LHE tournament strategy

Druff,

Are there any drastic adjustments that need to be made when playing a limit holdem tournament? I read somewhere a while back that there really weren't any strategic differences between MTT and cash play in LHE. Just wondering your thoughts.

The reason I ask is because I'm looking to build up a roll. I'm kind of stuck in a rut where I have a small bankroll and a mortgage so high where playing $15-$30 @ Bellagio ( a game I can consistently beat) is too much of risk, and playing for small stakes online in shitty games isnt really getting me anywhere. I'm thinking if I can make a score in a tournament I might be on my way. Do you have any suggestions for me?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Druff hand @ WSOP LHE event

Druff,

I witnessed this hand while dealing the WSOP and for whatever reason am posting it 3 months later. Im just curious to hear your thought process throughout the hand.

This was fairly early in an LHE event and you were at Table 1/ Seat 1 (very far corner of the tournament area) when this hand came down. To refresh your memory, about ten minutes prior to this hand you had KK run into AA. Fortunately for you the player with AA was all-in by the flop. Also, you and Seat 3 (young middle eastern guy) were going at it quite a bit while you were in LP and he was in the blinds. On to the hand...

You open-complete in the SB w/ 65o. BB (worst player at the table) checks.

Flop: Q84 rainbow and you lead. BB raises and you call.

Turn: 7 You checkraise, he calls and then he pays off a river bet.

I can understand leading into one opponent on a pretty dry board but calling the flop raise seems quite loose. You had probably the best case scenario work out. You hit gin and got in 3 more BB.

So I have a couple of questions about the hand...

Would you have played the hand the same way if this were a cash game or was this a loose attempt to get chips as fast as possible? Also, with the same 65o what other types of flops are you leading at other than the times you make a pair or a straight draw? I would assume you're leading out into all flops that are paired while also uncoordinated like JJ3, K22. Also flops that contain an A, seeing how it's unlikely that the BB who checked preflop HU has an Ace. I guess what I am asking is do you have a pre-programmed strategy for leading out in these situations depending on the texture of the flop?

Thanks

Is cold calling ok here?

15/30 Bellagio

In the past 10 minutes or so the game has gone from full to six-handed. Since the game has gotten short it has stayed pretty calm unlike sometimes when certain players open up and start becoming overly aggressive.

Villian has been at the table for about an hour and seems to be a reasonably tight solid player. He probably views me as being the same. Anyways, villian open-raises UTG and its folded to me in CO with QcJc. I feel this hand is too good to fold six-handed so the question is whether to 3-bet or cold call. I can't remember the last time I cold called a preflop raise playing LHE so I did what I normally do and 3- bet. I've been thinking about this hand for a few weeks now and more and more I think this could be an ok spot for a cold call given the fact that I really wouldn't mind the blinds coming along with this type of hand. And in the case where we both have big cards, given villian's hand range, it seems more likely that he has me dominated than I do him.

I played a very similar hand with QJ about a year ago in the Wynn 15/30 game. Although in this hand the guy who open raised was a bad player whos range of hands included just about everything. Even though he was very loose and aggresive he viewed me as very tight and knew enough to back off if I put pressure on. I 3-bet this hand and bet an A high flop when checked to. He folded immediatly.

After much thought I can see the benefits of both plays. I'm just not sure which is the superior action. All thoughts are welcome.

Thanks,

TheOutlaw