Sklansky-Karlson rankings: How to apply them to SNGs?

[SuitedSixes]

Is there a value to the Sklansky-Karlson hand rankings, as they apply to SNG play, outside of HU and SB vs BB confrontations? If so, how do others apply them?

Don't know what I am talking about?

Links:

Here
And Here

[Nottom]

I actually think they are a pretty important starting point for HU play. They basically give an upper-bound for how tight your pushing range should be, since for example if you (or your opponent) have 8BBs it is always profitable to push J7o no matter what his calling range is. You can always loosen up from this upperbound (and often should) and push more, but knowing which hands are always +EV is important information.

Prior to HU, they are still good to know but obviously since ChipEV =/= $EV earlier in the SNG the applications aren't quite as clear.

[johnnybeef]

bump

[Shilly]

[ QUOTE ]
I actually think they are a pretty important starting point for HU play. They basically give an upper-bound for how tight your pushing range should be, since for example if you (or your opponent) have 8BBs it is always profitable to push J7o no matter what his calling range is. You can always loosen up from this upperbound (and often should) and push more, but knowing which hands are always +EV is important information.

Prior to HU, they are still good to know but obviously since ChipEV =/= $EV earlier in the SNG the applications aren't quite as clear.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nottom--

So the number on in the right column (Max Stack for EV > 0) refers to both the size of your stack and the opponent's stack (meaning they must be equal)?

[Nottom]

If I remember correctly, this is the max number of chips the smaller of the 2 stacks can have before the push is -EV.

The blinds here are 1 and 2 chips I believe, so divide this by 2 to get this in terms of BBs which is far more useful.

Edit: I actually made a mistake in my post which I hope isn't confusing anyone, the J7o isn't always profitable with 8BBs. J7s would be at that stack size, J7o would need a 6BB stack.

[jcm4ccc]

[ QUOTE ]
If I remember correctly, this is the max number of chips the smaller of the 2 stacks can have before the push is -EV.


[/ QUOTE ] This isn't exactly correct. When the smaller stack has that many chips, then a push is always +EV (over the long run).

For example, the value of Q5s is 20.3. First, you divide that by 2, to get 10.15. Now, if the smaller stack has less than that number of BBs, then you should always push. So if the blinds are 150/300, and the small stack has less than 3000 chips, you must push.

It's a conservative ranking. For instance, a push might be positive +EV if the small stack has 4000 chips, depending on the calling range of the small stack.

[microbet]

They are interesting and are a boundary for pushes while HU. They don't even exactly apply then because they assume, in addition to your opponent seeing your cards, that your he plays perfectly. They also don't take tournament structure and other stacks into account and aren't really valid for situations where it is just folded around to you in the BB. Also, for strong hands they only show, say pushing with KK is +EV with 954 small blinds, not that it is the most +EV play.

Seems to me that you would need an entirely different chart outside of HU situations, especially if you aren't in the SB.

I think it is not that difficult to make some much more practical charts.