AK and SNG's, I have alot of questions and no answers.

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1. When the blinds are low and I miss the flop with 2 big overs, after I made preflop raise, should I just check /fold?

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This depends on how many players are in the hand and your position. I generally don't c-bet w/more than two opponents in the hand. Remember, the more people in the hand, the more likely someone caught a piece of the flop. Low level players will play a lot of junk and call c-bets if they catch any part of the flop.

So, in late position with two or fewer opponents, I c-bet most of the time if it's checked to me. In early position w/two or fewer opponents, I c-bet about 1/2 the the time depending on the texture of the flop.

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2. It seems like these guys call my bets on the flop no matter what! Should I stop my continuation betting?

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No, see above. You should, however, make note of the players who simply won't lay down a hand. Make a note to avoid bluffing them and value bet the hell out of the flops that you do hit.

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3. Is it always ill advised to try and muscle out pots, when the blinds are low?

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You should do very little if any bluffing in the first few levels. A semi-bluff here and there is ok, but bluffing at the pot with no outs is unwise. Pick your spots very carefully and don't get pot committed unless you want all the chips in the middle.

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5. I have discovered and now assume(at least so far) that coming over the top is not effective against these players at all. Every time I come over the top they make me fend for my whole stack, have you guys found similar patterns and are these assumptions correct?

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A lot of low-level players have looser calling requirements than they do raising requirements. Bizarre? Yes. I think it mostly stems from all the big moves they see on TV which convinces them that your over-the-top raise must be a bluff.

Don't be in the habit of trying to muscle pots with over-the-top-bets. It simply doesn't work at this level. Forget about trying to put fancy moves on your opponents. They don't know enough to read much into your betting patterns and the texture of the board.

So, what do you do? Well, the nice thing is that your decision making process is largely simplified. In the early stages simply play supertight ABC poker and bet your big hands into the doofuses at the table who will call you with marginal holdings.

I do not think that all of the advice you are getting is sound. I started at the $5-6 SnG's and have worked up to $15 and $20.

Lower Levels

Open the betting with A-J+ from any position. If someone opens before you use your head. Don't call all-ins unless you smell desparation. Call reasonable bets that don't give you a bad feeling, you'll be surprised how often you playing K-10+, Q-10+, and even J-10+. Also, at the $5's, 22-77 are raising hands so your going to get a lot more coin-flips even at the early levels. (Not calling reasonable bets with your opponents' range in the $5's is bad poker, IMHO.) How do you know, well observation, patience and learning. You'll get there, I did. (or at least I am getting better at it.) If you have A-J, and are called by three people with worse cards that's not the end of the world, and that's where you stand to make some money.

Flop - at this level, conservative play is better. Opponents aren't observant enough for tricky play to work.

A) Flop hits you with TP or better.

EP - if there are draws on the board, bet the pot, be prepared to call an all-in. Keep your head though, not every $5'er plays bad.

LP - same, if someone bets ahead, it most likely is TPNK or MP very often. They also bet draws a lot, so make sure raise removes their odds. Also, you will see a lot more trips b/c they don't understand you need a lot of limpers for these hands.

If there are no draws, bet less b/c you want some callers, but you have to protect hand!!!

B) Flop misses you - EP it's best to be conservative. LP - why not bet, especially on a ragged board if there are not a lot of callers. Just be careful is all.

At $5, you just have to be used to bad beats, and you have to be very used to the fact that the best cards pre-flop aren't the best after a lot more often. By the way, it's like at the $10, $15, and even $20 a lot too. Confidence in your game and the long-run is all you need.

I'll write more about the higher blind levels later...

[valenzuela]

you are defenetly way too loose early on, ure not really suggesting playing KTo early on, right? You are basically hoping that the guys has 22...yikes!. If thats not what u meant I apologize.

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you are defenetly way too loose early on, ure not really suggesting playing KTo early on, right? You are basically hoping that the guys has 22...yikes!. If thats not what u meant I apologize.

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Is this to me? look like it. I'm not saying open with K-10+ in EP if that's what your asking.

[tigerite]

You shouldn't open K-10 in any position at level 1.

Just play AA-QQ and open shove AK early levels and youll be fine.

[handsome]

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open shove AK early levels and youll be fine.

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Not really...

1) As has been said, AJ and AQ aren't great EP raising hands early in an SNG, as most flops will miss you you'll be out of position. This is especially true of the tiny starting stacks on Party.

2) I, for one, always fire a half pot continuation bet. Always. I feel this makes it impossible to read if the flop hit me or if I have a pocket pair already. I'm going to take the pot down better than 1/3 the time, so the bet turns a profit, plus the times I C-bet a missed flop get me more action for the times I don't miss.

Seriously? Not even if it folds to you in CO?

[tigerite]

Seriously.