General Late Game Help

[4CardStraight]

I wish someone else was adding to this thread, since im not a hugely +ROI MTT'er... I have a real job and I play mainly the majors on sundays, but im profitable enough in cash NL that I dont have to deposit on the sites to get my once every couple week chance when my family allows me to play the majors.

My open shove chart is basically hands that i could theoretically push and turn face up and continue to be +EV. But this is +chipEV not +$EV. In tournaments, my chips have more value than my opponents, so I often have to give my chips an extra 10-15% value because I am better than they are, and because doubling my stack will not double my chances for first place. HOWEVER, in tournaments, players by default are typically too tight. They call about 20% tighter than an optimal call, if they knew I was making an optimal push. Sometimes more, sometimes less. So these two effects tend to cancel out. The chips I gain arent worth quite as much, but my opponents will tend to play too tight anyway.

Now to your question, what about when the blinds have miniscule stacks... Well.. My charts are optimal regardless of whether they intend to call or not. If they get very small stacks, they are enticed to call looser than a stack my size would optimally call me. Thats actually GOOD for me. If they are willing to call me with pairs that I would not open push, it makes my open pushes just that much more +EV. I can't open push much looser, as then if those behind are calling me optimally, I am actually making -EV pushes. I tend to hope they call me too loose, and make sure that I do not miss any +EV open pushes, however extra loose they may be is really just gravy.

An interesting effect of them having short stack, is them calling what I describe as "too loose" is actually too loose assuming they had my stack size and were calling me optimally given my optimal push range. It actually, from their perspective is not "too loose" for a miniscule stack an odd effect happens. They should CALL looser than they open push. WHY? because they block out players yet to act from continuing, and because there is already so much money in the pot. Since someone else has commmitted, they are often getting great wagers to call my push, +EV for them, and yet also +EV for me! It's because the blinds are such a large percentage of both players stacks... we can both be putting money in with +EV because everyone who open folds is making -EV wagers (antes&blinds) so those of us putting the money in the pot split the EV amongst us.

So net net, if there are people behind me with really short stacks, I can actually open push using the range i would open push if I really had the stack of the largest stack behind me yet to act.

thanks for the compliments, while I am +EV in the tournaments I play, I have yet to land a huge cash, but given how many majors I am able to play without it costing me real money, I hope its sheerly a matter of time.

4Card