NLHE £50 FO - Fold or shove?

[EvilPie]

Michelle, you seem to know exactly where you need to work on your game. 

You want to know how to accumulate chips rather than let yourself get to the point where you're getting it all-in (with a decent hand), but are often only a 60/40 favourite with your tournament life on the line - and so it's often the end of your tournament, especially as you might have to race more than a few times.

Your play in this hand was fine. 

+1..you seem to have thought about your game a lot...It took me ages to figure out how to play to win. I was the same as you, cashing every week but never winning the thing...only after a long time did I realise that this actually meant that I was losing money by not winning (I made a profit but just didn't win as often as I should and that meant I wasn't making as much as I should) The switch to a "play to win" game meant I didn't cash for a while but after a while the results finally came.
Don't be scared of losing chips by doing the right thing. If you make the right play and go broke that's just the way it is.

I am sure that if you keep thinking about your game the way you are now the results will inevitably come.

+1 more....

Check the difference in prize money between 8th/9th/10th and 1st/2nd for this recent random example at DTD.

http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/resultplayers.php?id=310

Taking in to account the buy in of £55 you get £21/£46/£71 for making the money or final table then going out early. If you can accumulate chips and get 1st/2nd you've got £1006 or £1713 ftw. The difference in prize money as the places go up makes it worth taking a few risks to give yourself a good chance of winning rather than just scraping through.

In 10 tournaments would you rather finish 8th 10 times or 1st once? It's either £710 or £1218 profit. I know which I'd prefer.

If you can start playing for the win then like Boldie says you will start seeing the results come. You will soon learn to pick your spots to shove, who you can steal off, how much you need to shove to get a bet through etc...

Just wait til you start shoving with 9 2 off from middle position with 10 BBs still in front of you because you know how tight the blinds ranges are.

Just wait to see their faces when you suck out and hit your 2 on the river when they've called you with AK and their micro stack. You'll love it 

(This last bit's a joke btw. Never shove with 9 2 off when there's a micro stack behind you. His calling range is very wide and still beats your 9 2 and you're likely to lose) This is what I mean by learning when to shove. It's all about position, shoving ranges, calling ranges etc.....

All good fun 

[snoopy1239]

I don't think it's that cut and dry. You can still nick the blinds with 6,800 - pot raise is 5,600. Also, she may not have had chance to get it in on prior round.

Fair point but you're opening the range of big stack callers to include almost ATC. With 9200 in the pot the BB is struggling to get away from calling for 5200 if he's got 30k+ sat in front of him.

Going down to less than 5 big blinds you're not leaving yourself much space to find an unopened pot to get your chips in to. That means you need good cards or have to shove from early position which is unadvisable. If the blinds pass you again then you're in some serious trouble and a double up puts you pretty much back where you started.

Difficult situation and very much up to the individual to decide. Can't fault Snoopy's point but personally I'm getting them in a lot sooner.

I think the blinds were 400/800 meaning she had 8.5 big blinds, not 5. Or have I misread something?

[HOLDorFOLD]

Thanks for the replies and advice - taking it all on board and gradually adapting it into my game.

I've tried a couple of moves in a few online tournies since my first post and unfortunately got sucked out on the river but nevertheless I was satisfied that I was ahead and betting out larger than I usually would and just fell foul of the poker gods. 

I did feel a tiny bit dis-heartened at first if I am totally honest and had a little bit of a "whats the point betting out" for oooo a couple of minutes lol, and Boldie you're right I have actually lost more since my post and having adapted my play and seeing your post about the same having happened to you but in the long run it's positive, its given me impetus to carry on with the changes I am trying to implement.

@ Tighty - point noted about Luton players advice 

Will keep reading, watching and hopefully learning.

Cheers
Mich