lower limt sng's

so this is my first post figured i would ask a pretty basic question i recently started playing a lot more sng's lately mainly the $5.50 on ultimate bet. i have done fairly well placing in the top three about 35% of the time but i have noticed my main leak is im having problem letting go of big hands or finding myself in to many toss up situations.( i tend to have the best hand 70% of the time). i think part of it is because of all the donks making bad calls or raises ( or me maybe??) getiing me in toss up situations and sucking me out. players are also so eratic i have trouble following moves sometimes. now i know that you guys are use to answering ?? about higher limits but any advice you can give someone looking to slowly build there bankroll starting out at these levels? should i just play more strait forward and not bother with anything fancy seeing how most people at this level wont reconize it?? any adivce will help thanks..

[bawcerelli]

read more, post less. merry christmas.

It seem like you are a little behind me. I am already on the $20 game and winning and I hope to be in the $200 game soon. I wish you luck and hope to see you play on my table in future.

not sure of point of reply but ok..

Play tight early, steal blinds when they get big....yada,yada,yada. Getting rid of big hands may be a problem because of your definition of a big hand. If you are playing fairly loose early, and make top pair with A8s, but the action goes bet, raise, all-in, in front of you, folding top pair is the right play. This example is a little extreme, as just top pair isn't really a "big" hand, and the action went nuts. However, most new players will play KJ, make kings jack high, get raised when they bet the flop and call all the way down. This seems like a strong hand, but in reality its not that great, and early on should be folded preflop.
Also: I'm 2+2 retarded and don't know how to ignore a user. If I wanted to not see posts from someone who may or may not play g00t, how would I do this?

Edit: Nevermind, I found it.

I've logged tons of SNGs on UB so I definitely know what kind of people you're playing right now.

My advice is, above all else, be PATIENT. The players in the $5.50s are overall very poor and easily seduced by the romance of straights and flushes. So much in fact, that they'll call huge bets to hit them.

A lot of players bitch about this and complain that they get sucked out on. Well, yeah, you get sucked out on as many times as you're supposed to. That's why it's up to you to control the odds. If you're giving them incorrect odds to chase, you'll come out ahead.

With that being said, stay patient and play solid poker. Don't play A-crap too often, avoid trap hands, play solid hands for value, and don't slowplay too much.

There's absolutely no need to be 'fancy' at that level. Just play straight up poker and you'll be winning in no time.

PS - too many players at that level are trying to win the tournament in one hand. Don't play their game. Play yours and do it a little bit at a time.

smell thanks for the advice, my thoughts are exactly about the flush draws. i just dont get it seems like people will throw there how tournys on crap draws and hit them. and i dont play a-crap i know to fold a pair of 9;s if its been raised , called the reraised all in. i dont make to many donk mistakes least i dont think. but i do understand what your saying. thanks smell is it this bad on the higher levels. and what do you think is a decent sized raise at this level to scare the crap drawing hands out of the flop. i tend to do raise 3x to 4x the blind preflop and still get called by crap consitently. im beating these gamews overall just fruterating i guess haveing to worry about getting sucked out so often even when they are getting horrible odds on there draws. seems they dont pat attention to or dont care about them....

That's my point. You WANT these people to throw their tournaments away on bad calls. You WANT them to chase draws when the odds are nowhere near their favor. At the higher levels, these easy targets are fewer. While this type of play creates a dangerous environment, it's overall VERY favorable when your opponent is consistently making mistakes, especially huge ones.

You're right - it seems like they hit too much, doesn't it? In reality they don't. Those beats just stick with you more than the ones you're "supposed" to win.

It sounds like you have a very good understanding of how to play solid poker. What you need now is to realize the nature of the environment in which you're playing - it's sort of like a minefield. You just need to know when one of those idiots hit his big hand and get out of the way. So the guy hit his long shot. Big deal. Get him next time. If you don't release your hand there, however, there isn't a next time.

Of course, it's easier said than done but being able to recognize the play of poorer players and when they hit is very valuable at that level.

Unless you're all in and there's no more poker to be played aside from watching cards get dealt. In that case, all you can do is realize that you got your chips in the middle as a favorite. If they win, and they should win sometimes, you can only try again in the next SNG.

I used to get really pissed off too but there's nothing you can do about it. It's going to happen as long as you play poker. Instead of being angry at the reality of the game, learn to turn it to your favor. Now I look for opportunities to get all of my chips in the middle as a big favorite instead of cringing at the thought of a suckout.

Take your new big chip stack and abuse the rest of the table. Or, sign up for another one and try again.

Hope this helps. Just remember, your play is solid. You just need to adjust your perspective now.

smellkid thanks for all the advice just a quick question out of curiousity at what level does this complete donk play go away?? and do you think its betterto keep value betting when you say flop 2 pair and there is a flush draw so if it hits on the river you can get away from it or is it better to get all your money in on the turn with that one card to come?? now i know this seems like a easy question but this seems to be mybiggest problem is that ill do the latter and it comes up maybe 2-4 times a sng and it seems like if i lose any of those im stuck now the rest of the sng with a small stack????
oh and whats your ub name?? smellkid i assume??

I've played quite a few $55s on UB and there is still some donk play. In general, it's less frequent at the $22s though. I think that's where the level starts to change some.

In terms of flopping two pair with that draw on the board, it just depends on the situation. If you guys both limped it's different than if there was a raise preflop. It also depends on stack sizes and the stage of the tournament.

If you're talking about a generic situation, you should probably bet just enough to deprive him of the correct odds to call for a flush draw. If he will 35% of the time bet such that there is a negative expectation for him to call.

Of course, it's not always this pretty in application but my vote is always to slowplay less at those levels and bet out for value.

Also, yes, my UB name is Smellkid. What's yours?