I've been thinking quite a bit about how to improve my play during the middle stages of a SnG when I'm not in a great position with my stack relative to the blinds and other people at the table. For example, let's assume we're playing a micro single-table SnG, there are 5 players left, and we've just begun level IV (50/100). You weren't able to make anything happen during the early levels and so you're sitting with a stack of about 1300, which places you 4th out of 5. You're not yet desperate but you've definitely entered "gotta start making a move" territory.

You get dealt a hand that has some value but is very vulnerable if someone calls your PF push, something like KJ or T9s, and you're UTG. If you sit and wait for premium hands you may quickly find yourself in desperate territory, so you want to try to make a move. But you're reluctant to push with 4 players to act behind you on a vulnerable hand, so instead you decide to make a standard raise to 350 and get one caller (the button). You decide you're going to push the rest of your stack regardless of what comes on the flop (unless you hit a big hand). Similar to the stop-and-go move, the idea is to get a hand that might have been able to beat you in a heads-up race to fold on the flop.

Does this strategy make sense as a means to building your stack when you're in "gotta start making a move" territory? Would it be better if you're in the BB with one limper ahead of you? Do you even need to be OOP in this scenario?

Please comment.

If this happens. There is 850 in the pot and you have 950 left. If you're pushing with nothing, you need to be pushing with your big hands too i would think...

It may sound drastic, but entering this blind level with a 1300 stack, in a SNG.. you're now in push or fold mode.

There is no hand apart from AA or KK (QQ is close I guess, from button or SB), that you want to be entering the pot with a standard raise. All you're doing is inviting one of the big stacks from the blinds to call cheaply, then snap off your push if they hit a pair.

Use what's left of your fold equity to the max.

Even though you're push or fold, you don't need to panic. Personally, my range UTG would be AJs> and 77>. From sb and button, depending how tight the blinds are playing, you can re evaluate from there.

Yeah, I guess you need to if you're going to think about doing this several times but I was thinking more along the lines of once or twice when the opportunity presents itself.

I see a slight variation of that play all the time - someone calls a raise from the blinds with a marginal hand or even random trash with the intention of pushing any flop. I don't think that is a profitable play.

Yeah, but if you get heads-up against someone with non-pair cards, 2/3 of the time the flop will miss them. So they would be more likely to fold to a big bet on the flop when they've missed than they would be to fold to a slightly larger push PF. For example, suppose I'm holding JTs and the bigstack BB is holding A9. If I push, there is a half-decent chance he'll call my push (I forgot to specify in my OP that we're talking about micro SnGs) and I'll find myself on the bad end of a coinflip for all my chips. But if I raise and he calls (he's not likely to reraise here, but if he does I might as well push back anyway) and the flop misses both of us, I'm more likely to get him to fold to a bet of 950 on the flop when all he's holding is A-high with 2 cards to come.

This variation you mention is exactly the stop-and-go, which is why I referred to my post as a variation on the stop-and-go. Under the right circumstances the stop-and-go is considered a very viable strategy.

If your hand is not good enough to shove, then it's best to fold it, especially UTG like this. When I'm in this situation, I'm looking for either a near-premium hand, OR a really good situation to push. The ideal situation is an opportunity to open the pot with a shove, and the BB is a stack small enough for you to hurt, but big enough to discourage other largish stacks from flat calling you. If they have a habit of folding to shoves, even better.

It's less about cards at this point, and more about stacks, position, and action.

So are you saying that you don't think the stop-and-go (or anything similar, like I'm suggesting) is ever a viable strategy? Or are you saying that this just isn't the right time for such a move?

The approach you describe (waiting for near-premium hands or good pushing spots) is exactly how I play now, and why I often find my stack shrinking to the point of desperation at this stage in the game. What I'm trying to do is figure out if there is a strategy I can employ with less than near-premium hands to build my stack a bit. Although I am open-minded enough to admit that perhaps I'm not taking advantage of pushing opportunities when I should.

It's usable under the right conditions. I use it but not often.