One of the keys to being a successful tournament player is to not give up. Even if your chip stack has gotten low, you should still play to try and get back into the game. You get paid the same in, let’s say a 90-player tournament for finishing 70th as you do 17th, so why not make it a priority to get to 9th and get paid? Of course, we all do, right? I mean no one gives up when they get to the bubble or within sight of the bubble do they? Actually, that is just what many players do.
What happens is tournament play, is the pressure increases as the game goes along in length. Many players who are not used to this ‘crack’ just a little bit due to the pressure of the blinds, antes, and just in general getting close to making the money. Think about it. How many times have you seen a player play fairly tight and then get all his chips in with a crap hand like K-8o or A-4o close to the bubble? I have seen it many times in every tournament I play in. The justification is “well, I had to make a move, it was getting late.” or “I play to win, not finish in 7th place.” What the reality is, is that the pressure of the situation has come into play, just a little bit and it seeps into the subconscious of a player.
Of course, no one set out to make a bad play. Sometimes when it is right on the bubble, players make a bad call or bad play just to try and put another player out, get past the bubble, and the pressure of being the last player ousted without any money. But, this is the wrong attitude to have if you want to be a winning tournament player. You should be doing anything possible to stay in that tournament until you make the money, I don’t care if that includes going to the bathroom and sitting out some hands.
Let’s look at an example. 4 players left in a 9-player SnG. You have a chip stack of $2800, the player to your right has $2000 and the other two players are the big stacks with $6500 and $4800 respectively. Blinds are $200/$100. The action is folded to you in the BB and the short stack pushes you all in. You have A-6o. What should you do?
Unless you have a strong read on this player, you should fold. If you call and lose you are crippled and may miss the money. This is not a good enough opportunity simply because of the equity you would gain by putting him out. He may be pushing with anything, but he certainly would with any pocket pair (which would put you a slight to big dog) or a better Ace or any 2 paint cards. At this point the blinds are not eating you up, let it go. There will be better opportunites, trust me on that. Especially in this example, because you can probably steal the blinds on the next hand or 2 anyway, so why take the chance here? You would not believe how many players will take chances like this and blow getting into the money just because the pressure of the bubble has gotten too great. You are not going to win every tournament you play. But, once you learn to ‘money’ in absolutely as many as possible, no excuses, you will be a much better tournament player and will increase your bankroll accordingly.
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