Late tourney stages

[JasonColeman]

I need some help....i'm having problems getting past the middle stage of tournaments. I chip up early try to play smart and slow, but never seem to make it too the final table that often...am i being too passive?

[Poker Orifice]

How could we know without some actually HandHistories or some other indicator of how you play in MTTs?
Some players playing style is very dependent on 'chipping up early' (usually LAGs who are playing alot of pots). No tournament is won in the early levels. Personally I go with a patient approach early on & then as tourney progresses the play on the table I'm on will determine my play to a degree (also of course my "M" value & structure of tourney).

[PLAYFUL1]

OHH YAH WHATS UR "M" VALUE CONSISTS OF POKEROFICE ASKS PLAYFUL, GETTING FARTHER IN A TOURNEY= I AGREE WITH PO ON THAT 1 ... GET A GOOD STACK GOING INTO THE LATER STAGES AND PICK UR SPOTS... MAYBE PLAYING ONLY UR BLINDS AND BUTTONS SAYS PLAYFUL

[Poker Orifice]

OHH YAH WHATS UR "M" VALUE CONSISTS OF POKEROFICE ASKS PLAYFUL, GETTING FARTHER IN A TOURNEY= I AGREE WITH PO ON THAT 1 ... GET A GOOD STACK GOING INTO THE LATER STAGES AND PICK UR SPOTS... MAYBE PLAYING ONLY UR BLINDS AND BUTTONS SAYS PLAYFUL

Well that would depend upon how many chips I had, what the blinds & antes were at the time LOL. WHATS UR QUESTION ACTUALLY MEAN PLAYFUL1??? If you could explain what you're asking I will give a response.

As fars only playing ur blinds & buttons.... I completely disagree. Why would one want to stick to play hands where they're playing out of position??

[Peteyweestro]

Playful1, that last statement you made just shocked me, after all the great advice you have doled out with your famous theory and whatnot, then you tell someone to only play their blinds and button, hell 3/4 of the times my blinds are my worst hands through out the game, nah mean...

[tking888]

so what exactly happens to your all your chips jason? you've got a leak somewhere...

[Peteyweestro]

Maybe the original poster starts to tighten up their play once they realize the tourny is reaching the midway point and as the saying goes, scared money doesn't win. I would assume that by his staement that he likes to get an early chip lead is that he plays real loose at first and then like i said starts to tone it down once the tourny fodder has been eliminated, and the real tight play doesn't sit well with them so i would suggest not tightening up so much if i am indeed right

[Limey777]

Maybe the original poster starts to tighten up their play once they realize the tourny is reaching the midway point and as the saying goes, scared money doesn't win.

I'm guilty as charged on this one, my objective is to make sure I cash and by the time I do I'm usually crippled. You HAVE to take risks to make the final table. Alot of players exploit the tight/passive play when getting to the bubble and you'll be damn lucky to catch back up to their chipstacks later in the game.

[Peteyweestro]

I can relate to that too Limey, i am usually looser at first because the stakes and bets are sosmall but as the blinds pick up and you need to commit more of your tourny life to stay in the hand i find myself folding stuff i earlier would have played for sure no questions asked,lol.Then like you said the people who took more chances maybe and were a bit lucky then get such a nice chip lead i then feel like i need to take extra risks to try and catch up, this is another aspect of my game i am working on now.

[ND1991]

So with so little info very tough to answer. A few things to consider.

1) How did you chip up early?
a) play premium and make them pay?
b) play a lot, hit something big, and make them pay?
c) play premium, get all-in dominated, and suck out?
d) play a lot, and suck out a lot?
e) play a lot, and raise a lot scaring people?

2) Why do you drain away in middle stages?
a) bleed to the blinds?
b) play too many hands? so blinds + syndrome.
c) play too few hands and not maximize position play to steal blinds?
d) play too few hands and not willing to move off them and losing showdowns?

3) Is there a pattern? If you always chip up early, you are either
a) really good
b) really lucky
c) playing a good strategy that allows you to do this with consitency

4) Is there a pattern? If you always lose in middle stages, you are either
a) really bad
b) really unlucky
c) playing a sub-optimal strategy causing this to become a pattern (aka "A LEAK")

5) Are you studying your game to figure all of this out.