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UrbanMeyer1 · Last edited by UrbanMeyer1 on Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:21 pm; edited 2 times in total

While SNGing it up you should be picking up on patterns of your SNG opponents. Most of us go through the everyday struggles(and sometimes boredom) of playing the first 30 minutes of a SNG without any hands or any action to speak of. As the blinds are increasing we start to realize we may need to enter the ol' push/fold mode. Hopefully you have been paying attention and picking up on some of the players while you have been "waiting". If you can recognize their patterns and take advantage it can be the difference in going broke or doubling through in a crucial spot. I'm not only talking about so called "reads"; I am talking about betting patterns in 3 different areas: limping, raising and re-raising.

Limping is probably the easiest and most obvious to pick up on, although it may be the rarest. We're not talking about if he is limping with Q9o in middle position(although that's important to). We're looking for the limper who loves to limp w/ AK-AJ. To us that may be very normal in many situations(some of us even know how to limp AK pre-flop). For our fishy friends this can be very, very abnormal. How many of these guys do we know that will limp w/ AJ or better on the button or in mid position? Not very many. Pick up on this! There of course can be more than one category of limpers. There are those who limp JJ(not abnormal to us) but even if it is open to a raise with decent blinds, and dare we say those that limp QQ & yes by gosh there was someone I played with last night who limped AA on the button even after someone had already limped in the pot. Take notes; perhaps separate these guys by their limping ranges. Don't get confused by this. Be careful don't mistake someone who does this for a fish if he is secretly one of us masterful SNG sharks. Wink

Obviously don't mistake a limp under the gun w/ AA as one of these guys. They may not be in every SNG, but when you do spot one, it's incredibly crucial to moving all in or not if he has limped in to the pot. It's even better if you are lucky enough to get one of these guys heads up. Be less aggressive, check more of your BB, you don't want to suddenly jack up A5o in the BB & be re-raised all in. Don't be weak but don't be over aggressive. Outplay them post flop, usually these guys are very weak after the flop.

Moving along to our raisers. Now these are the guys that hold the majority of the money we steal from them. Don't over analyze this. Take good notes on the position in which a player raises, how much he raises, if it�s an open raise(first to bet), or if it�s a raise after a few limpers and then of course what hand. The best way to crack these guys is to pick up on them doing the same thing with the same hand or very close. You have to find out if they are weak/tight(W/T), loose and aggressive(LAG), or suicidal. These are the most obvious but the most common so you best take advantage of any read you can pick up on a player's raising patterns. For these guys also try to include their limping ranges.

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:03 pm Post subject:

Continued...

If you can find out that he limped with KQ and raised in a few spots w/ decent to good Aces, you can figure out where you are at in a lot of crucial spots. Let's say you are facing a raise to 300 with 50/100 blinds and you have only got 600-700(damn yourself for burning off all those chips) chips left and you suddenly wake up w/ KQ, KJ, K10, maybe 109, J10, 98, 87(even off suit) Maybe you are going to get blinded in a few hands. You say to yourself someone at this table raises every hand, I am going to have to get in here and get lucky. This is where you can catch the guy raising his A9, A8 or worse and get in a virtual coin flip to double up instead of having dead cards when you think your A2-A6 might be the best hand. Getting in w/ 98s against even AK is no big deal(60/40) if you run to a hand every now & then. What good does it do you to wait until you have been blinded again if everyone seems to raise every time anyway. Sure you could pick up a premium, but why do you want to double up only 800-100 when you�re going to be back in the same situation soon enough, and we all know we can't always count on a premium hand when we need it. I don't advocate moving in against a raise a lot, but sometimes its necessary and a good read can help you there. More often this comes in to play when you wake up with your middle pairs. If you have seen someone raising w/ only AK, but limping AJ, and you have a healthy stack. You�re in the blind you have a pair 88 or lower. Sometimes you are tempted to move-in with your pair here, but why are you putting a stack of maybe 2000 or more at risk to pick up maybe 400 chips when you know at BEST you could be a coin flip. Calling isn't the best option out of position either. It's ok to fold. You want to be the aggressor, raising and moving in first. Avoiding pairs higher than yours and then catching pairs lower than yours is always the easiest way to bust yourself or double up in an important situation. Avoiding dead cards is also another huge and crucial way to improving the chances of going from worst to first(yea usually freakin 3rd).

Now on to our re-raisers. This probably is the most important when moving up from the 11s to the 22s or the 22s to the 33s. Determining what your opponent's re-raising range is can often be the difference between having that miserable 9th place finish or doubling up early. Many are you used to the idea of always getting all in with AK because unless you run in to AA or KK you are a coin flip or much better. So even facing a re-raise at the 5.50s or 11s, it's all too easy to move in unless you know the player. This becomes increasingly crucial as you move up in level. Once again, get down different levels of re-raisers, some guys I can even lay down QQ to. Now these guys are definitely the hardest to get notes on, because not all of their hands get to showdown as often as others(although the opposite could be argued at the 5.50s Laughing

). I am not saying to lay down JJ 4 handed with 100/200 blinds to the same guy, just because he may have re-raised w/ AA and QQ before in the same manor, but it can surely help you avoid getting busted w/ JJ or AK early. Get down the level at which they use such a pattern. Some continue to use it and then the 99, 88, even 1010 in some situations become more reasonable late in the game(especially with a chip lead). Take it to account if he raised more w/ more cold calls behind the initial raise, whether he min raised, whatever he just moved all in. Yes, the hardest to pick up on, but often a huge factor in determining if you are even going to have a chance to even win a SNG or be in the driver's seat the whole time. Further, I never recommend very much pushing over a re-raise w/ out obviously the very premium of hands, but if you know someone is willing to re-raise w/ 66, AQ, AJ, A10 even, you can feel pretty confident moving in if you need to w/ 77-99 or AQ sometimes.

There is no reason to over analyze anyon'e play but if you can pick up on patters it can be a huge advantage. Also remember if someone does the same thing twice some are capable of going away from it, so don't think everything y

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:04 pm Post subject:

Continued...

There is no reason to over analyze anyon'e play but if you can pick up on patters it can be a huge advantage. Also remember if someone does the same thing twice some are capable of going away from it, so don't think everything you pick up on is a pattern. Just include them in your reads and anything else you see from the player already. Good luck!

Notes example:
Limped on the B despite 2 limpers w/ AA($22 30/60 8H)
Open R 5x w/ AKs UTG ($5 15/30 9H)
PRd a 2x Raise after 1 cold caller ($11 50/100 4H)

Instead of a open 3.5x raise or a 4.5x raise after 1 limper or a 5.5x raise after 2 limpers, etc just use PR.
PR - PRd
R - Raise
RRd- re-raised
open raise - a raise that is the 1st bet pre-flop(no prior limps or raises)
utg - Under the gun
utg+1 - under the gun+1 - the guy next to act after UTG pre-flop
LP - late position
MP - mid position
b - button
B-1 - button-1 - the guy who acted before the B pre-flop
SB - small blinds
BB - BB
$xx - buy in
x/x - blind
xh - x handed

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:04 pm Post subject:

Done.

Rufus J Simpson · High Card Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 4

Nice post Urban. Thanks for your insight.

Lepoppet · Straight Flush Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 359

Urban,
You, Zuchov and Grip totally ROCK!!!!! You guys need to start writing for BLUFF, ALL IN an CARD PLAYER Magazines. I bet they would pay you for these articles!

As a newbie player, I find these types of posts so incredibly helpful. Zuchov's post on playing "marginal hands" last week took my game to a whole new level. Now this post on betting patterns is a perfect compliment! I've really been working on identifying betting patterns of my opponents during my SNGs. It's the only tell that can really help a player in an online environment.

I take copious player notes during the SNGs so I can start learning the types of hands my opponents play. Now I can start adding their betting patterns to their player notes as well. I have to go back and laugh sometimes at the maniac-psycho-fishies who bet wildly with JUNK. It's sooooo much fun to be holding the nuts when these guys are betting each orbit with 7-2o.

Thanks again for putting in the time for this great post.

M

bootywafer · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:51 am Post subject:

Big props for the post!! Thanks for taking the time.

PlayingTheBoard · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:42 pm Post subject:

Great points from Urban. Here are a few additional thoughts to ponder:

Remember that just because someone raised from up front with TT once doesn't mean he will always raise with it. Players, especially the better ones, will vary their play and shift gears throughout the game, be it a ring game, MTT, or SNG. Throughout Harrington on Hold 'Em, Dan will suggest a course of action for a given hand, but notice that he will weight his suggestions--i.e., with AQs in late position in an unraised pot, raise 80% of the time and call 20%, rather than simply saying "raise every time." You should vary your play likewise to avoid being too predictable, and expect your opponents to do the same (although that may be giving some players too much credit!).

Also, realize that decisions players make will be affected by their relative stack sizes and the stage of the tournament. Just because someone moves in from up front with JJ with a stack of 700 and blinds of 100/200 doesn't mean he would make the same play with a stack of 3,500. And a UTG raise in a 5-handed game isn't necessarily the same play a player would make in a 10-handed game. And, finally, seeing someone make an all-in bluff with T6o in a $5 tournament doesn't mean you would expect to see a similar play in a $100 tournament.

In other words, be sure to take notes on players' tendencies and playing styles, but also factor in the other relevant pieces of the puzzle outlined above.

al the killer · Two Pair Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 63 Location: texas

what post did Zuchov talk about playing marginal hands? i can't seem to find it.

al the killer · Two Pair Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 63 Location: texas

nevermind, i found it.

UrbanMeyer1 · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:45 pm Post subject:

That's right, another category to look at is pushing and calling all in ranges. Be sure to take notes.

If chip leader called an All in preflop for 40% of his stack w/ A10o, get it down.

KGBlovesOreos · Moderator Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 5319 Location: VA

good post urban, any more articles coming up? lol, how about an article on bluffing?

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