Big Live Tournaments

[notcalebsheridan]

Has anyone played in a large live tournament,

Let's say, $500+ buy-in, 500+ players?

I am going to be attempting to qualify for all non-US WPT events over the next few months. Granted, these will be more than $500, but I want some general advice and comments about these.

Thanks

[Nima]

I have never played a 500 player tournament.

Actualy come to think of it, I did. Once!. But it was a local $20 buy in tournament in Charlottesville.

As far as advice goes, re-read your tournament books. Go to Barnes & Nobels and read all the books out there.


Where are the non-US $500 buy in tournaments? Give us some more info on those.

Cheers,
Nima

[Matt]

I've never played a tournament like that, but I can offer some general advice on live play. Some of this advice may seem obvious, but it bears repeating:

Obviously, in live games you don't have the advantages of Poker Tracker or PokerAce HUD. You have to pay constant attention to what's going on at the table, even when you're not in a hand. It's important to get a read on your opponents' range of hands and their betting tendencies. This can be rather exhausting if you're playing for a long period of time, as you will be in a tournament. Of course, you probably already know this.

You have to constantly keep track of how much money is in the pot in order to quickly calculate pot odds and size your bets. The internet makes this easy, but it's much more difficult in live play. Counting the pot in limit games is not that hard; all you have to do is count the number of bets instead of exact dollar amounts. Counting the pot in NL is obviously much harder.

I suggest picking up a copy of Caro's Book of Poker Tells if you don't already have one. As Nima said, it's always a good idea to re-read all the good NL books: Harrington on Hold'em, No-Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice, etc.

Some other books you might check out, if you haven't already:

Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky--not exactly a NL book, but it covers some essential tournament concepts.

Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker by Stewart Reuben and Bob Ciaffone--Bob Ciaffone is one of my favorite non-2+2 poker writers. This book covers general big-bet poker concepts and applies them to many different games--PL and NL Hold'em, PL Omaha, NL Lowball Draw, etc. I've skimmed through this book, and it seems pretty solid. I plan on reading it when I decide to give PL Omaha a try. It's received a lot of praise from other poker authorities like Mason Malmuth and Ed Miller.

Kill Phil by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson--I haven't read this book yet, but it has also received high praise. It outlines a fairly simple strategy based on the all-in move, much like the "system" Sklansky outlines in Tournament Poker for Advanced Players.

Making the Final Table by Erick Lindgren--Another book I haven't read. It's supposedly better than the other WPT books. As far as I know, this is the only good book that teaches a loose-aggressive playing style.

Hope this helps,
Matt

[zakpak23]

Does anyone have a copy of Mike Caro's book I could borrow? Or know where I can purchase it locally?

[Mr.Fivestring]

I played in the EPT Barcelona this past fall. It my first major tourney and I learned a lot from the experience. First off, get plenty of rest. Day 1 was 14 hours long and I was not prepared for that kind of focus for that long of a period.
Also, pay very close attn to everyone, and also to what info your giving off. I was a little nervous and I am sure it showed. There were some people there thumbing through magazines when they were not in action and I'm sure they missed some good information.
As far as preparation, I would absolutely read Dan Harrington's books. They are the best I've read for tournies if you play a tight aggessive style.
All the info above is very true also. Good luck