Poker News

Small Stakes Tournaments

Last month was a bit of a cold streak for me. I seemed to build a big stack early then somehow manage to bubble in several tournaments, being one off the money each time. It was easy to attribute these losses to being unlucky, getting outdrawn, taking a bad beat, etc. When it happened the fourth time, I did my best to take an honest inventory of my play.

Since I was struggling, I thought it would be a good time to review the key concepts I have covered in this series.

1. Practice selective aggression. Generally, this means:

Play loose aggressive during the early stages

Play tight aggressive during the middle stages (emphasis on tight)

Play loose aggressive during the bubble stage

2. A big hand requires a big bet

3. Be aware of when to stop raising and start pushing

4. Make the right move at the right time against the right opponent

I really felt like I was covering all the bases. But I knew there was something a bit off in my gameplan. After taking an early exit in my first two sit-and-go’s during the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, it became pretty clear what my problem was. I was not practicing selective aggression at all, simply pure aggression which is really reckless aggression which is a really quick way to go broke.

As I tried to eat away at my sorrow from the buffet, there were two words that kept coming to mind.

The group I was with were not planning on leaving for several more hours, so I decided to keep these words right where I could see them.

I asked the server if I could borrow her pen and wrote on the bottom of my left palm “PATIENCE.” Since I usually do all of my writing with my right hand, it was a bit of a trick getting the word “DISCIPLINE” on there, but I was able to manage it with only one backwards letter.

Practicing selective aggression is another way of saying that you need to pick your spots carefully. When I returned to my next sitand- go, I made patience and discipline my new mantra. In between hands, I would take a look down to remind myself of what I needed to do. By practicing patience, I was able to wait for the right spot to get my chips in the middle. By being disciplined, I began using position to my advantage.

This meant that I was getting into less trouble by folding marginal hands more easily when I was in middle position.

Because I was able to identify the weakness in my game, I was able to win that tournament and my next two before heading home. One week later, I won a $100+$35 tournament that had 64 entrants.

While patience and disciple are important, that’s really not what I am writing about. I want to point that you must be merciless in your evaluation of the way you are playing.

Key concept #5 is to ruthlessly identify specific leaks in your game. Because I was honest with myself, my results have drastically improved.

Usually, you don’t have to be so extreme as to write reminders on the inside of your hands. You can’t win every tournament you play in. But if you want to be successful in small stakes tournaments, you have to be honest with yourself. If you will ruthlessly identify your leaks, I am sure we will be facing each other at the final table soon.

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