Tournament strategy

[tturne01]

At 3-5 BBs, I would be shoving with any two face cards, any A-x and pocket pair. Start playing fold/shove at 10 BB or less.

[kingkowboys]

When you are that short stacked I would shove from any position with Ax, K7+, any pocket pair, any broadway. If it's raised before me i'm probably never calling without a strong hand. If i'm in the blinds and the BU or CO raises I'll call with the same range. You are so short stacked that you really can't be choosey. I would open shove on the BU or CO any 2 if folded to me. You can easily get folds and pick up blinds.

[emmalovesjoe]

any ace is prob not the way to go unless u have ak aq etc but i would agree prob wantinh 2 live cards so maybe low conectors 2/4 35 etc

[crypiter]

3-5 BBs is pretty low to let yourself get to. Even if you get AA you are most likely going to get called by multiple ppl increasing your chances of losing. Here is some good info to keep in mind when trying to figure out where you are in a tourney:

Harrington's M - Definition Of M And Basic / Effective M Scores
?M? in it?s simplest form is simply the ratio of the blinds (and antes if applicable) to your current chip stack. At a full table you add the 2 blinds together and divide your chips by this number to give you an ?M? number. For example if you have 3000 chips and the total blinds are equal to 600 then your ?M? is 5.
What this number tells you is how many more ?rounds? of the table you can survive without being blinded away. In the above example, assuming you played no hands, you can last for 5 rounds.
The basic ?M? score assumes a full table of 9 or 10 players. When there are less players the blinds will come around faster ? and so your M is adjusted to compensate. Dividing your current M by the ratio of players at the table is know as ?Effective M?. For example, you have 5000 chips with 5 players left ? the blinds total 500, your M now equals 5000/500 = 10, however only 50% of a full table are playing so you divide by 2 for an effective M of 5.
Harrington's M - Once You Know Your M You Can Adjust Your Strategy
Knowing your M score helps you by making tournament strategy adjustments based on this score. This is where Dan Harrington?s Poker Zone Theory comes into play. Your ?M? level (and the M of your opponents) determines which ?zone? you are in and so what your current strategy should be. There are 5 zones in total from the highest to the lowest these are.

Level
Zone
Correct Play
1
Green Zone
When your M is above 20 you have many poker tournament strategy options available. Here you can raise, re-raise and still have chips left if you lose a hand.
2
Yellow Zone
Here your M is between 10 and 20. Loosen up now to stop the blinds eating away at your stack. Small pairs and suited connectors are less desirable now as your implied odds (chance of winning a big pot from a small investments) are lower.
3
Orange Zone
Your M is now between 6 and 10. Here you have lost the ability to ?resteal? and your stack is dwindling, you must now play aggressively to stay alive in the tournament.
4
Red Zone
M is 5 or less. Here you have lost all flexibility if you play a hand it should be all-in, try to be first into a pot to maximize the chance opponents will fold.
5
Dead Zone
M of less than one: Here you are on the tournament critical list ? any high cards are good enough for an all-in move, but expect to be called!
Harrington-M-Zones-Inflection-Points

Dan Harrington's M Scores - Maintaining Maximum Flexibility
Dan Harrington?s poker tournament strategy revolves around maintaining as high an M score as possible. As your zone moves from green to red you lose flexibility in your play and must be more aggressive to compensate. Try to maintain as high an M as you can for as long as possible.

Inflection Points are Harrington?s description of the changes between zones. Inflection points can happen when the blinds move up or if you lose a significant pot and your M suddenly changes. Awareness of inflection points tells you when to change your poker tournament strategy to adjust to the new circumstances at the table. Your objective should always be to keep in the highest of Harrington?s zones as possible.

Hope that helps. GL

[sunburnt2k11]

good advice. but i still can't stop sweating it out water balloons when i wait for the river to drop

[Paisleysky]

I think when to shove depends on your position and the stack size of the people your playing against.

[jayyy27]

I try to stay around 10 BB's as well. I also agree that position is important. With that said, I still don't like PP's smaller then 66. You get 2 hands calling and it becomes even tougher to win with overs against you. I pick 66 because it is likely with a small stack people might call with A2-A5 range. Something more important I did not see is..... shoving any Ax or any PP is different then shove calling. If you have a few players that are really good... " rocks" if you will you only want to shove into them with super premium hands. In late position it makes it easier for you to shove when no one else has. Knowing who and how the players your playing against play becomes important when deciding your shove range for the table as well as which cards you might shove with.

[pedroaraujo]

ye idd, any pair or any ace would be fine, and the rest is just a case of luck

[Flashadow]

If you must call allin than you must forget about small pairs if somebody already called. I mean overcall.

[kalaimihai]

i think the best cards are from AA to QQ too goo all inn...