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Strategies in SNG tourneys Beginners Table  | | 
12-23-2007, 01:34 PM
| | | |  Strategies in SNG tourneys
Hi,
I'm a (very) new poker player, only been playing for a week or so now. But I'm doing pretty well - playing on pokerstars.net, doing alright in ring games and have played 5 or 6 9-person SNGs, I've had a couple of 4th places, a 3rd and 3 2nds so not going too bad at all...
My strategy has been to play very tight from the start and let the other guys take the risks... sure I don't get that big stack straight away but when I do get good hands I play them so in every game I've been there when at least half the table has gone... That's where the trouble starts - I'm fine until it gets to me and 2 others, then things go pear-shaped. I tend to try and stay tight but I think I get nervous and start playing hands I shouldn't... and maybe playing them for too long when I know they're just gonna lose me money.
Do you guys tend to loosen up in the later stages of a tournament or instead would you play even tighter than before? I've tried holding my ground but if I stay too tight the blinds kill me after a while.
Any tips? | | |
12-23-2007, 02:34 PM
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Yeah in that situation where you haven't been able to make lots of chips and youre close to or in the payouts, then you just have to loosen up a little and take your good opportunities to make chips.
Position is important. Say there's 4 players left, remember that if your the dealer you get to see what the other players do before you act. If you are in the blinds you get to act first.
The fact that you have played tight, hopefully should allow you to represent strong hands when you do raise.
Consider your opponents carefully and be aware of what type of players
they are. Are they aggressive or have they tightened up because the payouts are close? Who can you most likely steal from?
Against one opponent in a hand - the flops missed you, has it missed them also?
What size are their stacks? The very small stack may be dangerous since he needs chips urgently and may push at anytime. The large stack may be dangerous to take on since he can call your bets. Maybe there's a medium stack to your left who's tight - maybe he could be your target.
Be patient still, don't put a large part of your stack at risk needlessly and let other people make mistakes - but you can loosen a little and importantly get more aggressive in hands you do play as you approach the end stages.
Go for the win.
Just a few general thoughts. Every game and opponent are different.
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Last edited by 7letters; 12-23-2007 at 02:45 PM.
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12-23-2007, 04:25 PM
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I agree, loosen up your starting hand requirements when you're 4-handed, particularly when you have the button. 4-handed is a great time to earn chips, as a lot of players will tighten up to make it past the bubble - this means raise any playable hand until they start reraising you.
__________________
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12-23-2007, 06:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k06mars  I agree, loosen up your starting hand requirements when you're 4-handed, particularly when you have the button. 4-handed is a great time to earn chips, as a lot of players will tighten up to make it past the bubble - this means raise any playable hand until they start reraising you. | Well said! I am trying to think of something else to write but this is a very good piece of advice! | | |
12-23-2007, 10:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k06mars I agree, loosen up your starting hand requirements when you're 4-handed, particularly when you have the button. 4-handed is a great time to earn chips, as a lot of players will tighten up to make it past the bubble - this means raise any playable hand until they start reraising you. | I agree with this princial as long as you can get in cheap. I do supper turbo Sit and Goes (in 10 mins you are at 320 sb-640bb). Just do not get rattled. They can be fun if you not push to hard. I do believe in making them pay to play then some thing hits in my hand (unlike tournaments where I do more trapping), that way you know where you are in the hand quicker to. Do not get married to a hand. Good luck and take care.
Last edited by cow344; 12-24-2007 at 05:31 AM.
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12-24-2007, 12:35 AM
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Thanks guys. 4-5 players I do alright - actually that seems to be where I do my best - but once it gets to 2 or 3 players I have trouble. I think I do get rattled a bit though and get really nervous, I start making stupid mistakes. I can play well all game then go headsup with someone and lose the lot. I one of my second finishes I had about 10k chips and the other guy had 3k, and I somehow lost it all  | | |
12-26-2007, 10:21 AM
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ALWAYS CONSIDER POSITION!
It's one of the most important concepts in poker. If you've seen your opponents check, you can take advantage by betting and taking down the pot, even if you don't really have a hand yet. And if you turn that around, you're opponents see you making a bet out of position, they'll think you've hit something even though really you're just on a draw or don't have anything at all! If they re-raise, screw it, muck you're hand and wait for you're next oppurtunity. Just don't play scared! Any half decent player will take advantage of that in heart beat
Also, always consider what you're opponents are thinking, and always consider what you would think if you were in their position. How do these guy's percieve you? Have they seen you playing bad starting hands? Have they caught you bluffing? Have they only seen you play top starting hand? Of course this doesn't tell you what they're holding and they may have you beat, but you can't play this game scared. You've gotta have heart but at the same time you have to know when to be aggressive and when to be tight. Poker is a fine balance of both. You can't be tight all the way through and expect to win. That may work in cash games because blinds are always the same but in a tornament situation you have to take risks or you'll get blinded out.
Having said that, position is one of the, if not the, most important tools a poker player uses. Once you've learnt how to use it,you're half way there to becoming a half decent player.
POSITION!!! (Serously, look it up.lol  ) | | |
12-26-2007, 10:27 PM
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Very wise words, couldn't agree more. But, just one caveat, the presumption that the opponents are thinking is not necessarily true. There is nothing worse than being too clever on a dumb table, they won't see any of that. | | |
12-26-2007, 11:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RacingDog Very wise words, couldn't agree more. But, just one caveat, the presumption that the opponents are thinking is not necessarily true. There is nothing worse than being too clever on a dumb table, they won't see any of that. |
I agree  | | |
12-27-2007, 01:58 AM
| | | | dropping the bronze, taking the gold
If you are that new and doing that well then first off congrats! Tourneys go loose, then tighten, then loosen again at the end. Sounds like we both play a tight/aggressive game which is difficult to master but will pay off in the long run by improving your consistency. Which is not something you don't hear a lot about but if you don't have it then today's feast is tomorrow's famine.
Ok, so we let em swing away, dropping small pots and setting the suckers up to feed us big pots while trying to push us off occasional good cards. The downside of this is that yes, we do encourage a "I'm a big wussy, bet me and I'll fold" table persona. I know that we make that an upside but what happens is you get locked into that mode of play and thinking. Most people will say "you have to loosen up once you get to short handed" which is a good premise but only as a basic rule of thumb. Basic poker logic says if your opponents are tight, go loose. If they tighten, you loosen.
Let's get more basic. Our whole tight/aggressive strategy is based on the most important rule of poker period. You want them to be close to 100% incorrect as possible when they guess your cards and your moves. I'd say this is never more true than 2 or 3 handed. Why? Because of blind structures, fatigue, advice, etc your opponents are now playing worse and worse opening hands. They're also pushing you more with crap hands. Setting them up now means cha-ching baby 
I think GetTheShades has a very valid point about position. I just think that when 2 or 3 handed position matters less cause it's less about picking up blinds and more about biting big chunks. Keep on slapping me, taking those mediocre blinds. If you could see my face while you did it you'd be like "wtf is that dude grinning about?"
but as always I could just be a complete idiot. One thing is sure, in poker no strategies apply the same way every time. I say keep them guessing.
I got 1st in an Absolute Poker freeroll 2 days ago and when we got heads up I was low stacked. He started pounding, I folded till decent cards and then bit back. He went "huh?" Heh, make em say "huh?" then shift gears again. So now he thinks I'm loosening up but actually I had a run of decent cards. They ran out so I go passive again and bam, here he comes. So we repeated this process three times. Twice he drew out once I got him covered and all in. I got him the third time by showing some weak "buys" that he won, then speeding up my play to appear frustrated when I flopped 2 crappy pairs. He went all in with 6s and I busted him out. So I suckered him into thinking he was running the table, made him got wtf, gave him enough confidence to bluff me and took him out.
I think people get caught up in the 'high card wins' mentality of shorthanded play. Yes, it may very well come down to someone pairing 2s on the board and crushing your big slick all-in. You lost, so what? If you continue to get it in there with the best cards that is the most that you can hope for and it will show in the long run.
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