SNG's dangerous for MTT play?

[Jurollo]

Well I preface this by saying I used to be a fairly successful MTT player, couple of win in decent size fields. However, the last two months I have played strictly PP SNGs and the Heads Up Tourneys on PS. Today I played in the $11 NL Rebuy and through the first hour was doing rather well for myself. Then the second hour came and I found myself playing too tight and after one bad beat things fell apart rather quickly, culminating in me isolating an opponent for a heads up all-in preflop with my 66 (not a solid play), he turned over A7 and caught the A on the river. Granted he was pushing with all sorts of crap all day but still I feel like my SNG strategy has really tainted my MTT game as I am geared more for the short term now than a longer format. That is why I am successful in the heads up tourney because they are individual matches rather than a long tourney. Has anyone else noticed that their SNG game has harmed their MTT game? Also, what did you do to rectify this problem? I am interested in getting back into MTT's as their is nothing like the feeling of battling into the final table and of course winning one is a tremendous rush. Any thoughts/suggestions to help me tighten up my rusty MTT game?

[Dominic]

Hmmmm...I've also noticed my MTT play to be worse since I started playing a lot of SNGs...the difference is that I play MTTs almost exclusively live in the L.A. B&Ms....for the past year, I'd make the money a good percentage of the time in any MTT I'd play...but since I've been playing tons of SNgs online, I seem to be crashing and burning on the bubble a lot more at the MTTs...

And it's not because I'm getting too aggressive, either...I find that I'm hitting the bubble a lot more now with a subpar chip stack so I'm having to put the whole thing on hands like AJ or 99...I think maybe us SNG TAGs (and I'm assuming you are one, Jurullo, from your past posts) could maybe be playing a bit TOO tight early on in our MTTs..Our basic SNG strategy is sit back, play tight until a few of 'em have been knocked out, then attack. I've been doing that a lot in MTTs now and it's not getting me anywhere.

Maybe a few more limps with suited connectors or KJ are in order when the blinds are still small? Or even chasing a few draws? (I shudder to even contemplate that one!)

What do you think?

[cferejohn]

Hmm. I would caution against reading too much into the fact that you felt you played badly in a single tournament. It sounds like you were aware of your mistake, so at the risk of sounding flippant, don't do it again.

The variance in MTTs, especially ones with fields of 800+, is pretty ridiculous. Even a great player is only going to get to a final table every once in a long while.

It seems like you are saying that isolating with the 66 would have been a good move in a sit-n-go, but not in a tournament. I would think, if anything, it would be the other way around seeing as you spend about 1/2 your time in a SnG "on the bubble" where you need to factor in survival, wheras the vast majority of time in an MTT you should probably be more concerned about chipEV than anything else.

Fwiw, I play both and I don't feel like playing one messes up my strategy for the other...

[AA suited]

i pnly play sng's.

how is mtt play different from sng's?

[Roman]

you dont go down to short[er] handed for a long time.

[AA suited]

what what do u differently than in a sing SnG?

[StreetLeader]

Look at the single table versus multi this way: play a brick and mortar table one day that is short on players to remind yourself of one table play. then go out the same day to a tourney in the same casino to sit through a MTT. Keep doing this til your recognize the subtle differences, or think about how late in MTTs you are often heads up in the late stages and move thoughts in that direction.

[pokerstudAA]

Save your sit and go type playing until you make the final table. Then look at your stack size and play it SnG style. Hopefully the blinds wont destroy you at this point.

In the MTT the road is much slower. You must be prepared to fold a large number of hands and take advantage of any situations that arise during the game. Playing tight position poker will keep you alive in an MTT for along time. When playing 30 person MTT it takes about 2 hours to finish the game - an SNG only 45-50 or so. I always keep the time frame in mind. Larger MTT take 6-8 hours.