Making it to the final table in MTTs

EU 20 LiveTN 28h July 2019
100.000 chips Hyper
15 minutes levels

53 players 5.3 mln in play
Finished 11th

x) I had Qxs BB in a limped 5way-pot
Axx all suits so I had the flush Qhigh and only Ks would beat me.

A few weeks ago I betted at once when I flopped a Nutflush and only 1 player continued. He folded on the 2ndbarrel, so I made no value.

So now I decided to let another person bet and I wanted to xraise. But it didn't work out, every-one checked.

4th suit on the turn and I bet this time and 1 player continues.
I bet again on river and the player raises 2times.
There can be a lot of lower flushes so I made the call.
Unfortunately she had AKo with the K for the Khigh flush.

This player is a callstation so if I would have betted the flop the pot would have been bigger and my loss would have been bigger.

No luck with my flopped flush this time.

x) 2 limpers and I iso JJ 6times and take it down.

x) I openraise 66 MP and 1 caller.
67x 2tone and I cbet and he folds

x) 44 UTG+1. 24 players left and I had 6bb.
What is our Openshove-range in this spot?
I thought about 66+ in this early position.
I folded the hand.
I checked it in ICMizer and my Openshove range in this spot is 18%.
33+
A4s+
ATo+
K9s+
KQo
Q9s+
J9s+
T9s

44 = +0.04%EV

x) Once I reshoved and once I openshoved and took down the pot

x) An openshove with about 5bb and I had 4bb left CO.
I call 99 and I am up against JJ and I am busted at 11th place.

What went well?
I continued to pay attention to the stacksizes and counting how many bb each player had.
I didn't talk much so my concentration was not too much distracted.
A lot of hands instead of just deciding whether I want to play the hand, I thought "what hands can be played in this position and with my current stacksize".
I calculated my number of bb for the next level already.

What can be improved?

My plan was to make a move with restealing regardless of my hand, from a 35-50bb stack, when I was IP with a stack of 60 - 80 bb.
This move I have not executed. I didn't see a spot. (maybe I was never in such a spot this TN)
Next time pay more attention if I am in such a spot.

EU 20 LiveTN 3rd August 2019
100.000 chips Hyper Bounty
15 minutes levels

43 players 4.3 mln in play
Finished 23rd

The whole TN I have been looking for situation where a resteal or bluff was possible.
The resteal-move without regard of your hand was not possible one single time. Pots are always opened from early position and often there was 1 caller.

Once I made a bluff on a dry board when the flopped was checked around.
J52R x I stab turn and 2 callers
2 I blufbet river again and both callers had a 2. Can you imagine, one caller had K2 and the other one T2.

x) I openraise AsAh 3times to 7500. I forgot that I have to raise bigger in Live play.
It should have been 5 - 6 times.
I get 3 callers. Pot is 30.000
Qxx monotone spades, so I have OP + Nutfd
I bet 20.000 and 1 caller. Pot is 70.000
x and 4th spade, so I have the Nutflush.
I bet halfpot and he folds.
Could I have checked here to induce him to bet, so that I can xraise?

x) Further I was completely carddead and I couldn't find any bluffspots.
Maybe I can steal on BTN more often, f.e. even when I have complete crap.
Openraise complete crap on BTN 4-5times and hope for folds.

x) SB 11bb completes and I shove A7s 10bb.
He calls with 99 and I bust.

ICMizer
My push was +0.06% EV.
Maybe check would have been better
The pushrange that has 0.10% +EV is
55+
AT+

It was a disappointing TN. You see other players getting a lot of playable hands and hitting. And I had only 1 good hand. About 3.5 hours in the TN but all the time xx or Br with a very low kicker and already a few players in the hand.
Even if I would have played the crap hands I wouldn't have hit anything.
So then you get disappointed, spending so much time and effort. But luckily the evening was nice. There was a friendly atmosphere and I enjoyed myself.

As Negreanu says: most of the time when you play a TN you will be disappointed.

EU 20 LiveTN 7th August 2019

22.500 and I did 1 add-on 30.000

2nd of 18 players, ITM

They had no screen with the data of chips in play and average stack.

First table was all limped MW-pots. Even if I isolated, they all called.
Only once a steal from BTN succeeded.
Further I had no valuehands and didn't hit anything in the limped pots.

When I reached the final table I was about 7th in stack. Then I built my stack with several openshoves on which every-one folded.

x) A players openlimps and I iso AA 4times and she calls with 88.
Jxx R and I shove, it was half pot, she folded. That was a pity, she was quite loose and I expected to get her stack in.

x) Last hand HU I openshoved J6s with 9bb (+0.05%EV) and he called QQ and I bust.

x) with 3 players left, the big stack completed SB and I had AQ BB.
I had done a lot of shoves just before, so I choose this time to check.
That was a mistake. It would have been better to shove again to make him fold or playing for stacks at once. He had A2 and caught a 2, so I lost that hand. The hand checked through , so no big loss.

EU 20 LiveTN 11th August 2019

25.000 chips
Chips in play 1.1 mln

21st of 44 players

x) Middle set 99 in limped MW-pot and lead out. Every-one folds

x) I openraise AA and 1 caller and he folds on cbet

x) As preflop caller with KQs I hit TP Qkicker and win at showdown

x) I flop 2P with T9 in MW-pot and lead out and every-one folds

x) Big stack on table on CO isolates an openlimper 4times. I have 19bb and shove AKo SB. Unfortunately he had KK and I bust. I checked the situation in ICMizer and my reshove was +EV.

Again in this TN I couldn't see any nice bluffspots or spots for moves, as it are mostly already MW-pots as it is my turn. So I must rethink about what kind of moves I can make in these situations.

EU 20 LiveTN 14th August 2019

Startstack + 1 add - on 60.000 chips
22 players 5 places paid

Finished 7th

x) I have ATo SB in MW-limped pot
66T and unfortunately BB had 6x.
I betted flop and turn and folded to his turn-raise and he showed his 6

x) A BTN-steal succeeded

Final table

x) SB complets 4x and I have crap xx BB
KK4 and he checks and I bet 3/4 and he folds and shows his 4x.

x) Chipleader openraises MP 4.5 times and I reshove JJ BTN and he folds

x) With13bb I openraise KK MP and a shortstack of 9bb reshoves AJo and I call. He gets his Ace and I am down to 4bb. 14.000

x) Twice I openshove and get the blinds

x) I double up again with 88 to 74.000

x) I openraise AQo and A2s calls from the blinds
Axx and it is TP vs TP+Nutfd and he sets me all in. SPR = 1
Unfortunately the board runs out AK4 74 and it is split pot

x) I openshove SB 87s and BB folds and all together I accumulated again to 112.000

x) I openshove AQs with 6bb and unfortunately SB has AA and I bust in 7th place.

EU 20 LiveTN 17th August 2019

EU 1000 guaranteed
1st 373 eu
2nd 268 eu
3rd 186 eu
4th 117 eu
5th 56 eu

Finished 9th out of 34 players

x) Made a nice pot with a flopped straight in a MW-limped pot
I had 85s BB and flop was 467R

x) Twice a steal from late position failed. Both times I got a caller and both times they hit. I cbetted and 2ndbarreled and the rivers went check check.

x) Once a steal from late position succeeded

x) I openshoved JTs UTG. I cannot remember how many bb I still had. I was somewhere around 10bb. So probably it was just fine or just too loose from UTG.
SB had a smaller stack and he was already tilted and called with QJ and I lost 3/4 of my stack.

x) I reshove QQ and have about 8bb again

Final table

I had 4bb and was the shortstack
x) MP openraises 77 and I reshove AA BB
Unfortunately he rivers his set and I am busted on 9th place.

What went well?
I practiced steals from late positions. Twice they failed and once it succeeded.

What can be improved?
I was intimidated by a player. He berated me when I deal the cards and indicate which player has to act. He made it ridiculous.
Next time be more insensible for this irritating man and don't let my mood be spoiled by him.
He is also berating the play of other players. I was a bit afraid of this man. But I must not let him influence my mood and my play.

Last week I finished 11/54 for a Unibet qualifier EU 550 ticket.

EU 20 LiveTN 31rd August 2019 Steal the Button

1st 271 eu
2nd 193 eu
3rd 141 eu
4th 105 eu
5th 77 eu
6th 54 eu
7th 34 eu

Finished 9th out of 50 players

Unfortunately again I had a seat on the same table with a kind of maniak that I just tried to avoid by starting earlier than normal. Normally he starts late. He sat 2 seats to my right so every time when he was the button I had to pay the blind again.
He became chipleader at the table so he continued bullying and having the button. With this Steal the Button he had the button too often and I had to pay the blinds too often.
Finally I moved to a different table were I was able to accumulate some chips.

I reached the final table with 9 bb. I openshove JJ and was busted by AA.

What went well?
Not talking too much
Counting stacks
Openraising with AA and getting 2 stacks in at the flop
Openshoving

What didn't go well?
Again I was not able to execute light3betting
I haven't had a spot to execute Stop and Go
Because of my seat at the table and way too often in the bb, I didn't have possibilities to steal from late positions

It was the first time that I played a Steal the Button TN and I didn't like it at all. If you don't have a good seat at the table you are very disadvantaged by this concept.

EU 20 LiveTN 8th September 2019

I busted 1st hand SB with AA vs 97o. Blind vs blind. 83%-17%
That is the way it goes.
97x x7.

My mindset was not very good when I arrived. On top of that I sat again at a table with 2 very very irritating persons. I didn't feel like playing at that table. That's why I went all in on the turn, after the irritating opponent raised my flop-cbet.
Afterwards I say it would have been better to sit out some time and take a walk to think things over and come back with a good mindset.

As I am not liking this venue very much any more, I wil take a time-out overthere.

22nd September 2019
Online MTT with ticket
270/4000
Net profit $ 9.69

I registered for Day 1B Main Event 24th Octobre.
There are 3 starting days with 80 players each and an alternate list.

Last year there were 287 places paid in total. Total pricemoney was EU 50.225.

Next few weeks time to study and practice in order to win this Main Event.

Originally posted by adelaar
I registered for Day 1B Main Event 24th Octobre.
There are 3 starting days with 80 players each and an alternate list.

Last year there were 287 places paid in total. Total pricemoney was EU 50.225.

Next few weeks time to study and practice in order to win this Main Event.

Are you sure?
3x80 = 240 players - but 287 players paid?
anyways, good luck!

Hahaha, I meant there were 287 buy ins last year.
1 re-entry is possible and an alternate list.

11 October 2019 Live Bounty TN EU 90
16 players and I finished 6th. Earned 1 EU 20 bounty, so bankroll diminished
EU 70.

x) Last hand QQ vs A6o. Equity 72%. Board runout xx6 x6.
x) Won an uncontested pot that was checked around and I betted 65% IP
x) Won an uncontested pot by isolating 2 limpers. Isolated to 6bb
x) Twice I won a pot with QTs vs a loose player

x) Won the pot and a bounty with JJ vs a shortstack that open-shoved

Further some setmining and speculative suited gappers that didn't hit.

When I reached the finale table I had the 4th stack of 9 players.
Once I had a good hand and even became the chipleader. Shortest stack was 3bb and I had 20bb.

So I had good chances but the structure is very fast and unfortunately the shortstacks were various times lucky and hitted and so they became average stacks again.

I didn't hit anything anymore and finally busted with QQ on 6th place.
Payouts were 310, 190, 150, 100 and 40.
Frustrating.

6 players left, I had 18bb SB and BB had 6.5bb
Other stacks were about 12bb.

My hand: 87o and I went all in.
Unfortunately he had AJo and called and won.

That decreased my stack too much. Afterwards no more possible moves and I busted with QQ.

BB doubled with that AJo and then was able to get another few wins and he became 1st in the TN.

A single hand can decide who will get the most money.

Equity 87o vs AJo: 33%
HRC: with the 18bb in SB it is PUSH ANY TWO. 87o has +0.36 % EV.

So my push was correct.

I am preparing for a EU 175 2-day TN. The first day is 24th October and the 2nd day is 26th October.
Startstack 25.000 and levels are 25 minutes.
There are 3 starting days with 80 players each. 1 rebuy. Expected total buy-ins is 300. Total pricepot will be around EU 52.500.

TN will be played with BB-ante.
I am doing exercises with HRC with average stack and 1.5*average stack.
Day 1 we will play until level 16: 2500/5000/5000.

I think about 24 players will continue to day 2 and the average stack will be about 105000, which is 21bb. So a lot of stacks will be awkward or short.
I will have 130.000 = 26bb and I will continue to day 2 on 26th October.

Best of luck adelaar

Thank you Vorpal. Do you play live TN sometimes?

My dream didn't come out unfortunately.
I was able to excecute some moves, 2 or 3 succeeded and 2 failed. So even though my plan didn't work out, I can be satisfied that I practiced some moves.

Furthermore I isolated AA versus 2 limpers and both folded. So almost no value.
I 3betted KK versus the openraiser and he folded. So again almost no value.
Further I had JJ in a MW-pot and board was Axx and there was a nit in the hand. So I folded.
I had AQ, AJ and twice AK and I openraised these hands. But never hitted and sometimes a player donked, sometimes they floatbetted and sometimes they floated my cbet and I had to give up on the turn. So never won those hands.

With 87s and a SD in a MWpot I missed the turn and had to give up.
Called A8s in a MWpot as spec-hand, missed and had to give up.

Last hand: 2 openlimpers and I reshoved AQo BTN with 10bb and a limper called with TT and I busted.

So all the HRC-work that I did this week, I have not been able to use in this TN, because I was busted way to quickly. It was level 9.

When I came home I played 1 hour online and in that 1 hour I made a lot of hands and won 6BI.
In the live TN I played about 4 - 4.5 hours and made no single hand!
So, that was strange, that hour online was more interesting and rewarding than the whole evening in the liveTN!

Originally posted by adelaar
Thank you Vorpal. Do you play live TN sometimes?

I've played a couple of charity tournaments.
Lost with big pairs early in both of them.

Best of luck on your next shot!

Cheers,
VS

I put into HRC: 74 players left and average 39bb. About 25 players will continue to day 2.
It indicates that players with 39bb have to openlimp their range and not openraise to 3bb.
Do you know what is the explanation that openlimping is more +EV than openraising to 3bb?
Maybe because stack are so medium?