I more than triple up in round 1 -- now what?

[dfscott]

Ok, had a situation that's never happened to me before in a 10+1. First hand, I flop a set and double up. Third hand, I flop another set and bust someone else. Finally, 2 hands later, I win a third decent-sized pot. I'm now sitting in a heretofore unknown situation: I'm at Level 1 with t2750.

I'm sure this sounds weird (i.e., "what a great problem to have!"), but I'm not sure how to play in this situation. Do I just continue to play like I normally do at the early levels? Or should I loosen up and play things like AXs or KJs? Or should I be more willing to play my draws post-flop?

[grickey]

Continue to play normally.Loosening up will slowly dwindle your stack.Save it for later when you can use it to bully at higher levels.

[Scuba Chuck]

Question:? Why would you consider loosening up? Do you want to steal the blinds in levels 1 or 2?

Another question: What is the easiest way to accumulate chips? Does that answer your question?

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
Question:? Why would you consider loosening up?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, aren't your chips worth less $/chip now than if you still had just 800?

[Scuba Chuck]

MrZ, when did you hit Pooh Bah status?

[ QUOTE ]
Well, aren't your chips worth less $/chip now than if you still had just 800?

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, I'm game, let's go with this line of thinking. Yes, tournament theory says yes. So what does that mean to OP?

[adanthar]

[ QUOTE ]
OK, I'm game, let's go with this line of thinking. Yes, tournament theory says yes. So what does that mean to OP?

[/ QUOTE ]

Limping doesn't cost OP 15/30/50 chips anymore. It's substantially less, especially if you can take away pots postflop. This is where that pesky 'learn to play after the flop' thing rears its head again.

To put it another way, limping JTo or Kxs in MP after 1 caller is suddenly a lot more attractive than it normally should be.

(Edit: This is totally inapplicable at higher buyins as you're just going to be raised or reraised out of most pots, but lower down is another story.)

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
MrZ, when did you hit Pooh Bah status?

[ QUOTE ]
Well, aren't your chips worth less $/chip now than if you still had just 800?

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, I'm game, let's go with this line of thinking. Yes, tournament theory says yes. So what does that mean to OP?

[/ QUOTE ]

What Adanthar said.

As for the more important question, I missed the exact point at which I hit Pooh-Bah, but I think it was around 1600. I only wish becoming Pooh-Bah automatically made me more skilled.

P.S. Adanthar, interesting that you've been talking about learning to play postflop because I've been thinking myself about how I need to do that. Matter of fact my poker mentor was urging me to diversify just the other day.

[Gigabet]

It is very easy to play post flop with a big stack. Get into 70% of the pots, figure out what the player has, that is in the hand with you, and then make him/her believe that you have a better one. See, very easy.

[Blackjack]

Why can't the best Step 5 player answer my SNG posts..

WAHHH

BJ

[Scuba Chuck]

Andanthar & Ilya, agreed.

[ QUOTE ]
It is very easy to play post flop with a big stack. Get into 70% of the pots, figure out what the player has, that is in the hand with you, and then make him/her believe that you have a better one. See, very easy.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Limping doesn't cost OP 15/30/50 chips anymore. It's substantially less, especially if you can take away pots postflop. This is where that pesky 'learn to play after the flop' thing rears its head again.

To put it another way, limping JTo or Kxs in MP after 1 caller is suddenly a lot more attractive than it normally should be.

(Edit: This is totally inapplicable at higher buyins as you're just going to be raised or reraised out of most pots, but lower down is another story.)

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree 100% with the second comment. I think the first comment is the Gigabet super aggressive style for winning $215s. As you can see from his comments, he doesn't even look at his hole cards. Charming.

I was hoping to talk a little more theory tho.

That being said. Now that OP is in the pot with TJo, now what? This forum, IMO, RARELY talks about early play postflop skills (except Van Sexton). It is this very fact that has all the bot talk going, SNGs (particularly at Party Poker) are about preflop decisions.

So, I rescind my original comments. Yes, when you're the big stack, you should play more hands. Would I recommend making that advice to someone who's asking for it on this STT forum? Well that's another story.

How/when/what?
Well, I definately like limping in after one or two other limpers. I don't like playing from early position. You can pretty much limp in from the button with anything. What hands to consider? Well suited connectors for one, perhaps Axs. Now you have to start studying pot odds, and drawing odds (which you should know). And then there's Gigabets strategy...

But be aware, many a chip stack lead is lost from this position if you don't know what you're doing. I love it when I get a hand against the big stack early on. I usually am able to extract more than he would normally give me because of his position.

I think it makes more sense to learn how to play post flop someplace else, not with your stack lead, in an SNG.

Ilya, what/where does your mentor recommend for learning to play postflop? I assume LHE?

[dfscott]

Thanks, all, for the comments. I basically started opening up a bit -- limping with AXs, KTs+. I also bet nearly every flop that was checked to me. I didn't play quite as much as I could've (I still folded KQs to pre-flop raises and didn't play good unsuited connectors such as JTo and QJo), but I continued to accumulate chips at a decent rate (and also got lucky and flopped a few monsters).

By the time we hit 5-handed, I had nearly 4K, the 2nd stack had 1500, and the others all had <1K. I think I screwed up here, because with a short stack ahead and behind, I just tightened up and waited for the bubble before exerting any pressure. By the time that happened, the stack sizes were still about the same, but with the blinds bigger, my advantage wasn't quite as dominating.

Should I start pressuring as early as 5-handed, even at the risk of doubling up the short stacks? I had a short-stack on either side of me, so it was difficult to put pressure on the medium stack without risking that.

BTW, for the poster that talked about post-flop play, my 60k hands of limit play prior to my foray into SnGs really helped me there.

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]

Ilya, what/where does your mentor recommend for learning to play postflop? I assume LHE?

[/ QUOTE ]

Anywhere but in Party tournaments, pretty much. Limit ring games, NL ring games, whatever.

I wish I could add something concrete to the postflop discussion, but as my own postflop skills are pretty weak, I think all I can say is "err...try to outplay your opponents!"