Ask Collin Moshman and Katie Dozier About Sit ‘n Goes!

B

Bird173

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Total posts
105
Awards
1
CA
Chips
17
In the OP you mention coaching and I also read about a book is the a website in can check out these resources @
 
Glaucopone

Glaucopone

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Mar 30, 2020
Total posts
120
Chips
1
More work for you...laughs

Hi Glaucopone, I hope I understand your question correctly, please let me know if I’m getting it wrong with my apologies :)

I like your idea of being able to divide up players in an sng based on skill level to dollar value within an sng. Practically speaking though, it will be tough to know every player’s ROI within a game.

For some poker sites, you can search users through websites like SharkScope in order to get an idea of the ROI and common buyin sizes of your opponents. Generally, I prefer to make player notes on my opponents based on what I see at the tables; for example if someone is a good reg that will become apparent rather quickly and I’ll give them a red note. On sites where HUDs are available, the winning players will generally be identified even faster.

Hope this helps and good luck! :)

Hi Katie

Thanks for your great tip, I'm already using sharkscope but as a beginner I don't understand well about the acronyms ITM and PTLB.
I also don't know what the use would be because of whether the person finished early, in a medium time, mid-late and late.
I'm going to search Google, here in brazil I still haven't found in Portuguese an explanation about the use of these numbers above that I mentioned. If you have an article that explains in detail, you can send the link in English.

Thank you and sorry for the work.

Have a great Easter :ciao:
 
jirasuonna

jirasuonna

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Total posts
554
Chips
3
Hi Katie
I'm already using sharkscope but as a beginner I don't understand well about the acronyms ITM and PTLB.

Have a great Easter :ciao:
ITM is "In the Money" it is when you start winning money in the tournament. ITM% is how often they make it to ITM.
I am guessing that if they have a low ROI, but a high ITM%, then they are probably afraid of not making it into the money. You can probably intimidate them before the money bubble bursts.

PTLB is pokerstars Tournament Leaderboard Points earned. (for this one, I added the statistic to the Sharkscope toolbar and then put my mouse cursor over it.

This might help for other things. I know abbreviations are a nightmare in another language.

https://www.twoplustwo.com/acronyms.php
 
Last edited:
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
I think that variance might have been the wrong word. Maybe "luck" is better. With a 9-max table the absolute cap is 409% (4.50/1.1), but even if you are overwhelmingly the best player in every game, luck is not going to let you win anywhere close to 100% of the time.

20% ROI doesn't feel very impressive when it is $0.50+$0.05 doing only 2 tables at time and translates to $0.11 per game. 3 tables and the win rate drops. 4 tables and I can't keep track and up timing out preflop. My guess is that I should practice more at 3 tables.

As a professional, what ROI do you feel comfortable with? I realize it is probably going to be lower than what I should feel comfortable with because you are probably far better bankrolled and have a much higher volume to iron out variance.

In the words of Phil Hellmuth, "If it weren't for luck I'd win them all!" :D

I know what you mean though and that's a good point. I know it might not seem all that great to make around $0.10/game, but believe me that's a great accomplishment at $0.50. If you want to make more an hour, you can start playing more tables and/or higher stakes. (Just do one of those changes at a time.)

A good ROI depends a lot on buy-in for 9-man. At $0.50, 20% is great. At $15, 5% is very good.
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
Hi, Collin and Katie,

I'm reading the book you wrote. The comprehensive number of hand's examples are taking my time to study every one in detail. I'll search my hand history and analyse my game based on. My questions are:

- Does your book be written for regular SnG's?
- @Heads up would be optimal to play push/shove strategy? I'd played against one player, and he put a lot of pressure and I stayed paralysed because his aggression (for your information both were deep stacks).
- Nit style that avoids post-flop game and arrives @bubble short stacks (quiet nobody calls their shoves) is the best way to play this game today? (I sharscoping them and they have an impressive steadily graphic)

All the best and be safe,



Arnaldo Santos
Brazil

Greetings in Brazil! Great questions, here are my answers:

1. Regular or turbo. I would generally make the same decisions in either speed, with the occasional exception being to shove or call slightly wider in a turbo.

2. If the effective stack (the shorter of the two stacks) heads-up is 10bb or less, I would play almost only shove-fold. Between 10bb - 15bb, shove/fold is still good or you can take other strategies if you like such as limping or min-raising the button. Over 15bb and you shouldn't be playing shove/fold as much usually.

3. Generally that style is no longer effective except in the softest games. It's fine to start that way, but I recommend working to improve post-flop and also stealing blinds aggressively to get to the bubble with a bigger stack :)
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
Hi,

What would you consider as the biggest difference between sit n go, cash games and tournaments? What's is the difference in strategy for these games in your opinion?


Nice question!

The biggest difference is that in a cash game, you should seize every edge and play just to win chips. It's similar for the early stages of a multi-table tournament. In the later stages of an MTT, or during SNGs, you need to focus on ICM instead. This means that your survival is very important -- you need to be tighter calling off your stack, for example.

Here is a more specific example. Let's say that with four players left, here are the stacks:

Cutoff: 5bb
Button: 5bb
Small Blind: 50bb
Big Blind (Hero): 30bb

The cutoff and button fold. The small blind shoves and you have AK. In a cash game, this would be an easy call because you have just one opponent and your hand is very strong. In an SNG or MTT, you would have to fold because the pay-jumps are too important and you need the short stacks to bust first.

This type of example above ^^ is at the heart of the difference between cash and tournament formats.
 
B

Bilgefisher

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 7, 2020
Total posts
28
Chips
0
I just wanted to thank you two for replying to everyone in this thread. It has resulted in the sale of at least one book. :D I do have a question about the book though. The title says single table SnG tournaments. I like playing the on demand SnG that tend to have 30-80 players.

Does your book apply to these games?
 
Katie Dozier

Katie Dozier

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Total posts
1,331
Awards
2
Chips
0
Hey,

hope that you four are fine in these corona times. Just discovered this webpage and your thread.

Greetings from Colonge

bennie


That’s very nice, thanks. I hope you’re doing well in Colonge!
 
D

DoIHaveAFlush

Rock Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Mar 29, 2020
Total posts
243
Chips
16
Nice question!

The biggest difference is that in a cash game, you should seize every edge and play just to win chips. It's similar for the early stages of a multi-table tournament. In the later stages of an MTT, or during SNGs, you need to focus on ICM instead. This means that your survival is very important -- you need to be tighter calling off your stack, for example.

Here is a more specific example. Let's say that with four players left, here are the stacks:

Cutoff: 5bb
Button: 5bb
Small Blind: 50bb
Big Blind (Hero): 30bb

The cutoff and button fold. The small blind shoves and you have AK. In a cash game, this would be an easy call because you have just one opponent and your hand is very strong. In an SNG or MTT, you would have to fold because the pay-jumps are too important and you need the short stacks to bust first.

This type of example above ^^ is at the heart of the difference between cash and tournament formats.


Hi Collin,

Thank you very much for this clear and concise explanation, it's much clearer now for me :)

By the way, what can you suggest for poker beginners to progress and improve faster their poker skills? How did you learn, what was your strategy?

Cheers
 
Katie Dozier

Katie Dozier

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Total posts
1,331
Awards
2
Chips
0
Hello guys, i'm an amateur poker player for 2-3 years now, i study for a few hours a day and i'm still trying to raise my bankroll, but i find it very difficult because i often have to deal with badbeats. I play 0.50 and 1 dollar sitngos. Any advice?
Unfortunately bad beats are a huge part of playing poker, but the flip side of that coin (pun intended ;) ) is that it is an aspect that hits everyone equally in the long run. Furthermore, the game wouldn't be nearly as popular of a pastime without the element of luck involved. Before long, Collin and my course for tournament poker will be released right here on CardsChat and I hope it will prove to be helpful to you! :)
 
Katie Dozier

Katie Dozier

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Total posts
1,331
Awards
2
Chips
0
Hi Katie/Colin,

hope you are both well at this difficult time.

I have a question for Katie as it is about shoving and I know this is your favorite subject[emoji3]

This situation happened to me in an MTT, but I think it's the same for large SNG too.

I was ss with about 8bb and the chip leader was sat at my left with about 130bb:(.
So I thought, no way I am shoving to steal his blinds, where can I shove that he is least likely to call me? Answer is UTG of course. So this was my strategy:
When UTG: Shove 72o+
in B/SB: Shove QQ+

Three rounds this worked for. Nobody wanted to call my UTG shove. The 4th round I got AQs UTG, shoved again, got called and doubled up.[emoji481]
This was on the bubble btw, I was about 100th of 107 with 91 paid when this started , finished 35th.

So I looked at some shove ranges for 11-9bb and noticed its about 50% for B, 15% for UTG. Wow, this seems way too much of a difference to me.

So what is my question then? I'd like to know if shoving from UTG could be an exploit as everyone thinks I have a 15%, where in reality I have trash.:hahaha:


Hi Bigredwolf! A million apologies for my delay! I have no idea how I initially missed this great question but am glad I at least saw it when I double checked the last few pages of this thread today [emoji4]

That’s an interesting question you’ve posed and you’re right that shove spots are my favorite questions [emoji3]

At a table of thinking players, you’re totally correct that people will assume you’re shoving a lot tighter UTG, but they will quickly catch on to the fact that you are very likely shoving too wide by around the 3rd shove. As you point out, the % you can shove in equilibrium is radically higher from the button—because you have so many more people you need to get through from under the gun. I agree that you will get credit for having a stronger hand initially from shoving UTG, and that’s why it’s particularly important not to miss shoving the bottom of our range there.

However, players would have to be making a tremendous number of too-tight folds there in order to make shoving junk UTG profitable. (If you have hold em resources calculator or a different software, try playing around with tightening others’ calling ranges to see this more concretely.)

Personally I wouldn’t adjust my default shoving ranges solely from the info of shoving into a big stack and being around 15 from the money as a short stack. Getting to the stone bubble may take some time yet, and most players call shoves in the big blind from the small blind way too tightly. So even if he’s widening his calling range because he has so many chips, he’s probably still calling tighter than someone playing perfectly. Additionally I wouldn’t require much edge at all here to be happy with shoving. For all those reasons I think it’s very important to shove as wide as Nash dictates and I wouldn’t tighten up due to the approaching bubble until we become more of a mid stack instead of a short stack (or when we’re on the stone bubble).

I hope this helps and sorry again for my delay! [emoji4]
 
jirasuonna

jirasuonna

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Total posts
554
Chips
3
A good ROI depends a lot on buy-in for 9-man. At $0.50, 20% is great. At $15, 5% is very good.

Thanks! Now I will not to freak out when my ROI drops as I move up.

Although, it will be upsetting to know that the casino will be making more money than me off my games. I guess this is why rakeback is important.
 
B

Bird173

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Total posts
105
Awards
1
CA
Chips
17
Thanks! Now I will not to freak out when my ROI drops as I move up.

Although, it will be upsetting to know that the casino will be making more money than me off my games. I guess this is why rakeback is important.



So $15 dollar game a good ROI is $0.75? That’s terrible news really. So if your very good at this and play 100 games a day you could make $75 a day. Is that even worth it? How does it takes to play 100 9-mans? Even if I play turbos I don’t think I’d get though that many in day. I mean I could but not while playing well. I think I could four table maximum and play two 6hour sessions a day I bet I make it through 60 tops. So now I’m curious let’s see how sngs I can crush in one day
 
jirasuonna

jirasuonna

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Total posts
554
Chips
3
So $15 dollar game a good ROI is $0.75? That’s terrible news really. So if your very good at this and play 100 games a day you could make $75 a day. Is that even worth it? How does it takes to play 100 9-mans? Even if I play turbos I don’t think I’d get though that many in day. I mean I could but not while playing well. I think I could four table maximum and play two 6hour sessions a day I bet I make it through 60 tops. So now I’m curious let’s see how sngs I can crush in one day

I think I read earlier in the thread that these guys are playing 40 at a time. I have to say that seems insane to me. I can barely handle 3. Everything goes in the toilet at 4.

Even at 3 games, if you keep cycling new games in without breaks you can get through a lot. To win a turbo 9 man, it takes at most an hour, but often closer to 30 min. About half of them you will probably bust out before 15 min. I think 100 a day would be easy if you were monstrously strong. For me, my brain would turn into mush way before that.
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
Hi Collin,

Thank you very much for this clear and concise explanation, it's much clearer now for me :)

By the way, what can you suggest for poker beginners to progress and improve faster their poker skills? How did you learn, what was your strategy?

Cheers


Great, glad that helped!

I learned by playing a lot, and coming up with ideas and trying things. But my main strategy early on was just playing very tight. It worked then but (usually) doesn't now. Times change unfortunately! But good poker is always a game of adapting to the times :)

In terms of resources I suggest for learning -- Katie and I are working on a very cool project for CardsChat. I can't say more at the moment, but there will be a lot more on this soon and I'm very excited about it.
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
I just wanted to thank you two for replying to everyone in this thread. It has resulted in the sale of at least one book. :D I do have a question about the book though. The title says single table SnG tournaments. I like playing the on demand SnG that tend to have 30-80 players.

Does your book apply to these games?

Really appreciate that Bilge!

Yes the book definitely works to learn the fundamentals of SNGs with multiple tables in terms of equity, ICM and important concepts. But all the examples come from 9-man so I would definitely suggest studying your favorite format more specifically too!
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
I think we've answered all the recent questions, but if we've missed any then sorry about that and please post again. We'll be happy to reply!

About ROIs by the way, yes $0.75/game in $15s is good these days. It's difficult to make a living in low-stakes SNGs without putting in a lot of volume -- and 40-tabling would be impossible on most sites now. With that said, they're still very good for learning, building up, and making good side money in the process :)
 
N

noswal1026

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Total posts
1
Chips
0
Sit & Go Strategy

Hi Guys,

I recently re-read Collin’s great SnG Strategy book while currently stuck at home, I purchased it years ago when I played a lot of small stakes SnGs.

I also just joined Cardschat and watched a few of the short videos on SnGs and in one of them, jamming a 20bb stack as a resteal was advocated. This isn’t mentioned anywhere in the book, in fact I think the advice in the book is generally against this with a stack of decent BB/M......can you please clarify for me?

The SnGs on Stars now have antes from the get go so I’m wondering if this has a bearing? Also, surely reads / HUD stats must be a big consideration when considering jamming a stack upwards of 15BB?

I look forward to receiving your reply.

Many thanks.
Gary
 
D

DoIHaveAFlush

Rock Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Mar 29, 2020
Total posts
243
Chips
16
Hi,

again one Question from my side: what should I do if Encounter only garbage hands in a sitngo with rapidly increasing blinds with only 500 Chips stack?

72o
J4o
Q3o
260
K2o
22
T4o
K3o
57o
Q5o
J5o
43o
38o
79o

if i continue folding i am gonna to blind out...
???
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
Hi,

again one Question from my side: what should I do if Encounter only garbage Hands in a sitngo with rapidly increasing blinds with only 500 Chips stack?

72o
J4o
Q3o
260
K2o
22
T4o
K3o
57o
Q5o
J5o
43o
38o
79o

if i continue folding i am gonna to blind out...
???


Consider each situation on its own. If you've folded a lot, don't be more or less inclined to fold the next hand as a result (except insofar as it affects your image).

With 83o, you're usually folding no matter what unless you think you have a profitable any-two-cards shove. With 97o, you'll often be correct to shove it in from at least the small blind if everyone folds to you.

Most of all, stay patient! Going card-dead isn't fun but don't worry, it happens to everyone and your job is just to navigate it as well as you can.
 
Collin Moshman

Collin Moshman

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Total posts
1,317
Awards
3
Chips
2
Hi Guys,

I recently re-read Collin’s great SnG Strategy book while currently stuck at home, I purchased it years ago when I played a lot of small stakes SnGs.

I also just joined Cardschat and watched a few of the short videos on SnGs and in one of them, jamming a 20bb stack as a resteal was advocated. This isn’t mentioned anywhere in the book, in fact I think the advice in the book is generally against this with a stack of decent BB/M......can you please clarify for me?

The SnGs on Stars now have antes from the get go so I’m wondering if this has a bearing? Also, surely reads / HUD stats must be a big consideration when considering jamming a stack upwards of 15BB?

I look forward to receiving your reply.

Many thanks.
Gary


Thanks for the nice words Gary!

Yes, a stack of 20bb is great for resteals. The book has good fundamental information but a lot of the specific examples are out-dated in today's games. We're excited that we have a lot of content for today's games that should be announced soon by CardsChat :)

Reads and HUD stats definitely have an impact, as do antes. Antes force you to play looser and more aggressively as do looser HUD stats from your opponents. If you have any specific hands/spots you'd like us to look at feel free to post those as well.

Thanks and hope that helps!
 
jirasuonna

jirasuonna

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Total posts
554
Chips
3
Short Stacked Push/Fold with a Limper

This is assuming effective stacks of 13 BB no ante or 15 BB 10% ante.

How do you adjust push/fold ranges when someone limps into the pot ahead of you?
It is hard to tell if it is weak or a trap.
Do you treat it as an all-in?

Similarly how do you adjust if you are in the BB and someone limps or the SB completes?
If you would shove against an all-in, that is pretty easy.
I suspect that if you just check you are giving away hand information unless you are checking strong hands also, but then you are probably leaving money on the table and possibly getting crushed when the opponent flops two pair or a set.

What if you have multiple limpers?

Thanks in advance!
 
Katie Dozier

Katie Dozier

Poker Expert
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Total posts
1,331
Awards
2
Chips
0
This is assuming effective stacks of 13 BB no ante or 15 BB 10% ante.

How do you adjust push/fold ranges when someone limps into the pot ahead of you?
It is hard to tell if it is weak or a trap.
Do you treat it as an all-in?

Similarly how do you adjust if you are in the BB and someone limps or the SB completes?
If you would shove against an all-in, that is pretty easy.
I suspect that if you just check you are giving away hand information unless you are checking strong hands also, but then you are probably leaving money on the table and possibly getting crushed when the opponent flops two pair or a set.

What if you have multiple limpers?

Thanks in advance!


These are good questions that all fall into more gray area type adjustments to shoving ranges. Here’s how I approach them:

-Shoving over limp(s): the vast majority of limps are not traps. It is another person (or people in the case of multiple limps) to get through, but on the other hand, they’ve increased the amount in the pot. Generally I tighten my shoving range slightly, though if the player that limps is limping a lot then I don’t tighten unless they’re a total calling station.

-Shoving in the big blind over a complete in the small blind: Versus unknowns this tends to exhibit a dramatic amount of weakness. I like shoving very wide there—oftentimes as wide as I would’ve shoved had I been in the small blind myself there. Versus regs, I would exercise more caution as well as balance my range (checking some strong hands) as you alluded to in your questions.

Hope you have a nice week at the tables! :)
 
Luvart

Luvart

Legend
Platinum Level
Joined
Jul 14, 2017
Total posts
1,492
Awards
15
GR
Chips
713
For Collin and Katie:

a)Well, I remember myself when I first started getting familiarized with online poker (and poker in general), back in 2012, to only play Sit and Go's (play money) in the beginning and then nanostakes single-table SnGs, before enetually switching to micro cash (and then to CardsChat marvellous freerolls of course!). I even played PLO SnGs.....lol. Do you think that the classic single-table 6max or 9max SnGs have value today and be a profitable grinding option for a nano-micro stakes player?

b)If we have a "Fundamental Concept" for single-table SnG's, what is this: playing conservative poker trying to survive and get into the money, or the classic MTT approach trying to build a big stack to make the very top positions where the big money is?

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Top