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jeremysuave · Pair Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Posts: 37

Hello All,
I'm a small stakes stg player. At best, though, I'm break even. I have some cashing streaks and then some non-cashing streaks.

I would consider myself a tight player, especially when calling raises preflop. If I feel that I need to loosen up in a tight game, I simply open up my raising requirements preflop in an unopened pot.

I guess my biggest concern is that I hate to gamble. If I am unsure if I'm ahead in the hand, I usually just fold and try to pick better spots.

While I very rarely lose in a game and feel that I didn't play well, I still am not confident that I own the levels that I play at.

Any responses, even the negative ones, are welcomed.

Thanks

pokper3 · Pair Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 23

i would say that the biggest way to improve confidence is to have a big enough bankroll for the game you are playing.

There is always going to be some ups and downs in poker and you need to make sure that you are comfortable with losing sometimes. In SNG tournaments, it is a good rule of thumb to have at least 30 buy-ins in your bankroll.

Other than that...
Playing small stakes sngs is all about patience and timing. Let the rest of the players throw their chips around for a while and just observe. Then when you have a good starting hand-play it hard. As the blinds move up, start raising with more hands than usual to steal the blinds.

You could also try posting some of your hand histories on this forum and people will go over them with you.

Starvingwriter · Full House Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 174

One small thing that has gone a long way in improving my game are effective use of the continuation bet (throwing out a 3/4 size pot bet on the flop even if you miss). When to do it and when not to has been covered by many people, most of them smarter than me, but it helps a lot because you take down pots you shouldn't and disguise your good hands when you make identical plays with the nuts.

Another small thing is bluffing by "calling with nothing." Find a player who will fold to reraises, let him push you out of a small few pots, then when he tries it again, smooth call the flop, followed by a bet (if he checks) or a reraise (if he makes a timid bet) on the turn. Not for frequent use, but I've used this to pull down significant pots at key points in tourneys.

Badlydrawnboy · Flush Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 127

Actually, I think loosening up should come automatically towards the end. By the time the blinds are high enough to become interesting, there are usually already 3 or even more people eliminated. By the time there are six people left, you already have a 50 percent chance of cashing (in a 9 or 10 person SnG obviously...)

And the less people at the table, the more your rather marginal hands become worth:1. people will have to pay more to see the flop, and 2. it's less likely they really have a hand. Your c-bets will have more impact on the flop, especially if they are tight like you.

I also play the low stakes SnG's, and I notice that a LOT of players start tightening enormously now. A well-placed checkraise here with top pair will very often win the hand.

The only situation when I tighten up here, is when I am the bigstack myself. It's too easy to call a few desperate all-ins from a shortstack and see your chipstack decimated. I just resort to some blindstealing and wait until I'm in the money to play agressively again.

jeremysuave · Pair Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Posts: 37

Yeah that's the thing: I've played in alot of stg's lately that the blinds were up to 40/80 or 50/100 and we were still sitting at a full table.

At this point, I have realized that I need to open up my raising hands in an unopened pot, but I still find myselft in trouble when I call hands with 2nd tier starting hands like AJ, A10, KQ, 1010. I find myself having to make some hard decisions post flop.

nilgiri · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 10:05 am Post subject:

Post a couple hands where you had difficult decisions, and maybe we can help make the decisions easier next time...

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