When I play these Single Table Tournaments I have a rule base that I always follow but want your opinion on it.

1. On first few blinds bid with A-10 through A-K, QQ, KK, AA. usually I pick up a couple of these in the first couple of levels. I know there is a strong chance that the A10 is beat before the flop, but once in a while you can find a guy who is over confident in his lower pair of aces.

2. If I am in the blinds I play aggressively post flop. Regardless of what point in the tournament it is, I alwasys play aggressively in the blinds. If I have a moderately playable hand I will make a pretty large raise before the flop, reason being is that I want them to have to have an Ace or KQs in their hand to play against me. That way when a junk flop comes, I fake a bad bluff and then they call me and the rest is history.

3. I always chuck pairs lower than Queens, I always seem to get into trouble with pairs under that. I will play 9's-J's peridically, but only when the time is right. Maybe if the short stack goes all in or something like that.

4. Once the blinds get big I play very marginal hands. I love to play the marginal hands because bad players can be easliy muscled out. At this point in the tournament the money is close. So this is where I try to go pick up some blinds. At least if he calls me I have a couple of live cards to work with.

5. When heads up I play very aggressively, I will call just about everything with anything (within reason of course). The only thing I want to make reasonably sure of is that I have two live cards. Beautiful thing here that is obvious is that the chances of you busting your opponent are very high if a junk flop comes up. When I have good cards, I make a very deceptive raise pre flop that induces a call, then just play very cautiously after that. If I have AK I call just about any decent sized bet and raise with a smaller bet. I especially do this if there is a draw on the table and I am pretty sure that it is not theres. Reason being is that I can have him put me on a draw or I could have top pair. By doing this I theoretically give myself three hands to play. Assuming something more scary does not come up then I will make a very strong bet. Most of the time he will not call and if he does it definately does not make up for the other times I stole pots from him.

Anyway thanks and if you guys have a strategy please post I am trying to improve, I make the money in these about 80% of the time, rarely win, usually I finish 3rd, due to the fact that 1 of the aggressive players are still alive and 1 of the bad players has had several chips donated to him by the other bad players. At that point you just try and set a trap or just try to collect as much as possible with a good hand. Problem with the bad player is that he is the one that makes a bad play and since he is lucky to be there at this point he continues to be lucky. Any really good strategies out there I would really appreciate it.

In a hyper sng I would be similiar to you but turbo or standard, I'd simply play tight, not a nit but tight for a few orbits of the table or levels depending on how it's going so I can get a reliable read on the opponents. As the levels advance I intend to bluff the occasional hand cause people become very tight closer to the money. Overall win percentage would be 60% for me. How do you play in double or nothing sng? Interested to hear that.

Thnak you for sharing your strategy, i'll got some tips i'll put in action right away, and if I see you in a table i know how you'll play, LOL.

'Chucking" pairs preflop seem hard to me, but over all sounds like a very sound strategy. How have you been doing?

i lose a lot of time in sit & go with. AA, KK, QQ, too fast...i like more a good and old fashion game...

sorry i meant spin & go...wrong post...

what stakes and speed do you play hurtadoak?
btw: 8 years, 20 posts

hurtadoak, do you normally play 9-handed, 6-handed, or some other variation of STT? Do you follow the same strategy for all types of STT?

Originally Posted by hurtadoak

When I play these Single Table Tournaments I have a rule base that I always follow but want your opinion on it.

1. On first few blinds bid with A-10 through A-K, QQ, KK, AA. usually I pick up a couple of these in the first couple of levels. I know there is a strong chance that the A10 is beat before the flop, but once in a while you can find a guy who is over confident in his lower pair of aces.

Do you bet this same range from all positions on the table? When you are the first to bet, how many BB do you bet?

Originally Posted by hurtadoak

Anyway thanks and if you guys have a strategy please post I am trying to improve, I make the money in these about 80% of the time, rarely win, usually I finish 3rd, due to the fact that 1 of the aggressive players are still alive and 1 of the bad players has had several chips donated to him by the other bad players.

If you are in the money 80% of the time, in any format of STT, at any buy-in, then you are amazingly successful! You would be a winning player even if you won only half as often as you do now, in any format except double-ups.
I think there are some flaws in your strategy, but I cannot suggest any changes if you are winning this much. Keep doing exactly what you are doing, and don't take advice from anyone.
Soon you will have a large enough bankroll to move up in stakes. If you are less successful at those higher stakes, then you can change your strategy.

Interesting...

I would have to say that I think you strategy has a lot of valid points I don’t agree however with being so tight when then blinds are in the first few levels.
Couple reasons to loosen it up here.
First, It’s cheap. If you check fold the flop even 3 times it’s not that bad and you can get that back.
Second, lots of guys using a strategy similar to yours will be caught off guard when you flop a two pair or open ender or flush draw (the flush is a little more obvious). But when you do get the good flop you sometimes double up right at the start and coast into the money.
It’s also a table image thing, as we all know, it’s hard to take a guy seriously if he constantly firing into pot after pot. So my opinion is early stage is a great time to be that guy if your playing post flop properly.

I’m just recently playing a lot more of these STT and I do enjoy them but one thing I can seem to figure out is the heads up battle for first place. It’s definitely my biggest leak. Any advice appreciated