[dovla]

i know it is unusual.. but playing like a donkey first 2-3 minutes of any tourney can really pay you off

if it is S&G or MTT (in mtt it depends of position) - if i'm dealed hand like 1010 or JJ (or even KK or AA) .. i would move all-in.. in 95% of cases in MTT you would get one caller with hands like Ace-rag (or 2-7 off), and you're big favourite there.. if everybody folds, and in next 2-3 minutes you get another good hand and move again with everybody folding you would make yourself a good "donkey" image making all other players to wait a marginal hand to knock you out and take your chips - and that is your big chance to double

i was dealt QQ in first hand in cheshire s&g (2.4$ buy-in) lately.. i moved, everybody folded.. next hand i was dealt QQ again !?.. two callers, i raised 12-13 times of bb.. i got one caller.. flop came something like 5-4-9 i betted hard, he reraised allin, i called and he was holding K4 hearts (with no heart on flop)
and the question: who was the donkey there?

[Lytspeed]

In my opinion, moving in with big hands when you know you are likely to be up against mediocre players is not a donkey move. It's aggressive, but not donkey. If you had been pushing hard with 27o or something like that, I'd say you were using donkey strategy.

But the real question here is this: By using this strategy to get a big stack early, did it help you win the tournament, or did you finish about the same as you would have if you played following your normal style?

[sensei24]

I saw players which play some started hands like donkey's raising big with 46 off or 23, and they stiil have a chance. Others will consider them donkey's on that point, but then they will go all-in with KK and they got 2-3 callers and manage to make a very nice stack.
So playing and raising the low cards, bluffing and raising with them can be a very good choice if you know what you're doing, and if you menage to get the others impression that you play like a fish.
I tried this stile on the starts of the tournaments when blinds are low and you raise 6-8 BB whith a low hand and show it if they fold. Then pushing all-in with very good hands. And just if i lose 500 chips from those raises, i get 1000-2000 with the all-in. Then when the blids are higher 50/100 you can't afford to raise with just anything, but you can play with raise QJ, J 10.

[dovla]

Originally Posted by Lytspeed

But the real question here is this: By using this strategy to get a big stack early, did it help you win the tournament, or did you finish about the same as you would have if you played following your normal style?

it really depends later from hands dealt, bad beats... but it's big advandtage to double or triple in early stage of tourney..
i won that cheshire (i doubled in 2nd hand) but that was S&G with 6 players.. in MTTs if i get a hand early and make a stack (double), i continue to play my normal game.. for me, this is the style for first 10-20 minutes when the blinds are still small, and still many donkeys and idiots on tourneys.. and someone will take notes on you as a "fish" so noone will take you seriously..

i like to use "fish" and "calling station" tactics when i'm playing heads-up in first minutes of game, even losing 100-150 chips, but later i have a big advantage (for example my set or str8 to be called by allin with someones medium pair..)

[godlikev]

donkey stile is a good strategy..i kind of like it..but i don;t think i can use it in a buy in..althow when i raise with qq..and get a caller..it always beat me with k6 a7...if i all in and get a call i never lose..i noticed that..

[tbs89]

i have to agree and disagree with this theory.... i agree when 1st:6 hands, if i pick up AQ AK or a pocket pair, i can understand why you want to move because usually first hand theres always a caller trying to get lucky! That is the exact reason i also disagree, because if you notice in some freerolls you always see someone either out first or up in the chip lead in every tournament they play, they never play in the middle of the pack, and to me that is not a good poker player, because they depend on luck, and thats the last thing you want to DEPEND on in poker!: ) ....plus you might get drawn out on by moving your chips, and you usually will only get called by a better hand.

[Acorn89]

I am not a big fan of this strategy in big MTT especially if you have a good amount of chips to play with. Yes you might catch that guy with Ax against your pocket 10s but your still only about 70/30 or so to win the hand. But then you could also run in to a big hand that will beat yours 4 times out of 5. I just dont think its worth it to take that chance to double your stack early. Also if you just raise a normal amount that donkey is going to call you anyway with his Ax so even if you dont win as much you can still get away from it. And I dont think that doubling your chips early will help you get any closer to winning the tournament. It might increase your chances many 1% or 2%.

As for SNGs this stragey might not be as bad because then you can really dominate the table with a big stack and it will increase your chances of wining.

[ad1129]

This is bad, it may be +EV in low buyin tourneys even than i'll argue against it because you should be able to find much better spots than 66/33...And it is so far from optimal its not even fuNNy.

Originally Posted by Acorn89

And I dont think that doubling your chips early will help you get any closer to winning the tournament. It might increase your chances many 1% or 2%.

Doubling up early close to basicallydoubles your equity in a tournament and basically doubles your chance of winning, but that isn't even 1% or 2%. It mores like .5% or even .25% or even .1% or even .01% or depending upon the size of field it may even be as low as .0001%..

[dovla]

of course, that's my strategy for freerolls and really low buy-in tourneys or low buy-in S&Gs.. but yesterday i was sucked with this strategy in that Dirty Dozen joke tourney.. got KK first hand, didn't moved (big mistake) raised 13x BB, two callers - flop 1087, i betted really hard and got two movers (one with 9J, the other with 84 (suited!)) ..

doubling (or tripling) really early in big mtts usually don't mean anything, but i'll always take my 70% (or higher) shot to increase my stack.. if i get my chips i continue to play my normal game..

[wheeloftime]

What do you do with the guy who gos in every other hand. Wins enough to stay in and keep limping in ? Patience isnt always easy.