Quick Update

Well it is now after christmas, thank goodness, and now back into some propper poker.
The story with my heads up chalange is looking fairly average I have won ten games, and lost nine, which has put me down a few dollars. To be honest that is what I had expected, it is more about the learning, although winning is nice! My cash game is going pretty well, I haven't had a losing session for a while, but as well the wins haven't been that great either. While my cash game has seemed to take an upshot, my tournament play has lost it's direction, the most annoying thing is, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. At the moment I have been cutting back on tourny's and building my bankroll's through cash games. I do have the current challange of building my Tony G bankroll, which I have been doing, i have been playing on pacific as well, due to the small numbers on Tony's.


Bankroll: $133.82

Blackjack anyone?

I was sitting in a $1 30-seat SNG on Pacific poker, going onto the final table with a good chip lead and I was sitting comfortably. With only four places paid I had decided, rightly or wrongly, to sit back and wait for hands. Doing nothing at the tables frustrates me, I didn't have time to start a new game. There is a world of distractions on the internet, which is often my poker downfall. For the first time ever I click on the little "blackjack21" button on the bottom left corner of the screen. I've got to be honest I have never played the game for money before. I do have memorys of playing pontoon as a kid on rainy days. The minimum bet was $1, I dug deep into my pacific poker account and flashed a massive $2 on the table. After 10 minutes of play I was up around $10, just sticking to the minimum bet. At the same time the poker wasn't going so well, my pocket Kings had been quite frankly buggered by pocket 7's which enevitably caught trips on the flop. The blinds and my opponents were catching me, the bubble was fast approaching. I had somehow came up with a "strategy" on the Blackjack table, when I lost 2 hands in a row I would place a $5 bet. In total I did this 6 times, catching Blackjack once and only losing once. For the record I am not saying this is a great "strategy" or even a good one.
In my poker tourny I came fourth, which I was very unlucky to do so. I made a massive $0.25 profit on an hours good work. On the blackjack table however I had crept uip to $30, sticking to my "strategy" of minimum bets. At the end of my hour and a bit session I had made a profit of $53. That doesn't mean I will be changing games, for me poker is a much more skill based game. This brings me onto the subject of the online poker bans in America and more recently France. I for one think it is completly wrong that people go out and work, pay taxes on that money, then with the money they get to keep, cant even do what they like with it. Not for the first time the people in power make the absolute wrong decision. The next step is for government's across the world to take taxes off of peoples winngings, I wonder if they will be paying taxback on losses? If only! You may be thinking "what has this got to do with blackjack?" Well, I feel a lot of negativity surrounding online poker is to do with the gambling aspect of casino games. Where games like blackjack or online slot machines you are playing against the house, which enevitably wins. In poker you are playing against other people, of course the house makes some money, but in the long run if you continually make the right decisions, it is more than likely you will make a profit. For the reasons above I ask that online casinos should seperate casino games from poker totally and then, it may be possible to look for the revokation of the online poker bans.

Plan of action

I have already started shooting for my goals. For my Heads up goal, I have made a spreadsheet with space for 100 match records, so I will be able to see how sucessfull my 100 matches were. I will stick to Tony G's $1 HU matches I reckon as you get 2000 chips and the 10 minute blinds start at 10/20. There is plenty of play, or room for mistakes lol. I played my first match and won(starting how I intend to continue!) However things took a slight downturn, I made silly mistakes and lost two games on the bounce. I decided to change sites and move down to 50 cent matches to win a couple and gain confidence. I won three in a row, then the icing on the cake was having a winning return back on Tony's. So far it is 5-2, so going well.

As per usual I am playing at my 5/10 cent cash game, I had a moment of madness and lost a buy-in. I went away and have bought in again and I am up a couple dollars, so almost level for today.

Balance: $115.87

Poker Goals

As it is coming up to the new year, i felt the need to make myself some realistic goals with a timescale which I can reach my goals.

Short term (March '07)

Improve my cash game
Play 100 HU matches
Play 500 raked hands within a week on Tony's too play in the tourny

Mid-term (end of '07)

Earn an online bankroll big enough to sustain a 10/25 cent cash game.
Win a $5+ MTT
Play in at least one live Tournament

Long Term (2010(?))

Qualify for a large tournament e.g WSOP,WPT, EPT...

Cash games

I play cash on Tony's at the 5/10 cent level. The maximum buy-in is $20, although due to my bankroll level, I buy in with $5. I am pretty new too cash, and I feel I'm getting a hang of the way to play. The ABC poker, with a few moves, seems to be the best way at this level. The thing that I have found, which goes against general concensus, is with the number of players per flop. When selecting a table, most people look for a high a percentage as possible, which does seem logical. Although I have found that at lower limits, such as 5/10cent, going to tables with 70%+ players/flop, isn't the best idea. When the percentage is so high, I seem to get outdrawn again and again, yes you can say, whnen the players play like that I will make my money back and some in the long run. Many people will disagree with this, but I have found looking for tables with 50-65% players/flop(on a 9 handed table) has been profitable, as there are a lot less random cards being played, while there are still some poor plays/calls being made pre-flop. In the cash game I am currently playing in with the players/flop within 50-60% I have more than quaded my buy-in, can't complain at all.

balance: $101.85

Back in the game

I started today with a $1.50+50 Re-buy, wasn't very good, just got tired of getting outdrawn by silly hands. I still felt I had to take a stab at it, took 2 re-buys then decided too call it a day. I was already playing in a speed $3 tourny, with 16 runners, it was going pretty good sitting in the top three chips all the way through the final table, when we got to the final three I stepped up a couple gears, and managed to take home the win. That had taken up an hour or so of my time, but it was worth it, I had felt. Then I turned my aim towards the cash tables, there wasn't much action at all, ended my short session even. There was another $3 Speed tourny in a few minutes and I was feelin good, so I hit register! There were 17 runners in this one. I hadn't been doing as well in this one, when we hit the FT I was only about average stack. Again I had reached the last 3 and again, stepped up the gears, I was the bottom stack less than half the other two. I will admit I got lucky, but who doesn't get lucky in poker sometimes? I came across a player called GrindKING, we were heads up, he had been slagging my play off for a while. I just had to beat this guy, and I opened the can of "whoopass" on him, he was not happy one bit. Ah well thats his problem, he can find a way to deal with it. Going to now try another re-buy, lets hope I can take my Speed form into it!


Balance: $81.90

Just too add on, There were 23 runners in that Re-buy, I was a massive chip leader goin into the final 6. Bullied the hell outta the table(I needed to leave) ended up coming third, which is officially my first re-buy cash! Still should have finished first. Only took two re-buy's and the add-on. Will definatly try another one, hopefully when I have lots of time.

Balance: $91.05

Another Hubbles NLHE Freeroll

The following post is an "as it happens" presentation sponsored by www.ukpokerinfo.co.uk the best poker forum going!

I fancied a bit of large MTT action, which you definatly get with one of these. Ten thousand runners looking for one of the elusive top twenty-seven places, which gets you into one of the weekly round two tournys with a $1000 prizepool. It does take quite a few hours and all-ins to get there. The best I have came is something around the 50th mark, which aint to shabby. The play in these things is terible at times, people go all in with all sorts of junk. I got dealt Aces in the very early stages which tirned into a Full house, should of really doubled up, didnt quite manage it. I have also been dealt Queens which doubled me up nicley. Half an hour into the tournament I am sitting pretty on 8,775 with the average at 3,169 and 4686 runners left. I'm only playing good cards, no point trying to bluff these guys, really impossible, trust me! It still amazes me as too how quickly the field cuts in half. In the big blind with Q8 off, no raises so I check, pretty much a miricle flop with a queen and an eight both hitting, I made a series of raises and ended up picking up around 2K, with Q8 off thats a damn good return. I'm currently sitting 246th out of 3974, going as planned so far. Just threw away just under 2K, I made a 4 times the BB raise with 66, and someone re-raised all in for not that much more and I called, they turned over queens, nothing hit, cant and won't complain. I lost another pot, then won another in quick succession. Then I went all in with AK against my Opponents AQ and he rivered a Queen. Down to 5 K, its a tough freeroll, il give it that. At the break I am sitting below average chips, but i'm still workable with 42 BB, as you can tell it has been a usual up and down freeroll, but the main thing is i'm still in. With just over a quater of the original field left, I would like to now aim for the top 100, if i get there, hopefully the top 27 is still in reach. In the morning I will definatly kick myself in the nuts for losing 500 chips on QJ off. Just one of them hands, nobody raises and you feel you have to take a stab, don't know why I bothered. That sent me in a negative mood, played 77 late position i raised, 5 callers didnt like that, I felt i had too push so i did, one of the players caught there queen and thats all she wrote. 2334th... Seems a waste of time really, im sure i will be back for more.

The lonely road that is poker

The past week in my poker world has been miserable, much like the scottish weather I guess. I hope that my play won't be dictated to by the weather, because if that is so, im in for a long one. I just cant seem to catch anything, and when I do I get done over by a better hand. I was playing in a Tony G 5c/10c cash NLHE and I had flopped a full house, i thought I was quids in, only to be rivered and the opponent catching the better house. I don't want to make this blog a moan session, thats why I haven't posted any updates, don't really see the point in you lot sitting reading my beats, when I'm sure you have your own. As I speak, I feel a turn around, I have tightened up my play and stopped multi-tabling, I am currently sitting at a Tony G cash table, having doubled my stack, enjoying my poker once again. Lets hope it continues that way for a very long time!

Current balance:59.90

Hutch the Bounty Hunter

Today I continued my challange on Tony G Poker, I was doing okay in the tournys just seemed to get knocked out on outdraws, still have a good record in the speed $3, I have cashed in 3 out of 6. Also in one of the tournys I failed to cash I managed to knock out GNOBY who had a $25 bounty on his head, okay i'll be honest, I got a little lucky and outdrew him, but a winners a winner. I have decided to stay away from ring games, they are the reason I have not kept my balance above $100, its a shame really.

Balance: $96.20

Challange Update

I havent been able to play much, I was down a few dollars the other day from the cash games so I stopped playing.

Today has been a game of two halves. i sat down at the 0.05/0.10 cash game with $5, lost it within fifteen minutes. to be fair I don't think I did too much wrong, probably a few too many loose preflop calls which got me into trouble. Instead of re-buying I decided to try my hand in some tournys. Firstly i sat down in the $3 Speed tournament with 5 players, wasn't a big one but i managed to win it for $10.50. I played pretty simple poker, the main moment was when i had caught the nut flush against my opponents straight, I took most of his chips and never looked back.

I then decided to chance my arm at the $2.50 $50 Guarenteed tourny(16 runners). I had been chip lead for most of the tournament, got down to the bubble plus one. I then stupidly threw away chips on a reverse of earlier(Straight Vs. Flush) I guess its got to happen. At this point I was really nervous about bubbling, I managed to coast past the bubble but was short stacked. I was dealt QQ and raised 4 times the big blind and the other short stack pushed all in so i called. He turned over AQ and then proceded to catch the straight, not the nicest way to go out but i picked up $10, still cant help but think it could/should have been $25.


The most recent tournament I played was a $1 HU with a compatriot from www.ukpokerinfo.co.uk Chewymoose, was a good heads up comp, very backwards and forward. if im being honest I got lucky a couple times and managed to pick up the win.

I may take part in the $3 speed tourny coming up, hopefully CM doesnt get his revenge

Current balance: $82.11

My current challange

I have been given $50 to play on Tony G's poker site, so I have decided to try and improve my non existant cash game skills. I have been playing 0.05/0.10 NL Hold'em tables. The first couple sessions I was throwing a way money and then scraping it back again. I am currently sitting with $79.56, which doesnt seem to bad. I am somewhat conscious of what levels I am playing at, especially when to move up a level. The figure that comes to mind is $150, i might give 0.10/0.25 tables a go then.

Takesport Freeroll

The $1500 Takesport freeroll on PNL was my main game for Monday, and too be honest I wasn't really expecting to cash, which maybe had me beat. I was playing a pretty tight game, was comfortable for the most part. In the early stages I was dealt rockets, only managed to pick up 250 chips or so, which wasn't great. I probably only played five hands in total. The Blinds were at 75/150(and were about to be raised) I had around 1800, which equates to around 12 big blinds, was dealt 1010 in the BB, the action was folded round to small blind who had been playing a lot of hands, he raised around 3 X the BB, so I pushed all-in, expecting a fold. The player turned over 22 so I was a 82% favorite to win the hand, and nothing came on the flop, and yes the next card brought a 2, last card never brought my 10. That was me out in 191st place. My initial goal was to survive the hour to the break, I had missed that by a matter of minutes. It was a freeroll so I never lost anything, but I felt I had gained a little kick in the teeth.

I was also playing in a 5cent 10 cent cash game on Tony G poker, I had thrown away my chips(mostlikely because of the way I had exited the tourny a short while before hand) I was down to 20 cents, looked rather desperate. I was amazed, within 45 minutes I had built that 20 cents up to over $11. Yes, I know its not really dizzy heights , but I am builoding my bankroll as well as learning how to play cash games. And lets be honest from 20 cents to $11 is some jump considering.

Tonight brings another freeroll for me the $150 Ukpokerinfo Freeroll, not as much money in this one, but it is one tourny I definatly want to win!

WSOP

I dont know about the next guy, but I would definatly want a WSOP bracelet. But now there is a question what one?
When there are more events than disciplines being played I think it becomes a bit of a joke. There are forty-five events in total, a large percentage of which are Hold'em. There must be a point where they have to draw the line.
OK maby reducing the number tournaments will make a lot harder for the average joe to win a bracelet, but when there are forty-five winners each and every year, does this not reduce the value of winning a bracelet? Even if it does, i still want one!

Pocket pairs

You don't have to be a poker guru to know that a pair beats no pair. So when you look down and see your small pocket pair pre-flop your infront right? Wrong! Lets say you look down at a pair of threes, heads up against 9 10 suited, the 9 10 is a 54% favorite. Even when the 9 10 is offsuit the threes are still an underdog. Lets look at another example say 77 Vs AJ suited, The pair of 7's is then only a 52% favorite. When you think about overcards to your pair of 7's, an over card on the flop will come 92% of the time, and after all cards are down there will be an overcard a whopping 98.8% of the time. All I can say is good luck dodging them big cards!
Now don't get me wrong I'm not telling you to muck these cards as soon as you look down, you just have to play with a large degree of caution. The play that makes most sense to me would be to limp pre-flop, giving you a chance to catch a set, as well as not throwing away chips. I mean first of all just because there are overcards on the board, doesn't necessarily mean that your opponent has hit the board. After all that time your Pair turns into a set and your opponent has top two pair, your in the mix.

Bursting Bubbles

Last couple hours has definatly been a good run, hadn't failed to make the cash in 10 tournaments, then had 4 wins in a row. I had been playing NLHE, on different sites, levels and sizes of tournaments. CDPoker was the next port of call, a $2 jackpot SNG, 12 runners, 4 places paid. We were down to the last 5, all of the stacks, were pretty much level, and close to ten or 15 times the big blind. At this point i was sitting third, as I was dealt JJ in the BB, action was folded round to the SB, who put in a minimum raise. This guy had been stealing all night, so i just pushed, he flipped over AA. The board was no help at all. There was me stranded on the bubbled, the good run of the past few hours felt long gone.
Hopefully will turn it round soon!
Im going to give Omaha a go for the rest of the night

Slow Playing in NLHE

Quite simply, I see slow playing as a way to get more action from your opponents, the way to do this is to check to give them a free card. Obviously this gives your opponents a chance to catch up on your hand(which is what you want) or better your hand. The slow play is a great tool in poker, although should be used sparingly, i would advise to use the play when you have the nuts or very close to it. If your opponent betters your hand, you could be the one throwing away your chips. If you feel yor hand is not the strongest, put out a bet, try to win the pot there and then, remember a small win is better than a big loss. Another thing to remember, as many often forget, checking and calling are very weak moves, where as betting shows strength. I am definatly not discounting the slow play as a move, although I would say be "choosy" of when you apply it.

Tilt

Tilt!

No, I know it's not the type of subject a poker player should be talking about, but it is something we all should be aware of, because at some point it will defiantly happen to you. "Tilting" or "going on tilt" are phrases used when somebody loses emotional control. This could result in shouting/swearing, or a player stopping for the night or even turn a player into a loose cannon and make him play very poor poker. Tilt can be caused by many things, or even nothing at all, it's a state of mind.

I can hear you all asking the same question as you read this "how do I avoid tilt?"

Well in my personal opinion I think it is pretty much impossible for any poker player to avoid tilt his whole career, let's be honest, we have a bad run of cards, it will affect most players attitudes. My first tip is to play well within your bankroll, there is nothing wrong with learning your game on micro limit tables, even if $0.01/0.02 won't win you much money, you defiantly won't lose a lot. Especially for beginners, most people go through a phase where they can't win anything, so why not minimize the loss? I know definitely know I would prefer a $5 bad beat compared to a $100 one.

Secondly, the main thing to do is to remain calm, look back at what happened, analyze your play, were you ahead then completely outdrawn? If you made an obvious mistake, learn from it! There is absolutely no point beating up yourself and in turn your bankroll over one mistake. However, if you had thrown the chips in while you were ahead, you did nothing wrong. Just remember you played the hand well, your opponent got lucky.

There is of course the other side of the coin, again an obvious question pops up "can we take advantage of tilters?" Yes of course we can. Its just a simple case of playing premium hands against the person, chances are they will try and raise you out of a pot, if you think you are comfortably ahead then call, if not lay them down. Simple! Eventually you will hit a big hand and the tilter will cough up.

When at the poker tables, keep your emotion in check, If you feel you are losing control, best thing to do is to stop playing. If you really need your poker fix for the day, move down the limits, to make sure you don't destroy your hard earned bankroll.

Position in Texas Hold'em

Position in Texas Hold'em

This is one of the most vital, yet overlooked aspects in poker. Your position is determined by your seating position, in relation to the dealer button. You have position over the players to your right, as you get to act after them, therefore seeing their actions before you decide what to do. The last person to act at a table is in the strongest position, as they see everybodys action before they make their own. Being in late position (being last to act or second to last) can make marginal hands like AJo very playable, depending on the players actions before you.

Just a few points to note on position:

1. If a tight/passive player raises Under The Gun (being first to act) there is a large chance they have a strong hand.
2. If you notice a player making the same raises in late position time and time again, chances are they are just stealing blinds, think about playing those marginal hands.

Always be aware of your position, and the moves others around you make in and out of position.

Hubbles Hold'em (no limit) Freeroll

Hubbles Hold'em (no limit) Freeroll - 23/05/2006 - 18:30 BST

Yes I know it's a freeroll, many poker players don't like them. But I think they are good tournament experience, nothing like fighting your way through literally thousands of players. The aim of this tournament is to reach the top 27, which has to be said, out of 10 or even 12 thousand players can take a lot of time and energy. Thankfully this is not peak time US for poker players, only 6118 people registered. However reaching the top 27 is still tough and can take a few hours. The players who make it get a ticket to a Weekly Round 2 event, these events can be many types of poker, there is a prize pool of $1000, with generally a first prize of around $220.

I start the tourney playing quite tight, avoiding the crazy players who go all in with anything, sometimes they get lucky. I have music playing in the background, Lemar's album Time to Grow... Yes I am singing along! First level was extremely slow, played one hand, which was only because I was in BB. The Tourney had been running 22 minutes, the best hand I received A7o, I may of played it if I was in late position, but defiantly not from under the gun. Level 3 was about to begin (blinds 25/50.) I had 1605 chips, so the blinds were defiantly not troubling me, although frustration and boredom were kicking in. We were down to 3197 players, the average stack was 2893, which was defiantly the main reason I was getting frustrated, I was so far behind it and couldn't do anything about it. The second hand of the level looked interesting, got dealt pocket 10's, although before I had a say I was raised all-in preflop, had to fold. Morale was running low.

Then came a very important hand... I was dealt AQo in mid-position.
Blinds: 25/50
Hutchylad first to limp in
Bodigs calls (Mid/late-position)
SIRZIMM raises 350 to 400
Hutchylad calls
Bodigs re-raises all-in
SIRZIMM calls
Hutchylad calls

Cards come: 36K27
Hutchylad: Ace high (AhQs)
Bodigs: One Pair, Kings (5cKc)
SIRZIMM: One Pair, Eights (8c8h)


Bodigs wins
Hutchylad Knocked out in 2109th

I will admit, I completely lost my attitude and probably should not of played the hand. I had let the frustration take over my game. The fact I finished 2109th after 34 minutes and only playing 4 hands, just annoys me even more. If I had stuck to my game I would be well on my way to a Weekly Round 2 game and a shot at the $220 prize. It may be due to the sour taste left in my mouth, but i think Bodigs made a move that was incorrect. Maby the "crazy" moves is the reason why lost of players dislike freerolls. However,I live to fight another tournament, even though that was a shocker.

Note Taking

Note Taking

Ask yourself...

1. What kind of player is s/he? Tight, Solid, Aggressive, Tight/Agressive
2. What kind of Preflop player is s/he? Do they limp often with weak hands, blind stealer, or do they only play premium hands?
3. What class of player are they? An Elephant(constant caller) a Mouse (hardly plays any hands) a Jackal(very aggressive, unpredictable) or a Lion (good solid player)?
4. Does the player often chase draws?
5. Watch out for calling stations, take advantage
6. Keep an eye out for betting patterns e.g. always raises 5 times B.B with Aces
   

That is my quick guide to note taking while playing poker.

Recomended Poker sites

Poker Forums

www.ukpokerinfo.com -
At the moment this forum has to be my favourite, it is growing in size, great info all over the site, great banter on the forum!

www.pokerscotland.com -
This forum is slowly building, for scottish poker comunity.

www.thehendonmob.com-
great forum there, lots of members who have good insight into the game.


Poker Freebees!

www.yourpokercash.com-
Everybody loves a freebee yeh? well this site gives you $50 money at partypoker (for new players)

www.pokerinside.com -
Well this site if you register sponsors you to play on CDpoker $20 ,
although if you prove yourself, you will recieve more money!
if you say hutchylad refered you, that would be great. Plus use the bonus
code: FLSPOKER.

Beggining in Tournaments

This is a monumental moment. I am now not just the hunter gatherer of information. I am a giver. When I first started to type, I had so many ideas of what to write this article about - which hopefully means there will be more. Then I thought, "What would I have liked to know as a newbie?” Again, lots of things stood out in my mind, but to me one more than any other came top. How to play a tournament.

Being honest, I'm not a pro poker player, and also I'm not trying to tell you that this is "THE ULTIMATE STRATEGY!” However, it does try to give you, as a newbie poker player, some idea of where to start. This may sound obvious, but I think it's best to start with the strategy for the early stages. These this could be used in Multi Table Tournament (MTT) and Sit and Go (SnG) tourneys.

As I'm sure you are all aware, poker has received a lot of interest from Television recently, and if I'm being honest it's what got me really into the game. Anyone with satellite or cable television has access to a vast range of poker programmes. The first programme I took notice of myself was World Poker Tour (WPT). This show places a lot of emphases on fast paced, action with high stakes and, obviously, the excitement results in good viewing figures. After watching this kind of show, one big mistake “fish” (new players) make is assuming that EVERY hand is going to be full of action. However, we should never assume, because, as the old saying goes, this will make an "ass" out of "u" and "me." What the show doesn't show is the tight style of play the players have had to play for lengthy periods to enable them to make these outrageous bluffs or semi-bluffs*. The show concentrates a lot on the hole cards players are dealt pre-flop, showing the percentage chances of winning for each hand. Personally, I like to play the hands that give me the highest percentage chances of winning the pot.

*At first I never knew the difference between a bluff and semi-bluff, so here it is. A bluff is when you bet when you have nothing. Semi-bluff is when you have nothing but there are still cards too come that will improve your hand.

To do this all you have to do is “tighten up” or cut down the number of hands you actually play. We all know those marginal hands that we play, when we know we shouldn't, just because the blinds are low?... Throw them away! Even though the blinds are low, you are still throwing away chips, plus the chances are if you are calling the blind, I bet you will bet or call a low-medium size bet post-flop. This way you are compounding your error, instead of not losing any chips, you are losing 3 or 4 times the big blind, if not more, dependent on how long you hold onto your marginal hand. So you I would suggest playing tight early on in the tourney. I'm not going to list the exact hands, but certainly see the flop with suited aces, suited connectors and pocket pairs (beware of over cards.) when the price is right. Pocket aces is a great hand pre-flop, but if a flush or a straight comes on the flop, you have too be able too walk away from these hands. One question I suggest you keep in mind all times in a tourney is "do I want to risk my tournament life on this hand?" Even if you fold one hand which you would have one the pot with, I bet there will be many more you folded when you were behind.

Different online casinos have different tournament structures. You can even find different structures within the same site e.g. Turbo or Speed. Generally the starting stack ranges from 1000-1500, with blinds around 10 or 20 start with 100 times the big blind. That leaves for plenty of play, but beware the blinds do go up, sometimes seems like an increasingly alarming pace. This is why I set a goal, generally for the first two levels, I would like to have added 300-500 chips to my stack, and this can generally be done with one good hand. Now lets be honest for the first two levels that is between 10-15 minutes generally, in 10 minutes I'm sure you are bound to get at least one good hand. However, the main thing to remember is that this is a GOAL not a NEED. Even if you fall short of gaining 300 chips, blinds are still pretty low, still a lot of play left. To get comfortable, I like to be above of average stack, in larger MTT you have too keep watching this, because it can shoot up and leave you behind. When I am below average stack, I like to loosen up a little, catch up the lost time, although if you loosen up, ask yourself "Do I want to lose my tournament life on this hand?" As long as you keep your wits about you and don't play silly cards like 72 off-suit, you should be grand.

There is a great technique of avoiding being knocked out of a tournament, picking who you pick your fights with. One simple way of saying this is too attack the sort stacks, it's great, they don't have enough chips too knock you out, but if you knock them out, you have added to your stack and increased your chances of winning. The other way of saying this, steer clear of the large stacks, they have more than enough chips to knock you out, so unless you have a premium hand, just throw it away! I seemed to have drifted into general tournament play, so I might as well continue. You should always respect your players as good poker players, unless you know otherwise. For instance if a player raises in early position, give him credit, throw away all but premium hands. One thing to remember here is that "You need a stronger hand to call a raise than to initiate one." Also I would stay away from pots with more than one re-raise, even if you have a good hand, the other hands could be cancelling yours out!

That was just my rough guide to NL Hold'em Tournament play.

Cheers