The first three rounds

[Voltron87]

well, usually I look at 56s, 78s as great hands in NL, hands I will open with, but I never play them in SNGs since drawing hands don't quite work the same in tournaments as in cash games. The worst hands I play in SNGs are QJ from the CO, and only for a limp.

[pipes]

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On a personal level I think most of you guys come off as know it all aholes.

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The fact that NOBODY has come to your defense should indicate that you're probably losing the argument. Those know-it-all aholes are giving the rest of us free poker lessons. Thicken your skin and learn something.

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Bud, not looking for anyone to come to my defense here. Isn't it possible to give advice without being a coksucker? I do listen to people and I think I am improving my game from it. As I move up, my results are actually getting better because I am always trying to learn.

I just started SNGs 4 months ago. Not a huge sample but I have played 504 100s with (20.32 ROI and 38.10 ITM) and 288 200s with (25 ROI and 40.28 ITM). I think I'm doing a few things right, plus I'm a gentleman as well. That's a real anamoly here it seems.

[MarkD]

I'm fairly new to SNG's and have just barely started to read thsi forum (I'm mainly a limit player).

My first 3 round starters look like this (this thread has me thinking about them a lot more since maybe I'm too loose):
1. AA-QQ, AKo, AKs - I raise, limpers or raisers - I don't mind getting all of my chips in.

2. AQs, AQo. I raise first in from any position but just cold call small raises.
Caveat: From the blinds I may not raise with AQo - it's something I have been playing with a little and doing some thinking on. I am not sure what is right here. I think AQs is a raise from the blinds as well.

3. JJ-TT. I raise first in from any position (have debated limping early with TT and playing for set value but atm I raise). If faced with a raise in front of me I will sometimes reraise but usually just call and see a flop and play from there.

4. 22-99. I just limp. I also call small raises. With the bigger medium pairs I may play on without a set if the flop is good, but typically not.

5. AJs. I have been limping with this. I have also thought hard about dumping it early and only playing in late / late middle position but atm I am limping early.

6. AJo I don't play except from the blinds and posibly late position.

I think that about covers it.

[adanthar]

The post above me is pretty much 95% how I play early (I'll limp/coldcall TT-22, sometimes limp AJ/KQ, KJ-QJs, etc. in position in the same vein) with some suited connectors thrown in when I feel I have odds.

Note that the continuum of what you should raise/limp/fold PF depends a lot on your implied odds postflop - better players should, in theory, play as many cheap marginal hands as they can get away with. When I have chips on the button after 5 limpers (not that I see this happen a lot or anything, but in theory) I can limp with much weirder trash than T9o. 99% of the time, I fold.

[pipes]

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I'm getting smoked here. On a personal level I think most of you guys come off as know it all aholes.

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we aren't trying to "smoke" you, we're trying to make your game a WHOLE lot better in the space of one thread. on another note: i get that a lot, scuba doesn't. how's it feel scuba? still unrelated, i don't know everything, i just know this stuff. so every once in a while, perhaps instead of people flaming back, if they could stop and look at the actual advice, that would be great, but totally not expected.

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But anyhow, back to debate on the topic. My list above is basically for level 1.

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that's too loose for level 1.

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Level 2 I'm tightening up, I'll still play any pair and any suited broadway combo though.

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that's too loose for lvl 2 also.

do you actually think there is that much of a difference between lvl 1 and lvl 2 that if those other hands were right at 1 they'd be wrong at 2?

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Level 3 I tighten up considerably.

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to what? i'm guessing your lvl3 standards are closer to the correct lvl1 standards than your current lvl1 standards

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I'm confident in my abilities not to get trapped early on. I spend most of my time in the 100s and I feel I hit enough with these speculative hands (and have people pay me off enough) to justify playing these hands.

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meh.

citanul

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Okay, I have not really gotten any responses of any real substance. Just stuff like, "this is laughable". If calling 15 chips with 98s on level 1 is laughable, then go ahead roar it up. Whatever, I see flops early on because I feel I can make proper decisions post flop. Its + EV for me. My stats for around 800 SNGs on the 100/200 level is right where I think it should be.

Maybe you knuckleheads just caught me on a bad day. But you can be a great player and still give advice without coming off as pompous ass. Maybe this attitude starts with the two stooges at the top and filters down. Who knows. Get over yourself.

[Freudian]

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i think you play too loose too, but i'd like to hear what some other players think.

citanul

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I also think you have to be extremely tight when calling a raise, I almost never do it with AQ. If you can limp, im fine with going down to AJs, KQs. I routinely lay down AK for 4+BB raises from solid players since it's a dead giveaway for AA-QQ. I am right often enough to motivate folding AK in those spots.

[The Yugoslavian]

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that's quite tight.

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I don't even play AJ! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Corona anyone? No thanks!

In your face!

Yugoslav

[pipes]

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In the first 3 levels, I play tight both pre and post flop. Calling preflop with anything adds up fast, especially if you are forced to call a few min-raises.

Hands I usually play
1) Any pair
2) Axs
3) Two suited broadways (most 2 broadways for that matter)
4) Suited connectors
5) Few unsuited connectors such as JTo and T9o



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That's nowhere near tight.


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This is laughable.

Applicable definition of tight:
"used of persons or behavior; characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity"

That is a generous list of ways to leak chips early in a SitNGo.

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If you always play postflop like I see in some of your posts, I wouldn't play many hands preflop either. lol

[The Yugoslavian]

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Okay, I have not really gotten any responses of any real substance.


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Sure you have. Your mind just isn't open to them. Which is okay I guess, but will hurt your ability to get value out of this forum.

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Just stuff like, "this is laughable". If calling 15 chips with 98s on level 1 is laughable, then go ahead roar it up.


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Bwahahahahaha!

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Whatever, I see flops early on because I feel I can make proper decisions post flop. Its + EV for me.


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I guarantee you that in the Party STTs you are not making *any* money off of 98s (and a ton of those other hands you covet).

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My stats for around 800 SNGs on the 100/200 level is right where I think it should be.

Maybe you knuckleheads just caught me on a bad day. But you can be a great player and still give advice without coming off as pompous ass. Maybe this attitude starts with the two stooges at the top and filters down. Who knows. Get over yourself.

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Hang around this forum long enough and make enough strides in your game and one of two things will happen:

1. You will stop posting except for 'Worst Fold Ever' (see Dali for prime examples) threads.
2. You will end up like citanul....the gatekeeper to knowledge and resident pompous ass.

What's funny is that I'd imagine you'd prefer the first type of poster, but you really *should* prefer the latter.

Yugoslav
<font color="white">
Secret option #3 (and best, perhaps): You turn into Lorinda and make cryptic remarks here and there, exhibiting personality twists where you talk down the pompous asses occasionally and turn into one yourself at the same time. Also, you will accidentally give out amazingly astute advice from time to time - thankfully no one pays attention. You will have an impenetrable aura of mystery and no one will be quite sure what to make of you, your posts, or your avatar.
</font>

[pooh74]

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Okay, I have not really gotten any responses of any real substance.


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Sure you have. Your mind just isn't open to them. Which is okay I guess, but will hurt your ability to get value out of this forum.

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Just stuff like, "this is laughable". If calling 15 chips with 98s on level 1 is laughable, then go ahead roar it up.


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Bwahahahahaha!

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Whatever, I see flops early on because I feel I can make proper decisions post flop. Its + EV for me.


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I guarantee you that in the Party STTs you are not making *any* money off of 98s (and a ton of those other hands you covet).

[ QUOTE ]

My stats for around 800 SNGs on the 100/200 level is right where I think it should be.

Maybe you knuckleheads just caught me on a bad day. But you can be a great player and still give advice without coming off as pompous ass. Maybe this attitude starts with the two stooges at the top and filters down. Who knows. Get over yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hang around this forum long enough and make enough strides in your game and one of two things will happen:

1. You will stop posting except for 'Worst Fold Ever' (see Dali for prime examples) threads.
2. You will end up like citanul....the gatekeeper to knowledge and resident pompous ass.

What's funny is that I'd imagine you'd prefer the first type of poster, but you really *should* prefer the latter.

Yugoslav
<font color="white">
Secret option #3 (and best, perhaps): You turn into Lorinda and make cryptic remarks here and there, exhibiting personality twists where you talk down the pompous asses occasionally and turn into one yourself at the same time. Also, you will accidentally give out amazingly astute advice from time to time - thankfully no one pays attention. You will have an impenetrable aura of mystery and no one will be quite sure what to make of you, your posts, or your avatar.
</font>

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<font color="white">yeah, exactly... </font>