Kragen2179 emailed us looking for help from Team PKR Pro with a live tournament he was due to play in…
Kragen2179 says...
‘As well as playing on PKR online I play in a pub poker league and somehow ended up at the Regional Final where I placed third out of 119 players winning a seat at the National Final on 28 March. The final is going to be a pretty big tournament with 405 players and it’s probably going to last around 12 hours. Can you give me any tips on how I should approach the tournament?'
‘Also, one of the weakest areas of my game at the moment is calculating pot odds and outs. I’m no slouch when it comes to maths but I am struggling to learn the basics in poker because of the way it is presented with facts and tables. Is there anywhere that will teach me in more of a ‘classroom’ context? Maybe something that will go through the topic and then test me with a bunch of questions?'
Discomonkey says...
First off, make sure you get plenty of rest the night before and don’t eat too much the next morning. The last thing you want to do is eat a shedload of food and have that sitting heavily in your stomach. Not too many poker players adhere to things like this, but eating energy foods at the start and/or during the day will help you keep your concentration and focus throughout what will (hopefully) be a gruelling 12 hours for you.
When the tournament starts you should be patient early on and try to identify the weak and strong players as quickly as possible. Start attacking those you think you can get chips off and avoid mixing it up with stronger player out of position with marginal hands.
Later on I expect the tournament will get a lot shallower and this is the time to up your aggression, three-betting and opening much more frequently in late position. Try to put pressure on the short stacks, especially around the bubble period.
As far as pot odds and outs go, here's some simple advice that will help you out, courtesy of Wikipedia!
"Pot odds are a ratio, but having their percentage value will often make them easier to work with. The ratio has two numbers: the Size of the Pot, and the Cost of the Call. To get the percentage value, we add the Size of the Pot and the Cost of the Call numbers together and record their Sum. We then divide the Cost of the Call by the Sum. For example, the pot is $30, and the cost of the call is $10. The pot odds in this situation are 30:10, or 3:1 when simplified. To get the percentage, we add $30 plus $10 get a sum of $40. Now we divide $10 by $40, giving us 0.25, or 25 percent."
As far as testing this in a ‘classroom setting’ is concerned – poker is your classroom and the test starts every time you sit down at a table!
Finally, make sure you enjoy yourself and best of luck. Let us know how you get on!
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More great tournament strategy from the experts at Raise Your Game...
Poker's a game of odds – make sure you know your numbers
Making the right moves in MTTs
discomonkey's winning MTT strategy
Taking on live events