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CarbonPoker · Full Tilt · Cake Poker · PokerStars · Ultimate Bet · Players Only · Bodog
As some of you know, I have been teaching Low-Limit SNG classes recently, with tremendous success, and improved results for the vast majority of my students. After my 50th lesson, I have noticed I am correcting the same leaks for very many of my students.
I want to share with you the most common mistakes I am seeing, and the best fixes for each:
- Playing at a level above their head on a regular basis.
Many students, who are proven winners at the $5.00 level are playing mostly $10 SNGs, for a losing ROI. I suspect this is because they feel they can dominate the lower level, and at one time, had a measure of success, or a hot run at the level they are losing on.
Keep good records, and take an honest look at your ROI. If the level you are beating is running at 15% or less ROI, in most cases you have no business moving up. Let's say your ROI is 12% in $5.50 SNGs (.66 profit/SNG), you are going to need a 6% ROI in the $11 SNGs to acheive the same profit. It isn't going to happen. Keep results over a long period of time, and honestly examine them. It is our nature as poker players to challenge ourselves. Be sure not to take this to the extreme.
- Playing too many tables at once.
From my experience, Multi-tabling causes about an 8% drop in ROI (of course this varies, depending on the competency level of the player trying it.)
Therefore, I recommend no less than a 16% ROI at the current level you are playing, in order to try multitabling.
Example: Mark Multitabler has a 5% ROI (avg $.50 profit) in the $10 SNGs, but wants to play four at once. Under the best circumstances, Mark's ROI will be slightly negative. (appx $1.20 loss per session)
This usually occurs due to boredom. If you are paying attention to the table you are on, even when not in the hand, trying to pick up betting patterns, you will not be bored.
- Playing poor hands out of position.
Many players are playing any ace, suited connectors, or any two paint cards, in any position. Position is one of the keys in poker, and the earlier you enter the pot, the stronger hand you must have to realize a profit playing the hand. Nine handed, under the gun, this means playing AQ or better, if unpaired, and hands like any ace, and paint cards should only be played in position, and much of the time, only if the pot is unopened.
- Calling raises with inadequate values preflop.
Many players are calling raises with hands such as KQ and AJ, and in many cases, much worse. Calling a raise should be seldom done. Most often the proper action is to reraise, or fold. Folding AQ, or a medium pair should be standard against most raises from early position, as you will often end up playing a guessing game.
- Not believing opponents might have a hand.
Many players are calling big bets with marginal hands, failing to realize the bettor may very well have a hand. Some players instantly put their opponent on a given hand and keep that thought in their head without an open mind that their initial read could be wrong. They see an opponent bluff once or twice, and then think they have nothing and are just trying to steal the pot. Be sure that you have a solid read before you make a marginal call.
- Failing to respect a check-raise.
Most low limit players do not have the wherewithal to attempt a check-raise bluff, and a check-raise is almost always consistant with a huge hand. Even if you have a very good hand, you need to be cautious about proceeding here. Folding is usually the best option.
- Bluffing loose opponents too frequently.
Many players at these levels call any bet with even a shread of a hand. If you are going to try a big bluff, ensure that you have some type of read that says you will likely succeed, or make a play at a pot that has been uncontested thus far.
- Failing to bet enough to chase draws out of the hand.
I'll see a player bet 100 into a 400 pot with top pair, or bet half the pot into a scary flop that could easily be damaged by a bad turn card. Many players at this level will chase very many hands, and you need to make them pay to outdraw you. If not, you are going to feel unlucky.
Most bets should have teeth. 2/3 of the pot is a standard bet in No Limit play.
- Failing to raise unopened pots preflop.
Too often I will see a player limp a hand such as KJo or A7o in late position in an unopened pot. This is a good way to get a good second-best hand, and get no read against the blinds, who could have anything!
My recommendations: Q7+ or J10 on the button, Q9+ in the cutoff, K9+ in the hijack seat, A8+ in the next seat, and A10+ in the next seat, all for a raise. Be fast, but be first.
- Calling/limping too much.
In no limit holdem, the proper play is most often raise or fold. Calling fails to give you the extra read you need, and the extra information you get from raising. The example I provide below is preflop, but this occurs after the flop as well.
example:
AQ in utg+2, 9 handed. This is a hand that should be played, but many don't wish to play it for a raise, due to the fact that there are several players left to act, and they don't want to face a better hand out of position.
Let's say you limp, and the button raises: The button could have KJ+, any ace, or any pair.
Let's say you raise and are reraised by the button: The button likely has 10-10+ or AQ+.
Let's say you raise and are called by the button: The button likely has 22-99 or KJ-AJ.
What you accomplished by raising is getting information. Essentially by raising, and watching their action, you have defined their hand, giving you a better read. It's hard enough to play this hand out of position WITHOUT having to guess your opponents holding. If you are limping more than 2x/SNG, you are liekly limping too much.
- Failing to play huge draws with extreme aggression.
One of the most common myths in poker is that pushing all in on the flop with a flush draw is a horrid play. The truth is, that it isn't, and it's merely a just a bad play. In the event that you have more than a flush draw, say a flush draw with an additional pair, openended straight draw, or a gutshot with overcards, it's time to make a huge play at the pot.
I see too many players checking these hands, hoping for a free turn card, with players left to to act.
The important concept here is that your draw becomes weak after the turn if you miss, and even a 60% draw turns to 30%. Then it's too easy for someone to bet you out of the pot, and no matter what the river card is, you cannot reap the benefits without paying too much. With these hands you want to see either a turn AND river, or just the flop, winning the pot right there, therefore it is often best to just shove!
What shoving does is guarantee that you get to see both the turn and the river, and it maximizes the chances your opponent will fold (fold equity), thus adding value to your draw.
- Failing to call underdog hands with proper pot odds.
A fold I often see in this level is from the big blind, where more than 1/3 of your stack is invested, and the hand held is weak.
Let me introduce the 30% rule:
If you are heads-up in a pot, and the amount it costs to call is less than 30% of what the total pot will be, it is almost always correct to call, regardless what you are holding.
- Failing to play to win, and just trying to make the money.
Most of my students coming into my classes have the idea that survival is the most important concept in a SNG, and they should never jeopardize their "tournament life", unless they are sure they are ahead! While surviving increases your ITM%, your ROI is most affected by the number of wins you attain!
In the lowest levels the majority of your opponents are thinking like that, and you should abuse them liberally!
Let me give you an example:
Q: You are in the small blind, holding two blank cards. You literally CANNOT win a showdown. Blinds are 100-200, and it's folded to you. When is it correct to raise to 600?
A: When your opponent is so tight he will fold 75%+ of the time.
Let's say your opponent folds everytime unless he has a pair, a good ace, or KQ-KJ...say 80% of the time.
In five trials, you will win 200 four times, and lose your raise once, for a total profit of 200, holding 00!
Recognize which opponents are tight, and situations where your opponents will often play tight, such as survival situations. These situations come up most often later in a SNG, and are the key to winning!
- Expecting opponents to play well.
Your opponents in a $5-10 SNG are a mix of recreational players with little clue, bad players, weak-tight players, and the occasional decent player. Your opponents will be making mistakes. It is your job to exploit these, or you will fall into the looooooooooooong list of people "who can't seem to beat donkeys".
Watch for mistakes your opponents are making, and counter appropriately. If they call too much, bet more when you have it, and bluff less. If they fold too much, bet more often, etc. They are screwing up left and right, DO NOT FORGET to adjust to this, or you will be left in the dust whining about your bad beat.
- Playing too tight early.
While playing tight early is a viable strategy in a higher limit SNG, it is simply a mistake in the lowest limit SNGs, where there are usually a few players just dying to lose their money early. Get first crack at these players' money. Play a wide range of hands in late position, hoping to hit a monster. You have huge implied odds when the blinds are small, and opponents who are all too willing to call off their stack with top pair! Play hands in position, cheap, hit a monster, and bet HARD hoping for a call. You'll get it more often than not.
For more information on low-limit SNG lessons, email me at goodtime46@aol.com, or visit my site at spaces.msn.com/jennypoker. Discounts will me made available to those who sign up for a site through a link at pocketfives.com.
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The recommendation of seeing a lot of hands only applies to blinds up to 15-30, in those those SNGs with starting stacks of 1500. You stand to gain a lot, and although it's long odds to hit...playing a multitude of hands is very +EV at the 10-20 and 15-30 level.
The formula for doubling in a $5 SNG:
- Awesome hand
plus
- Someone else has a good hand.
This happens enough in the lower levels.
Note: In a bigger buyin, usually the second component is "Someone has a GREAT hand", which makes it less profitable to fish like this.
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Good stuff Sneaky.
You guys have done a lot to add to the article with your replies!
Thanks!
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Edals answer mirrors mine.
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When I grow up I wanna be like you!
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There is a lot of bad and dangerous advice in this piece.
"My recommendations: Q7+ or J10 on the button, Q9+ in
the cutoff, K9+ in the hijack seat, A8+ in the next seat, and A10+ in
the next seat, all for a raise. Be fast, but be first."
This is extremely bad advice for low limit SnGs. If you raise this wide a range of hands, especially in early levels, you will not be making as much as you should. A sit-and-go is a short stack tournament, and you must preserve your stack by not raising such speculative hands, especially in early levels. Also when you open pots for raises too much in a SnG, you will lose a lot of the fold equity you will need in the later "push/fold" levels.
Also the whole thing about not limping in SnGs is just bad. SnG poker might be the form of poker where limping is MOST warranted.
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Raising these hands, followed by a c-bet of 1/2 to 2/3 the pot is very +EV. Chipping up is the key to winning these SNGs, playing from 1500 chips with four left is very difficult. This is the #1 way to get a stack to get you to the promised land. If you don't believe me, try it for about 30 SNGs... you will immediately notice the difference.
I will get into the science of c-betting in Low Limit SNGs in a future post.
If you are limping more than three times in a SNG, you are probably limping too much.
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Limping is a sign of weakness . I've won many sng's and rarely if ever limp into unopened pots .
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Hey All,
Listen to what this women has to say.
I am primarily a SNG player who plays at these levels. Although I was beating the level quite handely I decided to take Jennifears lesson. With a few tweaks to my game guided by Jen I am no longer beating this level. I am F'ing crushing it.
Jen is a enthuseastic and fantasic teacher. You can not go wrong taking the time to go through a lesson with her. Alot of players earn back the cost of the lesson during the lesson itself.
To answer a previous posters concerns with Her LP starting hand requirments, I to was a little sceptical of these at first. I thought they were to loose. However, after having implemented them they are pretty much spot on.
Even with this open range you do not pick them up often enough so that you are raising consistantly. What these hands allow a player to do is to consistantly chip up so when you come to the bubble you will not be the short stack waiting for a hand to double through or for someone else to bust out. You will be more often in a position to win instead of just cashing. This will do wonders for your ROI.
Another import thing about these hands is that you are using your FTA raise to take the blinds down. If you get called C Betting will often work to knock the cllers off their hands without a showdown. If you do have to show a bad hand t is okay because what happens is that you will more often get paid off when you really have a big hand.
I think Jens strategy rocks hard for this level!
Thanks Jen!
Lance
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First off, this is an excellent article. Lots of good advice and well-written.
However, I really think more work need to be put into the last point. This is the most important piece of advice in some ways but as it stands could easily be misapplied by beginners.
First of all, late position here means cut-off or button as far as I’m concerned. Any earlier and you risk being raised by the 4+ players left to act. You may find yourself calling the raise on the basis of pot odds and not being able to get away from a draw on the flop without bleeding a shed load of chips.
Secon hand selection. Obviously suited connectors and one-gappers are good to limp here if others are already in the pot. I want at least 7-8s to come in or JTo. You should not play junk like A5o or K7s.
Edals’ point is spot on. If you are going to play these kind of hands you need to exercise discipline post-flop. Most of the time you will hit a draw at best. Work out the pot odds and don’t rely on implied odds to much unless you know your opponent(s) will pay you off.
Be careful about better draws out there if you do hit. Don’t get too excited if you hit a pair even if it is top pair. If you do hit and you’re 80% sure that you have the best hand think about the size of your bet. If you’ve hit your flush on the turn, you should be pricing out any redraws to better flushes - for God’s sake don’t try and slowplay a made flush on the turn with a hand like 8Ts. If you hit on the river think about whether a push might look like a bluff and have a chance of being called.
All the time you have to plan ahead about what you’ll be doing on future streets. Your dream scenario is that you stack someone with your straight or flush who can’t get away from their top pair. Your nightmare is that you cripple yourself by paying too heavily for your draw or that you end up paying someone off when you hit TPWK or second pair because you’ve put so much money in the pot that you feel justified in calling.
Bottom line - I have a 35% ROI at the low limits from about 1,000 games and I’m still very careful about playing these hands. Beginners should be even more careful. I’d advise playing TAG until you know for sure you can beat these levels and then start experimenting a bit more with a LAGgy style in position.
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Jintster, your reply adds a lot to my original article.
Thank you!
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You have to be kidding me. and lol @ thirty sit-and-gos as an appropriate sample size for anything.
I don't mean to start anything, but I have played over 50k SnGs and play any range from the 11s to the 109s. Most of the advice you give is good, but some of it is indicative of some huge leaks in your overall approach towards a SnG.
You made a thoughtful post, but this is a strategy discussion and I think it is important to highlight some of the major flaws as well as strengths.
Limping AQ and low to medium pocket pairs is VERY standard. If you are opening AQo in early position for a raise in the early levels of a SnG, you have a serious leak. You don't want to create a lot og big pots early in a SnG with marginal hands. Putting your cEV at that kind of risk in level 1 is BAD.
I understand what you mean about "chipping up". cEV, or chip expectation, or "chipping up" is extremely misunderstood when talking about SnGs. Building pots early in a SnG with speculative holdings like AQ (and the hands you mentioned you would raise in late position) is NOT going to create positive equity situations for your chip expectation.
I think you need to be open to advice as willing as you are to give it to others. You are clearly a good SnG player, but its important people realize the holes.
I would reccomend you post this in the STT forum on 2p2. It is a forum specifically for SnGs. It could create some good and educational discussion.
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limping small to mid pairs for set value in a SnG is by far the most equittable way to play those holdings.
The exceptions obviously being once you become in later levels when you have to use ICM or when it is folded to you in the CO or the button or something.
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iis612
(United States)
301
Posts.
Joined
06-01-2005.
10-05-2006 11:09 AM
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In reply to
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Great post. Great article. I think most of it will greatly improve my game.
There is one thing though.
Playing too tight early.
While playing tight early is a viable strategy in a higher limit SNG, it is simply a mistake in the lowest limit SNGs, where there are usually a few players just dying to lose their money early. Get first crack at these players' money. Play a wide range of hands in late position, hoping to hit a monster. You have huge implied odds when the blinds are small, and opponents who are all too willing to call off their stack with top pair! Play hands in position, cheap, hit a monster, and bet HARD hoping for a call. You'll get it more often than not.
What is the downfall in sitting back, playing with some patience, and getting a better feel for the players?
I understand that with basic 3-4xBB raise early is still a cheap flop to try and hit a monster. I understand the logic of this, but I have found that more often than not I am just tossing out good chips. Thoughts?
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--------------------
Most of my students coming into my classes have the idea that survival is the most important concept in a SNG, and they should never jeopardize their "tournament life", unless they are sure they are ahead! While surviving increases your ITM%, your ROI is most affected by the number of wins you attain!
In the lowest levels the majority of your opponents are thinking like that, and you should abuse them liberally!
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What about this one??
Four players left in a SNG, blinds are 100/200 and you're on the BB with 2000T$.
UTG (5000T$) shove (he's probably "abusing" those weaktight players).
Button (1500T$) folds, SB (5000T$) folds too. UTG's range is probably something around 22+, Ax, KJ+, QJish.
What is the calling range of someone that "plays to win" ?
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