Stud Tourney Structure Advice

[PoorLawyer]

So I am going to play in a preliminary stud event in AC next Friday for some ESPN US poker thing at the TAJ as a birthday present to myself.

I have never played a live stud tourney before and was just looking for advice, specifically with regard to the structure, but also any other input is certainly welcome.

It is $5000 in starting chips with 45 minute levels. The structure of the tourney is the same as for the hi/low tourney which is in the following link:

http://www.trumptaj.com/images/trump...rstructure.jpg

Thanks in advance,

PL

[PoorLawyer]

bumpity-bump for the non-weekend crowd...

[Bremen]

I'm going down Wednesday for the stud8 tourney. Looking at the structure it seems quite loose compared to what we're used to in cash games.

[Bill King]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm going down Wednesday for the stud8 tourney. Looking at the structure it seems quite loose compared to what we're used to in cash games.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah ive played in some stud 8 tourneys, but not many. the structure is definitly something you may feel uncomfortable with considering most of us play just cash games.

just run good in multi-way pots.. poker is easy [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[PoorLawyer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm going down Wednesday for the stud8 tourney. Looking at the structure it seems quite loose compared to what we're used to in cash games.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah ive played in some stud 8 tourneys, but not many. the structure is definitly something you may feel uncomfortable with considering most of us play just cash games.

just run good in multi-way pots.. poker is easy [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

So are you saying you think the play will be looser? And if so, correctly looser given the antes already in the pot? And if so, how much would you push that (HI only tourney)?

[Bill King]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm going down Wednesday for the stud8 tourney. Looking at the structure it seems quite loose compared to what we're used to in cash games.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah ive played in some stud 8 tourneys, but not many. the structure is definitly something you may feel uncomfortable with considering most of us play just cash games.

just run good in multi-way pots.. poker is easy [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

So are you saying you think the play will be looser? And if so, correctly looser given the antes already in the pot? And if so, how much would you push that (HI only tourney)?

[/ QUOTE ]

well.. anybody who plays correctly should be playing looser to begin the tournament because unfortunately in stud tourneys the ante's jump up quick, only because the game plays soo slow comparatively to other games.

eventually it becomes a 1 or 2 hands and you're doubled up or on the rail for a few levels.

i certainly would rather go out early or get a ton of chips even moreso in stud than holdem tournaments, it just makes your life so much easier when the antes are killing everybody else and you can sit back and be a little more selective, as they start to loosen up to get chips.

[Wahoo73]

In comparing the structure of the stud tourneys on Poker Stars and the structure you will play at the US Poker Champinoships, here's what I noticed:

1. Proportionally, the antes, bring-ins and bets are pretty similar, i.e., you are starting with 3.33 more chips than you do at PS (5000 vice 1500), but the stakes at each level are all 3-4 times more than their respective levels at PS.

2. The length of each level is three times longer than at PS.

Given these two circumstances, I would say that your tourney should play similar to those at PS but should take considerable longer given the length of each level. I play 3-4 stud tourneys a week at PS and based on that I'd advise you that you need to adopt one of two strategies for the first 4-5 levels. Either play looser and more passively than you do in cash games, or play tight but more aggressively than you do in cash games, especially on your semi-bluffs. (FWIW, I prefer the latter approach, but I know several very successful stud tourney players that use the former strategy.)

I find the middle stages (levels 5-9) of stud tourneys to be the most like cash games. I think playing your standard tight/aggressive game should work just fine.

If you're fortunate to get beyond level 9, when the table is full I think you are better off playing tight but a little more passively than you normally would in a cash game. OTOH, in the later stages if the table is short-handed you need to again revert to more LAG-ish play.

Overall, I think you should expect the play of others to be looser and more passive than what you and I see everyday playing the 3/6 or 5/10 at Crypto sites...probably more like playing the $.50/1 at Poker Stars.

Good luck. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[PoorLawyer]

Thanks for the advice.

I think the blinds might actually go up quicker proportionally since im sure 45 minutes live = less hands than 20 minutes online (or however long the PS levels are)....
Im not sure exactly how this affects the play except that I may want to try to mix things up to build my stack early to withstand the rising antes down the road. That or not make thin plays and dump off unneccesary chips early on.