How tight and how weak should I really be early on?

[adam61]

I been having some trouble making the jump from Limit to SNGs. Although I have quite a few leaks, I'm trying to tackle them in stages. And I think (correct me if I'm wrong) my biggest leak is dropping out before the bubble. I am positive in chips won at levels 1-3 but I have a LOT of finishes out of the money early. 7th 9%/8th 13%/9th 7%/10th 4%. That's 33% of the time I'm out before even hitting the bubble. Some of these are on level 5 or 6 but as you know from party 10+1 a lot of these are level 1-3. So does anyone have any additional pointers?? Here's some common situations and how I handle them.

AK preflop, Open raise 3x+2x per limper. Call small reraise, fold to all-ins or big reraises.

AQ preflop, raise to 3x cautious with a lot of limpers, fold if raised.

AJo usually fold unless LP then a small raise.
AJs usually raise if first in, sometimes call, fold to any serious action

KQo usually fold unless LP throw in a little raise.

KQs usually raise similar to AK but usually fold to any reraise.

Small Pockets 2-6 I usually fold early position limp MP or LP. 7-10 same thing but usually also limp in EP. JJ-AA I usually make a standard raise, probably call any raise unless against a solid opponent I might drop jacks.

Post flop I usually don't bet with nothing unless a strong draw (4 flush) or AK if there's a real chance of taking the pot on the spot. Otherwise I'm looking for TP with good kicker or better.

I get in trouble with board overpairs. TP with good kicker, and those kinda things. Hands where I Have AQs flop comes QJ7. I bet it gets raised and I go all in and am against a set or good draw.

I'm having a tough time cause i feel like this is a pretty good strategy but I'm obviously dropping out a lot early. And what I thought was running bad seems to have become the norm as I've played more and more games.

AQ preflop, Raise 3x fold

[tigerite]

There's no hard and fast rules to be honest. I base most of my decisions on level 1/2 on the table structure, i.e. how aggressive or passive it is, and so forth. I'll raise from the CO if folded to on some tables with mid pairs for instance, in others just limp, it's all dependent on who's in the BB and what kind of player I believe them to be etc.

[adios]

I'm assuming round 1 or 2, most everyone has close to equal size stacks.

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AK preflop, Open raise 3x+2x per limper. Call small reraise, fold to all-ins or big reraises.

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If I was the first raiser I wouldn't play it this strong. You've certainly got a better than average hand but I feel I can win money after the flop if I hit it and a 3x raise will get it heads up or 3 handed frequently. I wouldn't fold too often to all-ins and big reraises either. FWIW.

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AQ preflop, raise to 3x cautious with a lot of limpers, fold if raised.

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You should be cautious with AK too but AQ requires more caution. If there's a raise before I act I don't always fold and sometime re-raise just dependes on the player, the amount of the raise etc.




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AJo usually fold unless LP then a small raise.


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Mostly I play this hand sometimes call, sometimes raise. If the pot is raised in front of me mostly fold it but not always.


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AJs usually raise if first in, sometimes call, fold to any serious action

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Yeah I'm not putting in a lot of action with this hand preflop either. Definitely would like to see a flop with this hand so I probably play it less agressively than AJo.

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KQo usually fold unless LP throw in a little raise.


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I play this hand, sometimes raise sometimes call pre-flop but I don't call raises with it, at least not often.

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KQs usually raise similar to AK but usually fold to any reraise.

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Another hand I really want to see a flop with.

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Small Pockets 2-6 I usually fold early position limp MP or LP.

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Always play them in stage 1 and 2 if I can get in cheap. Will even call as much as 3x raise if I'm in CO or on the button sometimes.

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7-10 same thing but usually also limp in EP.

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Always play them, raise often with TT. If the pot is raised in front of me will often call in LP. In MP with TT I'm in a tough spot when an EP player raises.

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JJ-AA I usually make a standard raise, probably call any raise unless against a solid opponent I might drop jacks.

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I'll often limp UTG or one left of UTG with AA and KK hoping to get in a re-raise. If the pot is raised before the action gets to me and I have QQ or JJ, it depends. I'll call a lot and see what the flop brings. If no raise yet I raise. If the pot is re-raised behind me depends on the situation.

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Post flop I usually don't bet with nothing unless a strong draw (4 flush) or AK if there's a real chance of taking the pot on the spot. Otherwise I'm looking for TP with good kicker or better.

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A lot depends on how many other players are in, what I have, and many other things.

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I get in trouble with board overpairs. TP with good kicker, and those kinda things. Hands where I Have AQs flop comes QJ7. I bet it gets raised and I go all in and am against a set or good draw.

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Playing one pair for the best hand in NL can get quite tricky. Very situational and also depends on the texture of the flop in the best way to proceed. You can make some laydowns if your not pot commited since you'll have plenty of chips left to operate with. You can also try and play the pot cheaply on the flop since your oppoent will have 2 cards to come.



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I'm having a tough time cause i feel like this is a pretty good strategy but I'm obviously dropping out a lot early. And what I thought was running bad seems to have become the norm as I've played more and more games.

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I would just comment that coin flips may not be so bad early either but it does depend on how weak your opponents are. If you have AK and get raised all in with a wide range of hands then you'll win a decent number of confrontations and when you do you'll have a lot of chips to operate with.