Post-Flop Skills: Method for Improvement

[Collin Moshman]

Hi Guys,

I would say a common theme among SNGer's who do not play much no-limit cash or MTTs is a dislike of post-flop play. You want to fold or take it down pre-flop, particularly during low-blind play. Many players only feel comfortable during high blind play, and will either reject +EV situations early, or simply push/overbet premium hands during low blinds.

Now don't get me wrong: you can certainly be a winning SNG player playing only premium hands early, and sticking to a push-fold strategy late. But if you want to improve your post-flop play so that you have more +EV opportunities earlier (such as making frequent small button raises during levels I and II when the blinds are tight), then:

Play some heads-up SNGs.

The beauty of the HU SNG is that you cannot simply wait for the blinds to rise or to be dealt a premium hand early. (If you do, you will get run over since you're posting a blind every hand.) So you will end up playing many hands with flop, turn, and river decisions during low-blind play -- a very useful skill, particularly if you want to branch out into other forms of no-limit.

A few words of advice when starting to play these.

1. Begin by playing one table only, and drop your buyin to 25%-50% of your standard full-table SNG buyin.

During low blinds:

2. When it is your button, raise widely (say 2-3 BB) to create a bigger pot with your positional advantage, and if your opponent calls and then checks the flop, make a continuation bet (around 1/2 - 2/3 of the pot) around 70-90% of the time.

3. When you are big blind, look to see cheap flops by checking when the button smooth-calls and calling only small raises. Rarely reraise or call larger raises unless your opponent is very aggressive or you have a premium hand.

During high blinds:

Well, you guys know what to do during high blinds....

Best Regards,
Collin