Help with S&G

Hi there!
I've been playing some microstakes sit and go's today and I have have managed to get to third place in all of them. However, I haven't been able to get past that, it seems once the game is past the bubble my strategy of playing tight, only good cards and wait for the other players to slowly beat each other crumbles, so I start playing a bit more loose. However, it seems every time I play a hand and these stages, other players have a even better one (I'm talking about getting two pair, aces and a number, getting beat by two pair ace + j/q/k - on the river)
So I don't know what to do, third place isn't that bad, but I'd like to know what to do to get first place. What strategy do you recommend for the final stages of a s&g?

exploit the bubble to build your stack will help get you to 1st place. if you don't have sngwiz then i recommend getting it. if it's out of your price range then just post some hands for others to give feedback. once your ITM your shove range should still be wide but generally slightly tighter than on the bubble as your opponents will be more likely to gamble it up and go for 1st now that they are getting paid.

it's very likely your missing a ton of value 4 handed by folding too much... i know the first time i used wiz, i was friggin surprised how wide the optimal shove range is in SnG's when the blinds get big on the bubble.
i think you can get a 7 day trial. do that imo.

If you're usually third when the bubble breaks, that's not the same as if you're often higher but go out third. In the first case, it looks like you ought to work on chip accumulation before the bubble so you're not always the one either opponent can bust.

In the latter, you may be playing too tight. Once you're in the money, it pays to go for the win. And if your just losing with hands that will generally win, that's likely just a bad run that will end soon enough.

Posting some hands would enable anyone here to give you better advice than just posting generalisations. SnG Wiz is also worth looking into if you plan on playing SnG's on a regular basis. You might find some free offers for SnG Wiz that just need a small deposit and a raked hand requirement.

To win an MTT SNG you need to take risks.

When you have a re-steal size stack you have to put it all in there, even with nothing. You will also need to steal blinds but not too much.

Also run some squeeze plays. At micro limit (aside form final table) I found most people dont squeeze or resteal and end up leaking chips to blinds.

If you are getting blinded out you aren't being aggressive enough. Don't be afraid of chip swings. If the action folds to you and you have a short stack, get it all in there.

Play your position well. I would say your style works from the early stages, but you have to learn to switch gears, pick your moments, but when you do pick one be willing to go out on your shield.

The money is so bias toward the top 3 sports moneying in anything else at micro isnt worth the time imo.

To win you will need to win all your races and occasionally get lucky. but mitigate others' luck against you by restealing, stealing and squeezing.

Keep a good table image, otherwise people will pick on you and call you down.

Good luck

I dont mean to come off like a douche, but ive had a lot of coffee.

It seems to me your not stealing as much as you should be, playing tight till the blinds hit 50/100 is ok but then you need to open up your range and start stealing. When on the bubble you should be picking on the short stacks.
Like Mom said you aren't being aggressive enough

with about 4 or 5 players left, you should really be getting agressive, stealing blinds, exploiting those trying to get in the money, that way when the bubble bursts you should have a much healthier stack

Tino11 said:

Posting some hands would enable anyone here to give you better advice than just posting generalisations.

Click to expand...

this ^

I can't tell you what you need to be doing because I don't really know what you're doing.
I'd suggest reading some beginner SNG Strategy articles & then consider picking up a book like 'Collin Moshmann's SNG Strategy' (< if you do this, you won't be posting a question like this.... because it's way too generalized).

Pretty much what PO said, but you are more than likely just playing way too tight all around in the mid stages of the game.

Post hands in the HA section about where you think your trouble spots lie.

I also had this challenge (once upon a time) and it is flat out because of not enough experience playing short handed. Face it, you are guessing, right? I'll bet you have a defined set of starting hands for full ring but once it gets to 6 or less players you are probably pretty lost. I was. You are playing the early stages correctly but once it gets down to 12 to10 players you start losing chips and might be able to recover some if you get to the full final table IF you get some hands. Or if single table SnG you start struggling when it gets down to 6 or less players. Is this about right?


Oh crap I have to get to the casino for a tourney - more later - sorry.

I used to have this exact same problem when I started playing Sit and Goes with my friends.

(We do STT's, but I think my advice will still help you for MTTs)

Position, Position, Position.

When you are in position try to build your chip stack at all levels.

Pay attention to the blinds. Realize that when the blinds are ____ and ____, your chip stack would have to be ______ in order to have so many blinds.

For example, this is how I think about it in our home game.

We have 5k starting stacks. Blinds start at 25/50

When the blinds reach 100/200, I will have 25 BBs.

When the blinds are 200/400, I will only have 12.5 BBs.

So by the time the blinds get to 200/400, I should definitely have built my chip stack, or I will be in serious trouble.

Don't play loose. Play tight-agressive.

But make sure you build your chipstack when you are in position, or have a great hand OOP

Good Luck!