MTT Final Tables

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Just once again finished around 5th in an MTT and its something that is happening more and more often with me fallen that little it short in the tournaments.

Speaking with Mr M there and he thinks i play well enough and aggresive enough but i think i need that extra bit of edge in this positon.

Be that me being more aggressive as such i am not sure but i would be interested to hear people's views on how to take it and any decent links would be welcomed too.

Thanks in advance

[Jezza]

Hi Kiko,

Its always good to make a final table...but how to win it? This is the eternal question.....

I am no MTT expert, although I have won a few large ones (amount of entrants I mean, not entry fee) and have played lots of final tables in my time so I will try to give some advice.

It is easy to scrape up the ladder in a final, edging up the prizes by folding everything and letting everyone else go to war, you will consistantly get 4th or 5th playing like this but the golden winners spot will always elude you, so how to improve?

Your strategy should start by resolving to play aggressively (which you already have I guess kiko!). You cannot win without doing this, if you are going to play a hand then go for it - dont be reckless however, selected aggression is always the key. Dont be limping in (except for some rareish occasions) in a final table, if you are first to open then open for a raise - obviously you need a better hand UTG to do this than the button, this is pretty much standard poker, harringtons books provide some good guidelines to this.

You have to consider your chip position as well of course, this is very important. If you are a short stack then you must go for it. It is much better in a short stacks spot to be the one raising than calling a raise, you almost ALWAYS want to give your opponents the chance of folding and winning without having to go to a showdown, so dont ever let yourself drop below 7BBs before putting your chips in the middle and you should really be looking to make a move at 10BBs.

If you are a large stack/chipleader then this is ideal. You are in a great position to bully the table and win pots uncontested but you dont want it to all go tits up. If you are in this position then you should be raising pretty frequently, however be careful about who you tangle with. You should try and pick off the small stacks one by one and be more inclined to call them all in after you have raised. Try to avoid confrontations with the other large stacks unless you really have a good hand, you will be able to stand losing a few 50/50s or to bad beats against the short stacks so take them on with hands like 77 or A10s, dont get into a war with a large stack without having a premium holding. If you are middle chipped then again try and tangle with those shorter than you, make sure your opponents have a chance to fold when you are raising/reraising and try and grow your stack without too much risk to it. Keep the aggressivness going as the table gets shorter and shorter and hopefully if the cards go your way your lead will extend over the others as you get down to 3/4 players from there you can seal the deal.

Jez

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Cheers for the reply there Jez.

Some good points etc and i will take some of it onboard and try and add it into my game.

Now just watch me never make a final table again

[aliensyndm]

Just do the exact opposite of what I did in the poker league tonight

[GETT1NLOTS]

Good reply from Jezza there.

My MTT form stinks at the moment so feel free to ignore but I would add only one thing (which is pretty standard so you'll know it already perhaps).

As the number of contestants reduce remember that a 'premium holding' as Jezza calls it in his post can be a number of hands not normally associated with this label. For example A4 suited is a pretty strong hand on the BB with 3 players left - but I wouldn't play it with 10 people still in the final.

I found that I needed to loosen up a little when numbers dwindled on final tables. I was folding too much with hands other people were playing aggressively. Once I changed this I started to win and place more highly on final tables.

I'm more of a cash player now though as I find this is where the consistent money is.