twiztedtony said:
Stealing is more valuable in the late stages when the blinds and antes represent a high % of the starting stack.
In the early stages being able to either cooler people for big pots or blow them off with multiple barrels (build a big pot to win it later) is often what will be the best approach.
Because people are more willing to gamble during the rebuy period you can pick up a lot of chips by just playing superior cards and getting it in vs people who want to gamble too much.
It may be the tables you are at, as each table plays differently (especially early). Some have multiple limpers every hand, often with 5 of 9 players seeing most flops. Other tables are all in fests, until the crazies get knocked out (usually doesn't take long). Then you have a couple high stackers trying to dominate every hand. Some tables have an even mix of tight players vs loose players.
After a while, things level out and something similar to poker gets played. Depending on the rate of blind increase, it can return to a more chaotic jam fest if blinds start to kill of the lower chip stacks.
This variety is one of the challenges of large MTTs. You have to change your game to combat the people at your table, their aggression, and their stack sizes to blinds. Just when you start to feel comfortable, you get moved to another table.
After a while, things level out and something similar to poker gets played. Depending on the rate of blind increase, it can return to a more chaotic jam fest if blinds start to kill of the lower chip stacks.
This variety is one of the challenges of large MTTs. You have to change your game to combat the people at your table, their aggression, and their stack sizes to blinds. Just when you start to feel comfortable, you get moved to another table.
twiztedtony said:
What I've been seeing is bingo playing in the early stages with lots of big bets or shoves. It's almost as if they lack the patience to get to the later stages where the blinds are much higher and pre-flop 3 and 4 bets start the ball rolling on stealing.
At first I thought some pro had put out a new book or video that encouraged bluffing big in the early stages to build a bankroll. There's no book/video I know of but I think these players actually see this early bingo play as a strategy. Bang the pot with almost any two cards...if you hit the board in any way be willing to bet big or shove. If you lose it's no big deal because you were the big brave poker player so your ego is happy. If you win then you're the really smart poker player who now has lots of chips.
It is particularly bad when there is a free roll/cheap tournament that a lot of people sign up for and then don't show up for or show up late for. 2 or 3 people end up fighting for the dead blinds. Particularly when the live players are bunched up and the person on the left can min raise with impunity to steal the blinds.
Evan Jarvis said:
I agree with Evan, but it is tough playing at the micros. I agree with everyone on here people don't seem to respect the game properly at the lower levels. I can't wait to have tbe roll I need to play more serious games.
Maybe its just me but it seems to largely be a microstakes/freeroll issue.