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Jay845
09-21-2005, 12:36 AM
Recently I have been making some poor decisions during my SNGs. After the fact I realize my mistake almost immediately, and most result in blantly over playing a hand or making a rash decision for all my chips. I am hoping to develop a "decision checklist" to slow myself down and avoid some miserable plays I have been making.

I am not looking for a "paint by numbers" approach, rather a short question list that I can ask myself prior to making a decision. What questions do you guys ask yourself when faced with a tough decision?

Thanks
Jay

bones
09-21-2005, 12:54 AM
I'll give it a shot.

Before you consider your cards:

-What is my current chip position relative to the blinds.
-What is my chip position in relation to others at the table.
-How many are remaining in the sng.
-What is my current image (and will my image be considered by my opponents).
-What is my position in relation to the button.
-When will the blinds go up and how will that impact my stack and the stacks of others.

When the cards come out.

-Who has acted, what is my read on them so far, and what is their stack.
-Who is remaining to act, what is my read on them so far, and what is their stack.
-How strong is my hand, considering my position and actions that have occured before my turn to act.
-How do I want the rest of the table to react to my action.
-What is the best way to achieve my desired reaction.
-If I'm going to play the hand, how will I react if I'm raised (action from each player remaining in the hand should be considered).

On the flop

If first to act
-Given the preflop action, what is a reasonable range to put my opponent(s) on.
-Has the flop likely helped my opponent(s).
-What is the desired reaction I want my opponent(s) to have based on my action.
-What is the best way to achieve that reaction.
-How will I react to a bet/raise.
-What are the relevant stacks and how do they relate to the size of the pot and the current chip situation at the table.

If not the first to act
-What is a reasonable range to put my opponent on given his preflop and flop action.
-How will he react to a call or raise. Is that the desired reaction that I want?

Repeat for the turn and river, if it goes that far.

Of course there are tons of variables that I haven't included. This is just a general outlines of some important things to think about before every decision.

Jay845
09-21-2005, 10:03 AM
Thanks, I find that helpful. Anyone else have some suggestions?

skipperbob
09-21-2005, 10:22 AM
Excellent

tshort
09-21-2005, 10:44 AM
Great post Bones.

Most of this becomes subliminal.

What do you think are a couple of key questions?

For me, I usually concentrate on reviewing player reads if I'm in a sticky situation. So, I click on the hand history and quickly scroll through hands to see how many hands relevant players have been involved in and how dumb/solid their plays were. I also review my table image at the same time.

I usually never need to question myself on how the other varibles factor in.

[Edit]To the OP. Are your decisions incorrect because of variables such as relative stack sizes, positions, blinds? Or, are you overlooking player reads, table image, etc?

The first set of variables should call for a "standard play" or a few standard "possible plays". After you've thought about that, you adjust what you will do according to the difficult variables: what your read is on the other players.


-tshort

zambonidrivr
09-21-2005, 11:16 AM
nice lid bob.

Jay845
09-21-2005, 11:16 PM
I think it is a combination but probably leans more towards player reads and table image. I play low buyin SNGs, and at times I give my opponents too much credit. What I mean is that I get tricky when scare cards hit, trying to get them to lay down top pair etc. I would guess that most of my opponents do not pickup on this play it has been costing me big time. Any other thoughts?