a few tips ( may be obvious )

[tuckerthecat]

I'm a $10.00 SnG player mostly, when I play MTT I usually only play in the $5.00 buy in ones. I only play on one site & their SnG tables were closed for some reason, well that pissed me off cause I had a rare day off from work & wanted to play. I checked the tournys & the only one they had that was starting soon was a $30 buy in 250 person tourny. Thats more than I like to play for but I was desperate so I joined.

This MTT payed out 20 spots with the lowest paying being $60.00 ( not bad for my $500 bankroll ) So I made it to the final 22 people, I was 17th out of 22 in chips, I had 8000 chips. #'s 22 & 21 both had under 1000 chips & the blinds were 400, 800 with a 75 ante. I was delt K10 ( both clubs ) on the button, it was folded around to me so I raised to 2400 on a semi-steal, the SB ( who had 35k chips ) immediately re raised me all in. Of course I had to fold, I was so close to the $ even though I was 99% sure he had nothing & was just bullying me I couldnt take the chance of busting out. I ended up recovering somewhat & ended up finishing 10th.

So I guess it a pretty obvious tip but never try to steal or raise marginal hands around the bubble with large stacks yet to act behind you. If you think you must steal to survive its better to just push all in so people cant come over the top with a re-raise on a bluff. It seems to me making a raise like that is just asking for someone to come over the top. I saw a few other moderate stacks make the same mistake around the bubble.

Another mistake a see people make is when they are so proud of themselves for making a good bluff/steal that they show the table their cards.

I was delt JJ in the BB on the 1st hand of a SnG, UTG raised to 40 ( blinds are 5/10 ) 3 people called. I reraised to 90 ( I wanted to see where I was, if someone re-raised again I knew I was looking at AA,KK or QQ most likely ) UTG called, 1 fold & 1 other caller. The flop comes A,K 7 ( horrible flop for me ) I decide I'll make 1 continuation bet so I bet out 100, UTG immediately re raises to 400, the other caller folds, I fold. UTG shows his hand, he's holding 5,8 of clubs.

Well that play ended up costing him all his chips later on, after that nobody at the table respected his raises & he was getting called down by middle pair etc.

So unless you plan on being a rock after the bluff & just want to show a huge bluff so you can get action when you have the nuts later on you should never show your cards when bluffing. I usually do the oposite I like to show when I hit huge hands & am making big bets so people will repsect my raises so when I get AK later on & raise pre flop I want them all dropping to my continuation bets when the flops miss me.

 

[zinzan1000]

Hi tucker, indeed table image is very important.
When giving out free information to your opponents it is always wise to do so in such a way that allows you to take advantage later.
Don't forget that some players will give you free information specifically to make you form an opinion of them that may not show a true reflection of their intentions.
Advertising a hand can send out many different signals to your opponents and a smart player will use this option on rare occasions to his benefit.

zinzan1000 be lucky

 

[ChuckTs]

I personally never show my cards. Some arguments can be made to decieve an opponent or advertise a different image, but i prefer not putting any information about myself at all and make my opponents guess.
as for the MTT play, the raise was fine, but with the big stack behind you, you always have to be careful. If there were two stacks around your size or less then the play is fine.
(congrats on the finish by the way. how much did you rake in?)

 

[tuckerthecat]

re

I only like to show when I have a made hand, as you know the flop is going to miss you like 70% of the time so when I take down the pot on a bluff I never show. I think it would be more of a benefit to show bluffs in cash games so you can get more action but in SnG's its all about stealing blinds in the end game & if you have been winning showdowns & showing made hands during the early stages I find people are much less willing to call your raises late in the game.

I ended up cashing in $150.00 in the MTT, too bad cause the next spot paid $350 but I ran into a tough spot where I had 88 in the SB, all folded to me & I pushed & the BB had 10,10.

 

[Tammy]

tc, I think that's a mistake to show your hands even if they are made. This could give away tells i.e. betting patterns, etc. to alert your opponents when you're on a hand. Thus taking away your advantage to take as much chips from them as possible.

I never show my hand. The only time I might do so is in a friendly game, but even then I do not make a habit of it.

 

[medeiros13]

I have to agree 100% with Juicee and Chuck T on this. My favorite player is Dan Harrington and if he says never show your cards (which he does in his vol 1 book) then that is good enough for me!!