Advice for Early Levels in WSOP Super Seniors Event (and other Large, Good Structure Events)?

High card hands like AK and AQ are somewhat less valuable in deep stacked play, though we still must play them. Even when they connect, you have to tread somewhat lightly with just one pair.

Speculative hands with strong nutted potential like suited Ax and pocket pairs become more playable because the implied odds are so good. I'd probably play hands like JTs and 76s more aggressively than I would on 20BB, where more of the fringe hands can just fold.

I still start at a pure 3x in the early levels, with 1BB added for each limper. I think starting at 4x would probably be okay too. Feel out the table and see how curious they are. It's not the worst thing in the world if they are putting in a lot of chips pre-flop with trash hands, though we don't necessarily want to be playing family pots with the likes of AA and AK. Find a balance where you are shedding some players while still picking up a call or two.

Later on you can drop down closer to 2x as the blinds get higher.

The thing to keep in mind with the Seniors and Super Seniors is that while you have very long levels, you aren't starting deep-stacked. Sure, you're staring with 200BB stacks, but that 100-100-100 level will play almost the same as the 100-200-200 level, as plenty of players will be raising larger and playing looser in that first round. Then 60 minutes in you're hit with a 100% increase, and the average stack is now just a little over 100BB. It's still very easy to end up facing an all-in decision in the first couple hours of this tournament. Another way to look at it: if you were to late register 2 hours in (or find yourself with a starting stack after some wins and losses), you'll be starting level 3 with a 67BB stack. If you were to do the same in the Colossus, you'd be starting level 5 with 100BB.

So my advice is to keep that in mind, and don't get fooled into thinking you have a lot of room to splash around early. Fold those reverse implied odds hands. Like DogFace said, the really good implied hands go up in value, but lesser ones can actually go down. When you look at 74s in the cutoff and there are three limpers ahead of you, it can be mighty tempting to try and hit a jackpot flop with 5 or 6 players in the pot, but it's going to be a massively EV- play. That single black chip you throw in could easily turn into a call for 400 more (you'll still be getting tempting odds after the limpers call), then a call for 1000 more on the flop after you flop a draw of some kind, only to have to fold the turn to a pot-sized bet. I see this kind of play regularly, usually followed by moaning about how they just can't hit a draw after they've lost half their stack in the first two orbits.

I appreciate the thoughtful response and sound advice. About comparing this to Colossus, why is the S-score for Seniors so much higher? Is it due to the 60 minute levels?

I have a different view of the Seniors and Super Seniors tournaments, regarding the comparison to the Colossus. There's more to a structure than the starting stack size. I think the two Seniors tourneys both have very good structures with lots of play, as illustrated by the high S-point rating, and they're slower than the Colossus (although the Colossus has a decent structure as well). I've played each of these tournaments the last few years and the Seniors tournaments are my favorites due to the fields and the very slow structure.

You can be reasonably patient in the Seniors' tournaments, but be observant to get a sense of your table to determine if you should be widening your opening ranges, and by how much.

I would agreed with DogFace on the types of hands to play and the raise sizes. The only thing I would add, is for raises, add 1x to a raise if you're out of position.

And of course, remember to have fun and enjoy the experience! Good luck!

All of these comments are super helpful. Thank you. And I will definitely have fun. Actually, just relaxing and having fun may be the biggest reason why my results have improved recently.

Oh yeah, the structures are ultimately better thanks to the long levels. My point in comparing it to the Colossus structure of 50k/40m was only to illustrate how much shallower a stack you're starting with. The Colossus is arguably better for the first 4 hours, but after that the slower Seniors is going to be superior. In terms of number of big blinds in a starting stack, the structures converge after 6 hours. Your 20k starting stack in the Seniors and your 50k starting stack in the Colossus will both be down to 25BB. From that point on the Seniors is giving you 50% more time per level to chip up, which is why it has the higher S-point rating. Of course, if you bust before level 7 of the Seniors, you'll never realize that added benefit. Which is one of the reasons I recommend a bit of caution early on. Many rec players will treat that 20k starting stack the same way they would in their local daily super-turbo tournaments. That's of course a massive mistake that you can exploit, but it does also present a pitfall you want to avoid if you can. Again, for me that mostly means folding some hands that I'd almost assuredly limp behind or call a raise with in my local turbos, but which have the potential for big trouble.

I'll be playing the Seniors again this year, but I'm most excited to play the Monster Stack again. With a 50k starting stack, 60 minute levels, and a great balance of pros and rec players, I think it's the best event NLHE event on the schedule. It's great that I'll be able to play both the Monster and Seniors in a single week, with the second flight of the Seniors coming on what would be Day 4 of the Monster.

Good luck in the Super Seniors, and have a wonderful time!