Huge leak @ $10+1 PP sng

[AJay2000]

So I'm consistently making the final four at these sng's, but I've got a huge leak in that I am scared, unsure, unaware, what have you, of how to either loosen, bet more aggressively, etc. I know that the other players may have garbage too, but I'm unsure of when to bet, when to raise, when to push, etc. It seems I'm just sitting there waiting for the cards, and I only wind up getting Blinded to death. Any suggestions? Help!

Thanks,
- Jay

[ilya]

Check out the revised guide to beating the $10s linked to in the SnG FAQ sticky at the top of this forum. There's a lengthy discussion of bubble play in the responses to the original post. It's a start, anyhow.

[AJay2000]

Ilya,

Thanks for the advice. I had looked at that post, as well as Aeromagus primer on $10+1 sngs. I got some use useful info regarding stack sizes, which I regard to some extent during play, but never fully understand. I think what I'm also looking for is a range of hands in these instances that I could play, although I know everyone will respond with 'well, what are everyone's stack size, what is your position,' etc. Continued help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Jay

[AJay2000]

c'mon, all those views and no respones? Ilya was helpful, but I know there are a lot of good ideas out there. Help a brother out! ;-)

Thanks guys and gals,
- Jay

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
c'mon, all those views and no respones? Ilya was helpful, but I know there are a lot of good ideas out there. Help a brother out! ;-)

Thanks guys and gals,
- Jay

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm feeling too lazy right now. However, there have been a lot of discussion-of-bubble-play posts recently. You can kill some time by going through them while you wait for people to respond to this thread.

[lastchance]

Final 4, be ready to push with anything if folded to you on the SB or Button, but don't push with everything, if that makes any sense. Don't be afraid to go broke betting all-in, but definitely be afraid of calling, especially with people to act.

Less than 10x BB, make it easy on yourself and push or fold. Don't do anything in between. And remember, unless you have AA-JJ and maybe AKs, you are never actually looking to get called. You almost always want your opponents to fold when you are shortstacked. You win because other guys fold to you. Be careful, keep your step, look for the right combinations of cards and position.

http://home.earthlink.net/~craighowald/data/matchup2.html should help you figure out which hands are good. Remember, be aggressive. Make sure you're the first guy into the pot, especially if you're SB or Button.

[dogsballs]

worry less about teh hand range.

I like to focus on attacking the larger stacks and avoid the smallest stack. Small stack is likely to gamble while the middle guys want to survive. Raise em with almost anything often, only play at the small guy with good hands. As long as they fold enuf, you'll profit regardless of the cards.

Meta-game extra tip: An added payoff is that your aggressiveness gets em to often fold to your blind. If you're being passive, you'll be the one to find yourself being attacked instead.

[codewarrior]

And if you were very passive the whole game long, you are toast.

Play some more hands early if this is (was) the case.

[FishBurger]

I'm allin pre-flop on AJ or higher with four people left if I have 1000 or less and blinds are equal to or greater than 100/200. With pocket pairs, I'm allin PF if I have 1000 or less with eights or higher -- sometimes even sevens.

I will generally play pretty tight if I have 1200 chips or more. With 1200 or greater, I only play AQ or higher and pocket tens or higher. With around 1200 I'll go allin PF with queens or higher. With 1500 chips or more I may make the min raise with pocket kings or aces, unless the blinds are 150/300 or greater, then I may go allin PF.

If I have 700 chips or less, I'm on the button, no one else is in the pot, and the blinds are 50/100 or greater, I'm allin PF with KQ or higher.

SNGs can be streaky. Yesterday I made $350 playing the $20 + 2s for eight hours. Today, I've played about eight hours and have just broken even. Overall, I'm up about $4500 over the course of a year.

Another thing to do is to pay attention to the betting patterns of other players when it gets down to 6 players or less. If you see someone raising a lot PF and you have KQ, you may want to move allin on them.

Also, try not to focus so much on each SNG. Don't worry too much about busting out of any one SNG, because you can always jump right back into another.

Becoming a good SNG player takes time. I've been playing for a year and a half, and I just moved up to $20+2s two months ago. You're going to take a lot of bad beats that knock you out of tourneys. That's OK. Once I learned to shake off those bad beats and jump right back into another tourney I became a much better player.

Give yourself time to learn the game. Give yourself time to get used to the streaks. Over the past month, I've been mostly even except for one day where I was up $600, one where I was up $400 and another day where I was up $400. I don't think my play changed, I just think that is the way SNGs are. Good luck.