Online Poker Forum - SNG strategy

Pacey Witter · Two Pair Joined: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 69

need some advice for overall s&g strategy. I play pretty tight, waiting for the premium hands to play, especially early on, however it seems at least lately that i dont get enough of the premium hands so if the ones i do get dont hold up i am down in chips & waiting again for premium hand, I find this strategy works well to get to the final 5 players but if i havent taken down any big pots by then, than i am almost always one of the two shortest stacks. I almost feel like i am not playing enough hands, ex- tonight from early position with 8 players still left, i folded KJs preflop cuz i dont consider it that good a hand, but then i see some of the junk most people play & wonder if i could take way more pots playing hands like KJs more often. I know it all depends on diff factors like blind levels, chip stacks, players left, etc, but it just seems like with the few hands i play, i need the premium ones to hold up to have a chance of winning. Anyone else feel this way? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Wondering if i would be better served playing ring game rather than sng's with my tight strategy.

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:54 pm Post subject:

Well the idea is it only takes one double up. You should be doubling up about 60% of the time and then being in position to win even with the ones where you don't pick up a hand. Just use strong bubble aggression, you don't have to have AA when it's 5 handed. Start moving in w/ decent to good hands in position to take some blinds, hope to double up if your called & just keep stealing until you pick up a bigger hand.

Post the KJ hand though.

GripHoldOn · Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:13 am Post subject:

Yep, I was just discussing this with Urban as a matter of fact, but the tournament is won and lost when the table has 5 or less tournaments. I've seen all too often a chip leader come in with about half the chips on the table going to five handed, just to lose it all and finish 3rd. The blinds get so big that if you win a few hands in a row, you accumulate a LOT of chips in a hurry.

KGBlovesOreos · Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:03 am Post subject: my SNG strategy...

i usually like to take advantage of the fact that in most sitngo's, the players play relatively tight early on... i do this by stealing plenty of blinds, check-raising to make players second-guess the strength of their hands, and raising more often than i should... once i give everybody the idea that im a pretty loose player, i will often tighten up a bit and raise w/ hands that are actually decent to play... when i hit, i usually get paid off b/c of the reputation i have built, and double up when there are about 5-6 players left... this leaves me w/ a stack of about 4000-5000 chips, and having this many chips puts me in great position to win the S&G, and i usually come out either 1st or 2nd in the tournament...

Jaconda78 · Message Board Junkie Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Posts: 4179

What level do you play? I'm a cheap/broke college student, so I usually play the 5's. Believe me, there's no such thing as tight at those.

thedon6989 · Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 12:18 pm Post subject:

there are two stratiges that i think work and its all about your style. Some people will play twice and hands and win the same about as someone who plays half the hands. This is because so many poker hands only break even over a long preiod of time. So some players play tighter and only good hands and other players play loser and play alot more hands. Now why would someone do this? If you are a player that gambles alot and what not you will get paid off more when you have a good hand becasue people will be used to you throwing your chips in gambles. On the other hand if you are a tight player you can bluff at alot of pots and pick up alot of pots because people will only think of you as having good cards. I like to paly the tighter stragtey in Sngs because you can steal blinda when they are high and alos alot of people will pay you off alot.

Jaconda78 · Message Board Junkie Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Posts: 4179

I find I do really well when I manage to isolate the tighter opponents at the table and play against them, as I can often buy the pot. Against looser opponents, I fight fire with fire - reraise a lot, and make lots of preflop raises, showing the good hands almost every time to give a sense of a player who only raises when she has the goods. Its been working well.

bumpy1420071 · High Card Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 2

you must play preety tight if you would fold KJ Pre-flop but playing tight is (like you said) a good way to make it to the final 5 or 7 players at the table. If you enter a cash game and you just want to make some cash and don't win then playing like that is great but if you plan on winning most of the time you have to raise with KJ at the very least especially if you one of the lower chip stacks in the at the final table by the way what was the flop if after the KJ

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 5:56 pm Post subject:

Folding KJ is not tight levels 1-3.

Zuchov · Royal Flush Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 646

Indeed it is not, especially given positional and chip positional factors.

I had one thought to the original poster, however... if you're not getting the premium hands you like, try playing cheap flops with your small pairs and suited connectors, especially in position. You just might find that double up you crave in a pot you limped into if you play those types of hands more.

IRSAgent · High Card Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 5

(This information refers mostly to pre-flop strategy.)

The main difference between ring table games and tournament poker is referred to as the gap concept. In ring table games, a persons bankroll is effectively endless. There is not as much fear of "going broke" because someone can add more chips. In tournaments, because all the usable chips are at the table, it is essential that you utilize this tournament feature to your advantage.

How do you do that?

Use the "They're broke, they're done - You're broke, you're done" idealogy.

These ideas seem to contradict each other, but what it means is fairly simple. The tighter a tournament is being played, the larger the "gap". The gap is the difference between hands you should raise preflop and call a raise with. For example, in the tightest of tournaments, it would be incorrect to call a pre-flop raise with something like AJ suited. However, there is a gap, so when no one raises in front of you, you could effectively open with your own raise with something like pocket 7's, KJ, or A4 suited.

This strategy puts pressure on the other players. By becoming the FIRST aggressor, you instill a fear in the others of going broke. This allows, some for some blind steals in later rounds.

If a tournament is extremely loose, there is probably a very small gap if any at all. The same good hand that you would raise with on your own, may just as well be good enough to call someone else's raise.

By laying down mediocre hands after someone raises to you in a tight tournament, you are being cautious as to not go broke yourself. You're broke you're done.

TO SUMMARIZE, in a typical tight tournament, it is correct to raise pre-flop
with good (not necessarily premium) hands as long as no one has raised in front of you. If someone has raised in front of you, it is sometimes correct to lay down good or even great hands pre-flop depending on your position.

Note: This information is from David Skalanski's advanced tournament book.

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