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I’m curious how other players deal with being card dead during a MTT.
I’ve heard it said position, position, position.
Suppose you’re drawing card dead and you finally get a reasonable hand in the cutoff or button, trouble is someone under the gun or in middle position makes a huge bet. Then what?
Or each time you get a decent hand someone goes all in before you. Under normal circumstances your hand isn’t worth calling an all in.
Any thoughts??
Thanks,
May 30, 2012
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You are never DEAD. Unless you hear a good player tell you, I have SPOT & card dead, then there wasn't much he/she could do. Playing in MTT's and poker is more then the TWO cards you are dealt. I know EVERY pro on this site and solid player will say position position position, but they also pay attention to what's going on at the tbl and PICK their spots when to 3bet lite or raise from somewhere with JTs, A4o, K9hh, or even 83o on the btn. You will not be a willing player if you wait for AA or KK all day.
January 16, 2014
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I disagree. Sometimes you get card dead and there is nothing you can do about it. Just accept it and make the best decision given the situation (cards, position, reads, image). I'm not saying wait for AA or KK all day, but if you get dealt the best hand you've seen in 2 hours and an early position player opens big, if you don't have a profitable call or raise then just fold. The fact you've been card dead all day shouldn't factor into your decision making (other than how it affects your image). So yes cards are only part of your overall hand strength, and pay attention for good spots to make moves, just be careful not to take spots that aren't really there because you've been card dead.
May 30, 2012
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JD, I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with. Which part? Because most of what you said seemed to agree with what I said.
As you play, you are also creating an IMAGE of yourself for the table. If you are card/spot dead. They don't know that. Maybe you are like Dan Harrington (supposedly one of the tightest players in poker), but Dan picks his spots when he's not getting huge hands (go check out some of his huge bluffs during the WSOP Main)……….. THat's how you play winning poker. The ex. used by the poster was someone raises HUGE or big from UTG or mid position….. What kind of player is he? Is he an older tight man/woman who's only been playing 1 hand an hour? Is he/she a younger aggro wizard like some of the pros on this site. If I'm in position (btn) vs that old guy and he raises big, I'm folding JTcc or AQo, but if I'm up against young aggro BigDog type, I 3bet him knowing he's been paying attention to the fact that I haven't played a hand in 2 hours and he most likely will fold. Even if he calls, follow through on the flop w/ a cbet and you take it down a nice amount of time.
My point is, you can't worry about the two cards you have in your hand at times. It's what your opponents have in their hand that cards. That's how the card players win time after time. Go look at any of the Pro's vids. They are dead at times but know they have to take SPOTS to gain chips when you least expect it. Hence some of them punting their stacks off. It happens. I've punted a few times, I'm an expert, lol.
And I am def not telling you to SPEW chips. Like the other guys have said. Make good smart decicions in the end.
May 30, 2012
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Hand example.
Ply 1 – ME
Ply 2 – Solid
Ply 3 – Hyper Aggro wiz
We are all very deep in tourney. 1/2k bb * I just lost a big hand, but lost minimum chips.
-I open w/ QTo from cutoff 5.5k
-Ply 2(BTN) 3bets to 18k
-Ply 3(BB) 4bets to 50k
-Ply 1 FOLDS, – ply 2 JAMS…… ply 3 FOLDS
Ply 1 had QT0
Ply 3 had KJhh
What do you think player 2 had?
One of the premuims … 5 2 off
I simple say you can't wait for AA or KK. Gotta make smart decisions. But you have to think of the tbl dynamics as well. That's why this is a game of skill. AA's get cracked LOTS
I'm NOT telling you to play garbage hands every few orbits. 52o if not the norm to play, but you have to understand the game is MORE then the two cards you hold vs. certain players who may come to your table during the tourney.
TPE Pro
December 6, 2012
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It's like JD said. You can't just force it. The cards don't know how you've been running for the last two hours/days/weeks, and it doesn't suddenly become a good idea to play a hand you otherwise wouldn't because you haven't been dealt anything better for a while. There is some small effect on your image that comes from folding for a long time, but a lot of people overestimate this and use it as an excuse to play hands when they are really just bored/frustrated. Better players do also realize, especially if you've been dumb enough to complain loudly about being card dead, that you are at some point going to get bored and spew off.
There is some middle ground between waiting for Aces and 3-betting with any two cards. There are plenty of situations where it's correct to play non-premium or downright bad hands, but it rarely has anything to do with what kinds of cards you've been catching lately. Even then, your cards still matter at least a little bit, and it's certainly possible to be “situation dead” just like people talk about “card dead” where you just haven't had any spots for a long time. You can't force them to appear out of thin air, you just have to keep folding and waiting.
Thanks for all the feedback, really apprecite it.
August 28, 2014
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Look for how to play your other weapons: position and stack size.
TPE Pro
August 25, 2012
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A small point about the nature of being 'card dead' when playing online – it shouldn't happen unless it's deep in a tournament and you're 1-tabling so you can focus.
The reason I say this is because if you're able to pay attention to what hands you're getting at which tables and keep track of that, you have a surplus of focus. You have extra focus that you could be using to add 1 or 2 more tables. Unless it's the latter stages of a specific tournament and you're 1-tabling it, you should never be playing few enough tables online that you can notice being 'card dead'.
As regards the concept as a whole – it's just variance. It's going to happen. Just make the best play every time – often, the best play is folding. Being 'card dead' is no excuse to punt off chips.
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