Ask Ryan Laplante About Tournaments

[steeler1970]

Hi Ryan see i get deep into a tournment then my cards stop hitting any cards on the board so how can i fix my game so i can get where my cards start hitting the board ?

 

[daredeviljo]

Hey, Protential. I would love some insight!

1) What do you think about defending on BB w/ a short stack (under 12BB, even 5-8)? Should one defend a tighter range or not?

2) How should one play with 1-3BB. I say this b/c Nash has loose ranges, due to dead money, but doesn't take into account that the dead money will remain in upcoming hands as well. My usual strategy is to wait for a semi-decent hand and jam that. So, if I'm auto-allin in 3 hands, I'll shove the top 25% of hands, 2 hands 33.3%, 1 hand 50%, and 0 hands (obv 100%). Is that a fine strategy?

3) What recommendations would you give to a player who has trouble bettering their poker game frm study sources? I feel like I know all of the ideas presented in all of the articles, videos and what not, yet I'm still grinding the micros.

4) Good BRM for a serious grinder? Or at least a semi-serious grinder? MTTs, including hypers, turbos, reg. speed.HU, 3-max, 4-max tourney more variance than 6 and 9-Max?


5) Whats a good ROI for a tourney grinder? How about at the micros?

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Ryan, Americans and Germans more than others win money in live MTT poker? Is it because of having a strong poker school? Or the reasons in other?

Strong poker community helps immensely. If you want to become elite at poker networking is very very important!

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Hi Ryan see i get deep into a tournment then my cards stop hitting any cards on the board so how can i fix my game so i can get where my cards start hitting the board ?

Focus on playing well and whether you hit or not wont matter.

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Hey, Protential. I would love some insight!

1) What do you think about defending on BB w/ a short stack (under 12BB, even 5-8)? Should one defend a tighter range or not?

2) How should one play with 1-3BB. I say this b/c Nash has loose ranges, due to dead money, but doesn't take into account that the dead money will remain in upcoming hands as well. My usual strategy is to wait for a semi-decent hand and jam that. So, if I'm auto-allin in 3 hands, I'll shove the top 25% of hands, 2 hands 33.3%, 1 hand 50%, and 0 hands (obv 100%). Is that a fine strategy?

3) What recommendations would you give to a player who has trouble bettering their poker game frm study sources? I feel like I know all of the ideas presented in all of the articles, videos and what not, yet I'm still grinding the micros.

4) Good BRM for a serious grinder? Or at least a semi-serious grinder? MTTs, including hypers, turbos, reg. speed.HU, 3-max, 4-max tourney more variance than 6 and 9-Max?


5) Whats a good ROI for a tourney grinder? How about at the micros?

1)Defend a bit tighter, but not a lot tighter unless we have icm concerns.

2)I'd follow nash ranges unless there are icm concerns, I believe you are looking at it wrong.

3)Get RaiseYourEdge Mastclass Expert. Study lots on your own, review you handhistories regularly. Try your best to always play your A game (reviewing often helps lots with this).

4)MTT grinder: 300 avg buy-ins, 1000avg buyi s if you move up into lows/mids. Your normal high-end buy-in shouldnt be more than 10x your lower normal buy-in. You should never put more than 2% of your bankroll into a tourney.

5)60%+ in micros, 40%+ in lows, 25%+ in mids, 10%+ in highs.

 

[daikusan]

Hi

I'm glad I found this post and thanks for offering your time to do this.


I'm going start playing again after my sons hockey season is done which will be early spring. I'm finding it hard to try to figure a few things out and hope you can save me a few steps. I am going to focus my efforts on tournaments and looking for the best way to spend my time.


I work full time during the day in the pacific time zone. Weekday evenings would only give me about a 3-4 hour window to play 7-11pm. Not going to play every night.


Weekends would allow me a longer time period as I could play late on Fridays and can be flexible Saturday and sunday with sunday needing to end around 11pm again. Still need to be selective as I'm not going to play all day either. Just looking to spend the time I do play wisely.


I was a cash game player my best game being FR 50NL. Believe my win rate was around 9BBs per 100. Wasn't great at multi tabling. 2 tables was best for me.


My bankroll is going to be small as I cashed out all my remaining 8k poker roll a couple years ago. Will just start with $100-200.


Want to study prior to starting. Poker nerve looks good to me but maybe Im wrong. What would you recommend?


1)Looking for best site/sites to play given my timezone. 2)Best tourney type given what I may be best at if my cash game translates.


What would you do in my situation?


Thanks
Gerry

 

[JohnCoffee90]

Hey Potential,

what software would you recommend to a striving MTT player whos PF play is alright, but Postfold game still needs improvement?
Flopzilla, PioSolver or HRC? I got all those trial versions, but dont know which I wanna buy the full version. Which have you yourself used the most?

Thank you in advance

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Hi

I'm glad I found this post and thanks for offering your time to do this.


I'm going start playing again after my sons hockey season is done which will be early spring. I'm finding it hard to try to figure a few things out and hope you can save me a few steps. I am going to focus my efforts on tournaments and looking for the best way to spend my time.


I work full time during the day in the pacific time zone. Weekday evenings would only give me about a 3-4 hour window to play 7-11pm. Not going to play every night.


Weekends would allow me a longer time period as I could play late on Fridays and can be flexible Saturday and sunday with sunday needing to end around 11pm again. Still need to be selective as I'm not going to play all day either. Just looking to spend the time I do play wisely.


I was a cash game player my best game being FR 50NL. Believe my win rate was around 9BBs per 100. Wasn't great at multi tabling. 2 tables was best for me.


My bankroll is going to be small as I cashed out all my remaining 8k poker roll a couple years ago. Will just start with $100-200.


Want to study prior to starting. Poker nerve looks good to me but maybe Im wrong. What would you recommend?


1)Looking for best site/sites to play given my timezone. 2)Best tourney type given what I may be best at if my cash game translates.


What would you do in my situation?


Thanks
Gerry

Due to time restrictions you have you need small and soft sites with small fields.

Your best bets are ACR, partypoker, 888, Ipoker, GGpoker.

Try to play small field regular speed tournaments, they would fit best with your deepstacked cash experience.

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Hey Potential,

what software would you recommend to a striving MTT player whos PF play is alright, but Postfold game still needs improvement?
Flopzilla, PioSolver or HRC? I got all those trial versions, but dont know which I wanna buy the full version. Which have you yourself used the most?

Thank you in advance

Flopzilla+HRC, and then pick up the RaiseYourEdge "Bencb" Masterclass. (Expert if you can)

 

[Alucard]

Should focus on small field, reg speed, preferably 6max, 8/9 ok as well. This will give you deep stacks but shorter length of play.

Volume depends on how much time and effort you can put towards it. Roi depends on a lot of factors as well, but id expect your early stages Evbb to be very good, so if you learn shorter stack play and ICM theory, you can do great.

Id expect a good winning 10nl player (7evbb+) to be able to do very well in early stages of mtt up to $55. But in order to convert to good winning player will have to learn other skills needed.

Thanks for the detailed answer.
BTW what are the other skills needed to convert o a good winning player?? ICM, Shove/fold charts? Anything else?

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Thanks for the detailed answer.
BTW what are the other skills needed to convert o a good winning player?? ICM, Shove/fold charts? Anything else?

Learning ICM theory in terms of how to play the $$ bubble and to manuever in final 18 is exceptionally important.

Also learning short stack ranges also matters a lot (get SnapShove).

Its also really important to learn general theory and approach to tournaments.

Sites like RunItOnce and RaiseYourEdge can help immensely with all of this.

Best of luck!

 

[Alucard]

Thanks again.

Ok a small question. I don't know how to use the Apps or apply shove/fold theory when someone opens & I'm to shove as the shortstack.

ex-

Spoiler

partypoker - 10000/20000 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 57.61 BB (VPIP: 29.79, PFR: 24.47, 3Bet Preflop: 8.11, Hands: 190)
UTG: 28.49 BB (VPIP: 21.77, PFR: 15.07, 3Bet Preflop: 5.45, Hands: 149)
UTG+1: 20.06 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
MP: 34.37 BB (VPIP: 37.04, PFR: 18.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)
CO: 41.79 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 19.23, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)
Hero (BTN): 13.39 BB
SB: 17.56 BB (VPIP: 29.63, PFR: 18.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)

7 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.37 BB) Hero has 5s 5d
fold, UTG+1 raises to 2.2 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 13.27 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, UTG+1 calls 11.07 BB

Flop : (28.91 BB, 2 players) 9h 5h Qc

Turn : (28.91 BB, 2 players) Tc

River : (28.91 BB, 2 players) 6d

UTG+1 shows Qs Qh (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 81%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)

Hero shows 5s 5d (Three of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 19%, Flop 4%, Turn 2%)

UTG+1 wins 28.91 BB

This should technically be a shove correct?? But is there a written/mathematical range regarding this? When someone opens in a certain spot & your shoving range from a certain spot vs him??
Any other things I should know about??

 

[dragunovich]

What kind of tournaments can I play to create a bank roll? sit and go? how many buy in? In what system have you heard more times than it is possible to create it?

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Thanks again.

Ok a small question. I don't know how to use the apps or apply shove/fold theory when someone opens & I'm to shove as the shortstack.

ex-

Spoiler

partypoker - 10000/20000 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4: http://www.pokertracker.com

BB: 57.61 BB (VPIP: 29.79, PFR: 24.47, 3Bet Preflop: 8.11, Hands: 190)
UTG: 28.49 BB (VPIP: 21.77, PFR: 15.07, 3Bet Preflop: 5.45, Hands: 149)
UTG+1: 20.06 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)
MP: 34.37 BB (VPIP: 37.04, PFR: 18.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)
CO: 41.79 BB (VPIP: 22.22, PFR: 19.23, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)
Hero (BTN): 13.39 BB
SB: 17.56 BB (VPIP: 29.63, PFR: 18.52, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 27)

7 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.37 BB) Hero has 5s 5d
fold, UTG+1 raises to 2.2 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 13.27 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, UTG+1 calls 11.07 BB

Flop : (28.91 BB, 2 players) 9h 5h Qc

Turn : (28.91 BB, 2 players) Tc

River : (28.91 BB, 2 players) 6d

UTG+1 shows Qs Qh (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 81%, Flop 96%, Turn 98%)

Hero shows 5s 5d (Three of a Kind, Fives)
(Pre 19%, Flop 4%, Turn 2%)

UTG+1 wins 28.91 BB

This should technically be a shove correct?? But is there a written/mathematical range regarding this? When someone opens in a certain spot & your shoving range from a certain spot vs him??
Any other things I should know about??

This is a fold due to how tight our opponent likely is opening from on this stack size.

To figure out what shove ranges to use vs opens you need to learn how to use Holdem Resources Calculator.

 

[PokerFunKid]

What sources do you recommend to learn to play better against regs, and also recreational players. How to handle some tough and dirty spots? I know there are a few great sourses out there but the price is prety high. I'm looking for something cheaper or free.

Also, do you know any good source to learn push/fold/call range in a double or nothing SNG? And how do we adjust our push fold range with fish in play that may call wider (Looking for a specific hand range, for specific situations)?

 

[PokerFunKid]

Strong poker community helps immensely. If you want to become elite at poker networking is very very important!

Hey Ryan,
how/where do you recommend to get involved in those kind of networks/communities?

 

[grumblbrumbl]

How do you deal with tilt?

 

[Infinity Objective]

Hi Ryan,

The pros today put a lot at stake, we do see where many have diversified their energies and potential earnings with their talent and time rather than their own monies at stake, however it is scary to see so much of their own money on the felt still when they easily have enough to retire. At that level of popularity does it not make sense to turn yourself into some sort of proverbial commodity and let others solely stake, maybe even a microcosm of what publicly traded companies do if that could that analogy could be successfully deciphered and applied?

Financial success, humility on the side, is there anything you feel that separates you from the 98-99% of the players you dominate in poker (on enough on a consistent basis) where you accomplish that?

“Around 3000 online tournaments and 200 live tournament entries”. I read this quote of your annual schedule and it put me into a fit, and I burnt out just reading, lol….Again, aside from potential earnings, and the fact you can’t win, cash in every game you engage – is there any other reason for this schedule that appears to saturate your time, and mind you I’m not criticizing, I'm reveling and trying to understand this complexity?

Lastly, how do you maintain this high level of poker absorption, exposure as a human being, if there is a reason beyond an organic motivation of love of the game?

Very glad and appreciative that you are here and, thank you.

Paul (Infinity Objective)

 

[PokerFunKid]

Another question:
Double or nothing SNG. 4 left, 3 pay.
1 person have a decent chip lead, you have about 10 big blinds and the others 2 have 8 big blinds. First to act jams, you get 1 fold from the other short stack and you are in the small blind. Chip leader is in the big blind and can't justify calling light. What is our calling range in the small blind?

Question 2:
Same stack situation, we are on the btn this time. It folds to us. How wide do we jam with 2 regs in the blinds?

 

[1dkp0k3r]

Ask me anything tournament poker related that doesnt involve a specific hand!

Topics like: Theory questions, studying questions, mindset, game selection, bankroll management, staking industry, sites to play on, software and tools, etc.

If you'd like my input on a handhistory please post it in the designated area of the site and I'll happily give my input!

Do you use a hand tracker for online play? If yes, which one?

 

[Ryan Laplante]

What sources do you recommend to learn to play better against regs, and also recreational players. How to handle some tough and dirty spots? I know there are a few great sourses out there but the price is prety high. I'm looking for something cheaper or free.

Also, do you know any good source to learn push/fold/call range in a double or nothing SNG? And how do we adjust our push fold range with fish in play that may call wider (Looking for a specific hand range, for specific situations)?

Against regs: www.RaiseYourEdge.com. get the tournament MasterClass.

Against recreational players: Use the knowledge from the above to exploit your opponents mistakes.

No cheap/easy way to do it. If its cheap, you have to figure it out on your own. If you want to make it in the industry you have to learn how to truly play.

I dont play DoN sngs. If you enjoy SNGs id suggest playing HUSNG, they will teach you how to play the best. (They are hardest to learn though!)

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Do you use a hand tracker for online play? If yes, which one?

Yes, Pokertracker 4!

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Hey Ryan,
how/where do you recommend to get involved in those kind of networks/communities?

Raiseyouredge, upswing, and RunItUp all have wonderful discord communities. Lots of great ways to meet people if you look for it.

 

[Ryan Laplante]

How do you deal with tilt?

I accept and embrace variance.

I focus on my play and what I can controll and not on whether I win or lose.

 

[Ryan Laplante]

Hi Ryan,

The pros today put a lot at stake, we do see where many have diversified their energies and potential earnings with their talent and time rather than their own monies at stake, however it is scary to see so much of their own money on the felt still when they easily have enough to retire. At that level of popularity does it not make sense to turn yourself into some sort of proverbial commodity and let others solely stake, maybe even a microcosm of what publicly traded companies do if that could that analogy could be successfully deciphered and applied?

Financial success, humility on the side, is there anything you feel that separates you from the 98-99% of the players you dominate in poker (on enough on a consistent basis) where you accomplish that?

“Around 3000 online tournaments and 200 live tournament entries”. I read this quote of your annual schedule and it put me into a fit, and I burnt out just reading, lol….Again, aside from potential earnings, and the fact you can’t win, cash in every game you engage – is there any other reason for this schedule that appears to saturate your time, and mind you I’m not criticizing, I'm reveling and trying to understand this complexity?

Lastly, how do you maintain this high level of poker absorption, exposure as a human being, if there is a reason beyond an organic motivation of love of the game?

Very glad and appreciative that you are here and, thank you.

Paul (Infinity Objective)

I work exceptionally hard and have spent my entire career networking. Networking has enabled me to meet some of the best in the industry, discussing with them has enabled my gane to grow dramatically.

If you want to make it in the industry it requires hard work and volume. No way around it. In fact starting yesterday, between then and April 9th I have 4 scheduled days off. I expect to work more than 500 hours over the next 11 weeks. Ill then get 3 weeks to relax, then from start of may until end of July ill work around 700 hours.

If i didnt love the game and didnt desire to be successful this grind would burn me out. Also itd burn me out if i didnt find balance every day (hangout with fiance every day before I go work).