5 BIG Mistakes of Small Stakes Tournament Poker Players

[@PokerCoaching]

Check out this fun poker quiz on 3-Betting Concepts: pokercoaching.com/poker-quizzes/quiz-3-betting-concepts/

[@OldGoat-cw8he]

You ask a question without giving us all the information available that you would use to make good decisions. Then after you give the right answer you give the information we needed to make the decision. I appreciate the lessons but this isn't helpful with the presentation style.

[@EvrySingleTime]

JL with the first hand, why open to 2.5 then jam instead of jamming from the start? Is this a set-up to get him to 3-bet us then jamming with the hope he folds? I understand we pick up the 12,000 if that happens, but if we have mediocre hand, we don't really want him to just call and play a flop do we? What's the benefit of that play vs. Just using it to pick up the blinds, if we lost that flip were out. Thank you

[@mosheovadya]

Case #3 was a revelation for me. I have lost so many tournaments with pocket Aces, betting on similar flops, gettin jammed on, calling and losing to two junky pairs.

[@mikemck4796]

I used to play at the bike in the Dailey tourneys religiously. I started keeping track of bust out hands, and noticed the large majority were bad aces, and small pairs. Especially bad aces where they were dominated and didn’t know what to do. I experimented by literally never playing either hand type, and did surprisingly well. I eventually introduced those hand types back in, but play them carefully. Biggest mistake I still see is players over playing those hands.

[@hatzikuN]

Mistake #1: Thinking 79 hands is large enough sample size to determine how loose of a player the opponent is. Believe me, I've donked off with Ax plenty of times in similar spots versus low sample size laggy players. Somehow they always have at least AT there.. and not much fold equity in small stakes tournaments, since people don't 3bet as light as you might think. For example most small stakes players don't 3bet T9s 98s 87s etc. Only pairs and strong Aces. Which makes our A9o 4bet straight up a punt in over 60% of the times. If opponent has same stats after 500 hands I agree with the allin. After 79 hands I rather fold and wait for something better... because we will have a lot of better hands. We have 50BB so we can afford to wait for something better in my opinion.

[@unangenehmtv6408]

We have 11BB, not 50

[@dexall100]

Could not agree more, I think jamming suited wheel aces, pocket pairs makes waaaaay more sense as A9o performs so poorly in allin situations. 15% 3bet isnt maniacal by any means (although as you mentioned 79 hands is nothing) can start shoving wider for value but for me A9o belongs in the bin still and we have so many better calls vs 3bet with our A7-ATs and broadways which dominate his 3bet range, plus suited connectors where we can win a big pot IP vs some of his stronger range

[@dexall100]

@@unangenehmtv6408 thats hand number 2, we have 50bb in scenario 1

[@timcapes9700]

Raising seems like a good play on the T93T hand as a form of protection. Yes, If they get called they are done with the hand and have paid their river bet one street early on the turn and have to fold river. But you're leading way too many draws and don't have enough boats to have a decent range. At least it seems to me you have all your Q-high flush draws, all your Jack high flush draws, any 2 small suited clubs you play against a button range. Meanwhile you have combos of T9, T3, 99 and 33 for boats and TT for quads. This assumes TT && 99 isn't in your raising range preflop and that your sets call and don't try to push out draws after the checkraise. I'm assuming you only have suited combos of T3 so you have 3 combos of 99, 3 combos of 33, 1 combo of TT, 6 combos of T9, 2 combos of T3s. Compare that to 7 combos of QX clubs (ignoring QJ of clubs as a hand that has a combo draw and might be able to call off a raise), 6 combos of Jx suited of clubs, and being fairly generous about not playing most suited cards: 1 combo of 85 clubs, 3 combos of 7X of clubs, 2 combos of 6X of clubs and 1 combo of 54 of clubs. So it seems you have 13 value combos and a minimum of 20 bluff combos (are you bluffing kingX of clubs also?). Assuming your draws have roughly 20% equity, folding draws out with a hand like trips is getting 20% of pot. The turn bet is vulnerable to you calling turn and betting river (as it will mostly fold) or rejamming turn as bluff (as it should mostly fold) but these plays are fairly rare and if the turn raise is a similar size to calling off a river bet whenever a club doesn't come, you win more by folding out the 20 semibluff hands when a club would come than you lose by paying the extra river bet to the 10 value hands when a club would come. Agree it doesn't make sense to raise for value but the protection raise seems +EV.

[@zada4a]

2:00 This hand for me is a clear fold. We have a huge stack in terms of big blinds. Against a fishy player who is able to call us lite and has us covered, we really don't want to be risking our tournament on flip situation (at best) just to win what is 14% of our stack if they do fold. I disagree with the all in verdict, in this spot you want to preserve your chip stack and look for better spots.

[@chloefulcher2168]

Most of the time its a fold but in tournaments you have to be aggressive especially against aggressive players and having an ace in your hand makes it a good bluff candidate

[@jorgemedina9526]

First hand: a9 offsuit is one of the worst hands I open in the cut off, if I’m shoving that I’m shoving wayy to much and leaving it all to variance. Even if my opponent is a complete maniac I would just prefer shoving 66+, ajo+ call kk and aa and hands that play well post flop in position. Furthermore shove some small suited aces, not overadjudt and gol a9 off

[@dubmdee]

my first quick reaction was call but if you pay attention an see hes a maniac then calling is wrong to give a cheap flop to him with his bet looking like a semi bluff even though he ended up having 3s his range felt like low cards so if im low like 20 bb id rip high cards against one player if i had a read he was loose aggressive

[@IPushHard]

Poor play by the BB and good draw for A9. 99% of the time I dont jam 33 there, and like you said A9 is usually a fairly poor jam. I shove A7 suited with 10BB. No question. The answers that I got "wrong" were all bet sizing...and I usually bet too small. I liked your logic on sizing bets the way you do.

[@wettgilliam]

Jon, your small stakes tournament strategies has help me tremendously!!! I have improve so much! Thank you!!!!

[@PokerCoaching]

Awesome, I'm glad to hear that!

[@gorilladigits8223]

I feel like a cool idea would be a “gameplay checklist” quiz that you could do before/ during your sessions. Kind of similar to your cash game cheat sheet. It could be filled with questions and situations pertaining to certain concepts and topics that are important. Just like your preflop charts quiz, your 3 betting concepts, when to bet etc... just all in one quiz that you can take whenever you play to help refresh your mind on things and stay sharp. Maybe have one for tourneys and one for cash. The interactive learning component to your quizzes is just fantastic and it really helps when you can actually apply a concept to a poker hand right in front of you as if you were actually playing. Just an idea I’m spitballing. Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this... just came to me

[@PokerCoaching]

Thanks, that's a good idea! I'll see what I can do.

[@pokerkramer1240]

@@PokerCoaching Did you do that, mr. Little? If so, how can I access it? Would be great!

[@stuartmeadowcroft6225]

So glad I listened through today as you described almost precisely how I went out of a tournament last weekend as having been what happened to you before. Now I feel much less like an idiot who fails at poker no matter how much I try and more like someone who got on the end of some crappy cards and failed to double up :) You've reminded me why I keep working on your training site and I renewed my PC subs that would have otherwise ended today! I'll redouble my efforts and get my ROI +ve in 2020.

[@VDTKvIDEOS]

Time 20:21 “My nut hands” 😂

[@nbrikha]

$3k tourney is small stakes

[@tporcheron]

If you are paying attention, you will know the maniac is in the bb before you raise in the first place. Need to have a plan prior to the raise

[@ewalltom]

Hand #2, while all-in is certainly the way to go, folding instead of calling would be horrible. Yes, you might have some difficult decisions, but you're in position, and crush villains range.

[@mikeedward70]

Quiz #579, you say to check the flop because the board could’ve easily hit his range. But you say to bet the turn because you want him to pay for his draw. Those two comments are saying your pair of queens are behind on the flop while your set of queens on the turn is ahead. You specifically put your opponent on two pair or a set of 5’s, 7’s, or 8’s. If that is the case you can not lose on the River.

[@Viper_Poker]

If you really want to improve your game and your a serious poker player then you need to take these classes. I knew that I had gaps in my game within the first ten quizzes it became very clear where my shortcomings where. Jonathan anything that I can do to help you promote your online school or help you improve your students experience, please let me know.

[@PokerCoaching]

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad my content has helped to improve your game. Good luck with everything!

[@Dr.Dumpnpump]

I'm not sure I like the check raise in quiz #545. He's going to continue with almost his entire range. T, overs, over pairs, and most draws, your not getting a ton of folds. Not to mention on a draw heavy board such as this one, it feels like your semi bluffing. If he floats you, which he likely will with his range, and you miss, your now put in an awkward spot (which you were), your either forced to double barrel oop or chk fold to his turn bet in an inflated pot. If you chk call on the flop instead and you hit the turn, your golden, if you miss, you might get a free river card. If he bets small, you can still call a fair amount of the time, or fold depending on their tendencies and sizing. The T on the turn is also one of the worst cards for you to continue your semi bluff, because your likely dominated if he calls, if he does have a FH your drawing dead. I can get behind a turn bet (or even better, a chk raise) if you chk called the flop because your more likely to have a T in that spot, but as played Im not sure I can get behind your line. You are basically representing ONLY a flopped set or T2P, which is an extreamly small range, sure you'll get some folds some of the time but I don't think enough to be profitable, especially in a game where people LOVE to call.

[@alphabett66]

0:30 If the plan is to jam over a 3 bet, raising is fine. I would think it depends on the level, and money jumps. It's a very marginal to bad ICM spot if villain is calling all of his pocket pairs. If I'm wrong, please explain.

[@1MatthewJ]

alphabett66 yolo all in

[@ClickingHeads]

Wow I answered 4/5 correctly. Time to get back into poker again stopped for years after playing semipro for six months. Ended up hating the game. Time to play for fun

[@cardboardu6019]

On number one with A9 off players are best served getting the urge to call out of their systems, if his stats were tighter or the price was worse, or as is, i like fold and all-in, i dont like call, and call is what i see all my bad live tournament opponents doing, only the position redeems call in this spot, but A9o is not a hand to take lots of flops with

[@cardboardu6019]

and he went on to say what i spent time typing, haha

[@againstallodds233]

This is the Exact hand (different Positions Preflop and Actions) that killed me in a Deep Run. A Big stack raised UTG i flatted with A9s, not sure if 3betting would have been better had 70bbs, Vilain 100. Flop K99, Vilain Cbet, i called, turn 5, i Decided to lead OOP Vilain instant min raise.... I jam he turned over pocket 55 ....no help on river.... RIP

[@ClickingHeads]

3:20 I thought re-raising the 26, 000 because if he's a maniac I was hoping that he would go nuts with something stupid like some small suited connector or something. But I guess if you raise to 26 he can just flat it and then you get really confused on the flop

[@raymacdonald8371]

In first example he called all in with 33, meaning he calls with all pocket pairs. I understand 22 doesn't play well post flop but with this little fold equity wouldn't it be better to just fold that hand and tighten up our pfr range against such a maniac rather than shove and get called by 72 overpairs that dominate us and a ton where we're flipping?

[@bonbons34]

Hi, can anyone provide me some further guidance on the following; I just played a small stakes DYM tournament and I was comfortably chip leader through playing fairly tight and solidly. When only needing one other players to be knocked out to win money, naturally everyone starts playing very tight, and whilst I continued playing as normal, I did tighten up a little as thought best to wait it out. Long story short, the other players are battling it out and sharing the chips around....a couple of occasions I called all-in pre-flop raises which I had the best hand on two occasions out of three, not risking much to my stack. Soon enough the blinds start rapidly increasing to the point where, I am no longer so strong, despite trying to defend blinds, every raise could be make or break my stack. I call all in after being on the BB with the stronger hand and unfortunately lose, getting knocked out. Whilst luck was not on my side, I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to handle this situation in the future-perhaps be more aggressive before blinds increase too much? Thanks!

[@wuppad]

Get better hands!

[@KevinsKontentKorner]

Is 33 really a loose call when someone’s jamming A9? With the 12k invested, plus the dead money in the middle, it’s a majorly +ev call, no?

[@PokerCoaching]

No, 33 is doing terribly against my range here (gets crushed by all of the overpairs). 33s should be called preflop and villain should not use them as a 3bet at this stack depth.

[@KevinsKontentKorner]

Jonathan Little - Poker Coaching thanks so much for your response. It helps me realize that I need to work on thinking in ranges and not specific hands. I am a PCP member, and I’ll have to rewatch the “thinking in hand ranges” (or some similar title) video that I know you have on there

[@ionpoalelungi4901]

@@PokerCoaching kb

[@KenpachiPoker]

Do players ever use micro stake games to manipulate their stats. Can look maniacal after a night of aggressive play at the 1 2 cent tables

[@cgeee34]

Can I just say as far as learning from a pro, youve exceeded DNegs for your quality tutorials, learning so much from you! You’re the Fing GOAT

[@PokerCoaching]

You're so kind to say so, Craig, thank you!

[@davidmoore6551]

Just watched this and was trying to sin up for the membership but all I see is quite a lot more. I wanted the 3 yr membership but can't see the price advertised in this vlog. Is that unavailable now? Please let me know. Thx

[@ixishadesixi5101]

Another great video! I’ve purchased several of your books and audiobooks over the years and will be signing up for your site very soon. Thanks for all you do sharing your knowledge with us!

[@PokerCoaching]

Thanks! I'm glad to hear that, I hope you learn a ton!

[@charlessoto4455]

what poker sites are you playing on? I wanna try and play online.

[@m1kegt]

this is very good content. thanks a lot for it I will definitely join PockerCoaching as soon as I have some spare time to study

[@PokerCoaching]

I'm glad you liked it. Sounds great, good luck in your games!

[@pumbadanny1691]

I really enjoy your videos and they are very helpful in getting me to think about the game from different angles and gain small edges.

[@bozapub3507]

Hi Jonathan ! Is savebig still available ?

[@Mert-rx6re]

If we have 30bb with QQ on 875 board, Should we bet? Because we are more short anymore. And if ı make check turn comes 4 or 6 like scary for us. What is our game plan when he make raise? Turn call river fold?

[@teejay6063]

What's "holdem monitor"? I can usually tell every one of my opponents' entire poker history within about 10 seconds of sitting down, and have to remember that throughout play. It's part of the game. Do you use that during tournaments?

[@Zottyworld]

Are these the courses people pay for??? Good info btw..i got some right some wrong.. learned a few new way "proper" players review hands during the pot.. continue these

[@user-je2ew7zb5j]

I think that if you do this Q6 spades game in a reg you only loose money. Is very obvius that you having draws cause you would never play a 10 like that and the only hand that you could play some times like that is pocket 33.

[@kamsworld83]

Never mind A9. I keep loosing with AA 90 percent of time. To small pairs. All in preflop

[@kamsworld83]

I've cracked PokerStars. I had AA 4 times in one day I've got it cracked 4 times but I did not lose a big pot. So I've 2-bet twice with kk and JJ respectively following day and the guy 3-bet. I knew I'm against AA straight away so I've just called it. I've flopped full house on my kk and second time a set with JJ. Obviously went all in at the end. So like I've said AA never win on PokerStars.

[@yourlonglostuncle14]

PokerStars is not rigged like many people believe it to be. This is just a classic case of variance, and it happens to everybody. You have to always make sure you’re making the correct plays that you would also make in a live game.

[@jeremymilam3578]

Case 1 What is fold equity?

[@michaellginsburg]

He acts surprised when he gets the answers right 😂😂😂

[@sodapopinski2521]

Thank you for the content!

[@PokerCoaching]

My pleasure!

[@bozapub3507]

Great video very valuable 👍 Thank you

[@harshpurwar1874]

Okay so we shove and the maniac calls and sucks out? A9 vs 33 is a flip at best, so we are out of the tournament just like that? Isn’t it better to fold and wait for a better spot?

[@cramie10]

Love your videos Jonathan, thank you for your content!

[@PokerCoaching]

No problem, I'm glad you like it!

[@robertkennedy8475]

The only problem with these online sites i almost get beat everytime in the situation just wasting money on these sites or they call anyways and hit it everytime makes me hate poker even tho I love to play

[@Cmelvin71]

Fold why put your tournament like on the line with a9o

[@Reign274]

If you saw the stats on Villian his 3B range is too wide. He literally talks about it.

[@anthonycasteloa9679]

I think A9o is a clear fold on the 3bet. BB has 3bet stat of 15%, against a 15% range we are way ahead in EV, even against a 20% range (All broadway, All PP), we only have 45% of EV. So fold. Furthermore, BB vpip>40%, we are going to have a lot other spots where he Will call with marginal hands and WE are going to crush him badly.

[@thomasobrien4707]

Anthony CASTELOA this is a great analysis and I agree with you in leaning towards caution in long tournaments. I’d prefer to call and allow your ace high to be played aggressively if you have a good post flop game.

[@nanocg519]

What site do you play on?

[@PokerCoaching]

PartyPoker and PokerStars when I am not in America. I do not play when I am in America.

[@yourlonglostuncle14]

Thank you very much for making these videos ❤️ They’ve helped me a lot

[@Logan_Patrick8]

How much have u netted in tourneys

[@Dmanz67]

2. All in with any ace with 11BB!

[@Clatita_Atomica]

Hello, just discovered your channel and its really good. One question I have and maybe smbdy can help me. in your first hand at min 3 I think with ATo if somebody would 3 bet before you what would be optimal play ? I would say fold but not sure

[@christophera-realone9834]

CTO - Postle

[@BallenX101]

*how he should play if he didnt want to get caught

[@nito209]

😂😂⚰

[@muhammadanwar42]

how we can pay?

[@PokerCoaching]

pokercoaching.com/holidaysale

[@DAMO1708]

can any1 explain what fold equity is please?

[@PokerCoaching]

The amount you make due to your opponent folding.

[@l0newolf-33ce]

In the first situation (A9 offsuit against maniac) it was between all in or fold for me. I’d probably fold though because my luck he’d win with his pocket 3’s lmao shit happens tho

[@l0newolf-33ce]

BUT I must say, overtime I would probably win more with that action in this scenario than lose :-) Don’t really believe the whole luck thing because if someone IS having a ‘lucky’ winning streak, mathematically they will eventually lose with those hands

[@moonwhistle]

That check on the flop of 875 holding QQ makes no sense to me. If oponents has one pair, a draw or over cards he shouldn't be given a free card. I would bet 20k every time in that scenario.

[@PokerCoaching]

One of the problems with betting all of your overpairs is that if your opponent is good and check-raises with a polarized range, your QQ will become a bluff catcher and it will lead to you playing a large pot with a marginal hand. Another problem is that if you bet all of your overpairs, when you check boards like this, your range will be weak. This allows your opponent to bluff turn and river a lot after the flop goes check/check.

[@BrainstormingBetsizing]

Had the same thoughts as you. But i think it depends on our and villians stack size. If we are quite deep, like 35bb+ (both of us have at least 35bb+) checking is better i think. If we are more short stacked, betting big and calling a shove, or betting big on the flop and shoving would be my option.

[@kemo112205]

So what you are saying is that you should not play online poker without a HUD.

[@tomeckenberg698]

Michael Santa Cruz this! Johnathan?!

[@joshuapatrick682]

200$ is small stakes online?

[@markbarlescu1853]

holy shiz this content is gold!!!!

[@ClickingHeads]

Thanks for the quick introduction. Can't stand when people ramble before the video

[@thomasmyers2288]

Why do you want to at best risk flipping against a poor opponent this early on?

[@Whaaatthefugg]

In first situattion you go 4 bet all in with A9o with around 50BB ?!!

[@passivemax6622]

i dont understand the raise to 3750. That's a snap All in for me jonathan. dont get it

[@PokerCoaching]

You are playing 50 big blinds deep. It would be a very large mistake to go all-in with any hand in this situation.

[@tinkertime577]

So glad my home is paid for so I can focus on playing million dollar buy-in tournaments. Damn. Who thinks my wife would have a slight issue with me takin out a mortgage?

[@t1234-q5z]

So all every play. See i am playing right, why do i keep losing LOL

[@alessiovela8905]

small stakes tournament 200 dollars... .....

[@PokerCoaching]

That is about as small as they come in many live casinos.

[@Logan_Patrick8]

I made a vow to never play pocket 6s because God told me to

[@muhammadanwar42]

too resonale

[@osamabinlala2517]

you guys talk about states all the time ,what if there is no stats ?? you stop playing poker !!

[@pointlessminutes3212]

John little peepee