Joined: Feb '12
Location: Denmark
Age: 60 (F)
Posts: 19
startet at pokerstars school and i must say that i can still learn i can say now that my biggest problem is that i play to many and dont fold enough.so for me who have learn just a little about poker before i startet to play online, its not waist of my time igot more to learn about poker i know for sure.
Edited by lenefalbe (17 February 2012 @ 00:11 GMT)
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
You know there were a lot of good replies to the last thread you posted "Frustrated". I would go back a locate it and read some of them and here's something that was referenced in your last, but I don't think you ever went back to read it. Hope it helps! It really did help me.
This was written by IslandJack. A well known Mobster here in the forum.
As asked, I finally made my first video yesterday with 2 tables using the strategy outlined here. Never made a video and still need to add sound, because it´s pretty boring to watch without it. + I´d like to say WHY I do what I do, bet sizing, position, bluffs, opponent reads, etc.
I came in 2nd in both, which is a decent result, I believe. Was kind of nervous knowing it was for everybody to watch so my Heads-Up play was far from optimal, to say the least. The point is to CASH in a SnG, and that is what the video is all about.
ORIGINAL POST:
First of all, I´m not a "grinder". I play mostly MTT´s.
I built up my initial Bankroll with STT´s a long time ago, and I still play them either for fun, and to win back tournament buy-ins.
Still don´t know much about ICM and Nash equilibrium charts, but apparently it´s the way to go if you are a "Grinder" hoping to cash big in them and multi-tabling heavily. I still "play the table".
What I DO see in the micros up to $5-6 is A LOT of bad play.
Basic SnG strategy (goes for ALL limits, even $500 buy-ins):
Sit tight and FOLD !
That´s by far the best advice I can give you. When I tell you honestly that I cash easily in about 7/10 SnG´s I play, that should say enough.
Outside of monster hands, like AA-JJ, all pairs cheap and in position, and AK, sometimes AQ or AJ (in position), I dump just about EVERYTHING. Even AQ and AJ to huge raises or all-ins.
Basically, I sit back and watch everyone battling for chips, getting busted out, trading stacks to each other...blablabla....
Just keep your stack "healthy", and sit back and watch. Usually after a half hour, half the field has busted out, and you are basically playing a 4-5 man SnG when the blinds start to mean something. Don´t even get me started on what a statistical advantage that creates, playing against 4-5 players instead of 9-10.
The toughest part in the Micros is the 4-5 player stage (but then it always is), because usually the play is SO bad, people will give the short stacks their chips, and they are back in the running instead of busted out. That is probably the BIGGEST mistake, players make at this level. Not ganging up on the weak stacks!!!
Typical mistakes: Having a HUGE stack, and instead of sitting back and waiting for the Heads Up, where the money is, they start to attack everyone, even the other strong stacks, and before you know it, THEY are the short stack or out. Seen it a million times.
Sharks attack the fish! basic rule of Poker. (the "fish" being the short stacks in this case)
If you make it to that 4-5 man stage with at least 2/3 of your stack left, you´re good to go. We have now reached the shove or fold stage, and that "puny" stack will turn into a competitive stack in just 1 hand, if you play it well.
From then on, it´s up to you.
Easy!
Any comments are welcome, as usual.
EDIT: One more tip. When the table has seen you do NOTHING for a half hour, and then all of a sudden you fire up your game, they are surprised, get scared, worried that their read on you sucks big time, and you can do whatever the hell you like for a while. LOTS of fun, that.
+ they actually respect your first raises/all-ins and you can pick up some big blinds easy to get your stack up to par.
------------ LEAKFINDER VIDEOS
On all Video Training sites, the Pros take a session from a member, and analyse it for leaks.
Dozn posted some Videos of an Sng Donking players out for a laugh, but they are actually very useful to point out the most typical mistakes most players make at the micro stakes.
So I decided to make a "Leakfinder" post about them with the relevant comments you would typically get on a training site. They are often far more useful than just describing a strategy.
I will adress the 4 major leaks in these videos, typical mistakes made by most players at these levels:
1. You can not possibly put someone on a specific hand, not with the information you had in the previous example. Just plain impossible. Don´t do it! You can put people on "Ranges", and AQ, KQ are in EVERYBODY´s range. So it figures that with 4 people in the pot, at least 1 would be holding a Q. especially in the early stages of an SnG.
Obviously Leak no. 1. You are trying to put people onspecific hands with absolutely no information.
2. You are playing your cards and NOT the other players at all. If you had paid attention, you would have known that the player you were facing in that hand was playing perfect SnG strategy. He folded EVERY hand, and had only limped in with a small pair in late position earlier. He didn´t even try to bluff that hand or take the pot, he just checked to the River with all the overcards. Basically saving his chips in the early stages. Obviously someone who knows how to play SnG´s. So when he bet the flop, you should have known he was holding a Q.
Obvioulsy Leak no. 2. You are playing your cards and paying absolutely no attention to who you are actually facing.
3. Again, you are playing your cards, and not taking into account what game you are actually playing. A Sit and Go.
An Sng plays differently from a Cash game, and differently from a Tournament.
When you got that AJo with your HUGE stack, you had such a hard time laying it down, the tension was obvious. You were talking about a "missed" opportunity, when a Q was on the board, then a K, and finally the hand was won with 2 pair. Then you realised you saved a whole bunch of chips. Of course. AJ is NOT that great a hand in the early part of an SnG and should be folded anyways unless you are on the button with a limp or small raise depending on the table, when the blinds are still ridiculously low.
Obviously Leak no. 3. You are, again, playing your hand with no consideration of which game you are actually playing.
4. You are not thinking at all while playing Poker. Still with your big Stack and really low blinds 50/100, you decide to raise 400 on the SB with 99. He raises you big time, and you go all-in !!! Why?
He shows AK, and AGAIN Donk him out with trip 9´s with a K hitting the board.
Just before, you try to steal 25/50 blinds with 78s, he goes all-in, and you snap-call again!!! He shows 10 10 and....need I say it?.... You Donk out nother player hitting a straight!
Unbelievably lucky!
At this stage, the blinds are ABSOLUTELY not worth risking a chunck of your stack to steal them. They are ridiculously low, and you are getting NO odds to actually steal that puny amount. Depending on stack sizes, people still in the game, etc., they "might" become worth stealing from 75/150 and preferably up. That´s just a plain fact. Undisputable if you know anything at all about ICM (just very basic stuff) and what your chips are worth at the beginning of an SnG.
Obviously Leak no. 4. You are not "thinking" at all about anything, and just clicking away.
If you are a typical low stakes aggro player in these stakes, pretend it was you and take the comments to heart. They will make a HUGE difference in your overall SnG winnings.
Also....
The way this was played is what I always hope for in an SnG. Someone playing horribly, busting everyone off the tables with suckouts, leaving me to do nothing until basically Heads-UP, when I can take all his chips away. There is no easier way to win a SnG than having a player like that in the game. I just sit back and watch him bust everyone out, good and bad players, with a sure cash for me. 2nd place is a guarantee, 1st place comes down to a decent Heads-Up game. you can´t ask for anything better than that.
As always, all comments are welcomed.
Edited by IslandJack (Saturday, January 21, 2012 @ 12:22 GMT)
Joined: Feb '12
Location: Denmark
Age: 60 (F)
Posts: 19
hello greenmohave thanx for the thread.OFCOURSE.I READ THE REPLIES.and i must say that its very helpfull for me to read.if i didnt read the reply why even ask for any help.i have done all the mistakes you are explaining.but now im in progress i think.and my goal is trying to win the brm freeroll on pokerstars it wil not be easy but can bee done.hope you are satisfied with my answer this is all new for me so im sorry if i do anything wrong.english is not my language so i hope you get my point.or feel free to ask.have a nice weekend everyone.
