advise on SNGs

I am always comming in 4th place in SNGs no matter what level i play

Can someone please give me some advise how to over come this and get in the top 3.

I am a TAG player and always do well up to 4 players left then everything goes wrong and i am out on the button almost everytime.

How should I play once there are 4 players left.

Thanks

TAG is the right approach early in SnG's. Open up youre game as the blinds increase and attack the Players you can tell are just trying to make it to third place.

let the really bad players donk their chips off in the first few hands and then play tight until there are about five people left then as nc says you have to open up your range of hands and play a few more pots otherwise you will bubble which is a terrible feeling coming from someone who has done it often

TAG is the right approach early, later when the blinds are higher u want to be LAG stealing those chips they play a key point in serving the blinds . Opening ur play later will most defintly help u .

there are a whole host of reasons you could be bubbling often.

- are you overly loose with a big stack? do you get into too many hands with other big stacks shorthanded? put pressure on the smaller stacks or just sit on your chips for a while if the hands and situations don't come.

- are you playing too tight and getting blinded down to <5bb before making a move? between 5 and 10bbs you can shove pretty much anything from the SB if folded to and a wide range of hands from the button too. if you're folding too much in these spots you're risking dropping below 5bbs and losing any fold equity your shoves have (because shoves for <5bbs are giving people, especially the BB, good pot odds to call)

- are you calling too loosely on the bubble? if there's any doubt in your mind about a call or fold bubble decision, the vast majority of the time folding is correct unless youre some kind of ubernit.

- once blinds hit 50/100 (given the standard Stars/FT structure of 1500 starting chips) it's invariably never correct to limp, so don't do it. once they're 100/200 with an ante i'd go so far as saying you should never limp ever unless you're SB in a multiway pot with a nice speculative hand

Late game SNGs are all about timing. There's also a lot of luck involved, for instance if the BB and SB keep getting dealt hands when you're trying to steal. Also, the type of players to your left are going to have a huge impact on your late-game style. If you get stuck with a couple calling stations behind you, then you have to just wait for hands.

Unlike early in a SNG, where you are trying to avoid coinflips, the addition of ante and the rising blinds means that you shouldn't be afraid to get your money in on a 50/50, especially if you're short. Yes, occasionally you'll run into a big hand, but you'll also have some fold equity if you're the one doing the raising.

Of course, this means that some players will start trapping at this stage, so be wary of limpers and min-betters. Hopefully, by the time you reach the final table, you have a good idea how 70%+ of the table plays. If you know who you can steal from, it makes it that much easier.

And don't give up. I was in last place when I hit the final table in a 45-man game today. I ended up winning the thing, mostly thanks to some well-timed aggression after we hit the money.

Thank you for all your advise it really helps me.

I know you are right and ihave got to play more hands when there are 4 or 5 players left or when the blinds go up in MTT

The big problem i have is what hands to play. I always play the wrong hands at the wrong time espeshly in MTT when the blinds are high, even when I have a average to above ave stack.

I know pos is inpotant but what range of hands should i play.

Thank you all for helping me and i hope this will save me from having to keep reloading.

Keep notes on your opponents. Solid Starting hands should be used against the Tight Solid player where a more range of starting hands can be used (and raised or reraised) against the guy that's in nearly every pot.

A great book on the sng's is "Sit and Go Strategy" by Colin Moshman

I just want to thank everyone who posted with advise.

I just come 2nd in 2nd in a $5.50 MTT 45 player SNG

I took in everything you said and it worked.

Thank You

nice job.
good timed positional aggression when the blinds get larger are a big key to winning sng's.

keep working on the single tables, much less variance than the 45 people. start crushing those then move up to more tables.

play ur normal game play is postion and play the good hands is postion if u get ur money in with the best hand what more can u do ??? ............

nice suggestion,i am tag player also.and i often ending 4th.now i'll try different method.

If you need some help, PM me or IM me. I'm a generally successful SnG player and can help you fix a few loose screws in your game. I can show you my graphs if you want also. I can analyze your play by watchin you, and you can watch me play in my sessions. Like I said, just contact me if you're interested.

Just took another 2nd place in a $5.50 45 player SNG

Just got 2 2nd places in 1 table SNGs

This post helped other members of cardchat as well. Thanks! I was having some of the same problems. Get to the final table just to be the first or second one out. Thanks again and good luck.

Played another 2 $5,50 1 tablbe SNGs Got 2nd & 3rd.

Played 4 SNGs today so far, 3 2nd places and 1 3rd place

Playing on the bubble is not easy especially if you are short stacked. If I am in that situation I play very tight and do not bet on any hands that I am not prepared to see through. If someone calls my hand needs to be good enough to go all in. If I do get a good hand then I do play it big and do not hold back. I have found that I have won more than I have lost like this.

Howard Lederer made a nice post on FT's advice section about his strategy in 9 handed SNG's, you should check it out:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.net/pro-tip/HowardLederer/168

Wow, tely good job. Its one of those things. If you are to tight to play and let the chips fly then the antes and blinds plus the preflop raises every hand will put you out quick; when you are down to the bubble in low player sng's. Sounds like u got it figured out though. I hate bubbling out and will go out of my way to cash when its close.

Now bigger field mtt where a large number of people will cash you might hold off and sit on the bubble. However, most payout structures in big mtt's you basically get your money back or double until you reach the final table. So being agressive close to the bubble there has its advantages as well. Nonetheless, you can't win if you don't have any chips. keep making money.

Good luck in sngs