O-Poker

Well, it's been nearly 3 months since I last posted but now is as good a time as any to break the silence!

Since last Thursday night I've played three $22/180 Sit & Go's on PokerStars:

1. 2/16/06 @ 21:46 ET : 3 way chop for $726
2. 2/19/06 @ 18:40 ET : 5th place for $234
3. 2/20/06 @ 22:35 ET : 2nd place for $720

I actually finished 9th in the one previous to that as I was unable to put on the brakes going into the final table.

Something recently clicked regarding MTT play. It's a basic principle I always knew but was usually not able to "pull the trigger" in the right situations until the last few weeks. Everyone has read all the articles and books regarding SELECTIVE AGGRESSION in tourneys, but until you're willing to go broke rather than slipping through the bubble into the money with a short stack it's very difficult to go deep. It truly does not matter what your hole cards are when you have 4x the amount of chips as your opponent... they will usually only call you with BIG CARDS or a pair.

You're probably mumbling something like, "Oh, so Loopy is now the expert on 'going deep' in tourneys." No, far from it... but PUSHING earlier than you have to and putting pressure on your opponents in the right situations gives you a better chance to cash with real money instead of walking away with 3x your buy-in (or less!) for 3+ hours of hard work.

I was able to set players up by firing away time after time near the bubble when they were not willing to make the call without a MONSTER. It paid huge dividends later on when I did the same with a big pair or AK at the final table. As Cmitch mentioned last week, it's just not worth it anymore to eak into the money with a short stack!

One hand that is worth sharing was at the final table of the most recent cash on Stars. Imagine if this one would have held up! Luckily Floyd only had 10k and I ended up making something here... but DAMNNN :)

http://www.pokerxfactor.com/servlet/pxf?t=hand&handid=2569

Loopy