STT SNG: Villain goes all in every hand (heads up)

I was playing the $1.20 regular sng on stars. When we were on the bubble and 3 handed, this guy on my right is very tight always folds his sb, giving me walks almost all the time. And about once every 10 hands, he would shove all in even though he has 20bb. Whenever he enters the pot he shoves.

So the other guys got eliminated and me and this guy was playing heads up. I had around 4k and he had 8k and blinds were 100/200 with 25 ante. He shoved every hand.

How would you adjust to someone like that?

Call with any of the top 30% starting hands. The blinds are only 100/200 so you can afford to hold out for about 6 hands before being short stacked. I call with any 30% or better hand. If I get down to 2k I call with any 50% or better and with 1k any 30% or better.

That's pretty much it. If you've got a pretty nice hand, but one that you wouldn't normally call off with, now you call off with it. Because you're not in a normal situation now.

I start calling really light when my HU opponent turns into a maniac. If I have 1/3 of the chips as you did, I probably call with any Ax or Kx. If I was a lot lighter, I'd probably call with Jx or better in my hand.

If you start waiting for premium hands with blinds that high, you are losing an average of 175/hand...after 10 hands of no premium hands, your double up will only get you back where you are right now, and even then, it might not hold up.

HU with this guy any a2+ any pair any K8+ any two broadways+

Ever ask yourself why someone would do that?

When I was playing, I just thought he doesn't want to play post flop. So any hands he thinks is playable he would just shove pre.

Yes, but you're missing the point. When you have 15 big blinds or less, it isn't worth the risk to play postflop. You don't have enough chips to raise preflop, and then fold postflop. And on top of that, winning the blinds adds a significant portion to your stack (10%).

All of this adds up to mean one thing: If you play a pot with 15 big blinds or less in a sit & go, you should just go all in preflop, even if this means open shoving your stack in.

This is basic sit & go strategy, and is covered in any basic text on No Limit tournaments.

Example 1
Example 2


Now, its not correct to shove every hand when you get to heads up, and there are charts known as Nash Equilibrium Push/Fold charts (yes, Nash Equilibrium is the same guy on the Beautiful Mind movie) that tell you which hands to shove in relation to your stack size. However, the correct all in shoving range is a lot wider than you'd think.

Nash Equilbrium Push/Fold Chart

So yeah, your shove-happy opponent was probably playing the Sit & Go better than you were, without you realizing it.

i h8 and love players like that because gives you a chance to call with a good starting hand ie ak aq aa jj kk so on but when i do call usaly always get donked out so annoying i recon all the guy was thinking what the heck im in the money f**k it i us2 be like like that but then learnt that whats the point in playing like a complete fool and try make some dollar

Don't go on tilt. I used to see those as a challenge. To see if I can be patient enough and make the right decision; wait the for right hand (+EV) and call. Look at it as an opportunity to refine one of your poker skills....patience.

All it will take is one call to grab his chips... make it a good one Gotta love poker