What makes a great tournament player

[aarono]

I've been visiting Pocketfives.com lately, and after wadding through all the ass-kissing I'd like to actually know why these guys are so good. Take for instance M8kingmoves (lilholdem954), he got 1st and 3rd in Party Millions in 2006.

I've read that he is very aggressive, and willing to bust to gain a chip lead. What does this mean and how do you implement it?

OR how about Andre Akkari. I always see this guy at the final table of $100 rebuys on Pokerstars! I wanna know what these guys do/how they play that makes their tournament game so strong.

[CPOner]

Originally Posted by aarono

I've been visiting Pocketfives.com lately, and after wadding through all the ass-kissing I'd like to actually know why these guys are so good. Take for instance M8kingmoves (lilholdem954), he got 1st and 3rd in Party Millions in 2006.

I've read that he is very aggressive, and willing to bust to gain a chip lead. What does this mean and how do you implement it?

OR how about Andre Akkari. I always see this guy at the final table of $100 rebuys on Pokerstars! I wanna know what these guys do/how they play that makes their tournament game so strong.

i cant speak for lilholdem... although i have seen him on some tables in a couple of PXF videos... he is super aggressive (as is annettee)... almost seems wreckless at times... but it works for him and im sure it isnt as wreckless as it looks... these guys win consistently for a reason... they know what they are doing

as far as other successful online pros... the ones at PXF (sheets, johnnybax, rizen, pearljammer, aaaaaaaa, belowabove, etc)... the one common thread i see through them all is they have a very deep understanding of the math of the game.... and they adapt to the table they are sitting at... super aggressive at times... super tight at others... none of them really play the same way as each other, which i found interesting...

they also play with absolutely no fear, regardless of buy in... if the situation calls for it, they will shove all in with 72os without blinking..

just my take on it

REX55

This young lady's blog I think tells quite clearly what makes a good tournament player. Everyone has the same odds, same cards, same luck over the long run. So why do some people do better consistently? I think it comes down to mental discipline. We all know that what the right move is (usually) and we probably do the right thing most of the time. Well that's not enough. You have to do it EVERYtime.
I play sometimes 3, 4, and even more tournaments at once. When I first starting doing it I couldn't cash in any. This drove me crazy cause I was cashing like 25% when I played just one at a time. So why couldn't I do well in more than one at a time? Variance? Bad Luck? NO. These things came into play in some of the tournaments, like they always do. BUT. What was happening was I'd take a bad beat in one tournament, then go on tilt in ALL of them. and this was killing my bottom line.
So what if you are playing one tournament at a time? Well. You have to concentrate on that one tournament. You have to try to make the right decision on each individual hand. If, on one hand you're the bigstack, on the button, with AA and you open raise, and the BB reraises all in with 7,2 and cracks your aces, well.. that sucks. But next hand you have Q,Jo in the CO... but now you're shortstacked, and someone opened from early position. Well, if the aces hand hadn't just happened you would almost automatically fold as a shortstack facing an EPr... but you're on tilt, and used to having chips, so now you might be inclined to call or raise all in. BUT YOU CAN'T. That's what I mean by mental discipline. You have to blank the past outta your mind. Adapt instantly to the new situation, and play your hands accordingly.

GL (unless you're playing me)

[TheBear]

1) Patience
2) Controlled aggression
3) Strategic/tactical awareness
4) Observation
5) Concentration
6) Mathematical ability

Ability to balance the above in real time and apply correctly as the context of the tourney progresses.