Negotiating large fields

[Win2Win Racing]

I have recently been coaching a friend of mine who wanted to improve his multi table tournament game. He had been playing lots of small buy in, large field events, but was complaining that he never seemed to be able to conquer such large fields

Although it is clearly true that the more players who enter a tournament the harder it is to win, you still usually have to only negotiate 90% of the field to get paid, and any payments for getting deep will still be in line with the number of entrants (you will get more money for worse finishes than in a smaller buy in tourney).

What quickly became obvious with my friend when I watched him play was that he was constantly referring back to the lobby, looking at average stack sizes and slowly driving himself insane if he was not keeping up with the whole of the field. In large field tournaments this is completely wrong. Although you should be taking an odd glance at how the whole field is doing, what you really just need to focus on is your table and the stacks in relationship to the blinds.

In very large field tournaments huge numbers of players throw away chips to other players early, which in turn skews the average stack, which can make you look like you're falling behind the field, when I reality you are playing a much more sound strategy than the players gambling hard early.

Whatever size tournament you win, you have to do it one step at a time and one hand at a time, and you can only ever tangle with the specific people at your table. Worrying about some unknown player who has twenty times your chips at another table will just make you start playing badly as you desperately try and accumulate chips at an unsustainable rate (not only that, but that same player who got all those chips at an unsustainable rate will nearly always lose them just as fast long before the end of the tournament).

By just focusing on the players around you and how your stack compares to current blinds, you can put yourself in the position where you are playing the optimal strategy for each set of circumstances.

Apart from the money bubble, most events outside of your table should mean relatively little to you when battling through a big MTT, as the only thing that you have any control over is your specific table. Focus on those around you, forget how many others there are and try and push on for that monster win in the big field tournaments.

More Marcus Bateman

Laddering at MTT Final Tables (http://betting.betfair.com/poker/marcus-bateman/laddering-at-mtt-final-tables-141108.html)
After that big MTT win...what next? (http://betting.betfair.com/poker/marcus-bateman/after-that-big-mtt-winwhat-next-101008.html)
Focussing early in MTTs live and online (http://betting.betfair.com/poker/marcus-bateman/focussing-early-in-mtts-live-and-online-020109.html)
The extra edge of multi table tournaments (http://betting.betfair.com/poker/marcus-bateman/the-extra-edge-of-multi-table-tournaments-181108.html)



More... (http://betting.betfair.com/poker/marcus-bateman/negotiating-large-fields-190109.html)

[mathare]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.


any payments for getting deep will still be in line with the number of entrants (you will get more money for worse finishes than in a smaller buy in tourney). No! You'll get more for finishing 10th in a tourney with 1000 players than one in which only 100 players entered if they are of equal buy-ins. The buy-in size is irrelevant, it's the player numbers that will affect the payouts. Idiot.


In very large field tournaments huge numbers of players throw away chips to other players early, which in turn skews the average stackIt doesn't skew the average stack. The average stack will always be the number of chips in play divided by the number of remaining players. At at 10-seater table suppose 1 player has 91 chips and the other players have 1 chip each. The average stack is 10 chips but that doesn't tell you anything like the full story. Each of the players with 1 chip left is only 9 chips behind the average (mean) but way, way behind the chip leader so are all very unlikely to win. An extreme example I admit, but it makes the point.


but that same player who got all those chips at an unsustainable rate will nearly always lose them just as fast long before the end of the tournamentHow do you know he got them at an unsustainable rate? Suppose two or three players on different tables were bossing their table and building their stacks steadily. They get on the same table and there is some mega pre-flop action which sees one player take the other two out. Is that rate unsustainable? He's been playing a steady game and found two players willing to go bust to him when he had a huge hand. He's still playing well so I wouldn't expect him to lose his chips rapidly.

I'm not an MTT player but a lot of these articles are just poo!

[Win2Win]

I'll dump the poker ones later, about as much use as Johns Mac fixing advice :)

[mathare]

Vegy could write better advice than most of these poker authors

[counterfeit]

This bloke has written several of these and they are all absolute rubbish. That statement about getting paid more for a worse finish in a higher buy in tourney was just about the most ridiculous thing I have ever read from a poker author.

Like I said the other day, I am sure these people have only one goal - to fleece new players by confusing them with their total drivel.

[A_P_McCoy]

I gave up playing poker despite making a good amount of money from it, cause i just dont have the patience for the game anymore:spinning

[bigcumba]

I thought by the title of this thread it was about Keith's advice on how to catch sheep without the farmer seeing you trespassing on his land :doh

[Win2Win]

I thought by the title of this thread it was about Keith's advice on how to catch sheep without the farmer seeing you trespassing on his land :doh
I published that last year :D

[bigcumba]

I published that last year :D

Was that a Ewe-book?

[Win2Win]

Was that a Ewe-book?
Maybe you'd be interested in my new article: "How to get extreme enjoyment from Mod banning" :D