My low limit sng goals

[baggeddakota]

hello all.

i think i may have got off on the wrong foot with some people on here and sorry for that, so i figured i'd take their advice and post in the noob forum explaining my goals and asking question instead of posting an entire sng tourney with only 5 hands i played in haha.

ok so i want to become a solid stt sng player and eventually be able to move up to mid-high limit stt and then on to low-mid limit mtt.

my game as it stand is no where near compete able with alot of you guys, but is pretty profitable for soft low limits on full tilt. ive been reading alot of books and guides though so "I" believe its getting better.

my gameplan usually consists of only playing top hands early on...maybe through in a suited connector in late position with limpers...but thats it.

most of the time ill end up having to shove with Ax or play VERY aggresive with almost any hand due to not catching any top hands in the early stages.

i picked up a copy of moshman's book and have started reading it but not finished.

what do you guys have to say about sng's? this has probably been asked a million times, and ive read most of them. but none have really gone over. what to do if your waiting for a good pocket hand to play....and it never comes.

thanks in advance to anyone who has advice for me.

[C8H10N4O2]

The only thing I was frustrated with, was the fact that you were asking questions that were pretty difficult to answer. Then when you posted 48 hands and wanted an analysis, it seemed a bit absurd. Anyway, the general rule I tend to follow in SnG's is I play a bit tighter in the beginning (unless I see that someone is a complete idiot and wants to give away their chips, of which I'll try to get into pots cheaply with them and then outplay them on the flop/turn/river). As blinds start getting larger, I open up and try to steal when I'm in later position. Also, running tracking software with a HUD helps figure out these moments when you can steal. It also helps to know that someone folds to a very high % of continuation bets, as you can raise, then bluff with a cbet. Honestly... stealing becomes necessary to your survival if you aren't catching any hands... and if worst comes to worst and you hit a flop pretty strong when you were attempting to steal, it'll probably be hard for your opponent to put you on a hand as they will know you have been playing tight and won't see 56 coming at them.

Additionally, your post says "goals." What are they?

As far as bankroll management goes and everything, what is your plan. When do you plan on moving up to higher limits etc... explain to us your goals. You haven't really done that. If you want, I can pm you my plan overview, and you can see an example of what I'm asking you to explain. I'm trying to work my way up through levels in cash games, and I have my plan laid out in it's entirety. Just let me know.

[baggeddakota]

yes that would be great. thank you. well my goal is to obviously build my BR to a pretty comfortable level. since i started on full tilt ive lost about 200 and than i started taking is serious and reading books and now im slowly working back up from about 15 bucks.
my goal is to successfully somewhat play part time and be able to come in the money at least 7-8 out of 10

[C8H10N4O2]

I just pm'ed you. I'll reitterate this though. Bankroll management will be absolutely crucial if you plan on playing poker successfully long-term.
This could be a place to start.
http://www.rakeback.com/poker-forum/...anagement.html

[BirdShotKK999]

Well here's how i see it .when you're playing an sng i first off play tight .When there's an idiot at the table betting/calling with anything .You have to have patience when trying to set him up .If he donks u and loses some of your chips dont let it get to u and affect you're game play .Just suck it up and focus.lets say u start off with 1,500 chips in the sng u have lets say AQ suited and the other crazy guy/woman that has been playing crap all along and raises 240 chips ..think about what he/she has been playing during the hole tourney and make a decision whether to call or reraise ..I would call though on my opinion .dont really believe in reraising all the time unless i have a huge hand and there's alot of callers .lets say u call ..flop is A9Q he bets half pot 240 u call and turn is a 7 he bets pot ....here's where i would go ahead and all in because your both pot commited ..might as well call ..and lets say u win the hand ..But here's the key to being successfull in the tourney ...u dont have to play TIGHT all tourney long .You have to mix up your game play ..play aggresive some and get your opponents off your game play style and if u and another person is playing on all 3 same tables as u r ..You have a better chance at testing to see how he plays his hands ...Thanks for your Thread .was glad to give u some advice .hope it helps ..if it doesn't well just play the game only the way u know how lol Good Luck on the sng's and tables .

[frecklers]

Hi BD,

I have probably posted a few of these things before, but all are likely to help you to improve your SnG stats.

1. Get yourself a membership to Cardrunners and use their educational videos on SnG poker. You will have the opportunity to see live play reviewed by winning players and then apply this to your own game. You can even hire a coach to undertake hand reviews or watch your game and offer advice (this is expensive though)

2. Download SnG Wizard and upload your previous hand history (bear in mind that this is configured for extremely tight play in early stages and therefore you should be more liberal in your hand selection particularly at lower stakes). The main benefit of SnG Wizard is the analysis of your play during the latter stages (PUSH OR FOLD) of your SnG. Knowing when to PUSH, CALL and FOLD a PUSH is absolutely critical to your SnG success.

3. AVOID 50/50's particulary early on low pocket pairs should be folded in most circumstances and you should get used to folding hands like TT,JJ,AQ and even QQ where you are not committed and one or mor players shoves ALL IN.

4. Pay attention to your position and play your hands accordingly. Just as an example if you intend to play AQ or TT against a raise then you should consider reraising rather than calling if you are OOP. Depending upon the player and your position you should also give serious consideration to folding hands like AQ, AJ, A10, KQ which are difficult to play OOP against a raise.

5. Understand the importance of the Money bubble and in particular the impact that stack size can have. Lets say you are the BIG stack and you have 2 other medium stacks and one very small stack. In that situation everyone has pretty much decided the small stack will be the Bubble victim. With this in mind your medium stacks are less likely to call a speculative ALL in as they do not want to risk going out when they feel they are sure to be In The Money.


6. Finally take notes on your opponents. While HUDS are a useful tool, they are generally better for cash games with a rigid blind structure as people will change their style significantly throughout a SnG and your HUD may give you the wrong impression about a player.

Ideally you should understand your opponents ranges at various stages and positions. Understand who you can use your position against and also who not to play flops OOP against etc. etc. etc.

7. Avoid Tilt at all costs. You WILL regularly have your good hands beat by terrible players and you must deal with it and not let it affect your game.


In the end their is no accounting for experiance and it is real difficult to detail each and every tool that you use to improve your winning chances. All I can say is that all of the above has helped me to turn into a winner at SnG's.