Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

I played the $5.50 games with only $20 for the same reason as you. Getting your aces cracked by J8 oop after you've raised is a mouse-busting experience. I might play the $15+1 since I've gotten over $40 now but there is really no room for error there. Maybe I will get to $64 first with the $5.50 games so I have 4 buyins to cash. Good luck.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Alot of the more experinced Two Plus Two players seem to be migrating away from the sit n go's and into the cash games. Could we get you thoughts on this trend.
Thanks

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Another question about the bodog beginner sngs. I've been a decent winner at the $5 sngs, but I had to withdrawal most of my bankroll for emergency purposes. I still have about $145 on there, which i feel comfortable enough playing the 5.50s with.

My question is, if I have to move down to the 4.40 beginner sngs, is it a bit safer to play those with a less buyins, since (in my mind anyway) the variance would be lower with half of the field paying out?

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

[ QUOTE ]
Alot of the more experinced Two Plus Two players seem to be migrating away from the sit n go's and into the cash games. Could we get you thoughts on this trend.
Thanks

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm interested in this question also. It doesn't seem like the best thing to specialize in, especially if you intend to play a lot of B&M poker where SNGs are tougher to find.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

[ QUOTE ]
Another question about the bodog beginner sngs. I've been a decent winner at the $5 sngs, but I had to withdrawal most of my bankroll for emergency purposes. I still have about $145 on there, which i feel comfortable enough playing the 5.50s with.

My question is, if I have to move down to the 4.40 beginner sngs, is it a bit safer to play those with a less buyins, since (in my mind anyway) the variance would be lower with half of the field paying out?

[/ QUOTE ]
The variance should be lower. The payouts are $12, $10, $8, $6, $4. Someone who finishes in each place with probability 1/10 will have a standard deviation of $4.47, 1.02 buy-ins, as opposed to 1.52 buy-ins for an even distribution in a normal 10-player SNG. That means if you can maintain the same ROI, you need about 1/(1.5)^2 ~ 1/2 as many buy-ins for the same risk of ruin. (Standard deviations for winning players tend to be slightly higher, about 1.7 buy-ins for regular SNGs.)

A priori, a structure like that would decrease the win rate of most winning players. However, calling it a beginners SNG probably lowers the quality of play so that your ROI may be about the same as in a normal $5.50 SNG. You should keep track of how your ROI compares between the games.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Is Collin MIA

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Hi Guys,

Many solid players feel that SNGs have gotten a lot tougher. There's no question that this is true relative to the old Party days, but if you use good table selection, there are still many fishy tables available at all buy-ins (up to the $500's, at least). If you're a B&M player, your options will be much more limited on the SNG front. Even when you find the games, the inordinately high rake (often 15% or 20%) makes it very tough to be a consistent winner even though competition will be softer.

In an SNG where half are paid, pzhon is right -- variance will be lowers, and so you will need a smaller bankroll relative to playing SNGs where only the top 33% (or as little as top 20% in some live games) are paid.

-- Collin

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Collin, you mention Office as your preferred tracking software. I have been on the fence when it comes to purchasing anything. Do you consider these programs a must own for any serious SnG player?

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

What is an achievable roi in low to mid level SNGs? Also how would you compare the skills of good SNG player to a cash or tournament player. Thanks for your time.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

I'm very new to SnGs, so please forgive me if these rather random questions are dumb:

1 - Of the low buyin (=<$10) sngs at fulltilt and stars, are some better than others in terms of gaining experience and building a bankroll? Or should I just randomly enter them?

2 - Is it generally wrong to slowplay AA-QQ when you get to 4 players or less? I did this last night with 3 players and got called some... interesting names...

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

CleanUpMan, I like Office because it is the easiest to get started with and interface is more user-friendly. PT is a great program as well, and yes, I would highly recommend you get at least one tracking program because of the significant edge they offer in reading opponents.

Boise123, I would check the STTF FAQ where I think there's a pretty thorough answer to the ROI question. The SNG player will have a better understanding of pre-flop dynamics, but the cash/tournament player will usually have a more refined post-flop game and be much keener on late-street analysis.

Arp220, I would try to find the lowest rake possible. I give a table showing how crucial the rake is for long-term profits in SNG Strategy ... at this level, your competition should be pretty soft at most sites, so concentrate on minimizing the rake. (Once you build your roll a little, for example, definitely check out the Stars $15+1's, an incredible rake deal for the low-mid stakes player.) And yes, generally you should make at least a small raise with your premium hands during lategame play. The main exception is when an opponent one or two to your left is hyper-aggressive and you think he will come over top very widely. Getting called bad names at the poker table, BTW, is usually a sign you're doing something right [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

-- Collin

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Do you know what range Sharkscope uses to divide "Lo/Med/Hi" stakes?

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Very useful, thanks! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Collin,

I would like to start the $15+1 sng's, but my patient style gets killed in turbos. What changes should I make to my game due to the rapidly increasing blinds and loose no fold'em players? Thanks.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Collin, or anyone else, what's your general take on 45 man sng's.

1. Are they worth the time
2. At what point do you start to treat it like an SNG as opposed to an MTT

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

I'm missing something basic. Where is Low / Mid / High Blind defined? I've roughly been using M factors (ratio of my stack to blinds & antes) of >20 for Low, 20-10 for Mid, and <10 for Low. Should I use different ratios, or factor in something else, like number of remaining players? Thanks.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Look at the blind structure for the first hour. Chop that into 3 sections of 20 minutes. The last 20 minutes for example are high blinds and antes. Best of luck.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

colin,

In your book you often make statements such as " in this situation you can play hands like Qh9h" or "in this situation hands like Qh9h should be folded".

How do i find out which hands are equivalent to those hands mentioned in your examples? For example is K8o weaker or stronger?

And are you referring to the type of hand (i.e suited 2 gapper) or according to some ranking system i.e grouped hands in HEFAP or the sklansky - chubakov rankings?

I've only just started reading the book, and it is giving me loads to think about. I like a lot of the material in there, and i think once i can get my hand around which hands are of comparative strength and why i will understand it a lot more.

Thanks
DB.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

youbobAA, your tight game should still work well in very loose games. Just make sure that when you do hit a hand you bet it very aggressively for value (since these guys who won't fold can be exploited by coming in with big bets when you do make a hand). Then just make sure you're making good lategame decisions, taking into account that you may be called fairly wide. If you have a specific hand/situation in mind, feel free to post.

timmay, 45-man games with 5 tables are just like multi-tables with a limited number of entrants, so they're good if you have decent MTT skills. I don't play a lot of these to be honest, so if anyone who specializes in multi-table SNGs wants to chime in I'd appreciate your feedback on these games.

SodaSurfer, to give one more example on low/mid/high, in a current Stars SNG 10-20 and 15-30 are low, 25-50 and 50-100 are mid, and 75-150 and higher are high. The distinction isn't black-and-white, just a helpful guideline to think about the different stages of SNG gameplay. If you have questions on another structure, let me know and we can analyze it.

dirty banana2007, statements like that are fairly qualitative as you point out, but if you want to quantify them just use your S-C rankings or the ones on PokerStove to get a good idea. Is there a particular hand you're thinking of?

OK guys, have a good one,
Collin

hand history, AA with nut flush draw to an all in
 

I just couldn't lay this one down even though I may have been against a flush. Turned out to be a set. It turned out to be about the same pot odds to call and to win. What do you think, Collin? Should I have laid this down? Anyone out there could have gotten away?

PokerStars Game Tournament $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2007/11/23 - 19:56:53 (ET)
Table 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: knottoworr (1350 in chips)
Seat 2: malibucheeks (2350 in chips)
Seat 3: imprezza911 (1400 in chips)
Seat 4: StoneCareMan (895 in chips)
Seat 5: 2 of 2 Cats (2365 in chips)
Seat 7: Joba Rulez (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: Hero(1630 in chips)
Seat 9: DCrollin (1920 in chips)
Joba Rulez: posts small blind 15
t2wowheeler: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero[Ad As]
DCrollin: folds
knottoworr: folds
malibucheeks: folds
imprezza911: folds
StoneCareMan: calls 30
2 of 2 Cats: calls 30
Joba Rulez: calls 15
t2wowheeler: raises 150 to 180
StoneCareMan: folds
2 of 2 Cats: calls 150
Joba Rulez: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd Jd 5d]
t2wowheeler: bets 300
2 of 2 Cats: raises 1885 to 2185 and is all-in
t2wowheeler: calls 1150 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Kd Jd 5d] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Jd 5d Th] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
t2wowheeler: shows [Ad As] (a pair of Aces)
2 of 2 Cats: shows [5c 5s] (three of a kind, Fives)
Herosaid, "vn"
2 of 2 Cats collected 3320 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3320 | Rake 0
Board [Kd Jd 5d Th 7c]
Seat 1: knottoworr folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: malibucheeks folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: imprezza911 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: StoneCareMan folded before Flop
Seat 5: 2 of 2 Cats (button) showed [5c 5s] and won (3320) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 7: Joba Rulez (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Hero(big blind) showed [Ad As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 9: DCrollin folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Re: hand history, AA with nut flush draw to an all in
 

On the flop, you have pocket rockets, and a draw to the nut flush. It'd be hard to lay down.

I'm hoping that I could think it out as follows. Villain has better than a pair – probably a set or a flush (i.e., he's ahead). My backdoor straight's worthless. I don't want to get involved in a hand like this in the early stage of the SNG. Fold.

Re: hand history, AA with nut flush draw to an all in
 

Collin, I am reluctant to go all in preflop. Is there an optimal way to play middle - high pairs?

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

hi colin... i'm not sure if my private message that i just sent got thru to you. it seemed to work but then my sent message box is empty.

anyhow, i was thinking it would be just as good to ask here where everyone can see your response.

the abridged version is this:

does your book go deeply into plays from the blinds? seems like it represents a pretty high % of hands played in early-mid. i understand basic SNG strategy, but should i just be giving up more or less on these hands?? end before flop??? all 3-4 players check flop, but i'm still OOP with weak 2nd pair??

somewhat similar but early to mid SNG, do you raise if it's folded to you in CO and you have Q9o, JTs etc. and you chip stack is down 15%....basically do you make small power, positional moves early? or do basically do nothing but TT+, AK??

i will be buying the book with my next order. basically waiting for tysen streib's book to be stocked in canada.
thanks in advance!!!

Re: hand history, AA with nut flush draw to an all in
 

I agree that you have to fold. It is very hard to get away from though, and I can't say I would've been able to in the heat of battle. I think it really comes down to paying very close attention to what your opponent does, and what the board says.
When I have a monster hand, my eyes glaze over, and makes this objective thinking very difficult. But that's the beauty of poker...always something to work on!

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

[ QUOTE ]
does your book go deeply into plays from the blinds?

[/ QUOTE ]
As someone who has no vested interest in the book, I assure you he does. He discusses those plays from the perspective of both the blind and the other player.

One of the things I like about the book is that he makes a point, and then illustrates it with several examples. In each example, he gives a situation followed by a question. You can cover the answer with a bookmark while you form your answer. Then read what he says.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Hi, Collin,

I just finished your books and tried the advices in real play at $5 SNG.

The problem I now have is this. In low BB which is about 30-40 hands, usually I'll never get premium hands, and I'll invest some small amount for speculative hands and give them up against a pf raise or not-so-good flop.

So it's high probable that I'll be loosing 20% of my initial stack when the game comes to mid-BB when I have around 20BB. Then the game is all about stealing and all-in re-stealing. It's not normal poker any more.

Am I doing something wrong or this is just the way SnG goes?

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

httassaddar, i'm obviously not colin. but that's what i think the basic idea has been.... do nothing for the until mid-point, then get aggressive pushing when opening the pot somewhat in position. then wait out the bubble to a large degree unless you have a very large stack (avoid the other one)....

but i wonder if that is still the recommended line though. wondering if you should play more normal deep-stack poker early on now as more people seem to last more levels these days.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Hi,

I'm a US player and want to start playing SnG's on-line. What are the best sites and bonuses? Some sites only give bonuses for the number of raked hands, how does this apply to SnG's?

How can I sign up to play? I only want to put in about $300 to start.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

If you want to open an account at Poker Stars, just go ahead and do it through Poker Stars. If you want to open an account anywhere else, first communicate with an affiliate. This is very important.

When I played poker on the Internet, my favorite sites were Party Poker, Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet. Of course, Party no longer accepts U.S. players.

I'm sure some of the 2+2 experts will have more information for you.

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Hello,

Just a quick question. When I get down to about 5 or 4 people sometimes early position players tend to limp when the blinds are really large(say im the bigg blind). I notice everyone folds pretty quickly, I usually tend to believe there are not holding much but I check anyways and I usually miss, I will then check and they bet the minimum and I fold. Any advice for these wierd situations?

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

Interesting hand posted by youbobAA. I actually like getting it all-in at the flop. You have an overpair with the nut flush draw, and while it was pointed out (correctly) that you want to be very conservative early, that hand is too strong to let go.

Mid-high pairs should generally be raised, with the exceptions being when you are in early position (where you will sometimes fold or limp). Hard to say much more than that speaking in general [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

htt, smbruin is right -- SNGs have a very fast pace, and often turn into push/fold battles after around 20 minutes of play.

Mike's advice is spot-on for opening accounts and where to play. You can get a $75 bonus (I believe) from a new Stars account, and a site like Full Tilt you should definitely get rakeback. Check out the internet and rakeback forums for more on this.

Aziatic, if the guy is limping a lot during high blinds, then you would want to make the "HBL" player note I talk about in SNG Strategy and be willing to come over top with an all-in raise with a much wider hand range than normal.

Very good questions guys, feel free to keep on posting.

-- Collin

Re: Basic Sit \'n Go Questions Answered Here
 

[ QUOTE ]
... youbobAA. ... that hand is too strong to let go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now we know. Thanks, Collin.