Full Tilt (9 handed) Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

Early so no reads.
Just read SnG strategy by Colin Moshman. Have not played SnG's for about a year, so not my strong suit. He talks about not committing too much PF with AK in the low blind levels unless the pot is large which is why I smooth call the min-raise rather than re-raise, but based on my position I wonder if this just sucks or I'm missing the point.

MP3 is in a good position to raise with 2 callers behind him to a min-raise so I don't know if I should give him too much credit for a super strong hand, but then again no reads. UTG calling screams small to mid pockets or AJ/AQ.

A friend of mine contends that I only have 80 invested and it's early in the SnG so just fold, but that doesn't seem right to me. Calling sucks and I don't know what I could re-raise with a 1300c stack that would be optimal. With 910 in the pot is it wrong for me to just shove and try to isolate a possible coin flip?

Seat 1: (1,395)
Seat 2: UTG (1,230)
Seat 3: Longshottwelve (1,425)
Seat 4: (1,425)
Seat 5: MP2 (1,500)
Seat 6: MP3 (1,815)
Seat 7: (1,875)
Seat 8: (1,290)
Seat 9: (1,545)
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , . SB posts a blind of 20.
UTG raises (80), Hero calls (80), 1 fold, MP2 calls (80), MP3 raises (345), 4 folds, UTG calls (265), Tot. Pot= (910) Hero raises 1345 (All-In)....

This is a hard spot. If you take too many flips playing sngs, you'll never make money, especially if you get in the habit of making those flips early, when losing will have you knocked out in 9th. You might not even be flipping in this case. You could be facing AA or KK.

I probably fold, if I'm playing well. In my experience, playing super tight early in SNGs pays off.

You can call and if you spike a good flop, shove it, otherwise you can safely fold and still have enough chips to continue playing.

You can shove, but you're most likely facing 99+ or AK. And if it's AA or KK, you're in a LOT of trouble. The likely range is JJ-AA. Plus, you may be facing two opponents even if you shove.

I think I like folding best.

Raise to 250 to isolate, fold to action behind you. Flatting here is an invitation for the whole table to outflop you. Moderate aggression is more likely to keep the pot small than passive play, because with mutiple callers the pot gets as big or bigger, but flop bets will be larger because you need to bet more to protect a hand the more callers there are.


Edit: I didnt say anything about what to do with the hand as played because I knew AimHigher was going to nail it after me.

I really hate, "I only have 80 invested" as a reason to fold. I think it's more of an excuse than a reason.

Like it says in SNG strategy on the section about equity, if you start flipping early in SNGs the people who gain the most equity from you doing this is the other 7 players not involved in the hand. The chip advantage you receive does not make up for the times you are out because the 1500 extra chips you receive do not have the same value as the 1500 chips you start with. While we're probably not flipping, the general concept still stands.

I do prefer a fold after the 3 bet because:

- We are behind MP3's range
- UTG is likely holding some of our outs.
- We have bad implied odds (when he hit an A or a K, we're not getting paid by the times he has an underpair)
- We have bad reverse implied odds (when we hit an A or a K, we may end up stacking off against an overpair or a set of aces/kings)
- If we shove, we are getting it in bad against his range.
- We are OOP against a guy 3 betting an UTG raiser and a MP caller.

I call the pf raise as you did but fold to the reraise. Im not getting it in this early without QQ+. There is some special cases with AK/JJ like if the reraiser is on tilt or if you know he raises trash here.

This early and the blinds so small, Copernicus is right about inviting more into the pot with a flat call and with AK I don't want the btn calling with 78s or the like (something I would do with that like from that position if cheap enough). Had Hero re-r to 240 and then got re-r again by MP3 there would be no question as to folding for all the reasons given by Aimhigher.

Aimhigher = "Like it says in SNG strategy on the section about equity"

Where is this exactly - I'd like to read the whole thing or are you talking about a booK?

Pretty sure AH is referring to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sit-Go-Strategy-Coll...n/dp/1880685396

I think it's packed with important information for anybody who plays SnG's. Even if a lot of it is review.

OK - thanks