Most important stack depth to study?

Those would be my exact 2 answers.

One thing you might want to spend some time on is heads up. You don't get there much if you play large field MTTs, but if you do, the EV swings are massive.

+1

I would honestly say you are better off focusing on 30-60bb play because thats where you get and maintain a stack to allow you to make more deep runs
Im not saying skip the 15-30 range but edges arent that big and its fairly easy to study for both you AND your opponents and a lot of pots are raise and 3b allin etc. Yeh you can get better at it of course but the crushers are not allowing themselves to go that low if they can help it (obv sometimes you can't). I think a lot of tourney players prefer being in that range where you can just 3b shove over an open because its easy but you want to be the player with the stack, not the guy relying on winning flips or coolering someone

This part about the crushers 'avoiding' that stack size is something to dig into.

I do notice that the players who do well tend to be at that size, or out. More often I am on the other side of that coin; the one with the 15-25 stack.

The 15-25 is easier to play for sure. Most hands are all in preflop, or maybe SRP with a low SPR.

The question I have is this: What steps are the crushers taking to avoid the ~20BB zone? How are they playing differently than I do? Are they just going super aggro at 30BB to avoid drifting into the 20BB zone? (Obviously they are better players than I am, so that is some of it; still they just never seem to have that stack size that I so often do).

disclaimer that I just returned to tourneys after being gone for 10 years so my advice might be kind of dated ... but here's how I have approached it... the forum should correct me if I am wrong...

So in the 20-30bb range you're shoving more and 3b less - or hardly none at all - but once you get to and above 30bb - 40bb you can 3b more often especially in high range spots (lpvslp / lp vs blinds) . when I am in the this vulnerable 40-30bb zone that's when I try to bounce or ladder up to 50> by simply being more aggressive in these high range spots - but it's important to be extremely cognizant of using the proper 3b sizings vs the same or <30-40 bb stack sizes because obviously big stacks will simply call you off wider ... and to do it vs the appropriate opponents (they're stack aware and they can rfi/f pre and their range is wide)... if you just got moved to a table and you don't have reads with your 40-30bb stack this can be difficult. Luck in tourneys extends to circumstantial things like this as well... I heard a story that one of the final table'ists at the 2012 basically ended each day leading up to the final table with a 30bb stack - and I am guessing he used this style of play to do so (and got lucky in those spots).

GTOw is free for preflop - so it is a good idea to get a razor sharp idea of what these ranges at these vulnerable stack size depths. if you're in the poor house and can't afford their fee - then test these ranges vs one another in an equity calc on different flops to get an idea of when you might be continue betting or not. or just post hands on 2p2.

Here's an example of how I kind of use it.

Let's say you're <30 you're really either shoving or calling - hardly 3b'ing:

The example is what just 5bb makes for A5o between the two different stack sizes ... when we get above that 30bb thresh hold we can start to increase our 3b range:

This really puts your opponent in an awkward position in that they'll either have to fold or shove and if they are calling - which most of the time they should - they're folding a lot otf... sometimes over folding even with the regs - so it's important to understand which flops are range bets and which are 50/50s and which are range check backs. You can also ladder up and exploit this method on bubble spots - near breaks etc by 3b or shoving the hands that are low frequency in the solver.

Edit: Also worth a mention when you are in the 20s - you are shoving wider where you would otherwise be 3b'ing - this is why tournaments have the highest variance of all the different games.

I didn't mean to make this come off as a troll - I genuinely want to know if we have LCNC because I have some "beginners" questions as well but a little bashful to ask in it's own thread. thought the folks who would be reply'ing here would know.

This was a huge realization for me especially as I haven't been playing MTTs for very long. If people are overfolding to 3 bets when reg has closed and/or they're trying to get near the money, we can really get out of line in this 30-50 bb range and 3 bet aggressively.

In the games I play in (soft live FL) almost no one 3 bets in these situations so it is a really +EV move.

I'm not sure what LCNC stands for

Low Content / No Content, I believe.

So, generally, the shorter your stack is, the more important it is to have your ranges down, for multiple reasons:

-You spend more time playing tournaments as a short stack than as a big stack
-The decisions you make as a short stack are more crucial, because each chip is more valuable
-Since you're often shorter stacked late, the decisions you make from a shortstack will also often be the most impactful on your overall bottom line

Now, the flipside of that is, one, they're simpler to study since you're going to have fewer streets of postflop play. So you may not need as much time to study them as you do deeper stack sizes.

And in any case, it's also important to understand how ICM shifts your range-- not just at the heavy spots like the bubble and final table, but the subtle adjustments you make at stages like when there's 50% or 25% of the field left. Mostly-- a little tighter, with significantly less calling of raises the deeper you get in, and some slight changes to the shape of your range.

I think the most important stack sizes to study also depends on the stakes you play. Generally the higher stakes games tend to play deeper with an average 30-60 BB for a larger portion of the tournament. If you're playing smaller stakes/turbos the 20 bb and under game plays a larger role.

I don't necessarily think one is more important to study than the other. However IMO the short stack game is more about preflop play and postflop play is more important at deeper stack depths

whichever ones you suck the most at, weighted by how often you'll encounter them

The professional poker study plan by Dara O’Kearney With Barry Carter:

Study the common spots 20-40bb:
RFI ranges vs BB def - SB-CO and the 3bp ranges vs def: lp vs lp ... lp vs blinds

Additionally common flop types. Something like this:

Two Broadway (ie. QJ2)
Ace - Broadway - Broadway (ie. AKJ)
Ace - Broadway - X (ie. AQ4)
Ace - X - X (ie. A73) Three Broadway (ie. KQJ)
Medium Connected (ie.965) straight possible
Low Connected (ie.543) straight possible
Medium or low, no straights possible bu open enders and gutshots (963)
High Paired (ie. JJ5)
Low Paired (ie. 662)
Monotone (ie. Ah7h3h)
Flush Draw (ie. Jh6h3d)

And then you gotta go over your leaks from your tracker or notes. They are often the spots that keep you up at night. It might be bet sizing, what to do with KK when an Ace flops, how to play on paired boards, what to do with top pair when a possible flush comes on turn, calling off big late street raises and so on.

End with the high equity spots such as ICM bubbles and final tables.

30bb

Hi guys. I answer this in a recent YT vid of a new channel. For me, clear as day it's 15bbs and lower (the lower the more valuable, up to 3bbs). SO many reasons why, maily to do optemizing LATE REG, Getting to FTs ASAP, and maximising hourly rate, all of which pros do consistently, and why the pros I play with focus on short stack depth. Also easy to gain big edges from small mistakes when you know what you're doing down there

I'll make a vid specifically on this on that YT channel explaining why 😀

Hope this helps <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee2A9jRUh7Q

YouTube

How to crush Poker in 2024 (pt 1)