Last Post -- Example
Hi Everyone:
This is from page 166. It refers to a fast tournament where at the beginning everyone has started with a lot of chips. Arnold writes:
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In this type of topuenament, don't make the mistake of thinking that you are in the "survival" portion of a slow tournament where you can be very selective about the hands you play. There is no survival period in a fast tournament, even when you start out with a wealth of chips. You don't have 60 minute blind levels. You have 60 minutes to make some money or you will be short stacked. This is the time to be aggressive against all those survivalists. Play loose, get into more pots, and take position shots as appropriate. Be brave. If you lose chips on aggression plays, no problem. Now you can get even more aggressive on your shorter stack.
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Again, even though I agree with the strategy advice, tournament speed has nothing to do with it. This is exactly the way experts would play in a non-tournament side game when the stacks are deep. That's because of the overwhelming implied odds, and the fact that they often want to resize the bets on the later streets in case they get a very good flop. (For more on this see No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice by David Sklansky and Ed Miller.)
By the way, in the big slow tournaments, as is pointed out in the Harrington on Hold 'em books, many of the best players are playing exactly as Arnold describes here. They refer to it as "smallball."
Best wishes,
Mason
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