Can you play to tight???

[Beccy25]

I play a lot of tournaments, and I try and play all types of tournament the same way. I'm a pretty tight poker players as most of you know from playing me in tourny's. But I find myself not getting those chances that I see other players get. I've been able to cash in a few of the $10+1 tourny's but never make final table. So I am asking the quesiton to help my play get better. Can you play to tight??? If you have any suggestions for my game to help me make more payouts, and get further in the pay strutuce and maybe even a few final tables, please don't hesitate to leave a reply.:waytogo:

See you at the tables :dance:

[--HONEY--]

Beccy keeping players notes helps. Others tend to play their games the same way. Therefore u can recognize the chasers, the longshooters and the bush sitters. That will help with ur betting strategy and also help with decissions to stay in on that turn card or not for the next bet. It always helped me to be more agressive in my play. I tend to do that for the lower bets where I wont as often with the all ins and the very high times bets on the go around. Unless of course I'm the one sitting with the KNOWN hand to win.

GL hope some of that helped

by the way beccy ...you can alway write ASK THE COACH and he will help you in some advise on that.

[proteinXx]

Actually, if you are that "tight" it is referred too as passive and that is almost as much trouble as being loose. The problem with player notes is that people change their styles a lot. They change depending on the structure of a tourney or where they are at the tourney. They also can switch up their play depending on how tired they are, if they are bored, intoxicated, etc. I wouldn't put too much faith in a player note from only sitting at a table once with a person. I think the easiest way to find out if you are playing too tight is to change things up a little, try different strategies, experiment. Eventually, you will find the style of play that is the most rewarding for you. I have a friend who thought he was playing too tight and wanted to get a lot more aggressive. He was still kind of new to the game, so I told him to go for it. After he did it, he said, "Wow, you are right, super aggressive is suicide in MTTs."

Another thing is that you really have to get a read on your table. There are plenty of MTTs where you can steal blinds on the bubble with no cards at all. There are others where you have 3-4 people calling every hand, so other than a premium preflop hand I will only play my blinds. The there is the factor of structure. In a turbo, of course I am playing far more hands than in other games. In the lower buyin SNGs or MTTs, the levels are shorter, so you have to take more chances. In the higher buyin games, the levels are longer, so you have more time to wait (but again, because everyone else knows this, you can capitalize on it and steal some blinds). There are a lot of factors that should effect how you play. Don't be scared to throw a bluff or two out there also. 85% bluff to value bet ratio is fairly common and used by many.

[3vb0]

The really great players possess the ability to 'change gears' loosening up their game and tightening back up in response to changes in the table (or to cause changes in the table). I guess they also vary the amount of aggression they use to confuse opponents as well.

One thing I have learnt is that as the game becomes short handed at the final table you need to loosen up. Which I suppose is why I hate playing short handed, I'm like you, tight almost all the time and I have a hard time loosening things up. Conversly while you are at the 'on the bubble' stage you should really tighten things up in most circumstances. It really annoys me when I lose a pot to a hand that due to my tightness I won't play.

Here's what Phil Hellmuth had to say on this in his book "Play Poker like the Pros"



Tight is right, but supertight is righter.

~Phill Hellmuth

So I guess according to Phil you can't be too tight. Wow, look waht else Phil had to say!



3vb0 is the most exciting up and coming Poker professional in the world today. It's only a matter of time until he wins the WSOP main event.

~Phill Hellmuth

That Phil sure knows his stuff! :waytogo:

[Skallagrim45]

I never take seriously anything Phil Helmuth says anyway ... :silly:

The answer to the question is - OF COURSE YOU CAN PLAY TOO TIGHT. You can also play to loose, too passive, too emotional, to reckless, TOO ANYTHING.

The essence of succesful poker is to play the right way for the current situation. Sometimes thats 'x' - sometimes that 'y' IT DEPENDS.

"You must sense the Force Luke and adjust your play accordingly" - Yoda

"When your enemy is weak, raise. When your enemy is strong, fold." -Sun Tzu

"You must adjust to the Tao, changing gears is key." Lao Tsu

"Everything in moderation." Aristotle

"It depends." Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harmon, Dan Harrington, and just about every other author of a book on poker.

Skallagrim :happy:

[GoldBoar]

I have a friend who thought he was playing too tight and wanted to get a lot more aggressive.

Did he really mean he wanted to bet and raise more when those select few hands came along, or did he mean he wanted to play more hands? Don't confuse "aggressive" with "loose", and your statement isn't clear about what he meant.

[--HONEY--]

Actually, if you are that "tight" it is referred too as passive and that is almost as much trouble as being loose. The problem with player notes is that people change their styles a lot. They change depending on the structure of a tourney or where they are at the tourney. They also can switch up their play depending on how tired they are, if they are bored, intoxicated, etc. I wouldn't put too much faith in a player note from only sitting at a table once with a person. I think the easiest way to find out if you are playing too tight is to change things up a little, try different strategies, experiment. Eventually, you will find the style of play that is the most rewarding for you. I have a friend who thought he was playing too tight and wanted to get a lot more aggressive. He was still kind of new to the game, so I told him to go for it. After he did it, he said, "Wow, you are right, super aggressive is suicide in MTTs."

Another thing is that you really have to get a read on your table. There are plenty of MTTs where you can steal blinds on the bubble with no cards at all. There are others where you have 3-4 people calling every hand, so other than a premium preflop hand I will only play my blinds. The there is the factor of structure. In a turbo, of course I am playing far more hands than in other games. In the lower buyin SNGs or MTTs, the levels are shorter, so you have to take more chances. In the higher buyin games, the levels are longer, so you have more time to wait (but again, because everyone else knows this, you can capitalize on it and steal some blinds). There are a lot of factors that should effect how you play. Don't be scared to throw a bluff or two out there also. 85% bluff to value bet ratio is fairly common and used by many.

yup thats all in my notes under protX lol :waytogo: :roflmao: :roflmao:

[--HONEY--]

I never take seriously anything Phil Helmuth says anyway ... :silly:

The answer to the question is - OF COURSE YOU CAN PLAY TOO TIGHT. You can also play to loose, too passive, too emotional, to reckless, TOO ANYTHING.

The essence of succesful poker is to play the right way for the current situation. Sometimes thats 'x' - sometimes that 'y' IT DEPENDS.

"You must sense the Force Luke and adjust your play accordingly" - Yoda

"When your enemy is weak, raise. When your enemy is strong, fold." -Sun Tzu

"You must adjust to the Tao, changing gears is key." Lao Tsu

"Everything in moderation." Aristotle

"It depends." Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harmon, Dan Harrington, and just about every other author of a book on poker.

Skallagrim :happy:


You are so becoming my poker god in quest Skall! Do you use a pointing stick, the finger or simply a weather marker on screen kinda display with ur lessons? :roflmao: :waytogo: so cool!

[Skallagrim45]

If its young 'uns for the lessons I will use the pointy stick, if its adults I will use my trusty viking sword, If its in a large hall I use a bow and arrows.

Please note that all of these devices serve the secondary purpose of keeping the crowd at bay whilst I make my escape just as the music belts out "you got to know when to hold 'em..."

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

Skallagrim

[DBMiller]

As long as we're quotin' people...

I never take seriously anything Phil Helmuth says anyway ... :silly:

The answer to the question is - OF COURSE YOU CAN PLAY TOO TIGHT. You can also play to loose, too passive, too emotional, to reckless, TOO ANYTHING.

The essence of succesful poker is to play the right way for the current situation. Sometimes thats 'x' - sometimes that 'y' IT DEPENDS.

"You must sense the Force Luke and adjust your play accordingly" - Yoda

"When your enemy is weak, raise. When your enemy is strong, fold." -Sun Tzu

"You must adjust to the Tao, changing gears is key." Lao Tsu

"Everything in moderation." Aristotle

"It depends." Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harmon, Dan Harrington, and just about every other author of a book on poker.

Skallagrim :happy:


To be is to do
To do is to be
Do be do be do
Yabba dabba do

[x searcher]

Tight usually refers to preflop play, that is you only play premium hands. Loose refers to a player that sees a lot of flops. Both styles can be winning or losing ways to play, although unless you are an expert, tight is usually right.

Passive and aggressive are terms that apply to post flop play. A passive player will call a lot and rarely raise. An aggressive player will generally either fold or raise. The aggressive player wil push whenever he has an edge no matter how small.

Thus you can be:
tight-passive (a rock, can work well in some cash games, but tough to win a lot in a mtt)
tight-aggressive (generally considered the best way to play)
loose-aggressive (sometimes known as a maniac -- but can be a very succesful way to play especially in a tournament)
loose-passive (fish, sucker -- you can not win playing this way)

Early in a tournament when the blinds are small relative to stack size, play the way you are most comfortable with and have been most successful with. Just don't be a fish. Switch up your styles a little depending on table conditions, but generally play the way that has worked for you.

Later on, when the blinds are bigger compared to your stack you have to loosen up. The game will eventually change from a 7 card game to a 5 card game then to a 2 card game as your stack shrinks relative to the blinds.

Harrington on Hold'em, by Dan Harrington explains this real well. He includes charts and the math explaining why and when you have to loosen up. He also shows what your new standards should be based on stack and blind sizes. Another good book on this subject is Kill Phil, by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson.

One more book I would suggest is No Limit Hold'em Theory and Practice, by David Sklansky and Ed Miller. There are more charts and math regarding when you should go all-in-- in heads up play. You'll be surprised at what kind of crazy hands the math says you should go all in with.

Lastly, you need to look at your own goals. If you are happy having 2 or 3 hours of entertainment for $10 with the possibility of even making a few bucks, then your style isn't so bad. However, If you want to see more final tables you'll need to loosen up. You'll be knocked out earlier more often, but you'll make more money in the long run.

Hope this was helpful.