to tournis may be the deepstack games which play in a fairly similar way during the early stages and get you a bit more play for your money than the 'wham bam thank you ma'am' (another grandpa saying) or turbo freezeout/BH games.
Posted by shakinaces

Your Grandpa sounds like a playa......

fi33er

Hi, sorry for slow response i've been away for the weekend. 

I am playing only bounty hunters, I have been playing the £33 £11 and £5.50 bh's

i have seen that the field is much stronger in the £33 and £11 buy in's.  

I have averaged about 4 a night and they are after a day of performing doing physical shows as well. I think that I am losing patience in them towards the end after my poor play at the end of the mini tonight,,,,

I blew it again tonight I was doing very well in the mini  had way more than average chips, in the last 1/4 of the tourney and won a big pot off a guy who was playing  a bit crazy.

Next hand i had second pair (j) with ace kicker board was j q x. he  bet flop i called he bet turn i shoved and lost to his q with no kicker. 

I then had only 10 bb left and shoved in to his raise with kq he called with a j and i was out.

I know i played badly at the end so it was my fault, i was in a rush to make amends for my bad play the hand before.

I think I struggle after losing a hand.  I also find it hard to know where i am. I had an m of 8 so i shoved in to his raise with kq.  He had a fairly decent hand, AJ os.  I thought he would have a pair or a x. so i was 50/50 vs lower pair or slight dog to ax with 1 over 1 under.

I figured i had good fold equity, he made min raise i rr about 8 bb.

Anyway thanks for the great advice, I am lucky to have good players take their time to help me, I really want to get better at the MTT's, I think i need to work on my patience.

good luck merlin 

omm

Fi33er, not posting about the poker as there has been some good advice already, however I would love to hear a bit more about you, having read your profile it seems you do not have an ordinary job. Could you tell us a bit about yourself, how did you get into your line of work? How long? where do u ply your trade? why underwater metal detecting? (I think that's what u wrote, apologies if not accurate), etc etc. 

What does Fi33er come from? Hope u don't mind me asking, just ignore if u would rather not talk about it. I just find things like this amazing. 

shakinaces

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

Fi33er, not posting about the poker as there has been some good advice already, however I would love to hear a bit more about you, having read your profile it seems you do not have an ordinary job. Could you tell us a bit about yourself, how did you get into your line of work? How long? where do u ply your trade? why underwater metal detecting? (I think that's what u wrote, apologies if not accurate), etc etc.  What does Fi33er come from? Hope u don't mind me asking, just ignore if u would rather not talk about it. I just find things like this amazing. 
Posted by omm

Agree with this - more escapology tales / video links needed!

unknown_username

Hi .

Ive been sat at your tables a few times , you seemed to be playing in too many pots, especially out of position.

And a bit keen to get all the money in preflop. 

my next bit might be bad advice  , but try beating the £2.30 (2.40?) B/H at 8.05 , and reach the final table a good few times. Then move move up a stake ?

HENDRIK62

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

Hi . Ive been sat at your tables a few times , you seemed to be playing in too many pots, especially out of position. And a bit keen to get all the money in preflop.  my next bit might be bad advice  , but try beating the £2.30 (2.40?) B/H at 8.05 , and reach the final table a good few times. Then move move up a stake ?
Posted by mumsie

i think this is good advice, perhaps mix in some deep stacks as well.

fi33er

hi guys,

thanks for the advice i will try and beat the smaller stakes bh ty mumsie. I am in a rush sometimes to get the money in pf, i know i have to slow down and have more patience, cheers for the advice.

I do an escapology and juggling show for a living, if you type 'merlin cadogan' in to you tube you will see lots of tv shows etc that i have performed on.  I have over 11 million hits on 1 clip alone! 

The  bgt first round! i got to the semi final in 2009.  I have broken 2 guiness world records, (juggling under water the longest with 3 balls and I also picked the most police handcuffs in under 1 minute live on magic numbers on itv!)

I am flat out over the summer season performing shows, in the winter it is very quiet where i live in devon, so i make ends meet by treasure hunting. I love the sea and i spend my days wading or scuba diving searching for losr gold and anything interesting that i can find!

I hope to be able to make some money from poker one day (actually last 2 months i have made a profit, but i have lost most of it trying tournies) as i dont have a pention.

If you want to see my dog juggle you tube ' juggling dog merlin'

he is awesome!!

I'm rubbish on computersso cant post links but search on you tube

merlin bgt

merlin underwater handcuffs

merlin blue peter

merlin this morning 

and you should see some clips come up.

Thanks guys I think sky is awesome the players are so helpful, it would be great if one of us could go on and win a massive poker tournament, Curt or Liam or Spalshies etc. It would be so cool. I hope that one of you guys (OR ME!) goes on and smashes the wpt or something! good luck

MattBates

With the rush to get the money in, is it a boredom thing? If it is what you could do is fire up a few tables of another player and watch them (ideally similar stakes to what your playing and with similar style to how you want to play). I used to do that and felt I learned a lot and it should help you be more patient as there is something else for you to look at.
 
With results you need to be more patient, 4 games a night isn't a lot to get a good sample size. Constantly try and improve and be patient, results will come. Trying to force things is one of the worst things you can do. You will lose hands, getting used to it is key. After a while you can get to a stage where most beats don't bother you. (key ones in key tournaments will always hurt, we are human after all!)

Hope this helps, best of luck.

Also, more posts about the stuff you have done would be great. Things like that are fascinating!

gerardirl

Sorry if someone has already said this but I find it quite common to lose a tournament with the better hand pre flop. However I also win hands prior to losing this one.

My point is you may have gone all in 5 times and won 4 of them before losing the 5th with a better hand. So obviously the more all ins you have, the bigger the chance your gonna lose one of them despite having the better hand each time.

Dunno if that helps.

Good luck,

Ger

Jac35

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

hi guys, thanks for the advice i will try and beat the smaller stakes bh ty mumsie. I am in a rush sometimes to get the money in pf, i know i have to slow down and have more patience, cheers for the advice. I do an escapology and juggling show for a living, if you type 'merlin cadogan' in to you tube you will see lots of tv shows etc that i have performed on.  I have over 11 million hits on 1 clip alone!  The  bgt first round! i got to the semi final in 2009.  I have broken 2 guiness world records, (juggling under water the longest with 3 balls and I also picked the most police handcuffs in under 1 minute live on magic numbers on itv!) I am flat out over the summer season performing shows, in the winter it is very quiet where i live in devon, so i make ends meet by treasure hunting. I love the sea and i spend my days wading or scuba diving searching for losr gold and anything interesting that i can find! I hope to be able to make some money from poker one day (actually last 2 months i have made a profit, but i have lost most of it trying tournies) as i dont have a pention. If you want to see my dog juggle you tube ' juggling dog merlin' he is awesome!! I'm rubbish on computersso cant post links but search on you tube merlin bgt merlin underwater handcuffs merlin blue peter merlin this morning  and you should see some clips come up. Thanks guys I think sky is awesome the players are so helpful, it would be great if one of us could go on and win a massive poker tournament, Curt or Liam or Spalshies etc. It would be so cool. I hope that one of you guys (OR ME!) goes on and smashes the wpt or something! good luck
Posted by fi33er

This is brilliant 

waller02

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl : This is brilliant 
Posted by Jac35

+1

GELDY

About getting it in pre

Even if you are a 60:40 favourite each time

If your style means you might need to do it 5 times in a tourney then you would expect to be knocked out more than 9 times out of 10. Only ship it when you have to or when it really makes sense. 

glgl

liamboi11

hey bud firstly I watched some your stuff on youtube just awesome love that kinda stuff

Thanks for wanting me to win a big mtt but i don`t think that be happening anytime soon haha

You have a lot good advice again on the thread bud I defo take a lot of it on board. I`m not the best mtt player so my advice won`t be much use imo but a few things I would say is don`t play over £11 mtts atm and try aim for amount of mtts you think you can play in a month say roughly 300-500 target and see what results you get at smaller buyins.

With regards to strategy I think you should post certain hands you feel you where unsure or feel you played bad/good, i think curt said their is certain spots you might be getting it aipf and be crushed but it might have been the right hand n spot to get it aipf and was unlucky walk into a monster.

hope you do well mate gl at tables.

Tikay10

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

hi guys, thanks for the advice i will try and beat the smaller stakes bh ty mumsie. I am in a rush sometimes to get the money in pf, i know i have to slow down and have more patience, cheers for the advice. I do an escapology and juggling show for a living, if you type 'merlin cadogan' in to you tube you will see lots of tv shows etc that i have performed on.  I have over 11 million hits on 1 clip alone!  The  bgt first round! i got to the semi final in 2009.  I have broken 2 guiness world records, (juggling under water the longest with 3 balls and I also picked the most police handcuffs in under 1 minute live on magic numbers on itv!) I am flat out over the summer season performing shows, in the winter it is very quiet where i live in devon, so i make ends meet by treasure hunting. I love the sea and i spend my days wading or scuba diving searching for losr gold and anything interesting that i can find! I hope to be able to make some money from poker one day (actually last 2 months i have made a profit, but i have lost most of it trying tournies) as i dont have a pention. If you want to see my dog juggle you tube ' juggling dog merlin' he is awesome!! I'm rubbish on computersso cant post links but search on you tube merlin bgt merlin underwater handcuffs merlin blue peter merlin this morning  and you should see some clips come up. Thanks guys I think sky is awesome the players are so helpful, it would be great if one of us could go on and win a massive poker tournament, Curt or Liam or Spalshies etc. It would be so cool. I hope that one of you guys (OR ME!) goes on and smashes the wpt or something! good luck
Posted by fi33er

Might be the most fun post on Sky Poker ever.

Lovely stuff, amazing the way different people earn a living.

unknown_username

In Response to Re: heading for the fishbowl:

fIf you want to see my dog juggle you tube ' juggling dog merlin' he is awesome!!
Posted by fi33er

Dont take this the wrong way....Have you ever tried letting Chewie sit in for a few hands ?

Tikay10

Here's a few clips of yer man at work.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FRaaanT3i8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQo4chIoK1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Knf0Tc-jNw

Sir-Gary

I think there have been some really good answers so far. There is not only a difference in tactics but also a difference in mind set required when switching from cash to tournaments. The saying you can only get it in with the best hand applies to cash more than tournaments. In cash if you get it all in with the best hand that is good as even if you lose this hand you can just Shrug your shoulders, reload, carry on playing secure in the knowledge that in the long run you will win. In tournaments though if you get it all in with the best hand and it loses then that is the tournament over and it feels like a disaster. What you should think though is this is just one tournament in your session of say 500 tournaments, just as when you lose a cash hand it is just one hand in a session. Though it's been mentioned I shall mention it again try to avoid the all in situations, and if you can't try to ensure you are not the caller but the one going all in. It is better to try without being loose to pick up chips where you can with minimal risk. I am not sure whether MatBates will be happy with this, but if you want to see this in action watch him, he is a great opportunist, not that I have noticed.

fi33er

If I fail to be a poker champ I wont have anyone to blame apart from myself. loads of great  advice from some really class people thanks again.  I am trying to implement this advice, I will keep you up to speed with my results.
My girlfriend is going to help me post some links on here of my crazy stunts etc, thanks to tikay 10 for helping with those links he has posted, cheers.
I will be a champ one day and I will be singing all your praises when I am, sky is awesome!

We will post some of the best links this evening....

cheers guys,
merlin

fi33er

here are some links to a few tv things that are cool, and my dog juggling as welll

bgt helmet  trick   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ZnNPzEBU4

juggling dog    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtHmhD4X0IU

handcuffs gmtv  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wx-7-k_nGM

waller02

Loving the videos, although I'm rather annoyed that my missus said, in her words, that you are fit.