Collin Moshman on Beating Low-Stakes SNGs (video)

We're loving Collin's breakdowns of our strategy articles, and there's no better one for Collin to go through than our "Beating Low-Stakes SNGs", since he is our resident SNG poker expert!

In this video Collin goes over everything you need to know to beat the SNG. From early game to late game strategy, it's all here. Watch the video and let us know your strategies for SNG poker, or what you learned from watching.

Some great tips! If an of you have questions for Collin on this I know he will be happy to answer them.

These are the advice of our friend Colling Moshman

• Raise your strongs hands fou value during the early game

It is a great advice, following this advice avoids mistakes when playing a hand

• Position is crucial for playing pots

It is always very good to have the initiative in the game, is also to have advantage

• Be selective entering hands in the middle stages

This advice also seems very good, especially when the tournament is at a very advanced stage

• Shove wide in the late game

Following this advice would help you win chips to shy players

• Play many hands after bubble has burs

Very good !! So we would take the opportunity to win chips to players who desperately want to win chips with speculative hands

- Play valuable hands more often against weaker players, especially hands that have the potential to win a lot of chips.
- Be selective as you go through the blinds, and often adapt to the scenarios.

- Position is important for playing pots and especially big pots, evaluate the depth of the stacks and also the positions of the players.
- It's always great to have the initiative in the game, it's also to have a range advantage when opening and still being aggressive.

We can try to explore moments when players feel pressure and so we adjust our range to the table we are at.

Thank you very much for the video, right now I am playing sits and go at 888poker, and this video has helped me a lot.
The main advice that has helped me the most, is to be more aggressive in the advanced stages, to take advantage.

Good video but it all the advice is just general advice that can be applied to just about any game. Hand selection, playing in position, ect. are always good strategies. I thought it could go further, like: players tend to tighten up leading up to the bubble and it is a good place to get aggressive and pick up chips from the tight players to strengthen your position for when the bubble does burst and give you a better opportunity to win.

I really didn't learn anything new from the video, but I could see how it would be valuable for those who are new to the game.

It's always good to get a mentorship from an expert and someone who understands the subject. I just hope that i can put this theory in practice for better results in my games.

Thanks Tammy! Great comments/notes so far from everyone -- really glad you guys are enjoying this video!

Like Debi said, if anybody has questions, please feel free to ask right here in this thread -- or anything else in the that Katie and I are doing


And XOneCoolHand, I definitely appreciate your feedback as well, and I'd be happy to talk with CardsChat about making a slightly more advanced video that's specific to 9-man strategy as part of our upcoming content.

Thank you, this video is a good opportunity to recall the basics of the SNG and MTT tournament, as well as the advantages of the position at the table. When I watched this video, I remembered how I readed Your book.

Difficult to disagree with any of this. The first advice about using staggered bet sizing preflop like limping with baby pairs and overraising with very strong hands can work well in very soft games, so I guess, it depend, what you mean by "low stakes".

At 1$ or lower traditional 6 or 9 man SnGs are indeed very soft, but from around 3$ and up maybe there is one of two soft players at a 9 man table, and then the rest will be grinders of some variety. And the grinders will for sure understand, what it mean, if you suddenly limp or raise to 5BB first to act.

All in all these traditional one table SnGs are my least favourite kind of poker. They are nice for practicing your final table play or for just chilling out now and then, but its difficult to find enough edge to beat the rake in the long run, and for grinders the lack of scheduled breaks is a big drawback.

Thanks Tenek!

Fundiver, for sure varying pre-flop play like that based on hand strength is a very exploitive approach. At reggy tables, I agree it's usually best to play all hands in your range the same way. I also agree that scheduled breaks would be nice!

I think it's very doable to beat the rake in 9man SNG in micro and low-stakes games, or higher than that with a little table selection. If you prefer grinding other formats I understand that! But for me they're one of my absolute favorite to play.

To be honest I have not played enough single table SnGs to say for sure, what my winrate is. I had a period of a few month, where I tried to make it my main game format, mostly because I was tired of cash games and dont have time to play big tournaments on week days. I think, I played around 200 of them at limits from 3,5$ to 7$ on Stars, and it was about a wash. But so is cash games sometimes over just 10.000 hands, or whatever 200 SnGs amount to.

There are two things about the game format, I find annoying. The first is the rake structure on Stars, where you pay 31c for a 45 man 3,5$ SnG, but if you play a 9 man 3,5$ SnG, they charge you 39c. So you pay more rake for a faster structure with less upside potential. To me that is just bizarre.

The other thing is the lack of breaks, which make it very inconvenient to mix MTTs and SnGs in the same session. When the MTTs are on break, the SnGs are still running, and when the SnGs are finished, the MTTs are not on break, so you never to rest or make a pee. Without these issues I would for sure by playing more single table SnGs.

Yep - he gave us what we asked for.

We can get a more advanced ones - I have an idea I need to work out in my brain.

It is worth paying a little more attention to adjusting to the particular style of players, especially at low limits, where many do not have strong knowledge of the strategy of playing in SnG. This is especially important to consider when playing freely and partly bluffs, from a late position.

However, I often play not quite standard SnGs, but I prefer to play DoN tournaments, where the strategy is somewhat different.

Great and critical tips for the sit n go tournaments. If they are included in the player`s strategy, things get much more simple!

I have Collin's SNG book. Excellent for improving your game and eliminating leaks.
His input on Cardschat, is appreciated.

In the distant past for PokerStars was such an action as battle of the planets, after a certain number of tournaments to mine 100 out of 20 of your best results, tournaments 27;18;9 max. Oh, how would have helped me at that time a 4 minute video, but in my case all of this knowledge came through blood sweat and tears))). Great video is briefly clear and to the point.

very good video, excellent, you learn a lot from these things, and I think that as members of this forum we must also show our strategies, if you learn to see others showing their skills in Sit & go, I am 9 player or 18 player turbo, and I think that one of the best ways to know how to play it is to be somewhat aggressive with premium cards and study the players since in these sit & go you will always see the same player

TY for the video!
It'g great that CC brought some great players to vids like these.
Does make me wonder thou, will it make player poole a bits stronger thoug?
And that stuff abaout bubble play... that=жэы some gold mine there! the amount "ill guess i'll se the flop" plays you can see some times =))
TY agian

Thanks Asedu, Ivansito26, Syltan, Okeedokalee, and Makisaa -- really appreciate these nice words on the video!

Andrew Popov, nice point -- I definitely agree that exploitive play is very important in low-stakes SNGs, both DoN and standard payout structures.

Very good video.

I would say that raising the monsters and other strong hands early in the game is the most crucial advice for getting good at the low stakes SnGs. But also shoving wide after the bubble. SnGs are the first poker format I played back in 2011 on play money tables.....awesome days....!!

I would like to see more videos from Collin Moshman.

Thanks Luvart!

I really agree on shoving wide after the bubble being vital to winrate and a good finish distribution. The only exception is when your opponents are maniacs who call much too wide even on the bubble. But usually this is a great skill to have in the late game!

Inspired by this thread I decided to give the SnGs at 888 poker a shot, and it has not exactly warmed my heart to the game format. I mainly played the 3$ variety, and after entering 26 of these, I have only cashed in 5 for an appallingly bad ROI of negative 51%.

I know, I know, small sample. But honestly next after Spin n Gos or simply lighting a match, SnGs are the fastest way to burn up your bankroll. They are just an endless series of coolers and bad beats mostly in all-in preflop pots, and because they are so fast, you end up buying into one after another. End of rant

Hello very good video. well explained and managing several important concepts to improve the game Sit and Go. Very good advice to achieve win in a tournament of this format. I will apply my game to improve.

many good practical points made

• Raise your strong hands for value during the early game

this is usually my plays until I feel I have seen some hands played from the opponents I'm facing

• Position is crucial for playing pot

As heard and read by many pro's, this is so crucial to winning and growing ur game

• Be selective entering hands in the middle stages

I often become more aggressive in the mid-stage knowing the weaker players who will fold and more so the oh so loose players trying to steal, its good to build my stack here

• Shove wide in the late game

have played here many times and find many will fold or limp in to reach the money. A great time to add chips but I don't go overboard, so easy to lose a lot also

• Play many hands after the bubble has burst

depending on my stack, I will play much wider and more hands if I am the bigger stack on my table. If I have the smaller stack I often play stronger hands and shove them. l
Limping with a small stack will always see a shove hoping you will fold

• Raise your strong hands for value during the early game

always with good hand early in a game to increase the pot is a board om

• Position is crucial for playing pot

rather it should be played in a position that is favorable to you

• Be selective entering hands in the middle stages

in the intermediate phase I try to play against players with less aggressive but I stack

• Shove wide in the late game

Good advice, I will do this to get more achievement

• Play many hands after the bubble has burst

I understood then play but hand during the bubble and also take advantage of if you have a good stack to force players with little stack

• Raise your strongs hands for value during the early game

If at the beginning of the game , I don't always raise those hands , but it is smart to try and raise and get more chips in the pot for a bigger win.

• Position is crucial for playing pots

True , then again when the software is going for you online , position doesn't seem to matter !

• Be selective entering hands in the middle stages

I agree , unless you have a honking pile of chips , you can call/raise bout anything. If you are low on chips - yes , it is wise to be selective.

• Shove wide in the late game

Again , this would depend on how the cards have been flopping out for me , I try to pay attention to how they are falling out .

• Play many hands after bubble has burst

Good advice, even for the spin and go's which I play a lot of

• Table selection is vital

Yes , it is vital, except sometimes we don't have a choice , online you get changed to tables that aren't the best .

Great points,and a good list for the not to experienced players that want to get started !

Great tips and advice. I find its the lower stakes that are harder to win because of very loose players. Great job.

I did not have any strategy to play Low-Stakes SNGs.
I will try to apply all of them because I need to stick on guideline to push forward my play.

I like Collin Moshman's videos and totally agree with his advices in this video. I'm using it on my game but I play freerolls and it's useful there too. Also, agree that pocket pairs are good hands to shove. People sometimes limp them and I think it's a mistake.

Thank you Collin Moshman for your tips and advice. I have been playing a lot of SNG and I have some ideas about the game and the strategy. But it has been very interesting to get an experts view on the game.

I just came to say that Collin I love your heads-up book. I hope you will write a sequel in the future.

Good tips for playing sit n go: How to make increases with your strong hand early, this will make most players make fold and make it easier to win the pot; the very important position; be selective before the bubble but after it has exploded play many hands and be more aggressive; shove wide the last stages especially if there is no project on the table that can tear down your strong hand. I think that if we apply these tips we would do better in sit n go games

Great and important tips for sit-n-go tournaments.How your advice would have helped me when I started playing!The most important aspect is how I think to play a lot of hands after the bubble burst !

Thanks for the tips Colin. I would like to see a heads up SNG hyper turbo article in future if you would be so kind.

I generally don't play SnGs, but this is good advice for any MTT as well, or even cash games (table selection and position). When putting these tips into practice, I would say just remember to adjust your play to the table and the particular tendencies of your opponents (assuming you have reliable info on them).

Great video. Short and to the point which really keeps people’s focus for those less Han 5 minutes.

Great advice throughout and helps people refocus how they play sngs.

I think the most interesting point is the reminder that after the bubble and particularly when heads up that it’s important to play really wide as you are investing in every hand because of the blinds.

Thanks Colin and CC

BB

thank you for explanation, hope that fulfilling these rules will help me in game. I always get in the way of the wrong hands. and it seems to me that the rival bluffs in most cases, but it is terrible to check.

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely reading all of the comments here and really appreciate all the nice words.

Bentley and Shanest, great feedback and we've got some heads-up related content coming for sure

exelents tips,i played 20 SnG 45p 0,25c en PS and i make 11 ITM and 2 wins thanks to your tips,I know is a low number but is a greate result.
Just playing foward my stronghands and raising them and loking the better spots(possition) to make my muves.

Exelent tips i have played 20 45p 0,25c SnG in PS and i make 11 ITM and 2 wins,is a relative low amount but very good results thanks to your tips. Just playing foward my strong hands and looking for good spots(possition) to make my muves.

Thanks for the great advice, Colin. I don’t like playing SnG tournaments, but I’m sure that they will be useful to me in the future!

Nice tips for SNG! I'm not big fan of SNG, but this is very helpful info and I'm gonna have this on my mind...

after whatching the whole video , i learned many things to improve my skills on the game , and bigt hanks to Collin Moshman for the golden tips . i will definitely use thoses tips in my game .

Video is a good introduction to sng/mtt poker.

The first three points I agree with. Could add in addition to playing in position what you are trying to do is not to put yourself in tough spots.

Points 4 (Shove wide in the late game) and 5 (Play many hands after bubble has burst) I do not agree with. You should stick with your game plan and play starting hands accordingly while taking to account any itm spots and also adjusting your ranges bet sizing for stack size and table size.

The bonus tip is good. You must always play games you comfortable with. You should also be familiar with the structure.

Here is a tip from me: When playing an online multi-table sng or mtt when the game gets down to around 3 tables left you should open the other tables and game lobby. This way you can keep an eye on the action not only for reads/tendencies of other players but you can easily keep an eye on the shorter stacks and pay jumps.

Great Video is very true what you said I have been studying a little more SNGs this is just perfect ad I can say the thing that made me improve is the first tip ''Raise stronger with premium hands'' I've been practicing a lot to master and beat the Micros sadly right now I've been really busy working on My other carreer (being a slave from monday to friday working 8 hours hehe) right now I think I need to work on my heads up game ... thanks for the Video!

Collin is awesome,even his voice is motivating for me! I like all his tips from this video and I advice everybody to keep it in mind while playing poker and winrate will increase exponently!Thanks a lot Collin!

Maybe I can do that things. Really great advices! But, what about our implied odds when we have more than effective 100bb? We can call a lot of hands even out of position I think.