Kibby's Old Hand Post: A n00b's guide to being a STT n00b

[Kibby]

Hello n00b,

So if you haven't realized yet, the little space in the web called the 2+2 STTF is a pretty cool place. Aside from the smart, cool, funny people posting stupid [censored] here, you can learn a lot about SnG strategy and possibly make a poop ton of money. In the tradition of this forum, I've decided to give a little bit back. If I could give back to those who've taught me, I would, but they don't tend to need my help. In light of that, I'm giving a bit to you, the n00b, the life blood of this forum because without you 2+2 banner revenues go away and so does my favorite spot on the web.

This is "A n00b's guide to being a STT n00b"


Intro:

So you've decided that you want to beat low limit NLHE SnGs. Where to start? What's this "pushbotting" you've heard all about? Why do people keep telling you you're retarded and to read the FAQs? Why don't you get any respect in this forum? And on, and on.

I know where you are. Only a year ago or so, I was wondering why the hell I couldn't figure anything out. Listen, read, profit (or just stop losing as much money).

If you don't know what I'm talking about, Just [censored] Google It or use the search function at 2+2 to learn more.

Lingo:

Hero: When someone posts a hand, they are the hero.

Villain: Anyone [censored] with the Hero's pot.

HH: Hand History

Nit: An overly tight player

Pushbot(ting): A player who goes allin or folds every hand. This technique is typically employed when the ratio of the blinds to the stack size of the player is less than 10:1.

ICM: Independant Chip Model -> This is a technique of valuing a person's equity of the prize pool given the payout structure, chip stack size, and opponent's chip stack sizes. In a nutshell for this model, the percentage chance of you to get the first prize is the same percentage as your cut of the total chip count. Then you have a percentage chance of getting second when someone else happens to get first and so on.

Software to Purchase

Get an ICM calculator, SnGPT or SnGWiz. I use SnGPT but others like SnGWiz because it can handle more advanced calculations. This will allow you to see how your choices of pushing or fold relate to the potential calling ranges you opponents have. I guarentee if you've never used a piece of software like this the results will surprise you.

Get PokerTracker or PokerOffice. I use Pokertracker because I have a crap laptop from work that can't handle PokerOffice. This software will record your hand histories and give you stats on your opponents. If you get poker tracker, make sure to get PAHUD. This will display the stats of your opponents next to their names in the table frame. So cool.

Posting in STTF

Post HHs without the results of the move you have in question. Make sure to post the level of the SnG and any read. Most players keep open notepad to cut and paste the HHs into for posting later along with any reads. This is difficult to do when playing more than 4 tables.

Be polite when people tell you you are an idiot. The same people how have made scathing comments about my play have subsequently become some of the best teachers who I chat with on IM. The personal relationships you make will help you a ton. By offending people you're not only being a jerk to those that have often built the knowledge of this place, but also burning valuable bridges.


Starting Hand Requirements: A quick and dirty guide for poker stars 6.5s as of 3.1.07

lvl 1&2:
-Limp 22-TT
-Raise 3BB + 1 per limper JJ+, AQo+
-Reraise (about pot size + a little varies with more callers) QQ+, AK (JJ/AQ against loose opponents too)
-Call raise TT-JJ (read dependent, this is a push/raise many times and often a fold too)
-Get it allin any time possible QQ+, AK

lvl 3
-limp 66-TT adding any pair with sufficient callers
-Raise 3BB + 1 per limper JJ+, AQo+
-Reraise (about pot size + a little varies with more callers) QQ+, AK (JJ/AQ against loose opponents too)
-Call raise TT-JJ (read dependent, this is a push/raise many times and often a fold too)
-Get it allin any time possible QQ+, AK

By this level you should have reads on opponents to know who to raise looser or fold to.


lvl 4
-You're done limping. The blinds now represent a large proportion of most players stacks and you can no longer afford to speculate for implied odds.
-EP raise 2.5BB with JJ+, AK
-MP raise 2.5BB with TT+, AQ+
-LP raise 2.5BB with 99+, AQ+

This is also when reads come into play. Against loose opponents you should not be raising the lower ends of those ranges. If you have less than 10BB in your stack, you should be moving allin with anything but KK+. With KK+ you should raise 2.5BB or so unless you've already pushed a few hands. Then just push and hope they call.

lvl 5+
-Pushbot mode typically applies. If you're not pushing, you're operating off of reads of your opponents you now have.

The Bubble
-Keep in mind that your main goal here is to get in the money. I can't summarize the strategy here well enough suffice my favorite aspect. . .

The Lazy Aggressive Strategy- This might be the greatest thing I have ever learned so far. Some times you'll be presented with +EV pushes when you have a small stack but someone else has a smaller stack. Often times you want to pass on these +EV pushes because all things being equal, the short stack will get his chips in first and have the first chance of busting out. This does not mean passing on premium hands like JJ+ but it does mean passing on A7o when the blinds are 200/400, you have 1600 and the other shortie has 1000 in most cases.

Do not overdue this strategy. Experience will guide you. For example the blinds are 100/200, you have 1200 and the other shortie has 1000. You're in the SB and the BB (a bigger stack) is an average caller and the other shortie is not being overly aggressive. You should push here with AJ because you can't afford to pass that much +EV.

The funny thing about hand ranges and ICM
ICM calcs are typically performed with Sklansky hand rankings to consider a player's calling range. These hand rankings would put a hand like 89s lower than A2o. But a player's calling range does not conform to those hand rankings well. A loose player is much more likely to call a hand with A6o than they are with with J9o. I point this out only to show that there are hands that are more highly ranked that do not hold up against someone's actual calling range. Therefore, I push more often with 89s (or 89o for that matter) than I would with A2o even though A2o is a "better" hand. This is especially true against loose players who love ace high hands. Not recognizing this can kill you.

Dealing with Variance
You are going to have downswings that last longer and sink deeper than you ever thought possible. That being said, if you're losing, its probably your fault. Mix it up. Play less tables. Move down in stakes temporarily. Post TONS of hands. Get someone to review you HHs. I'll say it again, swallow your pride and move down in stakes. Move so far down that its a joke if you have to. Just play where you're winning and then slowly move back up.

If you're getting too mad after a losing session after session, poker might not be for you.

Moving up
What has worked for me is organic growth. I have a personal opinion on this matter. I don't believe that someone who feels as though they are learning should be pushing tons of money into poker. Play low stakes and earn your way up. When you're rolled for the higher level, take small shots. When you do well, reinvest in that level. When you don't, drop back down. At some point, you'll know you're beating the higher level. Once you have that confidence, you can take bigger hits into you bankroll than you did while you were learning that level. Before you have that confidence, you should keep your shots small and resist tilting in the higher level.

The best piece of advice I got about moving up came from WebGuySteve, "Just pwn them" when I was bitching about the regulars at higher levels. When you move up to a higher level, you'll be thinking to yourself, "These people play here. They know what they're doing. Fear fear, doubt doubt" Truth is many 'regulars' suck or are just barely profitable. Just treat them like another opponent that you are figuring out and adjust you play appropriately. I've come to love seeing some regs because they play worse against me than some of the fish. They don't adjust to my calling range and get ruined. Soon as I got over my fear of them, the pwn'ing began.


The game has gotten harder
You've heard it. Its true. People who came before you and I made more money more easily than you and I will. So what? Don't bitch about it. Just pwn the game. You have dreams of playing in the big tournies? Then the tougher competition is good. I guarentee you than when you play in your first final table of any tourney you'll be amazed at how much better you understand short handed play than most of you opponents.


The End Game
-Using Nash
Nash Equilibrium is the shiznit. I'm not going to provide charts or get into a deep explanation here. But I'll say this, when you get down to the final 2 and the blind are big, play Nash. Your opponent will typically not be able to adjust optimally and you profit. Once you have a good feel for that, adjust around Nash per reads on your opponent.


Patience
-If there's one thing that should be stress about SnGs its patience. Its much more damaging to make a -EV push than miss a +EV push. You should be waiting to find +EV situations. Have 9BBs in the SB and are folded to with A2o? What do you do? The guy's been a little loose. . . but you haven't pushed yet. Just fold it.

One more note. When you first start having success pushbotting, it can become a little addictive. The blind are 200/400, you have 2000 chips and start pushing all over place. You say to yourself, "Holy [censored]! they're just giving me their chips. Don't they see what's happening?" and then you win a few pushes that get called and it all seems like magic. The next few tournies you're pushing wider, deeper and from earlier position. . .

Enter. . . reality. Then you're playing way too many hands, dump 8/9 tournies in a row and fire up another set and tilt off half your bankroll off. Have patience. Don't go crazy when it "Starts Working". If its working, you probably don't need to change much. Any radical shift in your calling and pushing ranges when you're winning consistantly is probably a mistake.


That's all I have for now. Take it how you will. I'm sure I messed some stuff up here or there and could have explained myself better in areas but that's what this place is for. Putting your ideas out there and seeing what holds up. You only have your ego to lose and that's a good thing.

Cheers,
Kibby

[FeNeF]

Nice post. There are a few things I could quibble about but there's a lot of valuable stuff in here for people starting out. Well done.

[me1tdown]

nh. Congrats.

[wiggs73]

cliff notes: READ THE FKING FAQ FKING NOOBS HCAHYCHAYCHAY [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Just kidding, I'm slammed at work and only had time to skim that, but looks like a good post. I'lll read the whole thing later. And congrats on 'old hand', start getting your CT post ready!

[youcanhaveitall]

Nice work sir.

[BHokie1]

Nice post Kibby congrats on the Old Hand

[The Yugoslavian]

tl;dr

From the first intro and stuff it sounded v helpful to posters who aren't me though!

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Yugoslav

[Kibby]

There are definitely areas I'm sure I'll realize can be changed in the future. The real point of this was to give a person a quick guide to understanding the fundamentals. There was a post a while back that did this for me and got me pwning the PP 11s in no time at all. I'm hoping that anyone who reads this post, plays with SnGPT, and posts hands from time to time can be beating the PS 6.5s in short order. In fact, if someone knows someone new to SnGs that they don't feel like coaching [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] have them try it for a bit.

[Kibby]

Oh ya, one more bump. .. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I'd really like to hear what people like or disagree with. I think open discussion would make the post better, as it always does.

[Beerocrat]

Thx for the post, Kibby. I am curious if anyone will argue with raising 2.5BB with 10BB holding KK+. I do the same at the low buy-ins I play, and have an ongoing argument about it, but I only do it because there are so many donks at the stakes I play.

Congrats.