playing to tight

[steeveg01]

very often i am going well in a mtt with a decent stack then i become card dead,i am sure this happens to everyone, your playing in a 10 seat table, every time you look at you hand its 92 offsuit,and then when you try and limp in with a hand like 78suited in late pos a player raises big and i think is it really worth calling to go h/u and blow a lot of my stack, i suddenly find i havent played a hand in the last 2 rounds (over 20 hands)i know i am in no danger of been blinded out, but am i playing to tight,as i know players are now starting to steal my blinds,i am thinking discipline and just wait,theres no need to start playing junk,any advice please

[PantsOnFire]

When you get 87s, raise it. And when the flop comes, bet it.

[kayaker]

If you're having that much trouble with it, you can go in one of two directions.

First, you could try loosening up your starting hand requirements a little if you can see the flop cheap. You'll see more flops this way, and can potentially catch some of them without taking TOO big of a risk. Suited aces work well for this, esp. A2 - A5. If you don't hit the flop hard, be ready to fold.

The second option - and one many here will likely prefer - would be to actually tighten up a little. If the table is raising that much, stop playing hands that you would only consider for a limp. Just don't waste your money limping if there is a reasonable chance the pot will be raised behind you. A somewhat standard rule for this is to throw away any hand you won't raise or call a raise with. JTs is fine to play, but 87s falls into the middle ground that you'll be folding in this situation.

If you decide to go with the tighter scenario, try to steal a pot every now and then. If you get called, be ready to fold on the flop if you don't hit it hard. If you get raised, consider showing the bluff as you fold it. (If you do that, be ready to go right back to being very tight. The point of showing it is to send a message that you're willing to make a play at it every now and then. This will get you more calls later when you DO have a hand. Just be careful to not over do it.)

[Rek]

[ QUOTE ]
When you get 87s, raise it. And when the flop comes, bet it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not quite sure if this is a serious reply or not. I think we need a whole lot more info before we are advising beginners to raise and continuation bet with 87 (soooooted or not).

Boy we are lowering our starting hands here. Do we not want to know if there are limpers, aggresive players, chip stacks, blind levels etc?

[PantsOnFire]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
When you get 87s, raise it. And when the flop comes, bet it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not quite sure if this is a serious reply or not. I think we need a whole lot more info before we are advising beginners to raise and continuation bet with 87 (soooooted or not).

Boy we are lowering our starting hands here. Do we not want to know if there are limpers, aggresive players, chip stacks, blind levels etc?

[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry, I read the post very quickly and responded quickly.

What I meant was that when you go card dead for 20 hands, 87s is fine for open-raising and cbetting since you should have some good fold equity. Then after you steal that hand, you can get patient again. And also I'm assuming mid/lower M, mid/lower Q and mid tourney where you need to steal a blind or two to keep up. Didn't I mention all that?