best strategy for nl sit n goes?

[slappy110 0]

ive been playing a lot of sit n go tourneys lately and have found that the limit tourneys are easier...(in fact i just posted another thread about this) but for some reason, ive been having trouble finding and making the right adjustments for the no limit tourneys, i mean, i feel that in a real live tourney where the structure of the blinds go up very gradually i believe i would do quite well. When ever i play the multi tables sit n goes, i almost always get to the final table and in the top 7...but there is where i encounter a problem...ive only increased my stack from the original 1000 to in most cases around 1800 because im on the more conservative side....and then for me its a crapshoot because by then i just have to find the hand to go with and push...??? i hear of people talk about all their successes in these sng tourneys, but my success has been rather limited due to the fact that im mostly just tossin dice once in the final 7 or so...any thoughts or comments on how to play these things...ive tried a couple different approaces:1) first i tried the idea of playin only premium hands and pushing them real hard with the theory that they'll get paid off because of peoples tendencies in theses things to get over aggressive and call all in's with marginal holdings (ie. wait around a few levels, pick up kk and push, get called by A8 and double up...) that was one approach...but i found for the single table events this wasn't a good strategy because the tourneys are usually over in the first 80 hands and you really might find yourself with just 2 maybe 3 premiums that don't even get paid... so then i tried...2) play tight early on, but in later rounds, if i have position and theres no raise, take a flop with almost any two cards...this approach worked a little bit better and i would pick up a lot of small but meaningful pots...until you get into with the idiot who doesn't raise pf with QQ, you limp with QT and hit your top pair Q's...Any comments on how you think the best way to play these things are? and if so, how successful at sng's are you?

[AndrewBlack 0]

he's an idiot for watching you play VERY loose and trapping you with QQ.... did I miss something?

[tskillz187 0]

play tight early on, let the first 3-5 pple knock themselves out, pick up the pots that your cards let you, then about 35-40 mins you need to try and steal blinds to stay afloat, keep stealing them and when called preflop make a 2/3ish pot size bet and hope to take it down, if they come over the top and you have nothing drop it. Keep that up till you can get a premium hand and try to get it all in preflop. Make sure not to get into the habit of trying to knock everyone out when you have a chip lead, hang onto your chips and steal the blinds, no reason to try and be the hero to knock out the guy on the bubble. I just try to stay alive and steal blinds over and over, I can sense this getting redundant but its crucial, you can drop many marginal hands to avoid battles because of the blind stealing technique, then it should be less of a crapshoot. hope it helps.

[Graphic_V 0]

I tighten up through level three unless a monster comes up and then start pushing. I have a 51% win ratio which can be verified through the poker prophecy. As far has getting trapped with the queens, I can't believe you even brought that up!

[tskillz187 0]

51% 1st place or cash? If those are 1sts that's amazing! What level sit n gos do you play?

[BigDMcGee 3,367]

see as many cheap flops as you can the first couple rounds, and try and double up.. this means seeing cheap flops with small pocket pairs, suited connecters, ect. Then tighten way up... there will be crazy people making over strong all in bets and such... stay out of all this fracus... if you happen upon a big hand, push it very hard. otherwise, save your chips... = usaully the crazies will be all sorted out by the time it's down to five people... now is the time to be very aggressive. You've been tight before this point, so you should have some good points for table image... be willing to go all in pre flop to steal blinds.. be prepared to resteal if you think someone is making a weak button raise.... push push push... people try and hand around for third, but third isn't what you want, first is.. so this is the time to get the chips for first... then, as the blinds get prohibitivly big, you'll just be going all in alot, especially when it's down to 3 handed and heads up... don't be afraid to gamble, you can't really wait for a good hand.. hopefullly you've gotten chips by this time, so you can servive going all in.. and be sure to attack the short stacks at all points in the tourney...

[Graphic_V 0]

That is 51% counting first through third. I am not using this to brag, just to show that I am not a no playing/no winning poster

[Graphic_V 0]

The levels I play are $10-$55 usually no higher. Like I said I don't claim to be a pro but I seem to be proficient at those levels.

[strategy 4]

I play a very simple strategy that works very well for me.In the first few rounds, only play AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or AK. I am either all in preflop taking the 4-5 limpers out of the pot, or limping in. If I don't get raised when I limp, I only go further with the hand if it's an ultra-safe board and I don't sense huge strength somewhere else. It's very easy to let go of two aces if you don't have any money in the pot.In the later rounds, I play the blind stealing game. All I can tell you is that experience will give you a good idea of who to steal from, when to steal, and how to steal with great accuracy. If you get caught twice, it's time to stop stealing and just go with any hand you can find.The trick to winning those is changing gears when it's appropriate. When it gets down to the bubble, you open up and take the blinds. When you get into the money, stop the aggression and let the people who are hypnotized by their $4 profit knock themselves out.It's very hard to find a sit and go with a really gradual structure (or a tournament, for that matter) unless you want to pay a huge buyin.I think you're on the right track, just get experience with stealing and you'll be set. Tight play is generally correct.

[slappy110 0]

it all sounds pretty good. Thanks for all the input and advice...i'll mess around with them all and try to figure out which works best for me...i guess it depends on the table make up too... :? bigdmagee...i like the sound of your approach a lot, but i must say it sounds a little unconventional...that is playing relatively loose early on THEN tightening up...i have just a couple questions: if early on you haven't managed to double up, and you're around even, are you then playing aggressively to pick up blinds as opposed to playing tightly? I totally agree with the crazy part of everyone getting really anxious and what not..but i also know that you have to pick up blinds to survive so i was wondering how you approached this problem...also how successful have you been at the tourneys if you don't mind me asking..im jus curious to get a feel onto what the best strategy to take in these things are...

[BigDMcGee 3,367]

it all sounds pretty good. Thanks for all the input and advice...i'll mess around with them all and try to figure out which works best for me...i guess it depends on the table make up too... :? bigdmagee...i like the sound of your approach a lot, but i must say it sounds a little unconventional...that is playing relatively loose early on THEN tightening up...i have just a couple questions: if early on you haven't managed to double up, and you're around even, are you then playing aggressively to pick up blinds as opposed to playing tightly? I totally agree with the crazy part of everyone getting really anxious and what not..but i also know that you have to pick up blinds to survive so i was wondering how you approached this problem...also how successful have you been at the tourneys if you don't mind me asking..im jus curious to get a feel onto what the best strategy to take in these things are...

When the blinds get steal in relation to your chip count, then start stealing them.. this is, onthe games I play in (1000 starting chip) the 100 chip level, usually, sometimes before that if i'm really short chipped. The reason you play lose at the beginning is that you really are giving up great odds on doubling up if you don't. For example, lets so some fool has AA, and the blinds are 5-10, and he raises it to like 30 or 40. Well, you call that with something like 33 quick. Your odds are 7 1/2 to one on flopping a set, but if you bust him if you flop a three, your implied odds are like 20 to 1. Because, let me assure you, you will bust AA. Rare is the man who will let a big hand go in a sit a go tourniment. but once the raises get bigger, once the blinds get bigger, say 20-40 blinds, and opeing raises are in the 80 to 160 range, then your implied odds start getting screwed up, and you don't want to make those calls.

[slappy110 0]

ok well that makes a lot of sense...ill try it out and let you know it goes!! thanks for the advice!