Single Table Sit and Go

[Vito_Nuccio]

Here are some general thoughts on single table Sit and Go tournaments.

I will break the game down into 3 segments similiar to chess, early, middle and end game. We will focus on number of players remaining and blind levels.

Early Game: Low Blind levels and most or all still playing
Middle Game: Mid blind levels and about 6 players
End Game: Higher blind levels and 4 or less players

Early Game: Be very wary here when buying pots and over betting. There are always 1-3 players in the early game more than willing to call a bet even if it is 25% of their stack because they love ace rag or any flush possibility. They may even have some idea of position and will try to exploit it. You can not bet enough, without totally overbetting, risking your own stack against the early outers. Patience is key early, stick around, play the better hands. Usually at least 3 people are gone by the end of the third blind level, then the real game begins.

Middle Game: Now we have 5-6 players left and by now you should have some understanding of the remaining styles of play (if not, you are not paying enough attention, even if you are wrong, try to put a label on a player, you can always change your opinion as the game progresses). You can try to buy a few pots in the middle game, especially if you were patient early on, the better players will put a tight label on you, this is good. Be selectively aggressive in the middle game, there should be less players willing to pay just to continue. Play the player more now that you have an idea of what they may be up to. Patience is still warranted here as you do not need a mountain of chips to survive to the end game.

End Game: Now there are 4 or less players left, if 3 or less, you are in the money and can really open up your game if desired. If 4 players are remaining, you should still open up your game. Now is not the time to be patient, increase your aggression. Many players will play very tight now as they envision themselves cashing since the bubble (payoff cutoff) is present. You can explioit those players by being more aggressive in the late stages. You really should be playing for first or second, the amount of money made for first and second will make up for the fourth place finishes.

Single Table vs. Multi Tables:
The 10 times big blind rule goes out the door in a single table tourney. I prefer not to push my entire stack until I am down to about 5-7 times the big blind. Unlike a multi table tourney, there are no outside monster chip stacks to contend with, what you see is all the chips in play. If one player is way out in front this is good, it places all the other players in the same boat. When there is a big leader you can step up your aggression against the others like you were in the end game. You can even get a little brave against the chip leader if there are many players left as they will want to hold on to the chip advantage as the field shrinks. In a multi table tourney you will play most of the game at a full table. Single tables obviously shrink each time a player drops, thus your play must adapt faster.

These are just general rules to follow. We all must give and take in order to learn more and improve our games to win more cash. In poker every situation and game is different and must be treated accordingly. Extremes happen, I was once in a single table tourney with all 9 players ramaining after an hour and twenty minutes. Tightest table I have ever sat through. Also have been down to 4 players within 15 minutes and played 4 way for the next hour. The other day I was heads up against this player and the blinds were only at 75-150 (1500 start). Needless to say, we played heads up for a while.

Develop your style, tweak it as you play / learn and you will find single table prosperity.

Play Well!

[liladypokerpro]

I love this post...great idea!

[CoolHandDave]

in my experience, don't assume that players will label you as tight/solid because you haven't played many hands, in fact I think some players don't even care about other styles, and only their own cards. Which is obv not optimal because as you rightly say, they aren't paying proper attention.

Great post

[liladypokerpro]

Originally Posted by CoolHandDave in my experience, don't assume that players will label you as tight/solid because you haven't played many hands, in fact I think some players don't even care about other styles, and only their own cards. Which is obv not optimal because as you rightly say, they aren't paying proper attention. Great post

That is a valid point - some people don't even know how to, or bother to label other players...it's all about them and how they play...but, for the ones that do, I say thank you LOL

[ZZZZZZZZZ]

If you want to win at SNGs you need to look up Independent Chip Model (ICM) and use it. This is the only way to win at higher stakes SNGs and is an absolute must for anyone who multi tables. SNGs are a very high variance games, a good player can take a 50 buy in swing making correct moves, and in the long run over a sample size >5000 SNGs it is nearly impossible to have an ROI over 10%. While your description of playing tight early and opening up to be aggressive later is a good start, if you consider yourself a good poker player, or a student of the game you should not even play another SNG until you understand ICM, because in the long run you will not win without it, unless you are doing the right moves without understanding why. There will be plenty of people who read this and think I am a winner and I do not get ti, and the answer to that is, you either play stakes less than >10 where people are so bad you can win on instinct alone, or your sample size is not big enough. If you want to be a SNG pro you should research 3 things ICM, Skalansky numbers (S-C) numbers, and Nash equilibriums. The first two should be very easy to google and find articles which can give you a basic understanding within an hour or so, the third is a more advanced game theory calculator, but if you think you play with good players, it is worth it to google a nash calculator and mess around with that a little. ICM is what separates the winners, from the people who feel like I always get it in ahead in SNGs and lose and then claim to be unlucky. The OP has very good things to say, and seems to be just this one step away from being a very good SNG player, but as I see as a recurring theme on this forum, if you want to win in the long run you should commit a good amount of time to getting better through means other than playing, such as reading books, forums, talking to pros you know, and never should be afraid to ask for help. I like an 80/20 split of playing and learning through other means. Poker is a game that is played for money, yet so many people are always concerned with the bragging rights aspect of the game and get embarrassed to ask for help, or say they are a winner when they are not which essentially convinces them that they are just unlucky. It is not a bad thing to be a losing player, cause if you try hard a practice you will at some point become a winner through hard work, but if you are unwilling to be always trying to get better, even if you win now, you will eventually become a loser again as the other players learn and improve.

[liladypokerpro]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ all I can say is "Damn good post!!!" Bravo...

I love that people are so open to share these kinds of tips in here...especially knowing that we all will meet at the tables at some point in a freeroll on some site.

Sharing ideas and tips like these are why I love rakeback more than any other site I've visited. The people here are genuine in their willingness to help people improve their game.

[Vito_Nuccio]

I have studied Sklanskis numbers and Independent Chip Model and understand math through differential equasions. Yes all the math is a bonus, but to say you can not win or should not play until you understand all of this is a bit narrow. I do agree with the statement that playing alone is not enough, read books, network with other players, and above all use rakeback forums, there are a lot of good people here with a passion and knowledge for poker.

Poker is a game of math and I use it extensively, but more so it is a game of people. Understanding the underlying math from pot odds to payoff risk / reward calculations does indeed help, but is not the be all end all to winning at poker. Math tolerances are quite low in the long run as odds approach trueness, but concrete math can not account for flexible human response. There are many successful poker players who can not preform a simple algebra equasion, but they know how to read a player and his/her actions and they will take advantage of them, regardless of math knowledge.

Thanks for the feedback.