[Closed] My stack get very low by the end of the tournement...

Hey ! Welcome

I have kind of the same problem, playing verry tight from the start and waiting for good cards while the blinds are eating me alive. i think that when the middle phase begins you/me have to start taking risks and start with some stealing/re-steal against tighter players.

problem is i am bad at reading players atm so :x

just my 2 cents.

It's a complicated situation I almost always make it to the final group of people and have similar situations, have you read the article about playing speculative hands and when you can play which types of hands? Usually earlier on in the tourney you can play hands like 6 7 suited if you have 20X the stack of the amount you have to call and if you're in late position....its cheap enough to see a long shot and hopefully win some chips off it. I think playing speculative hands helps and its inexpensive at the start in relation to your stack so try that out and see how it goes.... I'm no expert but its something to think about.

-fastroller

From time to time you will be blinded down no matter what. You will be card-dead sometimes.

Anyway, work on your ranges and you will be fine

As you get blinded down the ICM model tells you to push more and more cards until pushing ATC is the correct play. It sounds like you just need to spend some of your poker time practicing with an ICM trainer.

Thanks so much guys for the help! How would you recommend training my ICM I have the ICM trainer light but like it doesn't really help to much because its rare that the situation in your game matches one in the ICM simulator. Also when you guys say play more hand while the blinds are still low is that really a good thing to do? And is the a chart where I can find what hands to try to hit big with when my blinds are over 22? Thanks again

Hi Sashalyuber,

I'm quite new to poker & in the same position as you and have taken the following steps to try to help avoid getting blinded out all the time:

1. Watch the videos - I watch quite a few videos and there are a number of video posters who give great demonstrations of ICM - push/fold - principle. I am still stuggling with rushes of blood to the head and making incorrect pushes (plus the inevitable bad beat) but I believe I have definitely improved as a result. Each one runs for about 45-60min and I think it was time well spent.

2. Read all of the training articles for your status - it is pretty easy to get the $50 and then head straight to the tables without remembering that moving up to bronze opens some more training info for you. I recommend investing some time to read them.

3. ICM trainer light - as I am new, I have been using ICM trainer light to practice. The situations are general and I think cover most situations you will find yourself in. When I do not stick to the principles (through a rush of blood or trying to be smart) I find myself being bounced from the tourney.

4. Playing by the starting hand chart - it is sometimes hard to lay down the AQ utg and AJ always looks sooo good, but you really have to lay them down until you are in the push/fold phase. Even when it feels like you are not getting any hands, I recommend that you stick to the charts. When ever I deviate, or make a call when I should fold, I find myself either in a difficult situation that I dont have the skills to get out of easily, or I simply do something stupid and get to think about it whilst I open another tourney. At the games that you and I will be playing at, I believe it is the best option.

5. The forum is great for reading through hand analysis and comments as well.

6. I try to play in sng that allow me time to play as tight as the charts recommend. For me, this means playing in non-turbo sng until my ICM skills are better. It allows me more time to play tight and more time for the others to make mistakes without worring too much about the blinds until much later.

Anyway, that is just my opinion and I hope that it helps. I am not an expert, but rather a beginner who hopes to improve as well.

Cheers.