QA-Tim
Hi Annie,
My question has to do with the first few levels of a NL tournament. The traditional view is to play tight because the blinds are so small in relation to your stack. But there is an opposite theory, that says you should play loose from the get go, to take advantage of this conservatism, and try to accumulate chips. What style do you advocate? Thanks and
continued success.
Tim
Dear Tim,
The answer really depends on the size and structure of the tournament. If there’s a lot of “play” in the tourney (high chip stack to blind ratio) you can afford to wait and pick your spots, but if the tournament plays “fast”, (low chip stack to blind ratio) you have to be more aggressive in your moves. Also, if there’s lots of dead money in the field, you definitely want to get your share before all those chips gravitate into the hands of good players who know how to use them and defend them. Then again, you can’t win any tournament in the early rounds — you can only lose. As Antonio says, “Patience is precious when chips are cheap.” Have I given you enough conflicting advice yet? How about this: All other things being equal, try to be “aggressive-loose.” That is, if you’re going to be involved in a lot of pots, be in there raising and not just calling. Ideally you’ll take over the table and people will be afraid to play against you. That’s a position you want to be in no matter what the tournament stage.
Good luck,
Annie xo
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