No-limit SNG scenario #1

[X-Calibre]

Since the 15th, I've been bonus whoring on Stars. I was having a lot of success on the Party SNGs, but as you all know, the Stars SNGs have a different structure to them. The larger amount of starting chips means you can play more draw hands and also allows for more "moves" to be tried. Basically, the Stars no-limit SNGs actually play more like no-limit poker. Long story short, I've run into a lot of situations in Stars SNGs that i don't know how to play.

Most of these situations involve getting the most money you can when you Hava da nutz.

Situation #1

Hero on the BB. Four limpers into the pot, some from EP, MP and LP. Hero has J8on and checks. The flop comes

7 9 T with two of a suit the hero does not have.

What should the hero do? This is early in the blind levels and he has no reads.

On party it's not a tragedy to just get all the money from the pre flop action as that is often a good size in relation to your stack. On stars I'm not satisfied with pulling in 5xBlind chips with this hand, especially if i'm on the button and actually paid chips myself to see the flop. At the same time, if i bet the pot to protect my hand from the flush i'm often going to end up taking it down right then.

Please advise.

[William]

has J8on and checks. The flop comes 7 9 T with two of a suit the hero does not have
if i bet the pot to protect my hand from the flush i'm often going to end up taking it down right then.

And if you check, and somebody bets, you can raise and take the pot there or call and nobody will bet again.

What do you expect? You have flopped a monster, you're in EP and it's a flop nobody normally likes.
I think the best is to bet maybe 3/4 of the pot and hope there's a flush/straight draw, TPTK, that will call (even raise you if you are lucky) If the turn is a blank, you can now choose to charge a higher price for the outdraw.

[NotMitch]

The whole key to this hand is how you play it when you don't have the nuts. I will bet the pot here which is something I would do with a wide variety of hands (TPTK, 2 pair or as a pure bluff just to pick up the pot (but not from the BB)). If you make different plays with strong hands than you do with weaker hands sharp players are going to pick up on it sooner or later.

[CrisBrown]

Hiya X-Calibre,

I'll usually either bet out (willing to reraise all-in if I am raised), or check-raise (happy to take whatever's in the pot with the raise). I usually play straights fast, and especially if there's a flush draw on board. A straight is a good hand, but it's not unbeatable. I'd rather win a small pot than lose a big one.

Cris (who managed to get this in the right thread this time)

[X-Calibre]

I totally agree and i tend to play all my hands very similar (up front). But that's has seemed to be a problem in situations like this one.

Something I've been doing on stars that i wouldn't do on Party is call with hands like 75on and such from LP. You do this because of the implied odds. But if all I do is pick up the limps then i'm hardly getting the implied odds to continue this practice. If i flop a good draw and then yeah i'm perfectly fine with taking the pot then and there. But i've flopped the nuts a few times and haven't been able to collect.

[NotMitch]

If you pick up the antes so often the lack of winning a big pot is somewhat offset by the fact you should be picking up a lot of small pots when the flop misses everyone. Its like what Doyle talks about in Super System, keep picking up the small pots as long as you can, and at some point someone will play back at you and there is the big pot you want. There are times where you can slowplay and try to trap, I just don't think this situation is one of them.

[Utah]

I think this is quite simple.

Bet the pot, hope you get raised and set them in and hope you get called.

You are far more likely to get someone allin with this approach. When you check raise you are screaming a monster and even calling stations will fold, especially when they have only committed a small bet.

However, if they raise and you come back over the top of them, they are likely to call with two pair or even top pair as they will so often convince themselves your bluffing and they just cant get away from the pot because they have already made a substantional investment.

Again, the bet, raise, reraise, call is a much more natural pattern - especially with the early fish.

Note: there is nothing to protect here. An early level limped pot does not get you much. You need to be thinking here, "how do I get someone allin?"

[TimTimSalabim]

In the case where you're trying to get as much money into the pot as you can, you have to know one key thing: who is most likely to bet? You should have a decent guess at this, even if you've only been playing at this table a short time. If the person most likely to bet is on your left, go for a checkraise. If the most likely bettor is a person on your right, then bet out.

[X-Calibre]

Doyle in his super system is mostly describing ring games. I'm not sure it applies here. In fact, i would say almost 100% of doyle's style doesnt apply to internet NL play.