Initially I wasn't going to write this, mostly because this is one of the most obvious edges I have over most poker players at Scorumpoker and Lucksacks but also because of writing in poker slang. Also I feel there is going to be so much left out because it would see obvious to many. If there's any slang you want filling in on or want to question some plays please don't hesitate to ask in the comment section at the bottom.
Poker Tournaments
Firstly I just want to state some obvious things, tournaments and cash games (ring games) differ greatly. The way you play should be for the most part different across the two. I wont go into detail but the main principle is cash games, you can reload and choose your amounts/values in relation to opponents. In tournaments you get 1 chance, no more chips (unless there is add-on's which I've never been a fan off) and people will play, leave and change styles/strategies(also blinds go up). Your primary goal for the majority of tournaments is to "survive" not just gain or win.
(developing strategies around the situations within a tournament can seem too much because of the amount and range you may find yourself in, using your BB ratios help makes decision for you).
Using the big blind ratio methodologies/strategies are developed from some of the most iconic legends in poker and been used for many years. If your looking for a few good poker books I highly recommend you start with Doyle Brunson's Super System 2, a range of books by Dan Harrington, Mike Caro and Kil Phil for fun.
You can never read enough from people who have shown proven success in the nature of your business so I would highly recommend going above and beyond.
Poker Tournaments and BB (Big Blind) ratios
Now lets start obvious!
Get into a habit of continuously looking at the amount of BB you have.
For example if your stack is 2400 and the BB is 100 you have 24 BB.
The biggest thing you need to firstly understand is your element of risk, around 10 BB your in a major red zone. Waiting for a hand below 10BB put's you at risk of blinding yourself out and massively reduced your chances of staying the tournament.
Here's why - Probability and value of being dealt cards
These are worth considering in relation to the amount of hands you can continue to play, quantity of opponents and how frequently your raising.
2 cards JT + 10/1
AK AQ AJ 27/1
TT or better 43/1
….see a problem here?
By going below 10 BB even if you catch AA at 5BB your betting against yourself, catch AA is around 220/1 losing value gaining a slight recovery, straight away youll be back under pressure and at risk. Unless you catch multiple 50+/1 hands within your 10/1 -20/1 window... being put here your chances of "surviving" is minimal.
Moving all-in with 10bb QT is better than moving all in with 5bb with AK.
Really there's too many hands to go through everything but just assuming an obvious scenario here:
You push all in for 10BB with QT off suit. Your opponent 30BB deep calls with AK off. Your actually in not that bad of shape, losing 14.14% to the idea of a coin flip.
Average stuff but bare with me
If you win your now 20BB deep and in the safe zone where you can fold and wait for better hands to play, call/raise with. Other of the most common scenario's here is if the deep stacker calls you off with a pair below 99 (which will happen). Your even less, see below.
Behind by less than 3% remember being aware of the odds of TT and better being 43/1, based on X amount of people at the table to shrink that on average may drop it as low as 10/1 or less but your playing for survival went out the window at 11BB.
So you decided to wait below 10BB... wise move? So you caught AK with 5BB, obviously shoving but what do you hope calls you? The cost is so low almost anything can, you're best case scenario is they have a weaker ace calls and you don't get more than 1 caller.
If you win and recover back to 10BB from here you need a second premium to get you in the safe % zone of around 20BB.
This is why the Q 10 alone at 10bb had more value/less risk than anything else at the below points stated.
Requiring this double luck
You need to hit a decent hand because the value of you 5/10BB all-ins are too easy to call by 70% range of hands (assuming there is a player 50BB deep against your 5/10 which there almost always is). So wanting the best chance of winning the two all in's @5 BB to recovery point 20BB you need to have 1 premium of the two all in's back to recovery.
So premiums
TT JQ JJ QQ KJ KQ KK AT AJ AQ AK AA roughly 25/1
marginal hands like JT and lower pairs, 89 suited, deal 8/1
@5BB winner back to 10BB you then have (depending on how many players at the table at this point) 3-10 hands before 1 BB left and auto all in (which is already a dead point).
Meaning it's average odds can be 40/45+/1 reach back to recovery. You will not get to play anywhere near 45 hands on average and your timeframe in relation to the game/ yours/opponents strength of BB and odds of hands being dealt you're then in a position of giving away %.
10BB shuvs
any Aced hand as standard (apart from UTG or early position. This is my preference, crazy I'm telling you right?
AK AA AQ AJ AT KQ KJ KT JQ KK QQ JJ TT 99 88 77 66 55 44 AT A9 A8 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 QT 9Ts and around there.
I see this happening all the time at scorumpoker and lucksacks that people put themselves at what they think is the last chance but in reality that was 5BB ago, or when you were 5BB stronger. Understanding your bb ratio becomes more and more important as blinds go up for obvious reason).
Thinking about how you use the range of BB
Having 50-100bb is usually a great chance to open up your range, call some 3bets with low suited connectors etc. This is the time to put pressure on those with much less bb.
Any face card with rag, J2 Q3 K4 etc is time to bully the 9BB guy. Simply put he/she all in but be care of your position. You don't want to raise 8x from far away, flat call, if your on the button and the BB has 8bb shuv with any face card, ace or medium suited connectors.
I remember sitting at a WSOP event and a young German pro who won 2 bracelet's that year said after a hand " hey I'd rather call 20% of my stack with JT than push 100% with AQ". Seems obvious but really shows a clear mentality to BB ratio's.
Other things to consider alongside everything we have talked about
Continuously ask yourself during a tournament....
What % of people are calling pre-flop
what % of people are calling raises
what is the % of hands that are 3 handed and 3handed+
What is the cost of my call in relation to my BB and all of the above as factors.
You will begin to see a sense of logical movement where others are playing instinct and luck, overplaying and underplaying hands. These players do win tournaments but when you step back and look at the long-term success rate they never win without trying to understand more theory behind the game.
My next post I'm going to talk about value betting and a little on pre and post-flop betting percentages.
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