Tips for the 22/180s

[vikefan24]

Last week I played three of these and got(in order) 68,43,25.. then the other day I tried again and got 95th because my KK ran into AJ and he flopped two more jacks, but anyways I really enjoy playing these and think I have the skill to compete in them.. I'm looking for tips from successfull players at these or if there are previous posts with a lot of good information on these.. thanks

[seke2]

There's really nothing mystical or special about them. Just play good poker and you'll do fine.

I've posted a couple of tournament reports from some of my final table 20/180 finishes, so you could look those over. But there's nothing special about them that requires any significant strategy adjustments from other low stakes tournaments.

[hunkyrabbit]

These tourneys actually have a lot of weak competion and shouldnt be too difficult to place it the money. I've placed 1st, 4th, 6th and 9th out of about 10 games... (Not intended as a brag).

Because of the general loose play in the early stages I tend to play a tight/passive game until there are about 80 people left. Do not get involved in any major bluffs at this stage, but do follow through with your pre-flop raises and take down lots of little pots. e.g/ you raise pre-flop with a-k and get a couple of callers...You miss the flop, but because of your tight, seemingly non-aggresive play, you should be able to win with another small bet. Let these plays go if you get played back at this stage. The key is patience. Limp with your mid pp's/suited connectors/kq's..etc and wait to catch a monster... with the blinds so low you can afford to see some flops, if you dont catch, let your hand go... DO NOT CHASE!! If you do catch your monster you should be able to milk it, call it down to the flop, let the monkeys push you all-in and reveal all at the showdown. It only takes one or two good hands to get a good chip lead.
During the middle of tournament I tend to play slightly looser and a lot more aggresive, taking advantage of any chip lead you may have made. This is the time to get bluffing. The players by now should be more experienced, will be playing a tight game and will not chase you down. Don't limp with anything now, play your possition and steal a lot of pots without it getting down to a showdown. When bluffing make sure you know your opponent, what he is likely to be holding and how likely your bluff will be succesfull.. Don't try to bluff someone who you've seen call all the way with mid-pair..it wont work! Be Attentive and know your opponents.
By now, if you've reached the last 18, I would play a supertight/aggresive game now. Just sit on your stack and wait... Your goal is to get to the final table where the payouts significantly increase. Get the credit for being tight and steal a few blinds in late possition.. once every 2 rotations seems to be believable. Of course if you catch a premium hand play it aggresively and try to win it pre-flop. If you get any action and you are likely to be ahead on the flop, bet big and take it down.. do not slow play!

Same apply's to the final table really, be patient and let a couple od donk's knock themselves out and you should be reaching a decent pay-out.

I hope this helps, good luck!

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I've placed 1st, 4th, 6th and 9th out of about 10 games

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Dude, that's like 40/100 ITM.

You realize this says nothing of the competition at these MTTs nor about your skill level.

[tubasteve]

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I've placed 1st, 4th, 6th and 9th out of about 10 games

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Dude, that's like 40/100 ITM.

You realize this says nothing of the competition at these MTTs nor about your skill level.

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What, you didn't know 731% ROI was sustainable playing the 22/180? (jopke)

[hunkyrabbit]

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Dude, that's like 40/100 ITM.

You realize this says nothing of the competition at these MTTs nor about your skill level.

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Sorry what does that mean?

[hecubus]

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Dude, that's like 40/100 ITM.

You realize this says nothing of the competition at these MTTs nor about your skill level.

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Sorry what does that mean?

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He's stating something that you probably already know - too small a sample size.

[vikefan24]

thanks a lot hunky, that was the kind of post I was hoping for, and I think I already follow most of that.. except for the top 18 part, hopefully in the near future..

[NinjaMan]

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thanks a lot hunky, that was the kind of post I was hoping for, and I think I already follow most of that.. except for the top 18 part, hopefully in the near future..

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While it was long, it's not really what you were looking for.

[seke2]

Early: Play tight. See flops cheap in position with playable hands. Hopefully get paid off when you have a monster. Don't worry if you haven't increased your stack much by the end of the first hour. If I get significantly involved in over 10 pots in the first hour of a 20/180, that's probably above average for me.

Mid Stages: (Late 1st hour-2nd hour) If your stack gets down to 10-15 BB's, start looking for spots to steal. Be willing to gamble and double up. Just try and make sure you never get microstacked, you always want to have fold equity for your steals. Once antes kick in, start stealing more. You can increase your stack a lot without many showdowns by just stealing intelligently.

Later stages: (3rd hour-bubble) Really comes down a lot to stack sizes here. If you're short, be willing to gamble and double up. If you've got an average sized stack, play solid poker. If you've got the big stack, bully, especially ont the bubble. Remember that 18th-10th only pay 2x the buy-in, so you really shouldn't care about limping ITM. Other players, however, will care about it, and you should steal from those players who seem to tighten up as the money approaches. This is the stage of the tournament where your priority should be chip accumulation, not survival to reach the money.

Final table: Same as any other final table, just play smart, steal when you can, and hope luck is on your side. Don't tighten up to limp up a few places, just keep playing solid poker and make good decisions. You can accumulate chips by stealing liberally while other people play too tightly.

There's really nothing magical or different about the 20/180s, honestly. I think part of why we all like them so much is that the fields are weaker than an average $22 buy-in MTT since they are a great option for any player who wants to play a tournament on Stars given that they start every 20 minutes. So players who might not usually play at $22 stakes will hop into the 180s because they're always about to start up. Just play good poker and you'll do well in these things.