(5$) Trouble with short handed play in SNG's

I have been trying different plays on the bubble and I have been getting mixed results. I know that I have been getting too aggresive with stealing blinds and muscling out pots in the late stages of tournies. I know that I have been too aggresive b/c last night my all in bet was called by a villian holding bottem pair. Anyway I have a few questions about short handed play(4-6 handed) .

1. How many orbits should go by between blind steal attempts, should I even have a formula for this?

2. Last night everytime the action was folded on the button, he raised 1BB (e.g. he raised it to 400 when the blinds were 100/200. ) I tried to combat this by pushing all in after I had seen him do this several times, was this correct?

3. Last night it got to the point where nobody respected my raises, how can I avoid this in the future? I will admit I did rasie alot, often with only slightly better than marginal holdings.

4. I think I was overly aggresive last night, how many BB's do I need to to continue to play conservatively without going into panic mode?

Sorry if any of these questions sound nubish, I am stuggling with 4-6 handed most right now, I will post some sample hands later tonight.
Thanks alot guys,
AL

So far tonight I have been playing alot more conservaitve on the bubble, it has worked very well. Any thoughts on this anyone?

[runner4life7]

1. How many orbits should go by between blind steal attempts, should I even have a formula for this?

this is never factored into my pushes. Only time it might be is if i pushed like the last 3 hands and the 4th would be marginal.

[clevernapkin]

Your style on the bubble should be largely based on two things.

1. Your opponents styles
2. Your stack size relative to the blinds

Versus loose opponents, I would try and steal less due to the fact that they will push/call more which is what you do not want thereby creating a -EV situation for you and probably your opponent. On the other hand, stealing from tight players is fairly easy and can be done without risking your tournament life if the blinds aren't too large.

Your stack size is also extremely important for bubble situations mainly because the blinds get very large as the tourney continues. Generally, you want to be pushing preflop with 10x BB or less. Some argue that 10x is actually a healthy stack, I wouldn't disagree here but I think all players can agree that 10x BB you wouldn't mind taking down an uncontested pot.

A lot of this is covered in HOH, I suggest you get both volumes if you would like to read some good books on tournament poker.

[ QUOTE ]

2. Last night everytime the action was folded on the button, he raised 1BB (e.g. he raised it to 400 when the blinds were 100/200. ) I tried to combat this by pushing all in after I had seen him do this several times, was this correct?

3. Last night it got to the point where nobody respected my raises, how can I avoid this in the future? I will admit I did rasie alot, often with only slightly better than marginal holdings.

4. I think I was overly aggresive last night, how many BB's do I need to to continue to play conservatively without going into panic mode?


[/ QUOTE ]

In $5 tourneys you're not going to see sophisticated play. Thus your play should be more straightforward. If I had 10x BB, I would not be looking to do any 3x BB raises with trash.

Once ur SH in an SnG, u hav to steal blinds to maintain abd possibly build on a decent stack. As celvernapkin stated, the 2 main factors are opponent styles and stack size in relation to blinds.

Generally u should b able to steal around 2 hands every orbit with marginal holdings (i.e. K10 or better, Ax). However, you must pay attention to who you're stealing, as you wouldn't want to play the big stacks or the shortstacks who would push a lot in these situations. Position is also important. Vary your play in case your opponents catch on (i.e. if you always steal from SB, with similar holdings...etc.).

As for your opponents not respecting your raises, you should have a fairly solid/tight image going into SH play. If not, you probably have to steal a little less and pick your spots more carefully. Another way to gain respect is showing down premium or monster hands when your opponents fold.

[caretaker1]

Do a search for SNGPT and read posts here regarding bubble play. Once you learn that, most of your questions will be answered.