Plug These 5 Poker Tournament Leaks NOW (and Start Winning!)
If you’re getting ready for the WSOP 2024, this poker tournament top 5 is for you! Let a poker pro walk you through the top 5 poker tournament struggles and how to fix them.
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Failing to run deep is one of those poker problems that can have multiple causes. Even if you are a great player, it can take a really long time playing poker tournaments to experience the ‘long run’ and have variance even out to a point where you go on decent runs, build up a big chip stack, and make a final table.
Try not to put too much weight into short term results, but if you experience this issue over the long term, it’s usually because you are playing too tight.
A big part of playing late in a tournament or playing near the bubble is usually playing a short stack poker strategy, or vs a short poker stack, and if you’ve studied shortstack play, you’ll know that a huge part of it is aggression and being willing to risk your chips.
In live poker or online poker, you want to be putting people in tough spots instead of being put in a tought position yourself.
Energy Management is the second important poker concept explored in today's video. If you’re playing a multi-day tournament or playing a multi-tournament schedule you will have to deal with playing more hours of poker than you can likely stay fresh for.
You will experience fatigue and, if you are caffeinated, potentially a crash. If you don’t manage your expectations and your sleep, your poker play will likely suffer for it.
Adjusting to the Structure is another key problem that many poker players struggle with. Phil might play tight poker one level knowing the next level has large antes where his new tight image can be taken advantage of with more loose and aggressive play.
Adapting to new circumstances might seem like a simple enough poker concept but it’s one that you need to be especially wary of later in the tournaments or when you’ve been playing for a while.
We all learn early on that stack size dictates our options but when you’ve been playing a poker tournament for 12 hours and you drop from the biggest stack at the table to being average-stacked it can be difficult to adjust your play.
Learning to observe each hand and the information involved as it happens rather than auto-piloting is difficult but key to outplaying massive tournament fields.
Your short-handed poker experience will be a major factor in whether you are able to consistently win poker tournaments. If you’re playing poker tournaments you’re mostly going to be playing a full table or close to it, it’s only when you get down to the bubble or the final table that short-handed play is a factor.
Remember, if you improve how well you play heads-up poker, 3-handed, 4-handed, and so on you improve how well you play in 6-max and full-ring games when you take those principals over.
Are you a new poker player or a poker beginner? Do you just need the best poker strategy and best poker tips or do you have a high stakes poker related question you’d like a poker professional’s advice on? Leave a comment and your question might end up in the next one of Phil’s quick poker tips videos!
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Editor: Matti Harju
Creative Specialist: Miikka Anttonen
Brand Design: Dan Deming-Henes
Soundtrack: Epidemic Sound
00:00 Intro
00:27 Failing to run deep
03:31 Energy management
05:30 Adjusting to the structure
07:07 Adapting to new circumstances
09:24 Lack of short-handed experience
09:55 Bonus tip
Its insane to me that with so many poker players in the US, not alot of people watch these videos. Im on my way to binge watching all of his videos. Imo a great human being with an amazing poker advice and life advice. The advice alone in these videos are worth 1000s of dollars. And its free. Its incredible.
Most players just want to gamble. Learning winning strategy takes work. Most players just play for fun after work. And that's a wonderful thing ❤
Right? I stumbled across this channel a couple weeks ago and I cannot soak up enough of his content. So informative & well produced videos. Crazy to me his channel isn’t at the very least 3x bigger.
You’re one of the only people who regularly discusses the mental side of the game. I think you give excellent advice and feel like it’s really improving the results that I’m getting recently at the table.
Those cuts for the shot of Phil opening the fridge and chilling in his strange colored chair had me on the floor 😂😂😂😂
It's a very comfortable chair. 🤷♂️
@@PhilGalfondI'd say the same if I had paid what you did for it 😂 but like you would complain if it wasn't (live read: you seem the kind of guy who orders a coke, gets a lemonade instead and just enjoys lemonade now) 😊
@@PhilGalfond somehow I want to watch Frasier now
What’s up with the chair???
I feel this so much, I was lucky enough to win a tournament a couple of weeks ago ($500.00 buy in, 160 players) and the main reason was that I was able to stay in a mental space where I was loose and relaxed and just trying to make the best decisions I could and be emotionally disconnected from the runouts. I enjoyed the table talk and tried to play the best poker I could. Hopefully I can repeat that mental performance at some WSOP events.
That's awesome to hear, congrats on the score and good luck at the WSOP! 😊
Scrolling through your entire history watching all videos that are Hold’em related. Your presence and presentation are perfect. Thanks for all.
Fantastic video Phil, Thank you for the insights.
Thanks, man. New to your content. I'm excited to learn more from you.
Very useful content , for beginners , as well as for someone with a lot of experience playing Live MTTs. Thank you!
I enjoy your content, especially your methodical and easy-to-understand approach to explaining poker concepts. Despite being a well-recognized and successful player, you also have a very respectful and well-thought language that I found refreshing. You are a genuinely nice person who tries to teach things to the players in an accessible language, which is rare (or non-existence) these days. Would you be interested in making a video where you could introduce the top 5 books/references, in your opinion, that are useful for deep learning and understanding no-limit holdem poker (cash-game and tournament play)? Thanks for the great content, Phil.
Thanks Phil - great tips to help mindset and situational poker! Better adjustment to short handed play is something I always struggle with changing on the fly - great reminder to focus on that throughout the tournament. Question / topic? - should I adjust and how so after getting caught bluffing with a “bad hand” - ie bottom of my range / applying pressure to opponents with weakish hands… thanks
Great content as always Phil. Thanks for taking the time to put them out
Thank you! 😊
I feel like this hit home. I always watch your videos. Great content, Phil . You always have such good advice. I feel it helps me improve .
Love the content keep up the good work can u do an insight on what it takes n the routines of an up n commer MTT player ie) schedule, daily BI planning sites which to play how to navigate BR ( thresholds ) how many BI for which field size etc. Just things u can't really find . How to keep track ( Google docs ) etc. Or anything similar would be so much appreciated thanks alot
Thanks for the video Phil, waiting for the next one
You're very welcome!
Hi Phil, Thank you so much! This was by far the best video on the topic i have seen so far. The quality of the content but also the arrangement of the video are just so great. It makes it enjoyable and helpful at the same time! :) I can resonate a lot with the emotional part about playing to tight because of circumstances like the bubble or a payjump. Sometimes I even recognize that I should all in/ call/ etc. but I am still folding. I will try to work on that with the mentioned charts. Does anyone has additional tips? All the best, T
Loved this video. Thanks so much.
to touch on the topic of adjusting to new circumstances. it is so true. ive been in tourneys and been running people over and get moved to a different table. try playing the same way there and things go wrong. good topic man
Love these top 5 videos! I've been making the transition more and more to tournaments and this was a great kickoff to get me ready for the WSOP. Really enjoy the parts about taking care of your body and over caffeneiting too late. Feel like I've definitely had a tendency to do that and then suffer on day 2's as a result. That and about just continously adjusting your strategy and being aware of changing dynamics at your table. Thanks for these videos Phil! I feel like you've really hit a niche and that your videos are some of the most educational and game changing videos on KZhead. Genuinely appreciate it!
Thank you, much appreciated! And good luck this WSOP 😊
Really enjoying this video series Phil. They are super easy to consume and offer valuable information in a really concise format. Thank you for the great work. I've recently returned to poker after burning out and having 2 years completely out of the game. Naturally my game was well off the pace. Your videos have been an excellent resource and I've lost count of how many times I've watched one and had a 'that was exactly what I needed to hear' moment. Cheers!
Thanks so much, reading this made me very happy 😊 Best of luck on the comeback!
Another awesome video from Phil. Thank you.
Wow, well said brother! im in the middle of transitioning my play into more aggro\ overbet control of the table.
Hey Phil, thanks for your comment on how to go into a tournament to just have fun and play the best that I can. Starting off it's a bit intimidating going into tournaments with large player fields.
Love every video you put out, Phil. Got a full time job and struggle to find the time to play much poker any more - these videos always just put me back in that poker optimisation mindset/zone which I really miss! Thanks
Glad to hear that, thank you! 😊
This is just gold !!! Thanks
Brilliant video, very informative - thank you. Would love to see how you deal with going All In at the early-mid stages of a tourney. Are you calling All Ins with say KQ/KJ and letting it play out or accepting that it's too risky and folding. Hope that makes sense. Thanks again
think best advice, is play fairly loose early on, build stack from interesting spots. Take advantage of bubble and position as much as you can. Late game is about taking advantage of shorter stacks in position and play a looser range when calling off short stacks. Talking A5/K10 type hands where you wouldnt usually call all in with preflop.
I used to have the issue of running deep then getting short when I first stated with poker and as you say it's a result of playing too tight or not hitting steals or resteals at the right time.
Phil, thanks big time for this video. I even had to pause it in the middle just to write down the comment lol. The tournament strategy content and scenarios resonate with me so much. Love to get this perspective. Much appreciated!
Awesome to hear that, thanks! 😊
The cut of you drinking sparkling water in the TV chair was priceless
Hi Phil. Your videos, which are quite different from other poker videos on this channel, are both interesting and useful. How about a video on limit hold'em? You could talk about your experience with it and where it is today, etc. Thanks a million for the insights.
Great content as always Phil. Love that you put content in a very digestible way for us mere mortals :).
Thank you 😊
Some great tips here thx
Nice Video 🙏 Weher can i find sheets for different BB ?
Wow. This video just suits me a lot Phil! Thanks! I am a working class and just started to play live tournaments recently. I could produce results on online tournaments but failed in the recent APT. Some of the struggles you mentioned may be reasons. Your advice will definitely help me prepare for my next tournament. Thanks again Phil. Looking forward to more tournament content from you.
Happy to hear that this was helpful 😊 And good luck in your next tournament!
Phil I live the longer format videos like this that I can listen to in the car, and MTT focused with World Series coming up. Thank you
Glad to hear that! 😊 GL at the WSOP!
Great videos, can you please advise me as the best place to get the GTO charts?
In this video you showed multiple examples of how to elegantly handle your four PLO cards. Could you do a short on that and maybe give some tips on how to look at your PLO hole cards? Thanks.
Loved it!
I'm glad to hear that! 😊
Nice to see a top 5 again 👏 👏 😀 👌 Loving all the shorts too man, plo content ftw
Thank you 😊
Hi Phil, question about PLO Tournaments opening size: when to open 2,5x, 2.7x or 3.5x? Thank you for your videos!
When talking Structure for WSOP events, Day 1s in the events I play are 10 Handed. What is Phil Galfonds Mind set when sitting down 10 handed? Thank You and Good luck this summer to the both of us.
this was really well put. You're hitting the right viewer
Thank you! 😊
Thanks. I haven't got to play since pre covid as Canada, Ontario anyways has band tournaments for whatever reason. I need live practice. I like cash games but have a limited bankroll. So micro tournament are better for me.thanks for the refersher. May all your pots be monsters cheers
Phil, your breakdowns are top notch! I think you’ve got one of the better poker minds in the game…. No one goes quite as deep into breakdowns as you (that I’ve seen so far, anyway). Keep up the good work, I love your content bro!
An edgier look for Phil paired with great content. I like it!
Thank you! 😊
Thank you for videos. This one especially. I’m an older woman and an amateur player. Your tips help me tremendously. Now that I’m retired, I have more time to study poker. I want to be the best I can be. Listening to you has directly helped me improve.
Amazing. You’re welcome, and thank you so much for letting me know!
Good info thanks. Now, how should you deal with the negative feelings when you never seem to hook up on the flop?
In the video you mention the losing a pot as a bigstack and then adapting to your new situation. I find that exact thing the most difficult thing there is. Getting a big stack is not that hard, especially at the start. Losing it however and then adjusting especially of you had build up in an aggressive way is really challenging. Usually I just trickle down waiting for a good hand that is not coming. Going for a shove with a mediocre hand (because good hands aint coming) on 12-15bb's. Any suggestions?
In a nine handed game of NLHE 18 cards were dealt and 12 of those obv did not make raising hands. Three handed only six cards were dealt. It might be marginal but I would say there is a slightly higher chance of the blinds having a real hand when folded to you on the button nine handed than when playing three handed. So I would advice a slightly tighter approach in that situation. But great advice all around as usual Phil. Thank you!
This is called the "bunching effect." The difference it makes is so small that it's considered insignificant. That said, yes, there is a small difference 9-handed and folded to the BTN vs first to act on the BTN 3-handed.
Yeah, I suspected the difference is very marginal. Personally I would still remove the absolute bottom of my raising range. But I’m sure someone with a solver and a bunch of time can prove me wrong. 😅
1:55 "Everyone is human....... so far" 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks man. I’m in a weird spot. I keep bubbling. Like last 4 straight. Even after being chip leader in most for first 3/4 of the field. It’s funny because I should be resulting opposite and min. cashing a grip bcuz I’m short bankroll, but I play each tournament the same regardless of br and to win. Fear no bubble. But dam I’m ready for the cards to cooperate Talking to myself analyzing but thx for the video. 👊🏴☠️
Great Vid 10/10
Thanks G- Dawg 🤘🏼
Thanks very much for this very helpful poker vlog, Phil! I am a recreational poker player, winning regularly at $1-$3 NLHM in Tacoma, Washington. I’m heading to Las Vegas tomorrow to play a couple WSOP tournaments, and this vlog is particularly well-timed! Thank you! 👏👍🍀🍀🍀
Thank you
My strategy is to wait until about 4 hours in before I start drinking beer. This not only cuts down on expenses, but reduces toilet breaks. Of course I mix this up and go for pre-drinks sometimes instead.
Short handed experience can mean so much, that's what I later found most valuable from sit n go's. To this day I'm still haunted by the first significant final table I made where I lost most of my stack after folding AQo -heads up- vs a super aggressive player's 4bet (and I don't state super aggressive lightly). The impact of that decision for my bankroll and my confidence afterwards dragged on for a couple of years. Never again!
Very true. So much of a tournament's prize pool goes to the top three, so that's when mistakes are at their most expensive --> HU and 3-handed experience is much more valuable than most MTT players realize. Not much point dwelling on a misplayed hand from the past, though -- all we can do is learn and make a better decision next time 😊
Phil I'd really like to see you make a video talking about rake and how it can effect winrates. Especially in a live environment. If I'm winning 10BB/HR in a game with 10% rake and a 2BB Cap, how much more would I be winning with 0 rake? Etc
How do you understand that much but can't just do the basic arithmetic? How many hands do you win per hour? They're likely all at the rake cap as you shouldn't be playing limped pots outside of checking in BB, do te math
@@berdyderg900 It isn't basic arithmetic imo. I don't know how many pots I win an hour, I don't write it down and it's obviously different every session based on variance. Not all the pots I win are going to be capping the rake, there's lots of srp that bet flop and win. If I used your incorrect assumption that every pot is capped I could just multiply 30h/hr by 2bb and divide 60bb/9 players to get an average, but this isn't the case which is why I asked.
For me getting moved to another table seems to be a large hurdle. I know it’s all in my head but things usually go south after I get moved.
Same here. You set an image, you know how everyone is playing, etc etc etc. Go to another table, and it feels like you mentally have to start over in that aspect. But on the flip side, if your on a shit ass table, getting moved can be good. I can think of a few times where i'm getting ran over, card dead, etc etc etc. Move to a new table, and I start to catch cards.
This is certainly relatable. Something that could be helpful is Tommy Angelo's theory on reciprocality: We can't control if or when we're moved to a new table; all we can control is the quality of our decisions at the new table. Even if getting moved to a new table puts you at a temporary disadvantage as you lose all your reads, the same applies for everyone. There's an edge to be gained by being better than others at adapting to a new table dynamic. Focusing extra hard on making the best possible decisions in every hand after being moved tables is what I'd try to do -- instead of feeling discouraged, aim to be the best table-mover in the field and see what happens!
I greatly appreciate you responding and even more so appreciate the advice. Next time I’m moved I will remember your comment and try to make best decisions.
PokerAlfie can help you with short handed play and its free. I had trouble getting over the bubble, i was playing to tight, min cashing to much. Phil is right, You must take some chances with cards you normally would not and go after those blinds, learn to shove weak Ax over people who are stealing to much. Also agree when i play a tournament now, i try and have fun. Its actually funny, i get more nervous when i have a good hand but when i bluff on the river and doest work, im cool as ice. Dont really know if thats good or bad
Goat!
Phil you're simply the best
😊
SnGs (sit and gos) are my fav thing to play, and they do still exist. I can make 14-20$/hr (accounting for rake) on the weekends playing 9 handed 10$-20$ buy ins with top 3 guarantee pay outs of 30$ - 60$. As a dude who jus graduated with a Pysch BS and studying for the LSATs thats a decent income lol
I actually had this problem untill i started proper bankroll managment,
"Trying to get back to your peak stack ...." - lol, sounds like me to a "T". I'm working on it with some pro help.
Are sit n gos worth grinding anymore? I feel like with the low roi and variance it isn’t worth it.
They are a dying format (aside from lottery SNGs), I'm afraid. I think I'd rather focus my energy on, for example, MTTs, where a lot of the skills are still applicable.
I run deep usually final two tables but keep busting before the money??
Tricky regs who is over defending their oop checking range "compared to population" I struggle with how thin to value bet and surely I'm over folding to X/R's.
Im running deep but not getting over the finishing line..thanks for your advise i pray later on today i smash it because i really do need to win or im doomed financially only talking about 2000 pounds rent or im homeless
In this video I learned Phil might need a stool to reach the back top shelf of his giant fridge. Jk Phil 😁, thank you for all your intelligent input.
Phil I played a 1,000 dollar satellite to the main online the other night. As someone who hadn't played a single hand of nl in 4 years I was clearly a monster favorite so how could i resist! Bc I am an IDIOT i shoved jack 8 offsuit on the button when I had 22 big blinds and it was folded to me. I really wanted those blinds and antes! Well the SB folded like a coward but the big blind woke up with aces and found the call. Oops! flop 10 9 x- hey i'll take that flop. turn and rivers bricks. Woopsy- there goes my dream of calling the clock multiple times in the main event on the tanking euros. Maybe next year!
Truly my mantra needs to be "push myself to play more aggressively". So hard for me. When I enter a downswing it's even harder.
When you're experiencing a downswing, it's not the worst idea to just stick to fundamentals and play solid poker. But in order to ramp up the aggression a bit, you could set yourself little session-to-session goals: For starters, aim to make an aggressive play you otherwise wouldn't have once per session. You don't have to be ruthlessly aggressive all the time, and being a bit selective will not only make things easier, but will likely also help you spot the best opportunities to get more aggressive 😊
The last one is the main reason so many of us advocate for NOT chopping local weekly tourneys. Everyone chops at 3 and never get experience 3 handed and HU.
Good point! Assuming playing online isn't an option, it's hard to get that 3-handed and HU experience. When the opportunity presents itself in a small-field daily or weekly tournament, I'd be very tempted to play it out instead of chopping.
@@PhilGalfond maybe that's a good video idea... Chopping vs playing it out and maybe some shorthanded and HU tips...
The expectations part is really imortant.
Agreed!
“Everybody else is human as well…..so far” 🤣🤣🤣
Elliot is great... such a great guy
The best!
Nice modigliani
Magnus carlsen said "poker tournaments are hours of boredom ending in a few seconds of agony"
ASMR Galfond
i just lose a really bad beat :(
Gotta say I have a little more respect for you now that I see you take your shoes off inside of the house!
Best strat in tournaments is win flips when it matters the most
Very true!
I heard this guy use to play online poker 12 years ago.
Everybody is human.... So far. Lol
The experience is worth more than the 💰
Cant pay my rent with experiences unfortunately
Test
My hem says im over 200k below ev on my all ins... i can beat the players i just cant hold my 70 30s and my 80 20s enough against the phycic acr house bots...
Hey guys, can you ge me a online poker site accepted in africa
Drink water! Cannot stress this enough.
all of these tips are valid but they are worthless if you are not working on the theory and study common spots and how to adjust to different players in them
You can just be lucky
Underrated strategy.