Changing Styles

[Fonzi]

My natural playing style is Tight Aggressive but there's a flaw in my style that I've been trying to figure out for a while now. I'm fine early in tournaments and usually move up the leaderboard quickly but once the blinds and antes start going up and I go card dead I find myself moving down the leaderboard and many times end up having to play hands I don't like for fear of being blinded out.

Do I open up my range and try to steal? I've tried several things but it's very unnatural for me and I find myself questioning myself. I don't bluff much and even when I do it's based on information and feel. Even then I usually have outs.

I need to be more aggressive. Is my biggest problem putting on the brakes if I miss?

[Bailyen]

Well, since you said you rarely bluff then I would say people see you as a player that is only going to put his money in if he has the goods or a ton of outs to make a hand. So I would throw in a few bluffs here and there to a weak opponent when you have a good position to mix up the game, but only if you are going to confidently ride it out. Chances are it could work if you are keeping the image that it sounds like. I recently read an article that talked about a player ( I don't remember his name) who bluffed Doyle Brunson in a NL cash game. This player had maintained a tight image against him the whole time and when he felt it was time he started his bluff pre-flop and ended up taking a pretty decent pot off of Doyle on the river card with something like 7 4 offsuit I believe. Just a thought.

[pkrplr4116]

Fonzi,
I wind up in the same situation as you do, but for different reasons and with different results. I am finding myself unable to change gears.

I play cash and tournaments (mostly live). In most of these tournies, the players are men. Now, Annette_15 really wasn't lying when she said womene don't play well. Many of them are great, but the ones in the smaller buyin tournaments are necessarily as good as the guys, who have been playing a lot longer than I. So, I'm usually the only female at the table. I play rough and never limp in if I can help it. I get respect and I get a lot of chips early. Then, can't stop being overly aggressive and donk off my chips, getting knocked out within 1 or 2 from the money.

I called a friend for help and he suggested that I learn as much as I can about the ICM. Independant Chip Model. And use that info to STOP playing when if I fold a couple good hands, I can get paid. Once I get info the money, I can begin to play, again. It seems like a weak suggestion, but it has helped me.

[Kountess]

Originally Posted by Fonzi

My natural playing style is Tight Aggressive but there's a flaw in my style that I've been trying to figure out for a while now. I'm fine early in tournaments and usually move up the leaderboard quickly but once the blinds and antes start going up and I go card dead I find myself moving down the leaderboard and many times end up having to play hands I don't like for fear of being blinded out.

Do I open up my range and try to steal? I've tried several things but it's very unnatural for me and I find myself questioning myself. I don't bluff much and even when I do it's based on information and feel. Even then I usually have outs.

I need to be more aggressive. Is my biggest problem putting on the brakes if I miss?

That sounds just like me! I've learned when you are chip leader, its easy to steal blinds. Players aren't going to play unless they have a good hand! I'm not a bluffer either but I do it every once in a while & it works!

[buzzmania]

man its like you folks are watching me play and describing my game. same here ,i start out quick and hard and can manage to survive for awhile and then out of gas,card dead .I too try and switch my style but seems to always be the 1 person at the table that will call anything and it sucks to get caught in a bluffing situation.grrrr

[mgb1966]

Being tight does not necessarily mean you have a lack of aggression. A tight player wants selective aggression. Tight players like playing profitable hands. Some hands are unprofitable. Having a nut flush on a 3 suited board is generally unprofitable since most people won't reraise or call a big raise with this situation . Tight aggressive players likek to trap a loose player who hits on a marginal hand and become aggressive post flop. The best money hand is still a disguised set on the flop. If someone has a big pocket pair they generally will not fold (especially Aces) and will give up their stack.

[Kountess]

Originally Posted by mgb1966

Being tight does not necessarily mean you have a lack of aggression. A tight player wants selective aggression. Tight players like playing profitable hands. Some hands are unprofitable. Having a nut flush on a 3 suited board is generally unprofitable since most people won't reraise or call a big raise with this situation . Tight aggressive players likek to trap a loose player who hits on a marginal hand and become aggressive post flop. The best money hand is still a disguised set on the flop. If someone has a big pocket pair they generally will not fold (especially Aces) and will give up their stack.

Yea good way to stack chips, I know I got in the middle of the before- sucks!!

[Assistanc3]

Fonzi and to others with similar problems late run tournaments
I had specifically wrote 7 Ways to Improve Your Tournament Middle Stage

[freeringo]

I played like you for a very long time and made the money alot , but
my stack was so depleted I couldn't last long enough to win.
So now, I continue my early play into my middle game and don't tighten up until final table then of course play like a donkey when you get down to 5 players. works everytime.

[Brutus977]

I had this problem too for a while. You cruise through the first few rounds while playing solid poker. You maintain a healthy stack throughout. When crunch time comes you pucker up and get that fear of loss coursing through your brain. In reality, if you are playing well and making few mistakes, logic would tell you to keep playing the same way right? It's a challenge, to say the least, to overcome this. But once you do you will be on another level. I try to keep in my mind settle for third but play to win. The right cards and correct math are important, but confidence trumps them both. If you play scared to loose, you're headed right into a mediocre finish. Remember, you're probably not sitting with master poker players either. Many carry that same fear as well. Use it to your advantage.