OK, so I've been playing a few more MTTs ($5 donkaments, I should point out), and although I never make it past the bubble I never bomb out before the second break either. The issues I seem to have are:

Folding hands that turn out to be the nuts after the flop: I'm talking really really crap hands here, like T8o, but then I find out that the winner raised me out pf with 74o or some other crap, so there isn't much I can do really (apart from limp more, but I'm guessing that's a complete no-no?)

Going all-in with shit hands: I really am a massive massive retard, and I will admit this. I don't know if it's because of boredom or because I have a dumb moment, but often it's because I'm trying to bluff someone out and they call me down. The worst was recently when I raised 3xBB with 33 in late position (stupid?). The flop came 72T rainbow. Single opponent minbets, I raise all-in, he calls with 77. I lose (of course). I honestly don't know what's wrong with me. How can I kick that habit out of me? I'd never do that in a full ring SNG so why the fuck do I do it in an MTT?

So should you never ever stone cold bluff in a donkament? How can I stop myself making stupid all-in bets / calls?

I just play tight and do okay. I will select tight opponents to steal from while I wait for a hand. MTTs are tough to win and sometimes if the cards don't come it's hard to make it all the way. Every MTT I have won or final tabled I remember specific big hands where I increased my chip stack dramtically or had a big suck out. Just be patient is all I can say. If your not willing to be super patient don't bother playing MTTs.

I have some thoughts...PM me your email address and I'll send them along.

So is it best to just stay tight for as long as possible and push hard with the premium hands? It was getting to the point where I felt like "if this hand isn't worth calling an all in then dump it" because at least one person was shoving pf every hand. Not the short stacks either.

In these low stakes tourneys many people get in there just taking a shot without having any particular strategy. I keep my bluffs to a minimum because its just not profitable in these games. There are usually enough players that will not pay attention to how tight you are playing so if you sit there forever and then pick up aces don't be afraid to play them aggressively because eventhough you haven't played a hand in forever there is enough people who will think KQ, AJ, or something like that is worth a call. When it comes to the mediocre hands like 10-8 its worth a flop from late position after a standard raise (inot while short stacked though) because if you flop A-10-10 or A-10-8 or q-J-9 you are almost guaranteed to get somebody's whole stack if they flop top pair with a decent kicker. But don't go too crazy with these hands if you flop just one pair. I don't mind the late position raise with 33 but if you don't flop a set and one bet gets called on the flop then just shut it down and save your money. Like I said there will be much more favorable opportunities down the road, no need to overplay a small pair trying to get somebody to fold.

I also like to have my opponent covered if I get in a marginal situation, because I know that if I make a big mistake or lose a race I won't be out of the tournament.

One last thing. The problem is that there is not much you can do if you are not catching any cards. Unlike when playing against good players you can survive by stealing blinds and making good bluffs, but that typically does not work in these tournaments, so the odds are against you if you go card dead for an extended period of time.

OK thanks for the advice.
So what hands are worth waiting for and shoving preflop, and which should just be raised with?

Originally Posted by Crundy

OK thanks for the advice.
So what hands are worth waiting for and shoving preflop, and which should just be raised with?

Hands like AA or KK and in some cases QQ are the hands you are willing to put all your money in pre-flop. I am not saying just shove when you see them (unless short-stacked). But if your stack is big then just raise a hefty amount (no less than 5 big blinds), unless somebody has already raised the pot then you can make a really big raise (I usually go for 3 to 4 times the amount of the original raise, or all in if my stack doesn-t cover that or is close). With all the other premium hands like AK, JJ, 10-10, or AQ then I am willing to call a raise and re-evaluate after seeing the flop. This obviously changes if you are short-stacked, where all these hands as well as hands as small as 7-7 are good enough for a pre-flop shove.

The other hands like suited connectors or or the 10-8 hands obviously are not good enough for a preflop all-in because those hands depend heavily on what kind of flop you get. If you flop a big hand or a big draw (open-ended plus flush draw, or a pair and a flush draw) then you can play it more aggressively, other than that I like to see the flop as cheap as possible and in late position. Note that those hands don't need to be played every single time, just in the right situation.

Nice one. Thanks.