Good strategy for Party Multi-table SnG's?

What the best strategy in playing these sng's?

[gr8vertical]

Excellent post

[tonypaladino]

Bust out in 4 hands, then complain in the chat box that no one respects your raises.

[CardSharpCook]

Two (or 3)-Table Sngs

The start of a two-table SnG is little differenet than the start of either a single table SnG or a large MTT. You are playing drawing hands or low PPs cheaply or you are raising your premium hands to 3 or 4 times the BB to limit the number of drawing hands you are against. You would like to catch a monster here and double up, but it is not necessary. From my Poker Quotes (PQ): "The first few orbits of a tourney are filled with foolish players making foolish bets and calls. Don't be one of them." I am folding most hands at this stage of the tourney. Three things can have happened by the end of this initial stage; you can have found a monster (or a sucker) and have doubled up or more, you can have had a couple failed continuation bets and be down to around 500 chips, or little has happened and you are within 300 chips of where you started.

Middle Stages: 15-11 left in the tourney. The blinds are rapidily approaching steal value. 25/50 is where you should start stealing. I like to keep my PF raises small. Double the blinds. If they want to play, they must pay. You still have the lead after the flop and the pot is small enough that you can afford to continuation bet through to the river. PQ: "If you bluff once, bluff twice. If you bluff twice, bluff three times. Unless another bluff just won't work." This constant aggression keeps the table under your control. If you are observant and are willing to fold, your stack will slowly increase along a graph that looks like the stock market. This is short-handed NL poker - PF raising standards are lowered and after flop play is still very important. If you are good at after flop play, this is your big chance. If you are not, this is wonderful practice. Remember, Controlled Aggression.

If you are a short stack during the middle stages, patience is the key. Be willing to lose chips to buy time. When you are below 8 times the BB, All-in is your only bet. You have time to catch a double up, and you don't need to be playing the final table now. I can't stress this enough. PATIENCE. These tourneys are filled with players who surrender their remaining chips just because they catch a PF ace in their hand - DON'T BE ONE OF THEM. We are often filled with the desired to magically return to the stack we held five minutes ago. Let it go, adapt to the new situation and be patient. You are far more likely to lose this tournament going all-in with an inferior hand than you are to lose it be being blinded to death. You would like to be within one double-up of an average stack when it gets down to six. If you are here, you have done well.

Six left. This is bubble time. 4 get paid. Watch the players. Many will be desperately trying to pass the bubble. To do this, some will be desperately trying to gain enough chips, others will be folding some really good hands. Pick your opponents wisely. Usually, this is the time for unfettered aggression and numerous All-ins. Take advantage of your opponents bubble fears. If there are five left and one player has just a few chips, you should be going all-in with any two, so long as the short stack isn't going to call. You want him to remain at the table as long as possible. As long as he is there, you can run over the table. Let me repeat this, it is the most important lesson. You want the very short stack to remain at the table as long as possible. Note also, any stack that has you covered believes that you will fold if they go all-in. So, you must beat them to the punch and go all-in before they can make you go all-in. Using this strategy, you will convert more 1st place finishes, but you will run into AA/KK every once in a while and bust out when you could have folded into the money. This is OK.

Four left. Just like the final three of an SnG, Controlled Aggression is the key. Not all pots are yours, you must fold often, but you want to raise with many sub-par hands. The more blinds you steal, the easier you can afford to be caught. Also, be willing to call when they push, and you have pot odds for any 2. I can't tell you how many times I've been called a bad player (a HORRIBLE player) when my J8s beat their AK. If only they could realise that waiting for a 60/40 shot just isn't good enough.

There is an important difference in the payout structure for a two-table. It is linear. 4th gets 10%, 3rd 20%, 2nd 30%, 1st 40%. Because of this, you do not need to be AS aggressive and you CAN wait for a short stack to bust. Still though, you will convert more 2-tables to victories with controlled aggression.

Overarching theme: 10-7 players at your table, patience - play your big hands, draw with little hands (1st table), continution bets. 7-5 players, Aggression: Controlled vs. Unfettered (two tables vs. one table). Less than 5, controlled aggression.


A couple more PQs: "Call a coin flip for endzone preference, not for all your chips"
"Protect Early tourney chip leads until it becomes mid game above average stack"
"Use your chip lead to push around your opponents when they are just shy of the money"
"You are the best player on the table, but you're still going to lose A LOT"

I know that none of the information in this essay is groundbreaking. Discipline is what makes it work and what most players lack. I hope that something in this is of value to you, but please don't concentrate on a phrase like "unfettered aggression". To quote Tom Petty, "the waiting is the hardest part". You really must be patient at times - it is not aggression at all times, I don't advocate that. Shift gears. Play your table. Do the opposite of what your table is doing - if they are T/A, become L/A. If they are L/A, become T/P. Anyway, GL.

CSC

Geez, almost forgot. Three table tourneys differ in that you play the first table twice. Small difference is that on the second table, you are always raising PF. You are no longer limping with 22 - it is a raise or fold.

[pfkaok]

[ QUOTE ]

What the best strategy in playing these sng's?

[/ QUOTE ]

win all the chips.

Very good post!

This is the reason i been lurking here for almost a year. Had to create an account to show my apreciation(and to sell some w-dollar [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]).

Johan

Thanks, CSC. You don't need to post anything groundbreaking to make a very valuable contribution. Being reminded of what is 'obvious' is helpful, and of course not everything that is obvious to a top player is standard for those who are less skilled. Thanks for another excellent, thorough post.

[AceHiStation]

As a general rule, I try and win the last hand I play.

[justT]

CSC rocks!

[BAK]

TYVM