"Overdrive"

[larsjones]

This is yet ANOTHER one of my very general questions....sorry if you all get sick of them.

Last night I was playing in a Party $11 MTT with 581 enrants. I played really, really well early, and for the first time ever, got to see my stack "up in lights" twice during 2nd hour. It was really kinda cool, since it's never happened before.

Anyhow, after we got itm, I really started drooling. First prize was 1200 bucks, right. I ignored it for a while, down to about 30 players, when I realized I had a shot.

Thing is, I believe the players that win these things with consistency (thinking of Jurollo here), have an "extra gear" or "overdrive", that I'm missing.

As you near the latest stages of a tourney, what needs to change in your game? I'm asking for advice aside from the normal, "open it up and exter marginal edges". Is there a mental component I'm missing? I've made the money in several MTT's, but never so deep that every player down was a raise in pay.

One hand that keeps drumming in my head went like this:

I hold QQ in the BB.
4 calls to me, then I raise to 5x BB.
1 call.

The flop was junk,and the caller is the shorty so I put him all in when he shows his set of 8's.

Did I make an error there?

Any help you guys can provide, either general, or specific, is apprectiated.

I finished 18th. Not bad, but not where I want to be.[list]

[AceLuby]

The hand above is fine, he outflopped you and I'm not getting away from it. There isn't any general advice that one can give except get the experience and find out what works for you. It's just too general to answer like it is now. Post specific hands, contribute to the forum, get flamed, and you WILL get better.

[TFGoose]

The only general advice I can give (other than what AceLuby has already given, and it's good advice) is that you may not be opening up your game enough in the later stages. Much of the time, if you are a player who makes it deep into tournaments (even into the money) but hardly ever final table it, it's because you aren't loosening up your game in short-table situations. Steal and re-steal more. Don't be afraid of going broke. Playing a scared stack is a first-class ticket to the rail.

Other than that, keep playing, and post some of the hands near your bust-out points. Perhaps some of the guys here can see something in the way you are playing that will help you out.

--TFGoose

[Sherman]

When I got really deep as on of the CLs in the 20K. Gtd. I had to constantly get up and remind myself what my goals were and to play to achieve those goals (first place). Reminding myself to not fear busting out helped me play very well on the FT bubble. Just keep telling yourself that you are playing for first when the $ gets big, it can be tough, but it's all you can really do.

[PhatPots]

There is nothing you can do on that hand. 5xBB is a huge raise late tourney, without stack size info, it sounds like you just got unlucky.

There isn't another gear. Late tournament you have to take more chances to keep building your stack. Steal the blinds more and re-steal more often. You might get hit in the head with the deck and get AA and KK a couple of times, but that isn't going to happen the majority of the time. You have to learn to pick your spots and work on your End Game more.

[larsjones]

Interestingly enough, though it hasn't been mentioned, I believe my greatest strength is my play while IN the blinds. It has always been my belief that the most important decision made during a game is the dexcision made before the flop. Therefore, I've always used the blinds as a weapon, rather than a hindrance. I've just about decided that late tourney, play is going to be mnore centered around the post flop situation, since sdtacks are deep and we've all been sitting there growing old. QQ hand aside, my other chips went to other players in some other way, and I'm sure there's a common theme that lead to the decisions I made.

Anyone willing to let me PM them the tourney history? I don't want to post the whole damn thing on the board, and I could really use the help.

[larsjones]

How about this hand????


Table Regular(841393) Table #6 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: fredWitaP ( $14031 )
Seat 2: ucrushme ( $6856 )
Seat 3: unoriginal12 ( $7904 )
Seat 4: jrrrrrofohio ( $4174 )
Seat 5: gramis ( $4564 )
Seat 6: marvyd ( $28649 )
Seat 7: larsjones ( $29865 )
Seat 9: skymann ( $2768 )
Seat 8: Henry_YY ( $12743 )
Trny:28968574 Level:7
Blinds(300/600)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to larsjones [ Qs 9s ]
fredWitaP raises [1800].
ucrushme folds.
unoriginal12 folds.
jrrrrrofohio folds.
gramis calls [1800].
marvyd folds.
larsjones folds.
Henry_YY folds.
skymann folds.

OK fold?

[Sherman]

Absolutely. Why on earth would you want to get involved in this hand with an EP raiser and a cold-caller. While the EP raiser's range might be quite wide, I would expect the cold-caller's to be pretty strong.

Beyond that, there are still people to act behind you! If you were in the BB and wanted to see this flop b/c of pot odds/implied odds/ and b/c you have some suited connnectedness, okay. But here, I think this is a clear fold.

[eBo]

I have no idea what this "overdrive" is. Evaluate each situation in terms of Expected Value, and make the play that is most +$EV. It really is that simple.

[MadTiger]

What everyone has said.

Don't ever be afraid to bust out playing your game.

Not that you will be happy getting two-outed. I am saying that you played to take the whole thing down, you made your reads, and you utilized all of your education and experience.

You will strangle many of your opponents' with their own fear of busting.