Grade the June Magazine

[Dr_Doctr]

I thought the article by Adam Kozak was very poor. I kept waiting for the 'advanced concepts'. What he basically says is that you want to finish first (duh) but does not analyse at all the changing value of your chips at different stages of the tournament. Saying that you should just try to make the play with the most immediate gain in chips is plainly wrong, but I can't see what else he could be saying -

'Firstly, every decision you make will be to maximize your EV and win the most amounts of chips in every situation. Second, you should have no fear in bubbling or moving up the prize ladder as you get down to the final few tables. Remember: your goal is to WIN 1st.'

The problem here of course is that maximising your EV and winning the most chips is not the same thing in tournaments like it is in a cash game - you're damn right you should be afraid of bubbling out if by playing aggressively you decrease your EV, which is nearly always the case on the bubble. This is why the big stack has such a huge advantage at this stage. I'm sure he knows this - hell I don't even play tournaments and I know it. This is why the article is disappointing imo.

He then goes off on tangent about blind battles and floating which I can't see is very relevant. Seems like he couldn't think of anything else to say.