My SNG strategy

[jskinn04]

The other day I was playing a cash game I made the comment that I had been owning the small buy-in party sit-n-go's. The guy asked me to send him the strategy. This was the content of my e-mail. What do you think?

Here's my SNG strategy. SNG's are not poker. They're just pure math and all-in steals in my opinion. Obviously tougher SNG's will require playing some poker when the blinds are small. However, $6's are not tough. :-) Here is the strategy as layed out in Kill Phil. Maybe I've added some original thoughts. I'm not sure. I just use the charts from the book.

Hand groups:
1: AA,KK
2: QQ, AK,
3: JJ, TT, 99
4: AQs, 88-66
5: AQo, AJs,ATs
6: suited connectors KQs through 54s
7: AJo,ATo,KQo
8: 55 through 22, A9s - A2s, A9o-A7o, KJs, KJ, KTs
9: 1-gap suited connectors QTs though 64s, A6-A2
10: 2-gap suited connectors Q9s through 63s, K9s-K7s,Q8s, KTo,QTo,JTo,K9o,QJo

chip stack index = Player's stack/(cost of blinds and antes)
i.e. Stacksize 6000. Blinds 200/400, CSI = 10.

Big stack: CSI > 10
Medium stack: CSI > 4
Small stack: CSI < 4

4-6 handed:
Big stack: In unraised pots, open shove groups 1-7. If there's a limper, shove groups 1-3. Otherwise fold. In raised pots reraise all-in with groups 1-4 (This is highly player dependent. I won't pay off a nit without AA,KK, maybe QQ.). Never call a raise. Pooosh or fold.

Medium stack: Shove groups 1-8. If a tricky nit limps, only raise monsters. Otherwise push as if the limp didn't happen. Reraise groups 1-5

Small stack: Open shove groups 1-10 in unraised pots. Reraise all-in with any pair and any Ax better than ATo.

Avoid the big stack as much as possible. If the big stack limps, he's probably calling. If he's in BB he's probably calling. Don't get too tight raising the big stack, though.

The bubble. I'm looking for who's desperate. If three are big stacks and there's one shortie, I'll be quiet and wait for shortie to bust or double. If I'm one of two short stacks, I attack the other short stack relentlessly. I'm in SB and it gets folded to me, I push ATC if I haven't shoved in an orbit or so. This is of course if I'm not pushing into a loose big stack. If I'm not the short stack of the four left, I don't want to be all-in and covered if I can help it. The bubble is so critical, though. If you're big stack, you can push into the 2nd and 3rd biggest stacks because they don't want to go busto. I treat raise amounts as if their stacks were mine. i.e. if their CSI is 10, I will only push into them, I don't want them to be able to come over the top of me. Otherwise, I raise 3BB or 4BB to steal the blinds when I haven't been active. That's when I'm chip leader though. I never try to make non-all-in raises agaisnt the big stack b/c he'll shove and I'll have to let my hand go unless it's a monster. Understanding who has the most to lose and abusing them, while on the the bubble, might be the single most important way to win SNG's.

Down to three people. If CSI is less than 10 and I'm small stack, push groups 1-10. Be discretionary against raises. Mostly always fold. I'll fold AJs to a raise and push A2o the next hand. If you're in a good position, abuse it. If you're chip leader and there's a big difference between 2nd's stack size and 3rd's stack size, relentlessly push into 2nd's BB. He has the most to lose. Force him to give you chips or risk taking 3rd. If they're close, but well below you, consider shoving almost every hand. Don't over do, but definitely be an [censored].

Head's up. When shorter stack has less than 10 CSI, I push every hand that isn't utter trash. If the guy completes and I've been pushing a lot, I'll check most hands that aren't in groups 1-10. I really never bet out of position. I'm more looking to make a big hand, check-raise all-in and hope he doesn't believe me because I've been pushing so much recently.

Until the blinds get high, I play ridiculously tight. As in, not even thinking about calling a min raise w/ AJ and probably folding AQ too.

I never complete the small blind the whole tourney unless it's multiway and I have PP or SC. I fold ATo-, KTo-. I'll complete with KJ, KQ. People just give away their money with marginal hands from the small blind.

Sometimes as a variation at bubble time I'll limp from button or CO in an attempt to bet half pot and steal the pot on the flop. Once again, if the blinds are weak I might try to steal a few blinds. I'm never in love with any hand besides AA and KK when my CSI > 10. I'll still open push with much less if the situation warrants but I'm just trying to get folds then. Even AK. Very good hand to be pushing but it's nothing special until you get short.

Pot odds. I got berated today for calling an all-in with 62s. I had better than 2:1 from a desperate shortie. I called. That did two things. People thought I was an idiot and they didn't mess with my BB. Doesn't matter though. I had odds to make money calling so I called.

Know who is a tightass! You know who it is that limps AA,KK, sometimes JJ,QQ, AK. Don't pay that guy off. Let him take the pot when he limps if you can't beat AA. Best way to defeat his style is to prevent him from ever making money with AA, KK, even if it means c/f 99 overpair. Just my thoughts, though.

Okay, that's my strategy. What about yours in more specifics? Anything I don't do that you know is gold?

Edit: I want to add another piece of wisdom I've acquired recently. When it's still pre-bubble (more than one person not getting paid), I take extra chances to ensure that my CSI > 4 for the next level of blinds. For instance, when the blinds are 100/200 but are going up to 200/400, I try to maintain close to 2400 chips in this situation. I'll limp from the button to try to steal a pot or I'll open push more from the small blind. No matter what, I take more chances here. If the steal fails, then I get super aggressive with all-ins to force someone to double me up to 2400ish or let me steal my way back there.

[feroder_zb]

[jskinn04]

Howdy stranger. Yes?

[Vraket]

I play 66-TT more careful against Some donks since they'll call on the flop with backdoor draws with overs and then if they hit something they'll make a huge bet and if they don't hit something they'll also make a huge bet. Can't afford to play a 2k pot with those hands in Sit n Gos at early levels assuming the donk has you beat 1 time of 3 (Which is impossible to know sometimes). Hope you get the point :P

[jskinn04]

The strategy I outlined basically only matters when you reach the third level of the party structure. Otherwise, I play very tight before then. I don't really like limping for set value from EP very much at all. I'll really only play medium small PP's from early if it's the first round of blinds. I'd rather fold and not lose the chips for later. If I'm in late position, I'll limp behind if at least two others have taken a limp. Otherwise I still fold. If I get dealt QQ+, I raise very aggressively 4BB+1/limper and I usually make a pot-sized re-raise if it doesn't pot commit me. If it does pot commit me I push. I always come in for a raise if I have AK and the pot is unraised. If the pot is raised I'll usually just call. If the raiser is from EP and has a VPIP of 10% or so, I'll muck AK and sometimes QQ. Otherwise, I'm just calling with AK. Early in a sit-n-go I think AK has the most value when the preflop pot is small and you flop the ace against someone who you've got dominated (preferably in a pot raised by the other guy). Am I right?

From early position, I usually limp AQs and AQo, as I generally would in a ring game. If the pot becomes multiway that's okay because I won't be making a -EV c-bet from OOP. Of course if I flop TPTK or the ace and I face a big raise I'll lay my hand down on the flop.

Once the blinds get larger (50/100) and I'm looking for ways to steal, I don't so much care about my cards as my position and my image. If I've folded for three straight orbits, I'll use my image to try to steal from CO or button with almost ATC. That's the advantage and the paradoxical aspect of having a tight image: because you play so few hands, your actual cards don't really matter all that much as you can believably represent 95o as AA because you rarely enter a pot. That's one of the reasons supertight play early is key. When the blinds increase, being able to steal a few for free is huge +EV.

No matter when I'm stealing blinds, I don't want a total lemon b/c then I'm completely bluffing, not semibluffing. Otherwise, though, unless I've got a monster hand, I'm going to have to lay down most steal attempts if one of the blinds comes over the top. Therefore I don't really care what cards I hold when I steal using my image because I've effectively got 72o anyway.

Of course this all changes when the blinds get big and everyone is constantly stealing. Then, the requirements I posted in my first post become the paramount considerations.

Seriously, the most important parts of a sit-n-go I've found to be:

(1) tight early. wasting a decent chip of your stack on speculative hands is spewing huge amounts of equity. losing 1/8 stack is much worse than adding 1/8 stack.

(2) don't mess with the big stack. period.

(3) figure out who I can hurt the most if I push and they call and lose. when I need to steal, I'll attack this player(s) liberally.

(4) pushing ATC into the BB from the SB is +EV chipwise with either stack less than 15BB. This is a huge edge over the rest of the field if they don't do the same thing.

(5) Don't give away EV on the bubble. If you can find someone who is playing too soft exploit that person. If you've got the big stack, make the 2nd and 3rd stacks give you chips. If they gamble with you, you lose a little EV and they lose a ton. It goes right to the short stack. Thus, keep pushing them around because if they care about their EV they won't gamble without a great hand. Likewise, if you're that 2nd or 3rd place guy, don't gamble with any stack that could break you. Same concept. If everyone plays well, the short stack has very little equity. If the larger stacks tango, lots of EV gets leaked to the short stack. That's bad. Thus, if you're the short stack and your opponents are smart, you must start forcing the action. I'd push every single time it was folded to me in the SB if the big stack isn't the BB. If he is the BB I'd shove ATC when 3rd place stack is the BB.

(6) When short on chips and it's folded to SB who completes and I'm BB, I'm pushing any decent hand if SB will be severly damaged by calling me and losing to me. An added benefit to this strategy is that SB may now give a walk in some highly crucial situations. The important thing is for them not to realize that pushing ATC from SB is an indefensible +chipEV move once either person has 15 BB or less (I prefer to use a number more like 10 or 11 though). Of course this b/s I'm spouting is from a post that was linked to from 2+2 somewhere, but I don't remember where.

(7) It really seems like these things are won and lost by being a mean SOB in SB/BB confrontations. Bubble play requires much, much more prudence, though. Heads up play is just an extension of this concept.

[Vraket]

GOod posts.

I agree, I think our game is very simular.

[Indiana]

[ QUOTE ]
I never complete the small blind the whole tourney unless it's multiway and I have PP or SC. I fold ATo-, KTo-. I'll complete with KJ, KQ. People just give away their money with marginal hands from the small blind.


[/ QUOTE ]

Eh, disagree. If I'm getting 7:1 with J7s I call sb.

Indy

[X-Man]

Quote:
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I never complete the small blind the whole tourney unless it's multiway and I have PP or SC. I fold <font color="red"> </font> -, KTo-. I'll complete with <font color="red"> </font> , KQ. People just give away their money with marginal hands from the small blind.


can you explain to me why you will calls SB with KJo and not A10o

[K䲰䮥n]

What is "ATC"?

[TheTROLL]

Any Two Cards?