Yo people,
I wrote an "article" today on low stakes MTTs; just some thoughts really but wouldn't mind some feedback
Cheers!
Consistently Beating Low Stakes MTT’s.
By Tommy “muthafuckin” C.
I recently suffered a crisis of confidence when I began to wonder where my (or any thinking player’s) edge comes from in low stakes MTT’s. The following answers are what I came up with.
Value – Extracting value from weaker opponents.
Probably the most prominent factor at low stakes; the ability to know when you are ahead of an opponent and to extract maximum value. A simple example would be when you raise with A-K and someone calls 3 streets with A-X on an A high board.
In my opinion the best general mantra for beating low stakes MTT’s is to play as small-ball as possible; unless you are 100% sure you have the best hand. As any thinking player will be better than 99% of low stakes opponents there is no need to seek races for big pots. Against better players this is an essential part of the game as when two thinking players collide luck plays a much larger part in who wins. As an exception to this low stakes rule I would say races can be pursued where the price given is good because antes are in play (3-1 pot odds on a call etc) or when there is significant fold equity to compensate for the times when you’re called and lose the race.
Respecting your tournament life.
To secure edge you MUST care about your tournament life. The fact that many players often/eventually think “fuck it, it’s only $5” is to your advantage provided you play patiently and treat your tournament life with respect.
Strange though it seems I think an argument can be made for folding in +EV spots in low stakes MTT’s. This is obviously counter-intuitive but it is my belief that implementing proper strategy in tournaments is more powerful than the insistent pursuit of mathematically correct decisions.
To use a recent hand I played as an example; There was and UTG raise and a caller UTG +2. I was in the BB with QQ, I 3 bet to 3x the original raise amount and the original raiser called the peeler folded.
The flop came A brick brick. I had about a pot size bet behind.
At any decent level tournament, against one opponent I would advocate a bet or check call strategy in order to merge my range/ play in-exploit ably. The problem with this at low stakes levels is that opponents will peel with too many a-x hands and call off their stacks in these situation.
I open jammed (which I now think is poor as I should have probabaly check/called to allow him to bluff worse + my jam looks weak) he showed AQ - gg me.
I now believe that I could check fold in this situation because the value of the few chips I have left behind (about 9BB) is greater than that of the chips I would gain (not just in terms of ICM). A 9BB stack is pretty useless against decent thinking players but at these low stakes playing a ss is different. Players fold a lot more than they should, especially to open jams, and call in spots they should not.
Merging your ranges is a valuable skill in the pursuit of optimum poker. However, its validity at the lowest stakes is questionable as people fold less than they should (stacking off with A-X etc).
Furthermore at low stakes people miss so much value! Players will check behind you when they are ahead a lot of the time and allow you to get to showdown more than you should be able to.
Calling Stations – All aboard for value town.
This is similar to the value point mentioned earlier but more about targeting the calling station types at low stakes. Although it is difficult not to get involved with players that play back at you this is a pursuit best saved for when you have them covered not the other way round. I believe there is a lot to be said for pursuing calling station types over confronting aggressive players early on.
Paying Attention!
Most people playing low stakes MTT’s will be unaware to a great extent of how the people around them are playing. They look at their cards; they look at the flop and make their decisions from a vacuum perspective that is to say whether they think their opponent has it this one time. Thus ignoring all external factors.
Good thinking players therefore can secure and edge by properly paying attention to everything that players are doing throughout tournaments. Although it can be tedious constantly making notes on players only to be moved table every half hour no one can really argue that it is not beneficial. There is nothing better than starting a tournament and noticing a note on someone at your table only to read it and discover you know exactly the type of player they are and how to exploit their play.
My advice therefore is to pay attention! Turn of that gangster rap/new episode of prison break and focus on what’s going on. Try to play no more than 4 tables; I would suggest playing 1 or two in order to take in all the information.
One thing I would say about none-thinking players is that although they have no long term recollection of how people play – they have definite short term memories. If you raise two hands in a row low stakes players will often react like your Jamie Gold and call you to the river with their A high or whatever. As a personal rule I try to avoid jamming a ss two hands in a row and the same with raising marginal hands.
Donk Leading
I couldn’t write an article about low stakes MTT’s without mentioning this. In my opinion it is the single largest leak for most unprofitable poker players. Similar to the “I’ll bet/raise to find out where I am” paradigm; donk leading occurs when players call a raise pre out of position, connect with the flop in some way but not so much so that they wish to commit to their hand. They then lead out (hence donk lead) at the pot in the hope of winning the pot there and then.
The problem with asking the question “Do I have the best hand here?” is that you’ll never like the answer you get. Any semi-decent player will play back at you in these spots regardless of their hand to “let you know where you are” straight away – your folding kid, like so many donk leaders before you.
In exception to this rule I would say that when low stakes players lead out for full pot they normally have a hand they will go with. The same applies when they lead out on 3 flush boards like As
. I would suggest avoiding raising donk leaders under these circumstances.
The underlying problem with donk leading is that it is exploitable. Playing in-exploit ably is therefore a further quarter where edge comes from.
Playing In-exploit ably
By being generally tight/aggressive good solid poker players become in-exploitable. Although completely merging your ranges may not be for the best at low stakes (as there are not too many solid thinking players who will notice and take advantage of these discrepancies) there is lot to be said for playing in-exploit ably.
General ways this can be achieved include not peeling much/at all out of position (unless set mining) and just generally considering your play in terms of whether your making it easy or hard for your opponents to cause you problems.
Holla
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