http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/c...guson0607.html
This is really a great article, because even the most “mundane” situations are not dismissed as beneath discussion. The reason this is so important is that the optimal play in SNGs is often counter-intuitive due to the distinctive 3-places-paid structure.
This also seemed like a particularly tough game, with many players surviving into the high blind phase. Anyway, let’s look at a couple of hands Chip discusses.
Hand 21: Solid discussion of why a low-mid pocket pair should rarely be played for a raise out of position – calling and raising are both problematic, and so Chip correctly advocates a fold via process of elimination.
Hand 28: This hand leads to my one question for Chip: even though none of your opponents are regulars, does this mean you aren’t trying to get reads as the SNG progresses (either manually or with software)? I agree that shoving is out here, if for no other reason than ICM-type calculations show it to be -Equity. A smaller raise is also pretty weak. But unless I believe the BB to be an aggressive player, I will usually open-complete with effective stacks of ~13 BB’s holding a suited queen.
A slightly similar phenomenon occurs with Hand 37. Generally I’m folding there too, but then Chip introduces the hypothetical of a UTG limp. Now if UTG limps in this spot, reads are very important. Against a tight-aggressive player, say 9/7/x, I would find a UTG limp very suspicious and probably just fold. Against a loose-passive player, shoving looks good. And against a total unknown, I might raise to 650 or so. That is why even basic reads can be so helpful.
Hand 63: Solid description of unexploitable play. This is a very important concept, so make sure you understand what Chip means when he calls a shove unexploitable.
Hand 74: I think Chip is being a little tough on himself here – I actually think this is a pretty solid shove. First, the SB is absolutely capable of folding to this shove, which – as Chip notes – is huge. The reason the SB might fold is empirical; risk-averse players who just want to money are capable of making some pretty horrible bubble folds. Also, the BB will usually fold all but a premium hand here even when the SB calls (this instance being an exception). And so even when the SB calls and wins, the new stack distributions are just fine because the bubble’s still going on and the two potential bubble boys are directly to Chip’s left making for many profitable future pushing opportunities. There are some meta-concerns when people see you pushing a trash hand and widen their calling ranges a little, but few players have the courage to act on these reads to the extent that they’ll call for all their chips on the bubble (unless very short-stacked) even if they think your pushing range is in the vicinity of 100%.
Anyway, I think this is a great article and would recommend any serious SNG player give it a read.
Best Regards,
Collin