Do you think survival matters too much in tournaments?

Nesehorn156 · Friday at 4:16 PM

A lot of tournament players focus heavily on surviving and making the money, but sometimes that can make people play too passively.

There are spots where taking a risk is probably better than just hanging on.

Do you think too many players focus on survival instead of trying to build a stack?

MK_ · Friday at 5:45 PM

.. yes, although you do have to be in it to win it I see that a lot, I've even done it... but generally it's better to play to win👍

EnigmaTTO · Friday at 6:30 PM

Definitely, I feel like I see it alot in the microstakes, where you see people who go from playing very loose to very tight as soon as the bubble gets close. It can make them really easy to take advantage of.

kunkgreen · Friday at 7:20 PM

This is a question that depends a lot!
It depends on your goals, the tournament stage, information about the opponents, and many other variables that can influence our decisions!

Sometimes a small cash game can mean more to some than to others.
We have to keep in mind that to win, we have to survive, right?!

Reaching the final table several times with smaller prizes is also equivalent to a victory.

While we're playing for chip EV, we can still afford to be more cautious... But as the pressure of ICM increases, it demands more caution.

hardongear · Friday at 7:30 PM

If you're goal is to be a long term winning player YES majority players are too passive and think too much about just getting an ITM finish. It's pretty simple math. With online payout structures the way they are and considering one will only finish ITM around 25%. Look at how little a just ITM finish pays. You gotta run deep to make any money long term. The only way to run deep is by playing aggressive and accumulating chips.

Fwiw I hate online payout structures. If I could have my way last place would pay at least double the buy-in. Of course that would mean not as places get paid out and the MTT's wouldn't be so top heavy when it comes to payouts.

Cheers!!!

Hospedar · Friday at 7:57 PM

Surviving is the best thing to do at a tournament, but you are right: there is too many players forgetting to play the hands they should play...

Anyway, I think this is just a lack of ICM studies...

burro · Friday at 10:47 PM

From my experience, I don't think survival is overrated. If anything it's something I always try to keep in mind.

I'm no tournament expert, but I've learned the hard way that taking unnecessary risks early usually ends badly. Staying patient and avoiding big mistakes has always worked better for me than trying to build a big stack too fast.

That said, I've also made the mistake of playing too cautiously and blinding out slowly, which isn't great either. Finding that balance is something I'm still working on honestly.

TheniT · Friday at 11:45 PM

Yes, many tournaments overvalue survival, which can make play overly cautious and less exciting. But survival is often a proxy for consistency, which is a fair competitive measure. The real issue is balance: formats should reward both smart survival and bold performance.

villa1306 · Saturday at 2:37 AM

Nesehorn156 said:
Muchos jugadores de torneos se centran demasiado en sobrevivir y ganar dinero, pero a veces eso puede hacer que jueguen de forma demasiado pasiva.

Hay situaciones en las que arriesgarse es probablemente mejor que simplemente aguantar.

¿Crees que demasiados jugadores se centran en la supervivencia en lugar de intentar construir una pila de unidades?

It's complicated; sometimes I think it's the best way to play, but then with premium cards, horrible things happen to me, and I honestly don't even know what the best way to play is anymore.

villa1306 · Saturday at 2:40 AM

Hospedar said:
Sobrevivir es lo mejor que se puede hacer en un torneo, pero tienes razón: hay demasiados jugadores que se olvidan de jugar las manos que deberían jugar...

En cualquier caso, creo que se trata simplemente de una falta de estudios de ICM...

And the worst part is how the system helps them... today in the ggpoker tournament I lost a pair of queens against a suited 73; he didn't get the flush but he sent me a straight.

bazza155 · Saturday at 3:44 AM

EnigmaTTO said:
Definitely, I feel like I see it alot in the microstakes, where you see people who go from playing very loose to very tight as soon as the bubble gets close. It can make them really easy to take advantage of.

I think most people in microstakes and freerolls are trying to build a bankroll so making it into the money is a step forward, so they start playing tight as the bubble comes close but once they make it there they become looser having guaranteed a small win.

veryluckyfish7k · Saturday at 4:47 AM

I think many players focus too much on survival. They try to reach the money and play too tight. But in tournaments you often need to take some risks and build a stack. Just surviving usually is not enough to win.

seben · Saturday at 6:03 AM

It all depends on your stack!!! The bigger it is, the more hands you can play!!! When the stack is less than 20GB, I only play strong hands with the push!

thedarkman · Saturday at 6:27 AM

Er, if you don't survive, you won't cash. Moot point.

Hospedar · Saturday at 6:35 AM

villa1306 said:
And the worst part is how the system helps them... today in the ggpoker tournament I lost a pair of queens against a suited 73; he didn't get the flush but he sent me a straight.

I usually feel impressed when I play those daily free tickets for Spin & Gold, because this happens a lot against me

Snake2007 · Saturday at 6:37 AM

I believe that the longer you survive in the tournament, the better your chances of winning it.

MikeHunter · Saturday at 9:41 AM

Hospedar said:
Surviving is the best thing to do at a tournament, but you are right: there is too many players forgetting to play the hands they should play...

Anyway, I think this is just a lack of ICM studies...

I have to agree here. I find in almost any level of game I play, the players who understand this end up with all the money. I think it’s more people just not using the tools available to them.

frank174 · Saturday at 10:44 AM

This is kinda sounds like which comes 1st chicken or the egg,you cant have one without the other

I think the trick is get to the money and then get aggressive

villa1306 · 2026-04-12T02:29:55-0400

Hospedar said:
Normalmente me impresiona cuando juego con esos boletos gratuitos diarios de Spin & Gold, porque esto sucede mucho en mi contra.

Haha, those are another box of surprises!

bazza155 · 2026-04-13T05:55:51-0400

Snake2007 said:
I believe that the longer you survive in the tournament, the better your chances of winning it.

This is true but there is no point bleeding to death.

flabilim · 2026-04-13T06:00:25-0400

DIt depends a lot; if the amount is high, sometimes it's worth surviving to earn the money.

Do you think survival matters too much in tournaments?

Nesehorn156

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MK_

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