What's Your Goal and How Do You Get There?

[AlexMartin]

Play your A game in every tournament you enter. And ALWAYS play to win the whole cabooosh.

[Royal Flush]

PS  Ya know...for a guy with a bit of a 'reputation' around here, you've been really helpful Flushy.  Cheers! 

Sensible questions/discussions get deserving answers

[Graham C]

Interesting post and I'll read the other replies soon

My goal is kind of to make the money (top 10%ish too) but recently it's dawned on me that when I make the money, I'm at the bottom section of the leaderboard so I'm going to change things for my goal to make the top 10%  but in the top 40% of the leaderboard at this stage.  I want to have a decent chance of winning but when you just make the money, ithere's too many double ups required and you don't have the chips to make people lay hands down that often.

[AlexMartin]

PS  Ya know...for a guy with a bit of a 'reputation' around here, you've been really helpful Flushy.  Cheers! 

Sensible questions/discussions get deserving answers

Dont bring up his sexuality in public Laxie, you should know better.

[Laxie]

   Cheeky pup!   

[Laxie]

PS  Ya know...for a guy with a bit of a 'reputation' around here, you've been really helpful Flushy.  Cheers! 

Sensible questions/discussions get deserving answers

Awwwwwww ..do ye mind if I keep him?

[Jon MW]

I basically like to break it down to three stages

1st - Make the final table
2nd - make it to the last 3
3rd - Win it

Obviously the overall aim is to win but if you sit there at the beginning of the MTT with say 150,000 chips in play and you only have 1500 then getting all of those 150,000 chips seems like a very tall order so I find it's better to break things down into little goals

I have a similar plan to this, but mine is more like:

1st - don't be the first person out
2nd -survive the first level
3rd - make it to the next break (repeat as necessary until step 4)
*4th - make it to the dinner break (for live tourneys)
*5th - make it to Day 2  (for live tourneys)
6th - repeat step 3 until step 7
7th - Make the money
8th - make the next table (repeat until step 9)
9th - make the final table
10th - win it

  Works for me

[kinboshi]

[AndrewT]

Interesting post and I'll read the other replies soon

My goal is kind of to make the money (top 10%ish too) but recently it's dawned on me that when I make the money, I'm at the bottom section of the leaderboard so I'm going to change things for my goal to make the top 10%  but in the top 40% of the leaderboard at this stage.  I want to have a decent chance of winning but when you just make the money, ithere's too many double ups required and you don't have the chips to make people lay hands down that often.

I've noticed when I play MTTs I rarely make a small cash, I'm either nowhere, or I get very high indeed. Quite often I'll get knocked out on a hand when I'm average or above average chips, and when winning the hand would make me chip leader. Sometimes, maybe, I overdo it, but overall I think it works. Being chip leader puts you in a position to lessen the effect of luck in your performances - you can win chips more easily without having to rely on having the best hand.

[portfolio]

Interesting post and I'll read the other replies soon

My goal is kind of to make the money (top 10%ish too) but recently it's dawned on me that when I make the money, I'm at the bottom section of the leaderboard so I'm going to change things for my goal to make the top 10%  but in the top 40% of the leaderboard at this stage.  I want to have a decent chance of winning but when you just make the money, ithere's too many double ups required and you don't have the chips to make people lay hands down that often.

I've noticed when I play MTTs I rarely make a small cash, I'm either nowhere, or I get very high indeed. Quite often I'll get knocked out on a hand when I'm average or above average chips, and when winning the hand would make me chip leader. Sometimes, maybe, I overdo it, but overall I think it works. Being chip leader puts you in a position to lessen the effect of luck in your performances - you can win chips more easily without having to rely on having the best hand.

its called

go big or go  broke,

ever gone big with this strategy?





no-one can really devise a style to suit you, laxie      its  a totally individual thing tbh.


gl in ur quest tho.

[OatFedGoat]

My school of thought is the same as AndrewT and my final table or nothing results would agree!
Although I have been finding lately that this approach is not doing me much good, but I understand that as asomeone else mentioned, I go for a coin flip if I believe I am ahead or have enough outs if it will make me chip leader or close to it. Unfortunately I can not remember the last time I won one of these situations, maybe my reads are totally wrong.

[AndrewT]

My school of thought is the same as AndrewT and my final table or nothing results would agree!
Although I have been finding lately that this approach is not doing me much good, but I understand that as asomeone else mentioned, I go for a coin flip if I believe I am ahead or have enough outs if it will make me chip leader or close to it. Unfortunately I can not remember the last time I won one of these situations, maybe my reads are totally wrong.

Yeah, you'll get that - there will be big long spells with big fat zeros. Unless you're prepared for it, that can really knock you. I had a spell of something like 45 MTTs without a cash (all paying roughly top 10%) and unless you analyse your big hands to establish whether it's bad luck or bad play then it is possible to feel quite down.

[OatFedGoat]

Sounds about right, and as you say, I understand that I put myself in a position where I expect to be at worst in a coin flip for a huge stack or to be down to the felt or out.
This begs the question (as I am new to poker compared to most of you on here), is this a common acceptable approach to playing in MTT's?

Personally I quite like the impression it gives of me to others at the table so that I can use it my advantage when I have an already made big hand, it increases the chances of my all ins being called by people who are behind and not likely to improve.
What sort of table image does this kind of play give to anyone watching? Am I a donk for putting my tourny life at stake on a coin flip or is it a risk worth it for the huge reward? I ask these questions because I play on Sky Poker Open alot and some of the regular players might have built a perception of me based upon such actions they have seen on screen.

One such isntance was in the first hand on Friday night. I sat down to QQ on the BB and all folded around to the button who made a raise of 100. I raised to 400, he raised to 800 and I pushed all in for 3000 expecting him to turn over AK and if he has AA or KK then fair play to him. He showed AQ and hit his Ace on the flop and I was out like a newbie in last place.
Doubling up in the first hand would suit my style of play and I feel it was worth the risk. Incedently I saw Ram Vaswani do almost an identical thing today in the EPT copehagen with QQ and of course his hand stood up. Oh for the "luck" of the pros!

Any input and advice from pros and Tikay much appreciated.