[BarryDingle]

This is my first post, but I have enjoyed reading discussions on various 2+2 forums for the last 3-4 weeks. I just started playing online about 2 months ago and have had some success in the .25/.50 and .50/1 ring games on UB.

I decided to try my hand at some $5 SNG's as a change of pace this past week. I was in this situation last night on the bubble and was hoping to get some feedback on how more experienced players would handle a situation like this. Sorry, I don't have the exact hand history.

4 players left, big stack around t3500, small stack around t1400. I'm in 2nd with t2600. Blinds are 250/500.

Hero is SB with K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

UTG(t1400) folds, Button(t3500) calls, Hero completes, BB checks. Pot t1500

Flop comes K86 rainbow.

Hero bets 1000, BB folds, Button raises 1100 to put me all in.

Player on the button seemed to be loose-aggressive to me through most of the game, but I haven't played long enough to trust my reads well. I had seen him go all in once before early in the game with only overcards and again with top pair low-kicker.

I call the bet obviously, or I wouldn't be posting.... He turns over K8, and I'm out in 4th.

Did I play this completely wrong? I don't have much experience on short-handed tables and don't have a good grasp of how to play in these situations yet. Should I have raised pre-flop? Checked the flop? I already had 1500 in after the bet, should/could I have folded?

How would you more experienced players play in this position?

I'd also appreciate any general advice or strategies you can suggest for playing SNG's, such as early, middle, late stage strategies. Also, rules of thumb for when to bet and how much to bet/raise to not give away too much information. I understand that it all depends on the type of game and level of competition, but just some general suggestions to use as a guide until I get more experience would be appreciated. If you have links to previous posts that you think would be helpful for a new player, I would appreciate those also.

Thanks in advance for your comments.