Balancing Risk and Patience in Tournament Poker

I’ve been thinking a lot about the balance between taking risks and staying patient in MTTs. Early on, I often tighten up to protect my stack, but sometimes I feel like I miss profitable spots to build chips. On the other hand, if I start taking every marginal spot, variance can punish me fast.

How do you personally decide when it’s worth taking a coin flip early versus waiting for a stronger edge? Do you adjust depending on table dynamics or just stick to a fixed approach?

The most important thing is tournament structure, if it's short stack hyper turbo, ofc you should take a lot of marginal spots.

if it's deepstack, slow 9max you should be patient

I agree overall with the game structure dictating overall strategy, but table dynamics also plays a big role. So much in poker is situational and you need to adjust your tightness/looseness based on how your specific table is playing.

babyrosejr said:

I’ve been thinking a lot about the balance between taking risks and staying patient in MTTs. Early on, I often tighten up to protect my stack, but sometimes I feel like I miss profitable spots to build chips. On the other hand, if I start taking every marginal spot, variance can punish me fast.

How do you personally decide when it’s worth taking a coin flip early versus waiting for a stronger edge? Do you adjust depending on table dynamics or just stick to a fixed approach?

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Always according to the table dynamics and the game's momentum.
In the early part of the game, it's not worth getting involved in complicated plays; we can play more conservatively.
Towards the end of the late game, I tend to think a little more before each decision and, once again, try to avoid losing chips, so I play more with raises than calls.
Bubble, hold as much as possible, and play calmly to reach the money.
In some situations, we can play LOOSE when the table is very quiet...
And it all depends on how you read the table and your perception. If the table moves too much, I stay quiet; if they stay quiet, I move more... lol

Man, this is honestly the hardest part of tournaments for me. Sometimes I get too patient and just blind down waiting for the “perfect” spot that never comes. Other times I take a gamble too early and kick myself after. I’m trying to remind myself that you need to take risks at the right time, not just because you’re bored or scared. Do you guys have any tricks for knowing when it’s time to pull the trigger vs. when to wait it out?

janwar said:

Man, this is honestly the hardest part of tournaments for me. Sometimes I get too patient and just blind down waiting for the “perfect” spot that never comes. Other times I take a gamble too early and kick myself after. I’m trying to remind myself that you need to take risks at the right time, not just because you’re bored or scared. Do you guys have any tricks for knowing when it’s time to pull the trigger vs. when to wait it out?

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Many online tournaments have an estimated tournament length in the lobby. Use this information to help you manage your mental health throughout these hours of play.
The main tip is to remember whether you're willing to risk elimination from the tournament, or whether it's better to be cautious and know if you're confident that the play you're about to make will be profitable or not very negative, as this will help us make fine-tuned adjustments.
I think playing more focused, playing stronger hands, and not creating false stories in your head is the best solution...
When entering a tournament, remember:
1. Survive until the end of the late game;
2. Maintain your stack until the ITM;
3. Play calmly towards the FT;

In some articles I've read, they always say that the most important thing before thinking about winning tournaments... is to reach the ITM as often as possible.