Post by Steve on Nov 7, 2010 21:04:56 GMT -5
Recently the online sites have been adding more and more high stakes tournaments to their schedules. Four sites now have a weekly $1000 tournament, Tilt has added a couple 100 rebuys, UB has added a nightly $150, and this is on top of the slew of $100+ tournaments (which we’ll define as higher stakes for the sake of discussion) that already exist. There are a number of adjustments to consider when moving up the buy in ladder which we’ll go over.
First of all, peoples aggression ranges are much wider at higher stakes than they are at low/mid. Take shoving ranges on a 10 BB stack with antes for example. If it folds to a player on the CO in the 100 rebuys, their range is going to be very wide here, and in some situations any two cards. Now take a tournament like the nightly 50/50 on Stars or Tilt. I think the average player is often only shoving A high, pairs, any two broadway, and a few suited connectors. Some may even end up folding the weaker A’s and broadways. As always you need to watch the players on your right to get a good idea of where they’re at, but as a rule expect that as you move up in stakes peoples shoving ranges get wider.
Also, peoples opening ranges get wider but that is fairly obvious. A larger difference though, is that peoples 3 betting ranges get a lot wider and 3 bets are a lot more frequent. For example, in a 50/50 dollar tournament If I open MP2 and the button 3 bets me at 30 BB’s effective I give the average player pretty damn tight range, though again it depends on the player. Still, very regularly you’ll get players whose 3 bet range is simply QQ+/AK. Meanwhile, in a tournament like the 100r the 3 bet range here can be closer to AQ+/99+, again depending on the player and the existing dynamics. Also, players at higher buy ins make fewer mistakes in regards to 3 bets. Many have a good idea what kind of stacks they should shove with, which they should flat with, which they should 3 bet as a go and go, and which they should 3 bet and evaluate post flop with. At the lower/mid buy in tournaments you more often see guys who do very obvious things such as min 3 bet their strongest hands, 4 or 5X 3 bet the hands they don’t really know how to play (TT-QQ, AK) and make shoves for highly inappropriate amounts (either jamming on a resteal with no fold equity because they don’t understand pot odds or shoving a massive stack in relation to your bet, say 10-15X your original raise.) There are still plenty of players at the higher limits who make significant errors in 3 bet situations, but the errors are often to a smaller degree than at the lower stakes, and often erring on the side of aggression which makes your life harder.
Because people are more passive at lower stakes I tend to play a more aggressive game. If I get on tables where the players on my left seem incapable of 3 betting without having a real hand I’ll start tiny raising (2.3-2.5X) a very wide range of hands in LP. Even if these types of players end up defending their BB (which many will since they don’t understand position) they’ll often play too passive and sloppy post flop. When I play in higher stakes and tougher tournaments, I tend to play a more TAG style since my opponents will make far fewer mistakes against me pre and post flop and their aggression can sometimes be manipulated into spewing into my tighter style of play. Of course you should never go to far with this and become a nit (and some players play LAGish at the highest stakes very well) and you still need to be able to pick spots to suddenly and violently open up your range in order to keep thinking players off balance. Along this line, I also flat call preflop a bit wider in weaker tournaments because my opponents will make larger mistakes post, give me more free cards, and I’ll get squeezed behind me less often.
Another major difference you’ll see when moving up in stakes are the concepts of raising for information and pot control. Let’s take an example hand and see how it can (and often will) play out differently depending on stakes.
Example 1: It is the first level of a Stars tournament with a 3000 starting bank at the 10/20 level. The players in the hand not overly familiar with each other. The button in the hand holds 99.
Preflop: It folds to UTG+1 who raises to 70, it folds to the button who calls, the blinds fold.
Flop: 2 5 7 rainbow
UTG+1 bets out 120.
Now, in a Stars $1000 tournament I would expect the button to flat call here close to 100% of the time. The button knows if he raises 99 there are zero hands he can get value out of from another thinking player and he is essentially turning his hand into a bluff. Therefore he elects to call, control the pot size, use his position, and evaluate what happens on the turn. One other quick adjustment in regards to open raising comes with the ability to break the stack size rule. Say for example I’m in a tournament full of very weak players who never 3 bet without having a big hand. If it’s folded to me on the CO with A9s I’ll 2.4X it intending to fold to a reraise. Meanwhile in something like the 100r, I would simply shove this hand.
The same hand in the Stars 50/50 may play out that UTG+1 bets out 120 and the button now raises to 360. The button is failing to think about the big picture and sees the situation at it’s most basic; “The flop is 7 high, I have a pair of nines, I’ve probably got the best hand therefore I should raise and see where I am.” Then if they get reraised they sit there tanking not sure what to do and wondering how they got in this gross spot. For the most part, raising this board with 99 at this stack depth is a mistake across the board, but every so often you’ll get players who stack off so insanely wide it becomes correct. Still, this is a rare occurrence.
The next thing to consider about moving up in stakes is bubble play. Both on the final table and on the cash bubble, the higher you get and against the better of opponents the less players will nit it up around bubble situations and give you folds. There will always be some players who are out of their league in a tournament who have happened to survive to the point that this is relevant, but the bubble in a 50/50 is vastly different to a bubble in the 100r. For example, in a bubble situation where I have a decent stack (it doesn’t need to be huge) in a 50/50 I’ll be open raising an enormous amount of hands for very small raises (2.3-2.5X) since I expect players to 3 bet and flat call me with a very tight range. Meanwhile in a 100r I make almost zero adjustment to my game plan unless I am in procession of a massive stack or happen to be on a table with unexpectedly weak players. Even still I don’t open it up to nearly the level I would in a 50/50 tournament. In a 50/50 it’s fairly rare to see someone else on the table really looking to manipulate a bubble situation unless they have a ton of chips, but in the higher limits most players are willing to go ahead and 3 bet all in light to prevent their getting run over.
Another key adjustment I make between stakes is adjusting how much I play for deception vs obvious value. Against higher stakes and thinking players you need to be aware that they are more observant and watching for bet sizing patterns. They also know that you know exactly what your stack size allows for and doing something outside the norm throws up red flags.
Example: It’s at the 200/400 with 50 ante in a Stars tournament. You have 9,600 chips in the small blind and hold AA. The button has 15,000.
Preflop: It folds around to the button who open raises to 1,100.
Now, in a 100r I am shoving this hand, the same as I would shove my entire 3 betting range. Thinking players know if I do something like make it 3,000 (which obviously pot commits me) that I likely have a huge hand (although these days some players are making it 3000 in this spot with a hand that’s not necessarily dying for action like say, AT in order to look strong, but that’s a whole other article) and that I’d normally shove my lesser hands. So instead of giving them that information I make the most deceptive play (that is, deceptive because there is simply nothing to read into, my raise size can mean AT, 55, KQs, or AA.) I also know that very few strong/thinking players would think of flatting here for 1/3rd of effective stacks to see if they get a good flop or otherwise fold to my inevitable flop shove. Meanwhile, in the 50/50 I would almost always make more a fancy/cute play by flat calling (which basically nobody does in the 100r in the SB at these stack sizes) or 3 betting an amount that makes my opponent perhaps thinking about taking a flop, or, ever so rarely, 4 bet a hand they think has some fold equity.
There are many situations like this at lower stakes tournaments where you can do things that become obvious at higher stakes in order to get value. You should slow play more often in spots where your opponent will fail to realize you have become pot committed and would never call off so much of your stack without such a strong holding. The higher you get the and better of players you run into, the more you should make your actions look similar with your whole range to prevent them from being able to hand read you accurately.
Lastly, keep in mind that players at lower limits adjust slower (or at times, are simply unwilling to adjust) compared to higher stakes thinking players. Meta game in the tougher tournaments is much more relevant and history and reads become highly integral to being able to make a correct assessment of someone’s range. Meanwhile, in lower stakes players may fail to adjust by opening their range up against your aggressive play. They are much less likely to take a pattern you have and exploit you for it, since they simply don’t possess the knowledge of how to react to a variety of situations. Their style is more sedentary. Meanwhile, if you keep the same patterns up against thinking players you will inevitably get exploited and they will find ways to outplay you or only give you the absolute minimum of value with your big hands. Pay attention to the way the table reacts to you. The ‘X-factor’ of skilled tournament play against tough opponents is understanding meta game.
Alright, that’s all I have for now. I hope this has helped, and always, if you have questions just ask.
First of all, peoples aggression ranges are much wider at higher stakes than they are at low/mid. Take shoving ranges on a 10 BB stack with antes for example. If it folds to a player on the CO in the 100 rebuys, their range is going to be very wide here, and in some situations any two cards. Now take a tournament like the nightly 50/50 on Stars or Tilt. I think the average player is often only shoving A high, pairs, any two broadway, and a few suited connectors. Some may even end up folding the weaker A’s and broadways. As always you need to watch the players on your right to get a good idea of where they’re at, but as a rule expect that as you move up in stakes peoples shoving ranges get wider.
Also, peoples opening ranges get wider but that is fairly obvious. A larger difference though, is that peoples 3 betting ranges get a lot wider and 3 bets are a lot more frequent. For example, in a 50/50 dollar tournament If I open MP2 and the button 3 bets me at 30 BB’s effective I give the average player pretty damn tight range, though again it depends on the player. Still, very regularly you’ll get players whose 3 bet range is simply QQ+/AK. Meanwhile, in a tournament like the 100r the 3 bet range here can be closer to AQ+/99+, again depending on the player and the existing dynamics. Also, players at higher buy ins make fewer mistakes in regards to 3 bets. Many have a good idea what kind of stacks they should shove with, which they should flat with, which they should 3 bet as a go and go, and which they should 3 bet and evaluate post flop with. At the lower/mid buy in tournaments you more often see guys who do very obvious things such as min 3 bet their strongest hands, 4 or 5X 3 bet the hands they don’t really know how to play (TT-QQ, AK) and make shoves for highly inappropriate amounts (either jamming on a resteal with no fold equity because they don’t understand pot odds or shoving a massive stack in relation to your bet, say 10-15X your original raise.) There are still plenty of players at the higher limits who make significant errors in 3 bet situations, but the errors are often to a smaller degree than at the lower stakes, and often erring on the side of aggression which makes your life harder.
Because people are more passive at lower stakes I tend to play a more aggressive game. If I get on tables where the players on my left seem incapable of 3 betting without having a real hand I’ll start tiny raising (2.3-2.5X) a very wide range of hands in LP. Even if these types of players end up defending their BB (which many will since they don’t understand position) they’ll often play too passive and sloppy post flop. When I play in higher stakes and tougher tournaments, I tend to play a more TAG style since my opponents will make far fewer mistakes against me pre and post flop and their aggression can sometimes be manipulated into spewing into my tighter style of play. Of course you should never go to far with this and become a nit (and some players play LAGish at the highest stakes very well) and you still need to be able to pick spots to suddenly and violently open up your range in order to keep thinking players off balance. Along this line, I also flat call preflop a bit wider in weaker tournaments because my opponents will make larger mistakes post, give me more free cards, and I’ll get squeezed behind me less often.
Another major difference you’ll see when moving up in stakes are the concepts of raising for information and pot control. Let’s take an example hand and see how it can (and often will) play out differently depending on stakes.
Example 1: It is the first level of a Stars tournament with a 3000 starting bank at the 10/20 level. The players in the hand not overly familiar with each other. The button in the hand holds 99.
Preflop: It folds to UTG+1 who raises to 70, it folds to the button who calls, the blinds fold.
Flop: 2 5 7 rainbow
UTG+1 bets out 120.
Now, in a Stars $1000 tournament I would expect the button to flat call here close to 100% of the time. The button knows if he raises 99 there are zero hands he can get value out of from another thinking player and he is essentially turning his hand into a bluff. Therefore he elects to call, control the pot size, use his position, and evaluate what happens on the turn. One other quick adjustment in regards to open raising comes with the ability to break the stack size rule. Say for example I’m in a tournament full of very weak players who never 3 bet without having a big hand. If it’s folded to me on the CO with A9s I’ll 2.4X it intending to fold to a reraise. Meanwhile in something like the 100r, I would simply shove this hand.
The same hand in the Stars 50/50 may play out that UTG+1 bets out 120 and the button now raises to 360. The button is failing to think about the big picture and sees the situation at it’s most basic; “The flop is 7 high, I have a pair of nines, I’ve probably got the best hand therefore I should raise and see where I am.” Then if they get reraised they sit there tanking not sure what to do and wondering how they got in this gross spot. For the most part, raising this board with 99 at this stack depth is a mistake across the board, but every so often you’ll get players who stack off so insanely wide it becomes correct. Still, this is a rare occurrence.
The next thing to consider about moving up in stakes is bubble play. Both on the final table and on the cash bubble, the higher you get and against the better of opponents the less players will nit it up around bubble situations and give you folds. There will always be some players who are out of their league in a tournament who have happened to survive to the point that this is relevant, but the bubble in a 50/50 is vastly different to a bubble in the 100r. For example, in a bubble situation where I have a decent stack (it doesn’t need to be huge) in a 50/50 I’ll be open raising an enormous amount of hands for very small raises (2.3-2.5X) since I expect players to 3 bet and flat call me with a very tight range. Meanwhile in a 100r I make almost zero adjustment to my game plan unless I am in procession of a massive stack or happen to be on a table with unexpectedly weak players. Even still I don’t open it up to nearly the level I would in a 50/50 tournament. In a 50/50 it’s fairly rare to see someone else on the table really looking to manipulate a bubble situation unless they have a ton of chips, but in the higher limits most players are willing to go ahead and 3 bet all in light to prevent their getting run over.
Another key adjustment I make between stakes is adjusting how much I play for deception vs obvious value. Against higher stakes and thinking players you need to be aware that they are more observant and watching for bet sizing patterns. They also know that you know exactly what your stack size allows for and doing something outside the norm throws up red flags.
Example: It’s at the 200/400 with 50 ante in a Stars tournament. You have 9,600 chips in the small blind and hold AA. The button has 15,000.
Preflop: It folds around to the button who open raises to 1,100.
Now, in a 100r I am shoving this hand, the same as I would shove my entire 3 betting range. Thinking players know if I do something like make it 3,000 (which obviously pot commits me) that I likely have a huge hand (although these days some players are making it 3000 in this spot with a hand that’s not necessarily dying for action like say, AT in order to look strong, but that’s a whole other article) and that I’d normally shove my lesser hands. So instead of giving them that information I make the most deceptive play (that is, deceptive because there is simply nothing to read into, my raise size can mean AT, 55, KQs, or AA.) I also know that very few strong/thinking players would think of flatting here for 1/3rd of effective stacks to see if they get a good flop or otherwise fold to my inevitable flop shove. Meanwhile, in the 50/50 I would almost always make more a fancy/cute play by flat calling (which basically nobody does in the 100r in the SB at these stack sizes) or 3 betting an amount that makes my opponent perhaps thinking about taking a flop, or, ever so rarely, 4 bet a hand they think has some fold equity.
There are many situations like this at lower stakes tournaments where you can do things that become obvious at higher stakes in order to get value. You should slow play more often in spots where your opponent will fail to realize you have become pot committed and would never call off so much of your stack without such a strong holding. The higher you get the and better of players you run into, the more you should make your actions look similar with your whole range to prevent them from being able to hand read you accurately.
Lastly, keep in mind that players at lower limits adjust slower (or at times, are simply unwilling to adjust) compared to higher stakes thinking players. Meta game in the tougher tournaments is much more relevant and history and reads become highly integral to being able to make a correct assessment of someone’s range. Meanwhile, in lower stakes players may fail to adjust by opening their range up against your aggressive play. They are much less likely to take a pattern you have and exploit you for it, since they simply don’t possess the knowledge of how to react to a variety of situations. Their style is more sedentary. Meanwhile, if you keep the same patterns up against thinking players you will inevitably get exploited and they will find ways to outplay you or only give you the absolute minimum of value with your big hands. Pay attention to the way the table reacts to you. The ‘X-factor’ of skilled tournament play against tough opponents is understanding meta game.
Alright, that’s all I have for now. I hope this has helped, and always, if you have questions just ask.