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

[Laxie]

OK, so you enter a tournament...what is your goal? I know, I know, I know...we all want to WIN them, but that doesn't always happen. Am I silly, weak or realistic to say the 'goal' when I enter a tournament is to place in the top 10%? I don't care if there's 100 or 1000 runners...top 10% is the target. After that, I start to think about the win. Am I the only one? Am I silly for thinking that way?

Aim for the win and nothing else or don't bother playing the game? I'm ok with that idea, but doesn't it lead to a lot of disappointment along the way? Realistically, most tournament players don't cash that often. I suppose, thinking about it, if you play to win (giving it 110% all the way) at least when you get knocked out you know you gave it your all. Right?

Or am I thinking too much and just need to chill? Basically...me game has gone to the dogs lately. I know it and I don't like it, but time to cop on.  I entered a comp tonight with 994 runners and was knocked out 56th. Not bad, but not great.  I reached the 'top 10%' goal, but surely there has to be something I'm missing in me tactics to this carry on. I know if I copped on a bit, I could be doing pretty good at this racket called Hold Em. Just not sure how to get there.  Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

PS  I've already figured out the first problem...stop worrying about being the entertaining table clown and play me cards!

[amcgrath1uk]

I play fairly similar... get into the money comfortably then start to push for the final table is how I try and play

And if this was the Ipoker 4k guaranteed tonight

sitting very comfy.. bb QQ... small blind raises, I reraise... he goes all in... and he has KK... 90 mins of good play decided like that kills me... 150thish

[suzanne]

I for one love a bit of banter at the table and am delighted when there is someone that makes me laugh. I have found however that if I am chatting I am not concentrating on the game and making notes on the other players which must be bad but then again im not good at multi tasking and im sure many can do both.

I too try to play fairly solid and aim for the top 10% and then as advised by many top poker players I push when near the bubble. I havent quite got this art to perfection yet as I seem to be the bubble girl more often than not but hopefully just ONCE it might pay off 

Last night I had A8 on a AQ8 board, was 2nd chip leader, an 8 on the river sealed it and the chips were allin, mateyboy CL had AA 

You can only play what you think is the nuts and the rest is in the lap of the poker fairy.

[sharpy]

 Good question Laxie

 I find that in todays online climate with tournaments getting a lot of runners ie,994 then aiming for the top 10% or in the money is the main goal.Once your there,then it's in the lap of the poker gods because the tournament is by then a crapshoot.

 The answer may lie in looking for tournaments with smaller feilds and/or better structures though finding these at a reasonable buy-in on a saturday night could prove difficult.Take tonight for example,I played 5 tournies,3 had huge feilds and I cashed in 1(once we had made the money it was crapshoot city).The other 2 tourneys were smaller (the blonde league in which I donked my way out off) and a 132 runner tourny in which I finalled.

 The comp I finalled in I felt I had a good chance in when we were about 60 players left, unlike the bigger comp when we were 60 left,both comps I was in the top 10 at this point but the bigger comp was already in crapshoot mode.

 I think Booder is currently on a mission with the smaller comps at the moment,perhaps he could give some pointers.

 Good luck at the tables.

[Royal Flush]

 Good question Laxie

 I find that in todays online climate with tournaments getting a lot of runners ie,994 then aiming for the top 10% or in the money is the main goal.Once your there,then it's in the lap of the poker gods because the tournament is by then a crapshoot.

 The answer may lie in looking for tournaments with smaller feilds and/or better structures though finding these at a reasonable buy-in on a saturday night could prove difficult.Take tonight for example,I played 5 tournies,3 had huge feilds and I cashed in 1(once we had made the money it was crapshoot city).The other 2 tourneys were smaller (the blonde league in which I donked my way out off) and a 132 runner tourny in which I finalled.

 The comp I finalled in I felt I had a good chance in when we were about 60 players left, unlike the bigger comp when we were 60 left,both comps I was in the top 10 at this point but the bigger comp was already in crapshoot mode.

 I think Booder is currently on a mission with the smaller comps at the moment,perhaps he could give some pointers.

 Good luck at the tables.

There are plenty of decent comps with small fields.

Playtech has a $50 rebuy each night getting around 250 runners, Crypto has a $100 FO that gets 200 runners. Playtech also has a $100 FO with about 90 runners that takes about 5hrs, a $300 weekly with around 50 runners that takes 5hrs. None of these comps are crapshoots.

[Laxie]

If I enter one of those, the next question is...am I playing way above my league?  Does the fact that a person plays solid in a huge field, cashing often enough but only occasionally reaching the final table mean they have what it takes to play a larger buy in with fewer runners?  I've always been careful to avoid the big buy ins because I don't want to play above my ability.  The money doesn't scare me, so maybe I'm just being too cautious?

[Royal Flush]

If I enter one of those, the next question is...am I playing way above my league?  Does the fact that a person plays solid in a huge field, cashing often enough but only occasionally reaching the final table mean they have what it takes to play a larger buy in with fewer runners?  I've always been careful to avoid the big buy ins because I don't want to play above my ability.  The money doesn't scare me, so maybe I'm just being too cautious?

I would suggest you adopt a better tournament strategy before you move up the stakes.

Playing just to cash is a good way to go skint.

[Laxie]

Fair enough.  So that brings me back to the original question...is it wrong to aim for top 10%?  I guess, based on your reply, the answer is definitely 'yes'.  I've a lot to learn...good thing I'm still fairly young.  lol  Just wish I knew what a better tournament strategy was.

[Royal Flush]

Fair enough.  So that brings me back to the original question...is it wrong to aim for top 10%?  I guess, based on your reply, the answer is definitely 'yes'.  I've a lot to learn...good thing I'm still fairly young.  lol  Just wish I knew what a better tournament strategy was.

Don't shy away from gambles is a great way to start, if you think you have the best of it or are facing a coinflip then get your chips in. When you get towards the money just keeping pounding the people who play your top 10% strategy. If you have a medium sized stack and the bubble goes on for a reasonable amount of time you should be able to double without a showdown.

In short, slag it up!

[Laxie]

Take more chances and stop playing so tight then?  My husband's been telling me that for ages and he does very well in live tournaments.  Suppose I just need to swallow the pride and listen to his advice now and then.  Don't any of you tell him I said that...I'd never live it down!  lol 

Thanks to all of you for your replies.  Some made me feel like I'm not alone and others made me look at things differently.  All in all, I'm feeling less frustrated now.

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

[Bib]

I look at things from two different angles. If i am playing online, then its purely about the money. In that situation my goal is to end up with more than i put in. But if i am playing live in a casino or club, then i have an alternative goal which is to enjoy myself. It is an oppertunity to meet fellow poker players and gain more knowledge about the game and at the same time have a good laugh. This is something i find is missing from online poker. So the money is important, but so is enjoying the game.

[Laxie]

Anyone who has ever sat at a live table with me will tell you...I enjoy the atmosphere without a doubt.  Almost to a fault.  lol  I suppose this was directed more towards online play than live.  I'm not as distracting online with the banter, so it really all boils down to the 'play'.

[johnbhoy76]

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

[Tragic]

I find that not having a goal helps with the aggression strategy, don't worry about top 10% or anything like that, if you go out going for it then so be it you know sooner or later it will fall into place and a big cash will be on the cards. I also think if you can apply this you will not be outclassed late on in the tournaments previously mentioned, where a surprising number of players are evidently playing to hang on one more rung up the cash ladder. I don't even look at the differences in payout between 10th and 2nd because I don't want it affecting how I play at the FT.

[ifm]

Meta game, the only way to play!!!