There won't really be any hand examples here. This is a pretty general problem for people who transition over from tournament play, like I have. We're used to starting maybe 200 BB deep, sure, but the stack to pot ratio (SPR) gets cut in half when the blinds go up... then cut again, and again, and again. The vast majority of a tourney player's game is between 5-50 BBs. "Deep stacked" isn't really in the small stakes tourney player's vocabulary.
I've played poker for years, and have always done terribly at cash games while doing much, much better at tournament play. I've finally found the exact reason why: I've been treating all play at around 50+ big blinds exactly the same. While I got away with it in tournaments, it's lost me a lot of money in the deeper cash games. If you're playing with and against 100+ BB stacks, you need to tighten up a lot more when someone shoves it all in, both preflop and postflop. My pocket Jacks and Queens called way too often. Even my Kings did, when you approach the 200BB+ stack sizes. I didn't place enough credit in the strong draws and the implied odds that come with them, particularly calling with and putting people on gutshots, which go from total spew at smaller stack sizes to good calls since they're so hard for some of us to put people on.
In short, deep stack play is a different game entirely. I've started making adjustments, though, and I can see the changes happening already. I'm no longer spewing cash everywhere. I can lay pocket Kings down preflop. I can call raises preflop with more middle pairs and suited connectors. And best of all, I can start to laugh at the poor, fishy fools that I take to the cleaners because they haven't gotten it yet. I feel like I've finally started to get a grasp on deep stacked play... here's hoping I can turn my habitual losing streak at cash games around. I've certainly paid enough in dues.
I can't wait to polish my skills up a bit more, then hit Atlantic City this Friday :)
I'm too excited with the progress I've made... can't sleep now. Back to the tables I go! Looks like a caffeine day tomorrow.
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"Deep stacked" isn't really in the small stakes tourney player's vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteIn live tournaments with $100+ buy-ins, it's still pretty much the same. I've noticed late in a tournament I might be the chip leader at my table, yet my M is only around 10!!
I noticed that in a $100 tournament I decided to play at the Showboat... my experience was actually probably even worse. For a tournament that I found out usually has 100+ people in it, they capped the field at 50 because they had assigned all their dealers to the cash game tables instead. Blinds went up way too quickly, every 20 minutes. The tournament basically played like a Super Turbo. By the time we reached the final table ten-handed, the average stack was 50,000 but blinds were 4,000/8,000. WTF? Average stack has an M of less than 5?!? And on a ten-handed table, too, which normally requires ultra-tight play? The blinds rose so quickly that it was basically a shovefest once we were down to 25 players or so. I was lucky enough to make it to the final table as is, but I busted out in tenth after I CO open-shoved 30,000 chips with ATs and ran into KK on the button.
ReplyDeleteI understand that the casino makes more money on cash games, and the dealers too since they don't get tipped in tournaments, but that was just ridiculous.
I will never, ever, ever play in a live tournament again unless it's got a championship structure, and I've got a ways to go before my bankroll can handle that.