18 man SNG advice please.

I'v been playing STT @FT & PS for quite a while, I play pretty tight agg, and have been having some success at the $2 and $5 tables.

I'v decided to take on a new challenge, 18 man SNG, i had played them before but not a great deal usually to try for a Token @ FT.

Now i understand that there may be a slightly diffrent strategy but i'v been playing the same way i play the STT and have found getting to the final table easy enough but getting past the bubble hard, often coming 5th or 6th having to push all in because i'm short stacked. So I suppose I have to chip up before getting to that point.

If anyone plays 18 man SNG and can help me out with a good strategy like when to play tight when to loosen up etc.. I would be most gratefull

"cj"

I play tight until the bubble because there usually are stupid people about to make mistakes. I tend to play some suited connectors more often limping in late pos or raising with them. I once went from the starting stack of 1500 chips to 560 after the 2nd hand and ended winning the PS 18 man sng one hour and a half later because I just grinded it out with premium hands and my table image was very tight. It would get to the point where if I bet when it was top 3 remaining, they would always fold.

when it get down to heads ups play after playing somewhat tight, get ready to loosen up because you may need to steal some blinds just to cover for any future badbeats and raising with any marginal hand might be key to victory, that works for me I don't know whether you can do this because changing you style form TAG to LAG is not an easy task and still play well at the same time.

Thx, so tight is right, not many replies to this post, but i appreciate you taking the time.
Good luck on the tables buddy.

18 man sit and go is a longer game, and you have to modify your game
play according to this kind of game. Since its a longer game, you have
to support longer periods of time at the table first of all, so you should
definitly make yourself comfortable, cause in reality its been proven
that players that are more comfortable and HAPPY tend to play a lot better
than other players due to the lack of distractions and other factors that
may affect your positive gameplay. Other than that there is very little to
say cause the SNGs usually have the same basic strategy. Play tight
but agressive when you have a fair amount of ppl on your table, and
when you have less people on, well, play somewhat more aggressively.

Thank's pokermatch,
Got to the money twice in a row tonight playing my normal game so your probably right, apart from the length of time they take, not much different.
I do notice that there are obviously two bubble's though (final table and ITM) so i do adjust accordingly full table and short handed play.

"cj"

I am not sure the tactics are that different although it is pretty obvious that you need to have at least an average chp stack when you get to the final table to have a reasonable chance. When I play these I tend to be quite aggresive in the first few hands and look to increase my chip stack by 50%. I then tighten up and only play the top hands. However when they come you have to be prepared to play then aggresively. You will lose some but nobody is ever going to cash in them all.

I like the 18 person SNGs. I will usually be very tight for the first round, because that lets a couple of the idiots get out of the way with their early-on all-ins with nothing to just see if they can build up. After the first round, I will usually be pretty aggressive depending on the rest of the tables image. I will then vary my play until the bubble, which is my favorite. I then usually become super-aggressive because all of the low-medium sized stacks tighten up and it is a good time to steal some blinds, but if you face very much aggression from anyone, probably best to get out. After you are in the money, just try to get to that next payout level.