Early Stage MTT Play

[kompressaur]

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[kompressaur]

When i started to play poker i suppose i was a nit (is that how they spell it?) I followed Phil Helmuth's Million dollar system (i think thats what it was called) It taught me to play the top 10 hands and maybe slightly expand on them. I think i would only be playing about 10% of hands or even less. Little did i know that playing this way is not playing poker. I was just sitting there waiting for hands...hold on a sec this is about MTT and MTT only. aye so i would sit there waiting for hands, maybe playing 5 hands at most an hour. I really enjoyed folding. Since then i havent really played mtt's and ive become pretty loose pre-flop in the short handed turbo stt's that ive since played in. well you have to. So whats my MTT strategy now?

I dunno. I was starting to incorporate a 'rule of ? & ?' i forget what the ?'s are I think it's that you should call a bet or even a small raise with small pairs and suited connectors if your getting the odds (to be confirmed) and that the bet is less than 10% of your stack or the stack of the smallest stack in the pot. Obviously you would take position into account and would be less likely to call if your in 2nd position and someone raises UTG. Well i presume you would. I cant see nothing online to confirm this rule. I think its' the Rule of 5 and 10. Doesnt sound lilkelt does it. I will go try find it in my book.

[kompressaur]

Ok ive found it, It's called The Rule of 5 & 10. It was first suggested in the book PL and NL Poker by Stuart Ruben & Bob Ciaffone. On the surface of it if it means if it costs us 5% of our stack or less then we call and if it costs us 10% or more we fold. In between is a judgement call depending on how confident you feel with your post flop play, your position and the quality of your hand. I am prone to calling with almost anything on or near the button if there are players in raising who bet on the flop if they have something or check if they dont. If they do make a continuation bet on a flop of J65 say i will reraise them and steal the pot. Just if i feel the time is right. I dont claim to be an expert of the game infact im still a relative noob but i just want to share some of the things ive picked up and share it with others and also look for some expert advice on the way i play things. If i get raised back by the raiser then i would let it go.

your stack at the beginng relative to the blinds will allow you to play a lot more speculative hands. when i say speculative i dont mean hands like A6 offsuit i mean pairs and suited connectors (i think) you can even play them to a small raise if the rule of 5 and 10 still applies. Dont forget i havent really tested all this out but it sounds like a good rule of thumb to me. It should allow me to motor along nicely collecting chips along the way.

An important point to note about the Rule of 5 & 10 is that if you have a bigger stack than your opponent then it's his stack that you use the rule on his stack. you cant win more than his stack so the implied odds only applies to the smaller stack.

how does this relate to when there is 5 people in the pot? Im pretty sure it means the lowest stack no matter. Maybe not as surely the implied odds with the other 4 people would be enough

If you commit more than 10% of your stack to an early position raise it doesnt mean that you should fold it just means that calling probably isnt your best option. Moving in or folding would be your optimal choices.