General STT strategy

[ChipLeaderer]

Just wanted to post my general STT approach and see if any of the experts on this forum wanted to add something that might help.

bought into a $1 satellite and advanced to the 4th level(3 more to go to win a WSOP seat), so my current thinking is to see if this holds well in higher levels as it did at level 1,2 and 3.

Tournament structure is : top 2 get to next level, 3rd gets rebuy to same level). Site is Royal Vegas poker if that's relevant.

1. Play tight at the start - Raise and re-raise AA, KK, QQ. Raise and call raise with AK/AQ, JJ, TT. Try to limp and see a flop for set value with 22-99. limp with AJ, ATs, KQ, KJ, KTs, QJs, QTs.
2. As players continue to drop out, continue playing tight and keep an eye on my stack size relative to the blinds.
3. If I'm the big stack take very few risks. If I'm the small stack and I have 6xBB or less push with anything that might be a coinflip situation(55 and higher, AK, AQ)
4. If I survive to the final 3 and I'm the big stack, bluff pretty aggressively(of course taking flop texture into account) since the 2 smaller stacks are trying to not be the 3rd one out(this will slowly bleed them instead of me waiting for them to go out)

I've seen posts and strategies that suggest that my approach is way too tight. While this succeeded at the lower levels it might not survive or play very well at higher levels and more experienced players. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ChipLeaderer]

Just realized that most of the strategy posted there is pre-flop.

For post-flop some of the general points that I stick to are:
1. Do not slowplay unless you have the absolute nuts(flopped boat, sometimes slowplay a "hidden" set i.e. pocket pair with one on the board, with no other draws out there)
2. Always charge for draws. No free cards. Raise if in late position.
3. Be cautious when occasionally playing low suited connectors that hit a flush.
4. When it comes down to heads up, check a lot since that seems to tell me a lot more about where my opponent is at without giving too much information. Call or bet with as little as bottom pair. In general, much looser but cautious play.

[shejk]

First of all there are a load of good threads on the subject of general strategy if you care to search.
The shadow compiled this quite comprehensive list of threads of interest. thread with links to threads

To give some pointers on your posted strategy:
I'd skip all the hands you're limping with, sometimes skip AQ (rest of the time probably limp/fold/raise if in late position), and limp jj and tt.

As the blinds go up, you're more and more looking to blindsteal. You say with the big stack take no chances, that is not quite right. You want to be stealing when you have a good situation for it, which probably is way more often than you think. The same is essentially true for playing a smallstack. You want to be looking for folds, not calls almost always.

On postflop play I don't think I can add any sng-specific guidelines. Don't be too afraid of slowplaying though. There are definately situations without the nuts when it is correct to slowplay. You imply this in your description of your headsup play though.

[JP Rocks]

I'm no expert, but that does sound way too tight. You sound like you play a text book sort of game, which is fine and dandy for low stakes when all it takes to win is solid poker- bells and whistles will only cost you money. Personally, I get bored playing that style which explains why (a) I am no expert and (b) I just cant win at party. Your process does sound way too tight, especially the part about checking a lot heads up. In general, one should adopt a push or fold, or if the blinds are still low, a raise or fold game when heads up. There is no room in there for checking, and the only time you ever call is with a Monster. Loosen up towards the middle, try to steal some blinds and attack weak play, otherwise you will just blind out to the point when you need to take silly risks rather than calculated gambles...

[ChipLeaderer]

Yep, you are right. I mis-titled my post. Wasn't really about general STT strategy as it was about trying to add some bells and whistles to what as someone pointed out is essentially an ABC poker vanilla strategy.

[ChipLeaderer]

Just to clarify, the heads up strategy of checking a lot is this(I am referring to situations where the blinds are low, if they are way up there it might be a push/fold strategy or push any 2 if the blinds are stratospheric):
- You can count on your opponent to bet almost any flop if you check. So let's say you have A5o and there's an A on the flop instead of betting just check and when he bets either raise or just cold call to extract more chips later). Mix it up a little of course. Sometimes bet on the flop with top pair.
- It provides you with some insurance against your opponent having flopping a set or two pair(absolute monsters that usually result in your elimination heads up). If he's extremely aggressive then let go of something like TPTK. However if you bet TPTK on the flop you are giving him the opportunity to sometimes raise you representing a good hand. If you check there's a good chance that he will be cautious about making such plays because now *you* could be slowplaying against him and this will definitely figure in his mind.

[shejk]

First of all, I think you're vanilla poker strategy is too loose. Second, when you talk about wanting to add more bells and whistles, you cant be talking about which CARDS to play. You have to see which opponent will lay down his hand in specific instances. And then exploit it.

[DasLeben]

It's tough to say what's correct and what's not based upon the details given in your post. Early play technique is mostly dictated by starting stack and blind structure. How does Royal Vegas work stacks/blinds?