Casino Poker Tournaments

[BigStack650]

I recently went up to Jackson Rancheria Casino in Jackson, CA and entered a $60 buy-in tournament. Blinds started at 25-50 with everyone having t3000 to start. Blinds went up every 15 mins. How much skill is really involved in winning one of these tourneys? I read HOH and he talked a lot about pushing pf when you M is small. I did just that, but I seemed to be getting into a lot of pots while others were just sitting back. I am wondering what the proper strategy was and how much skill it takes to win. Thanks.

[rafiki]

that's bingo. Given the amount of hands you can play live in 15 minutes, you're basically in a pushbot contest. I hate those.

[Pyschoplasmatics]

Run good and steal a lot. That's really all you can hope for. I have the same structure(20 minute blinds) at the casino I go to, and it does turn into a pushbot contest. I have been trying to come into these tournament with 0 leaks and as close to a perfect strategy as possible, so you can have an edge. The best thing you can do for yourself is collect a lot of chips early before the blinds become that big of a factor. Then once the average M is around 5-6, it's HOH all the way. If you have a perfectly sound and solid strategy in this situation and know when to push and what to push with, you can give yourself a decent edge. A lot of the players in these tournaments have no idea that they're going to be blinded out in 4 orbits and quickly find themselves out of the tournament. Identify these players because their push range is probably much smaller than the people who are very aware of what is going on. But to be able to consistently do well in these tournaments you really have to play perfectly. Even then I'd say that it's only about 60% skill/40% luck.

[BigStack650]

[ QUOTE ]
The best thing you can do for yourself is collect a lot of chips early before the blinds become that big of a factor.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very interesting...I tried to do this, and it seemed like I was the only one! Correct me if I am wrong, but playing this aggressively allows you to either win the tourney (or have a big chip lead) or bust out really early. I was better than 90% of the field I thought, but busted out near last.

[morgzilla1]

i play a few of these a week at a club near me. we start a little deeper t4000 15 min levels starting 25-50. I ve done well consistantly at this place by basically treating it as a longer SNG. i play very tight in the beginning and look for good spots and cheap flops in pos in multiway pots with suited connectors, suited aces etc. i have found instead of using M i substitute BBs in its place and play HOH systems using BBs in place of the M. this gives a little more freedom and it seems to put you in a little better place when you start stealing if you've been card dead or lost a couple of hands early on with the added benefit of the blinds having significantly more value. also, hopefluly you'll be final 2 or 3 tables by this time and the more passive players and afraid of busting while the better players have some concept of a basic gap and wont be calling you down with A3os like a lot of the early players.
this works for me and my playing style which may be more conservative than yours.