Strategy differences - SNG's vs. MTT's?

[slycbnew]

I'm starting to develop more confidence in my MTT strategies - starting to see some decent results. My confidence in my SNG game, though, is deteriorating - my results over the last two months have been pretty terrible, especially compared to my last two months in MTT's. I'm actually considering dropping SNG's from my regular play - six months ago, I made a decision to focus on them as the core of my regular play.

What are the critical strategy differences between the two?

One thing I'm thinking - the skill level in MTT's (I generally play from $2 to $30 buyins on pstars) is less than the SNG's (I generally play $6 to $15 on pstars, mostly single table, but some 45 and 180 player SNG's), I think. I can generally quickly find players in MTT's who have obvious leaks and target them, but I have a tougher time finding those players in SNG's and having the time to target them due to the escalating blind structures. Does that make sense?

Are there other specific differences in strategies?

 

[RogueRivered]

Avoid them. I think it's a rare person that actually makes much money in 1 table SNGs. Most of those making money in tournaments are doing it in pretty large MTTs. On the other hand, you probably lose less in STTs if you don't hit some decent cashes in the MTTs. Maybe not, but your ITM % has got to be substantially less in MTTs, obviously. For some reason, there seems to be a lot more dead money in the large MTTs, probably because people don't have the patience to play a long tournament with slowly escalating blinds. The quick blink structure of STTs allows the impatient ones to hang around long enough to keep their money. Add the rake on top, and it's a losing battle, imo.

 

[regd87]

hm, interesting post. I am just posting so I get subscribed to see what others have to say.

 

[WhiteSeal]

I personally love MTT but already I repaired that the majority of the players does not have patience to be waiting for the best hands and start to play very bad..

In Sit&go the players play better and wait more and dont play so bad like the players os MTT..

 

[pedroman7]

I think were most people go wrong in sng's is they don't change gears and take advantage of the thight play in mid and end game. When the blinds go up and the bubble gets close you have to play more aggressively and pad your stack with stolen blinds. You will find a lot of people that play compeltly wrong, they will play a lot of hands when the blinds are small and thighten up when the money gets close. You can easily explot this weakness by playing very thight in the first few rounds and steping it up as the blinds go up and people get knocked out.
When it comes to MMT it is easier to expolt loose players by just playing thight and using position. Because the tables stay more or less full and the blinds go up slow, you can just play soild and have an edge over weaker players.

 

[Styrofoam]

I actually have started playing the Multi-table SNGs. Not 3000 people to wade through like in the pokerstars MTTs. They feel a lot more like a live tournament with only ~180 people. Much easier to navigate i think.

 

[LizzyJ]

Hey you guys,
I was just railing over at the $525 buy-in SnG's at Full Tilt. OMG......!!!!!!

Those guys do NOT screw around. I mean, there was no technique involved here. Pure brutality. Period. Suck out city.

Seriously. It was basically level I playing on steroids. It was two cards, huge raise from any position....shove...show down. Literally. That is how you play SnG's.

None of this 5 people limp in junk. One time that I was there (I saw about 5 SnG's) one person limped and the next person went all in. Any sign of weakness and someone took you all-in.

Just beat on each other and whoever is left standing wins.

Each SnG lasted about 15 min.

Brutal. Carnage. No mercy. Cut throat. Last man standing. No holds barred. No rules. All weapons are welcomed.

I knew SnG's were to be played aggressively but this was insane!!

 

[Nikeballa07]

just try to play the same solid poker as you normally would in a sit and go, play good cards and your positions, play on ur reads if that is something you are at least decent at because they can win you some pots even if your cards arent hitting, but dont bluff the donks cus they will call you down with bottom pair and you will get caught which will make it harder to bluff later on if u remain at the same table, but getting caught can also be a good thing if it is for a small amount of chips it can help you trap somone later on. Just accumulate as many chips as you can and don't just give ur hard earned chips away.

 

[cardplayer52]

i also struggle w/STTs and do ok in the MTTs. i was thinking of some of the differences. for one the tables are full longer in MTTs. i believe this leaves your play more open(as far as loose/tight). also if there is a fish in a STT there usaully out pretty quick. in a MTT they often replaced by another fish. IMO you got to be far more aggressive in STTs as the table gets shorter and shorter.

 

[Jurn8]

just try to play the same solid poker

<rant>
why the hell you spam with such rubbish/pointless/awful advice !!!

Its obvious your only here for the freerolls ffs !!

</rant>

 

[luckytokenz]

I like MTT because if your TAG and you build a healthy stack, it's easy to sit back and wait for the cards most of the time, and in SNG you have to start playing looser earlier in the game. I also find the variance to be greater in a SNG. I mean, if you think trips and boats won't get cracked, wrong! lol, j/k. That's just a hunch though. Alot of people don't have the patience for MTT but they see such a big prize, so they contribue to the pot, ultimately being dead money. Much more fishies in MTT. In SNG you have to be super tight. don't be afraid to check a monster down to the end because when they see that, that will stop them from betting at you all the time when you check. use a strict starting hand guide, and be agressive. don't get carried away with your AQo, AJs, or pocket jacks. If your short stack, try to wait for a semi decent ace or pair and push, if they are tight, they will fold, and if they in their in the mood for action they will call you down with weaker hands most of the time. If there is alot of raising preflop, i will slowplay, and it works like a charm most of the time. If the flop is a 3 card flush or str8, i will be cautious with my high pair. Most of the time they have 1 of that suite and need one more to come on the turn or river, but if you track, then watch their check-raise%, this tells you how sneaky and trappy they like to be . And also, most people tend to raise or fold with an ace or king in their hand instead of call, so that might help narrow your range. Watch their stack sizes and know what kind of zone they are in, it will help you predict why they are so agressive and what kind of hand ranges they are pushing with.

luckytokenz

 

[bgomez89]

I like MTT because if your TAG and you build a healthy stack, it's easy to sit back and wait for the cards most of the time, and in SNG you have to start playing looser earlier in the game. I also find the variance to be greater in a SNG. I mean, if you think trips and boats won't get cracked, wrong! lol, j/k. That's just a hunch though. Alot of people don't have the patience for MTT but they see such a big prize, so they contribue to the pot, ultimately being dead money. Much more fishies in MTT. In SNG you have to be super tight. don't be afraid to check a monster down to the end because when they see that, that will stop them from betting at you all the time when you check. use a strict starting hand guide, and be agressive. don't get carried away with your AQo, AJs, or pocket jacks. If your short stack, try to wait for a semi decent ace or pair and push, if they are tight, they will fold, and if they in their in the mood for action they will call you down with weaker hands most of the time. If there is alot of raising preflop, i will slowplay, and it works like a charm most of the time. If the flop is a 3 card flush or str8, i will be cautious with my high pair. Most of the time they have 1 of that suite and need one more to come on the turn or river, but if you track, then watch their check-raise%, this tells you how sneaky and trappy they like to be . And also, most people tend to raise or fold with an ace or king in their hand instead of call, so that might help narrow your range. Watch their stack sizes and know what kind of zone they are in, it will help you predict why they are so agressive and what kind of hand ranges they are pushing with.

luckytokenz

 

[Bobmurphy07]

1. Variance will be much higher in MTTs, so many people in them, that you can go a month with no cashes, and then win and be at 130% roi or something.
2. They are two completely different games and the strategies are nothing alike.

Pedro was pretty dead on in the approach to general sng strategy, sng strat isn't something that is debated much these days, there's icm and that's how you should work on your game. The only thing after that is becoming familiar with your opponents and ranging them correctly.

But MTT play is something that is very style dependant, many players can look at the same HH and have a multitude of differing opinions. I think that there are a plethora of moves and strategies to be employed in mtt play and the way to become the best player is to learn and understand them all so you can understand your opponents thought processes too. The best way to start off learning MTT start imo is to play a solid TAG game, and just watch your opponents, stick to pretty clearly +EV moves, until you start to pick up a bit more on some of the moves you can make, then just slowly integrate different strategies into your game. Plus in sng's it's all about fold equity, and forcing all-ins, but with the deep stacks in MTT's I think the main focus should be implied odds and table image.