Low level SNG's -- taking a break from the cash game grind

i do have a question though: is consistency possible at this low level? i find myself playing a solid, tight/aggressive game and fairing well up until about half the field has been eliminated. then i usually open up some and try to take down some pots pre-flop, but a lot of the time i get my stack crippled trying.

should i stick with the tight game, or do you think its just a coincidence i go broke when i open up?

i think that by playing smart poker, i should be able to get to the final table of a low SNG on a regular basis, but it is tough because i always find myself shortstacked and all in with stuff i dont really like.

I'm not sure if you've read any of my posts on this lately or not, but I've had, what I consider, good success on the low level SNGs lately. I play tight until heads up at this level and it has really paid off. My last 14 SNGs have had three 1sts, three 4ths and 2 3rds. I had 6 placements straight, then 6 non placements straight on a really bad run, so you can take those for what they are worth, but now that I'm back in the right mind set I have taken money on the last two.

right now i am chip leader at the final table of a 180 player SNG, 4$ buy in...first prize is 214$, and i have twice as many chips as the second person right now... hopefully i can cash in

took second for 144$. i called an all in after my pocket fours flopped an open ended straight flush draw, and my opponents pair of fives beat me lol

great haul!!! I have tried the $4 and just could never get any cards and ended up blinding out.

180 player SnG? Surely that's a MTT??? I always thought a SnG was a Sit N Go single table........

Pokerstars has some awesome SNG action. you should check it out if you haven't

I think the sngs are a great way to build up your bankroll and are alot more fun to play the ring games. I usually play tight and aggresive and usually do ok, I have really been enjoying the DirtyDozzen on Titian. Its cheap only $2.20 and first takes 12. Im probally in the money 60% of the time and if you win 4 in a row there is a 2000 bonus. To bad I have yet to put 2 wins back to back.

Always play tight at the start because you can be sure there will always be at least one person trying to steal with A-# and another calling with K-# and so its best to avoid the maniacs.

In a 6 player game it is rare not to be in the first 3, 10 player game usually top 4 (sometimes 5) so i dont always cash but the majority of the time im either cashing in or bubbling .

They are also good games to try out new ideas you may have read about without costing 'real' money.

IanT

You cannont consistently win. You can go on nice streaks where you avoid other players luck streaks, but eventually the donkeys will luck out and when it starts happening it will come in bunches and frustrate the hell out of you. You'll have people calling down with middle pair only to hit 2 pair or trips on the river. You'll have low pocket pairs calling u down only to to river their set. Flush draws, oh the flush draws of the low level SNG. Dont think you can bet out a flush draw, they're chasing for anything short of an all-in, sometimes they'll go all in on the flush draw, its a 6 dollar sng special. Lets see, gutshot draws, they're seeing the turn at least, open-ended is an all-in candidate. Calling with middle pair and hitting 2 pair or trips on the river is what is going to infuriate you the most though. Happens waaaaaay too much in these games. Just wait till the first couple times your get AK with a flop of AQ4 loses to A6 with a 6 on the river. Then you'll understand my hatred for low level sng's. The donk's will even tell ya "it's only 6 bucks"

I have to agree with the last post. I think its very difficult to win consistent money playing only sitngos at very low limit. I played 5+50 sitngos and multies for about 2 years trying to learn how to become a decent player. I lost quite a bit of money over that time span to the tune of maybe $1000. During that time span I made the money about 33% of the time, including well over 10 final tables in multi tournaments. After leaving the only site I had ever played on pr I started playing 85% low limit cash games( mainly nl/pl) and started working the sign up bonuses. Since then I have been at least a break even player and made about 800 over 3 months. I think being a consistently strong player is a bigger benefit in cash games, and the play at low level sitngos brings in a stronger element of luck to have success. I still play tournaments usually 30 person or up, but will never go back to playing only tournament expecting to win over time.

I have been having great success on the SNG's at Absolute and Poker.com. At Absolute, I am killing everyone at $6 and doing pretty well at $10 and $20.

The best strategy, I think, is as most are posting. Stay tight at the beginning. If you get a big hand, though, be aggressive. Nothing like doubling up at the beginning of a SNG, then having the big stack to either sit on or push people when the time is right.

Above all, as tempting as it is, do not waste your chips chasing down flushes and straights. It is easy to deplete your stack before you even realize it.

The last point about chasing flushes and straights is very true. While mathematically you may be getting the right odds to call them, if there are medium-sized raises, then you may well lose too many chips - if you lose 2/3 of your chips chasing draws, then when you do hit you'll only have about what you started with. To chase draws in a tournament setting, the stakes have to be low enough that the cost of chasing is cheap enough relative to both the pot and your stack. The draws work better as part of a more complete hand.
Also, in a tournament draws can be hands to raise with, because ideally everyone will fold to you and you'll take the pot on a semi-bluff, or you'll hit your hand. Sometimes a small raise will scare off a raise by another player, and allow you to get a cheaper turn card than you would otherwise, too.

Finally, pushing all-in before the flop is a relatively blunt instrument. Probably a better tactic is to make a fair-sized raise before the flop, and then raise the flop. If you can get it heads up for the flop, then the chances are the flop will miss your opponent. If you think it has (regardless of whether you hit your hand), then you want to raise the flop, with a decent-sized bet. 3 low cards is often a good flop for raising without a hand, as can a paired board. The advantage of this play is that you build a decent-sized pot and often get to steal it uncontested. You do need to make sure that you don't put too many of your chips or your opponents on the line - ideally you want to be against someone with less chips than you, with, say 1/4-1/3 of their chips in the pot, because you can then raise enough to scare them off a missed flop, but win a decent pot. It doesn't always work, and can backfire sometimes, but you have to compare the risk factor of this kind of play against pushing all-in pre-flop.