Mental Mindset & Switching Gears

[stooo V2]

Hey all,

I've always been more of a tournament player, have never really been able to "get stuck in" to cash games where u need to grind a bit more.

But I'm having a bit of trouble switching my mindset from when I'm playing lots of MTT and then start playing more STT's.

It takes a lil while to switch the gears.

Anyone got any tips on how you approach both differently... slight changes in play etc?

[ubermonkey1]

hmmm tricky one this.

i would say that to be successful you need to be able to switch between different styles/aggression levels in each type of game,i tend to rely more on my opponents image/position and my own image/position than whether its cash/mtt/stt etc.

if i have a load of very aggressive players on my table then i tend to turn fairly passive and vice versa, this tends to work whether your in a stt, mtt or cash but i wouldnt stick to that too rigidly as my image counts as well, so i dont want to be one dimensional

usually if i'm being passive/looking like a calling station i'm doing this for a reason most of the time i am trying to set up an aggressive player/s that i am pretty sure are bluffing a lot or it might be to portray a tight image to steal later if its a mtt/stt (not really worth it in cash dont wanna steal blinds) .if i succeed in catching out somebody and get a big pot then its usually a good time to switch tactics and ramp up your betting and turn aggressive at least, or maybe very aggressive.


by doing this you should throw off a few players used to your passive game which will then get you a bit more respect for your raises/reraises,also if you do catch an aggressive player you should have an ok stack and its a good time to bully the table a bit, plus other players will be wary of you trapping so its less likely to work again.

once you do turn aggressive the trick is to steal as much as possible without looking like your taking advantage.its suprising what you can get away with after playing passively for a while.

if i have been playing aggressively for a while i will start playing a lot of suited connectors/semiconnectors ,this usually keeps up your aggressive exterior and these are the sort of hands i want vs a rock that has called my bet,after all he is likely to be playing a big hand if he's called a raise
so i would rather have 2 live cards and the opportunity of a big hand than be dominated.
the good thing is if you do pick up a big hand either in the hole or on the flop you can usually get callers if you have been playing aggressive,after all you could be playing pretty much anything.

again if i do hit a big hand and get a big pot then i would be tempted to change to passive play but then again if the right cards keep coming i will carry on being as aggressive as possible as long, as i have some decent outs.

most of the time in any mtt ,stt or cash game the table dynamics are constantly shifting with players being knocked out/leave and with mtts or cash new players may join the table,this should have some effect on my play and so should help me shift up and down a bit.
my stack will also have an effect on my play as well so i tend to take all these thing into consideration and change accordingly.by doing this my image should be altering fairly regularly so making me tricky to read into the bargain.

from what you have said you seem to play mainly 10 seat games either stt or mtt and play tight aggressive i would try playing some 5/6 seat stts.

these are great for getting a bit more aggression in your game as you have to play fast and furious but you get a fair bit of post flop play to hone your skills.
usually in a 10 seat stt or a mtt by the time you get to 5 players its usually a big part of your stack for a decent raise ,at least with these you can be aggressive but still get some post flop decision making and general feel for shorter handed play..

[slimjosh217]

SOunds good...

[ubermonkey1]

josh.

have a good look around the lounge,there's loads of good advice from strategy to tourney info.
if you have any questions just ask, as everybodys happy to help