I agree with small ball play but in low limit $10 sit n gos players view the 2.5 time raise to be weak and play any thing and there is almost no fold equity. Probably because the raise is so small in relation to their stack. My results have sky rocketed at these once i started to play nit like tight poker and come in for ridiculous amounts to the blinds in the 10/ 20 and 15/30 level because they pay off a good hand everytime And if they miss i actually have fold equity. I raise to 120 everyhand I enter with until the blinds are 25/50 then i go into small ball mode and raise alot of hands 2.5 times and really start playing. What are your thoughts on this strategy. The advantages in my opinion are for players that actually pay attention you have a good image because you can only raise 6x the blind in the early stages with very few hands. Idiots pay you off so you go into later stages with a good lead. and you still are not risking that much of your stack , its alot more than small ball but its not that much and when you do, you have the goods. So what are your opinions on this?

yea you have to put in bigger raises in the early rounds of these if you dont want the whole table calling. 4xBB is usually pretty good for the first few levels, and scale it back as you go. just whatever suits for the people your playing against

Starting off really tight is the way to go. Even crappy players manage to watch their opponents a little at single table tournies, so the tightness will be noticed. takes them a while to catch on when you step up the agression later.

It's not worth stealing blinds early on, only play PP's and maybe A-J+ in mid-late position, then turn into pushbot later on when the blinds are are good %age of your stack

There's a good CR video of ActionJeff playing a $20 and $200 SNG. At the $6.50 and $16 level, FWIW, I've seen really loose play and people who call with any suited cards PF when blinds are low. I normally play only AQs+ and 1010+ before the blinds get high enough to merit stealing. IMO, tight early is still best.

I'd like to see that. Adam Junglen's done 1 vid on a 11$sng but it was his first ever vid, so doesn't have as much info as his others do, i'd like to see more to see how he deals with other situations.

I just bummed out in 7th and that was at the 100/200 level and that's not uncommon... :s

i used to d four early but my fold equity still was pretty low. The players at these play blind, mostly just worrying about what they have, Thats why I started to rase 6x in the early staage with premium cards and 4x in the second stage with big hands. And also when they call you have the goods so you build a nice pot and usuall take it down after one 1/2 size pot bet. And if you raise with AK suited and c-bet and they call you are still around 1300 in chips. Also if you wake up with KK or AA and they catch a piece you will get al their chips. I had a shove into me with AA on the A45 rainbow board. He had K3

Then why even mention it in a 1 table Sng post?

Yeh, from what i've seen - low level turbo SnG's aren't poker, they're retarded fold/pushbots

I was planning to grind them but in all honesty they're mind numbing, at least with micro cash you still get to play a flop and there's some semblance of poker involved..... I just wish PokerVT would sort out their micro stakes cash vids as i'm gagging to get my basics sorted and they're no help

just wanted to hear othes opinions thats all

Micro stakes cash NLHE...now that's mind-numbing.

Quite probably, but it's got to be better than

foldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfoldfold

AllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllInAllIn

At least there's an element of basics of poker.....well i'm hoping enough to keep me entertained anyhoo

Sit N Goes are a completely different form of poker (some suggest they aren't poker at all, and I agree to some extent).

Raising so much preflop early is not a good strategy. Your goal is to preserve your chips until the bubble. Because there is a set number of chips on the table, and 5-3-2 payouts (%'s), there is a "correct" strategy when playing sit n goes. As Daniel calls it "small ball" is a great way to amass a big stack, but what you're trying to accomplish in SNG's, is to make the money when 4 players are left. Therefore, it becomes a more profitable strategy to be patient early, (set mine etc), and be more aggressive later, (when there's actually something worth winning in the pot).

Of course hand ranges (of both you and your opponents) change depending on your opponents, buyin's, and structure.


Oh god, what I have done. I gotta goto sleep, but think I'd rather post it now and maybe get back to it later than paste it into a word processor and forget about it (along with tons of other stuff I never got back to).

Thanks for posting on here Adam, you kind of just put my instinct into words but do you think my over raises in early stages with AK, AA-10 10 are ok, or am I risking too much. I have noticed that with out the overaise in early stages fold equity is non existent and with the overbet their hand has to hit just right to play at me. That way even when my AK misses I can continuation bet and if they call oh well i still have plenty of play in my stack still. If all goes well I end up playing 2 or 3 pots with premium hands and get up t 2500 or 3000 in chipsI also limp with Ax suited and any PP and Play for a set or flush.

P.S. I am getting Poker VT this week I am pretty stoked

With premium hands how much would you suggest raising. The only thing I dont like in an early stage is If I wait for a big hand and pick up AA or KK if I only raise 3x the blind you have to outflop 4 or 5 players so thats where my dilemma is and why I started to over raise . Any input would appreciated

I think it's wise to play tight, just don't forget that there are people that will call huge bets with mediocore hands. You can capitalize on these folks when you catch something...some people forget to do this

If you're playing lower limits where people love to see flops, then you do need to make bigger raises early with your big hands. I'll usually open-raise 5BB with QQ-AA. Also remember to add 1BB for each limper in front of you. So if blinds are 10/20 and there are 2 limpers in front, you should be raising to at least 120 or 140 with big pairs.

In the early stages I'm playing pairs like TT cautiously, and even JJ sometimes too. You don't want to bloat the pot early with hands that can cause you trouble postflop.

I experienced the same thing. Unless you raise by 5 times the BB nobody will fold. That's a problem with the Sit'N Go's

It's not really a problem, it's just something you have to adapt to. It's annoying when you have to commit more chips than you would like to but it also enables you to accumulate more chips when things work out in your favor.

I have adopted your sit n go strategy completly but I started to open up 4x in early stages with AA-JJ. Just becaue early I dont want to play post flop I would rather just get it in with these hands. Its hard with JJ and QQ though but I have improved my ROI 2%. How would you say to play hands like AK and AQs early on. Ill open up 4x in LP if the blinds arent too loose.

As you get more comfortable with post-flop play you should adapt this. I dont know the play at micro-stakes, but in the $20+ range you have some edge with a "nit until and then push on the bubble" strategy, but a lot of players at those levels understand that part of SnGs well enough. Where you pick up additional edge is in the early rounds with a more varied "deep" stack strategy, and you can still stack players with sets and you can still go broke overplaying big pairs.

i am pretty sure that you are waaay off

No, that's pretty standard for low stakes tourney play. There's nothing more annoying than raising 3BB with something like QQ and ending up with 3 or 4 callers. You don't want to bloat the pot unnecessarily, but you do have to drive out the junk that people will play.

Actually I am very comfortable with postflop play in any form of holdem but STT's because I know the value of saving chips for the end stages. In a cash game or MTT where its deeper stacks usually I thrive postflop. Its just i feel torn Do I cbet with AK on the J73 board when I feel I am going to get called anyway because he is so so loose.I dont know whether to save my chips or be aggressive and take the pot in the early stages. Late stages are easy My hand vs. his range my stack size and other players stack size and the variables that come with it.