Unique Stat in my recent SnG play

[Hotrod0823]

I am having an exceptional run at UB $10 SnGs. 5 played 4 wins and 1 third.

Bought in for 30 bucks on Monday and now have just under 100 playing mainly SnGs at 10, few at 5 with a third and a 6 handed limit victory late last night. Spent my winnings on a few multitable events but got busted.

I have been getting some great cards and winning with them. I recently borrowed TPFAP and I don't know if my current run of luck is because I am playing better poker or just learned a few things my reading up.

Now my question: If you find yourself in the lead by a large margin at what point should you tighten up? I have been able to slowly steal my way into a sizeable chip lead simply by betting aggressively preflop and following that post flop. Sometimes without the best hand but getting respect because I bet strong preflop. Most hands are folded. Over the long haul is this a +EV play? If I was going to play the hand at all I was raising. I found it more profitable than limping at least based on my resent history.

I checked my stats on my last 2 SnGs tonight, both 10+1s on UB and winners, and I noticed I am not playing anymore hands but my winners outpaced my flops seen by a sizeable margin. I have been winning without even showing my cards or getting called. Very few hands are making the river.

I found myself with ~5000 in chips with 4 others still in the game fighting over the rest. I was able to bet the pot and win at least the blinds and some bets from limpers on most hands.

Is playing aggressively thoughtout the tourney the best option? Is this resent play an outlier?

Hotrod

[triplc]

Hi HotRod,

Hope to see you at a table sometime.

I, too, have been playing UB SnG's lately (mostly $5, but some $10), and experienced similar things in my last tourney (which I won). I had really nice cards early, won a few showdowns and knocked out a couple of maniacs. Thus, my stack was around 4K. It seemed like nobody at the table wanted to tangle with me, so I played more aggressively, and it was the easiest win I've had thus far. Either the players were naturally timid ( a good bet) or I helped them a bit down that path.

There have been other times, however, when I wished I had been tighter with a big stack, and it cost me some money. At a Party $10 tourney, I was the big stack with around 3K, and a very tight player with around 1800 raised me to 600. I went all in with top pair top kick and he called me with trips. I ended up 4th in a tourney in which I really should have captured some dough had I simply waited for others to drop out.

Is your success an outlier? Probably. Only because the natural ebb and flow of the cards are bound to go the other way at some point. You'll get a bad beat. You'll bet into AA with KK. Earlier this month, I cashed 7 out of 8 tourneys, followed by 6 out of the money finishes. Some of that was due to good (and bad) play, but some was just a bit of bad luck and a lack of good cards. But I wouldn't change your style if it continues to work for you.

I'll be looking for you at UB...


CCC

[SoBeDude]

betting aggressively is the best way to win tournies.

Why? you're putting the pressure on your opponents to hit the flop. And with a strong raise preflop, most hands are played heads-up. Now if you have the initiative and bet the flop, you're putting pressure on your opponent to have hit the flop or fold. he will miss the flop about 3/4ths of the time.

You have to be careful when someone plays back at you though, they probably have a real hand.

You must also watch out for someone who will let you hang yourself. Many players will slowplay a big hand against the aggressor and let him do all the betting for them. Next thing you know you're calling an all-in bet and you just doubled someone up, and burned off a chunk of your stack.

So yes, aggression is the key, but you must be careful.

Oh, and yes, your current win streak is just that - a streak, so enjoy it while it lasts.

-Scott

[CrisBrown]

Hi Hotrod,

As for aggression, definitely. I rarely open-limp. If it's folded around to me and I'm going to play a hand, I'm almost always going to come in for a raise, especially from late position.

This forces the BB to pay to play, and often deters would-be limpers or stealers, giving me a chance to take the pot pre-flop. If I'm called or reraised, I have a better read than if I'd just limped. And if I like my hand vs. a call or reraise, I've made a nicer pot for myself.

I will more often limp if there are 2+ limpers already, and I don't anticipate a monster raise behind me. This usually gives me a cheap peek at the flop, and if I don't like it I can get away with minimal investment. That rarely happens after the third of fourth round of blinds, although it will sometimes happen again for the first few hands at the final table.

I do have a few situations where I'll open-limp. Most are hands that I'd like to play, but would have to fold if I raised and were reraised. AQos, AJs, ATs, baby pairs, and the like are examples. These are hands I've busted out on more times than I can count. (AQos in particular was my nemesis.) I'd make a big raise from EP, call a reraise, miss the flop, and because I was in for so much already, I'd bet out at the flop and get slammed. So now I'll limp in and probably call a small raise depending on my read and how much of my stack I'd have to put out there. If I miss the flop, I can still get away from the hand cheaply, or at least for a lot less than if I'd called a reraise.

Finally, I will often open-limp from EP with AA or KK, hoping to get a raise behind me so I can move-in and take a bigger pot pre-flop, or double up if called. Because other players see me do that, they're less likely to blast me out of the pot when I've limped in with AQos, or 33.

NOTE: If you're the type who'll never open-limp with AA or KK because you get too upset when you get cracked by 74os, then you shouldn't open-limp at all! Observant players will recognize that open-limp for what it is and blast you off the hand every time.

Cris