Live SnG

Clareman

Hi All,

I've to play in a live SnG tonight, it's the end of a league. The league has been going on for around 20 weeks in 3 different venues, with at least 200 being put into the prize pool from each game (i.e. payout is at least 200*60=12,000 in prize), there was talk of the venues putting in some extra money. There's 8 people playing tonight.

No meaning to boast, but as I qualified from such a large field, I regard myself as an OKish live tourney player, I like to concentrate on getting a moderate stack and then trying to make money around bubble time.

Now that it's the final table, I was wondering has anyone any advice on how to best play it? Everyone is starting on the same number of chips (I'm not sure of the structure). I plan on playing fairly tight early on and trying to play position as much as possible without risking too much in order to hopefully have a few people drop off early so my payout is higher.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated (except donkuments and move up a level )

OilBeefHooked2

lol donkuments... surely its donkaments:p

Clareman

david-k wrote:

lol donkuments... surely its donkaments:p

d'oh, I actually had it spelt a different way as well, yes yes, I am a n00b

bops

first figure out who is playing loose/gambling - coz of the freeroll nature, and who is playing tight trying to get deeper in the prize money...

then play very aggro - picking your spots with ref to the above

what is the payout structure? and what would you be happy with?

i guess that there is no bubble and you are all getting something - i personally would play to win

gl

shoutman

When I play sngs thats usually what I do depending on table dynamic.

IMO there isnt much point having a set strategy as you could start playing and ten fifteen minutes in you are noticing that the rest of the table are tight as tigers... therefor open up a bit and exploit there timidness, if a lot of players are playing ultra aggressive just sit back and hope for a hand... its not rocket science really.
I think as a whole of it is your standard table with a few rocks and a few crazies then taking it easy at the start is not a bad idea, you can see who's who, what they do in certain positions and not risk chips early on. Also with the blind levels low at the start it is not worth risking chips to increase your stack by such a small percentage, it is far better to develop a tight image so when the blinds go to a level where they are hurting peoples stacks to pay them, that when you raise with muck that it gets respected...

In Sng's position is the key, like a lot of poker, however later on when you are getting to pushing territory being out of position, ie. first to act after the flop AKA Irish Position, is a good place to be. On average your opponent hits the flop 1 in 3 times, and when you are shortstacked and have a chance to increase your stack substantially by open pushing after the flop do it! As long as you dont think your opponent has hit that is, it is very hard to call someone with Ace or King high....

I'm rambling now, but anyway...

You got the basics right anyway, Be in Position, tight while the blinds are low unless tably dynamics dictate otherwise, also if there is one player at the table who is easily identifiable as a bad player, preferbly loose weak (limps and likes to see flops but puts himself on autofold if he misses the flop) try to isolate him and play against him as much as possible. If he limps raise after him in the hope that everyone else folds, if he raises reraise after him in the hope that you get 1vs1 with him... I find it astonishing how often you can sit down at a table and figure out after a few minutes that there is one guy who is quite happy to give you chips without too much hassle, seek the opportunity and take it.

Anyway good luck and I'm expecting a report in the morning

Mr.Plough

donkument is the entry form for the tourny

Clareman

Thanks guys, I know a lot of the players.

there is 1 guy who will chase anything and play with anything.
there is 1 old guy who likes to win small pots and not gamble all his chips.
there is 1 woman who will play with any ace.

the other players are fairly solid I think, 2 of them I know nothing about. I would be guessing my image is that of a solid player who won't lay down hands

Lafortezza

What's the prize structure?

ollyk1

Clareman wrote:

Hi All,

I've to play in a live SnG tonight, it's the end of a league. The league has been going on for around 20 weeks in 3 different venues, with at least 200 being put into the prize pool from each game (i.e. payout is at least 200*60=12,000 in prize), there was talk of the venues putting in some extra money. There's 8 people playing tonight.

No meaning to boast, but as I qualified from such a large field, I regard myself as an OKish live tourney player, I like to concentrate on getting a moderate stack and then trying to make money around bubble time.

Now that it's the final table, I was wondering has anyone any advice on how to best play it? Everyone is starting on the same number of chips (I'm not sure of the structure). I plan on playing fairly tight early on and trying to play position as much as possible without risking too much in order to hopefully have a few people drop off early so my payout is higher.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated (except donkuments and move up a level )

It's hard to give specific advice based on the limited info above (apart from congratulating you on qualifying etc etc) however one thing I've noted about these type of things (promotional leagues) is that a lot of players don't adjust to the new situation quickly enough.

What do I mean you may ask?

This is probably a bigger game then most of these guys are used to playing. Subconsciously around the bubble they will tighten up in a way they may not have done in smaller games. Exploit this if you see it happening. But this is pretty obvious....

What may happen is they could all be thinking along similar lines to yourself "No meaning to boast, but as I qualified from such a large field, I regard myself as an OKish live tourney player, I like to concentrate on getting a moderate stack and then trying to make money around bubble time." so you may have to react to this and slow play or feign weakness to accumulate chips. CRAI ftw!

Also remember these guys are used to playing Final tables where the blinds are high and it's push or fold poker. Now they are playing in a sit and go where one hopes the structure will be somewhat decent. You may be able to float them to run bluffs on the turn or river. They may find themselves in novel situations where they are fairly deep stacked close to the bubble. A lot of people don't know how to play 30 BB's at bubble time. A sort of a "What do I do now that shoving is stupid?!" kind of thing.

Also please bear in mind dealmaking is a lot more likely to break out in this SNG. Don't let yourself get crippled and short at a crucial time or else you could find yourself playing 3 other players who are implicitly colluding to take you out and chop up the prize money.

Sometimes it can be right to ease off a little if there are a few maniacs likely to take each other out and then a 3 or 4 way chop will break out. in situations like this I tell myself "just sit quiet and be patient and you'll be walking home with a few €k in your pocket in an hours time". Let the maniacs take each other out if you are reasonably chipped up and in no danger. Sometimes going for the top spot in these things is an illusion as it'll effectively play like a sat with 2 or 3 seats.

Casual conversation before the tournie can tell you a lot about peoples attitude towards the money and can help later in deal negotiation. Appearance and tone are important at the deal making stage.

The above comments may or may not apply when you actually sit down to play this thing so you'll have to react on the spot and as in all things in poker "it depends" but there are a suggestion of things to think about and exploit in these kind of situations. Apart from that playing your best poker and having some luck will always help!

Good luck

Clareman

Thanks for the advice, will definetly use it.

made a complete arse of the prize fund, they were making a big deal of there being at least 10k in the prize fund, not for the overall prize, sorry, I'll ring the TD in a while to get the exact breakdown

Ste05

That's a great post ollyk1. Loads of things in there I would never have thought about with this kind of tournament.

Best of luck Clareman.

Clareman

another small thing I was going to do actually, I normally play in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I was going to go in my work gear (i.e. slacks and a shirt) and borrow my brother's car to turn up in (06 Audi A6), I thought this would make the players sit up and think that I wasn't too interested in the money so winning or loosing wouldn't affect me too much

Clareman

Back after the night, thought I'd give the news report

Everyone started off with 150,000 in chips, blinds started with 1000 and 2000, first hand I was on the button, player before me raised to 10k, I folded (Q 7 off), small blind folded, called by big blind, flop came 6 10 K (rainbow), BB checked, raised to 20k, called, next card K, check, raise 30k, call, last card 2 (to complete rainbow), check, raised 40k, called, raiser shows house 6s and K, BB shows 10s and K. At this stage I figured I'd sit out and let the table settle down.

Made a move abour 4 hands later, raised to 8k, called by 2, flop came, raised to 8 before me, re-raised, fold fold (had rags, didn't show).

From now on I was playing fairly tight, I was winning my blinds as the player next to me was crippled and won some smallish pots, was about level with the chip leader.

Few orbits later, I was BB, had K 2 heats, raised 1 blind (8k in total I think), flop came A 7 10 hearts, checked by me, raised all into me (by the old guy who doesn't risk) for 69k, I called. He showed 7 7, of course he rivered the house (10).

Continued winning some smallish hands to get back to about where I was, BB again (blinds 4/8), winner from the first hand limped into me (no other callers), had 4 4, raised another BB, called, flop came 4d 9h 9d, checked into me, I checked back (wairy of first hand), next card Kd, she bet 24 (had her on a flush), called by me, last card rubbish, she checked, I checked again (I had approx. 120k left, she had me covered and we were both chip leaders going into the hand), she turns over her pocket 9s to show her poker.

I then won a big hand by having an Ace high straigh (no flush or pair on board), so I was in a good place.

3 handed now, on my BB had the low stack go all into me (had 85k), called by me, he had 88, I had AK, 8s held up. Next time around he was all in, I had AQ suited, he had 10s, they held up again, that was me out in 3rd for 1,750.

The final 2 ended up splitting the winnings after a few hands of heads up.

Prize pool was as below.

1 4000
2 2500
3 1750
4 1500
5 1250
6 1000
7 1000
8 750

And each venue gave 2 free entries to their tournaments to the qualifers, there was also a trophy for the winner

bops

Clareman wrote:

Continued winning some smallish hands to get back to about where I was, BB again (blinds 4/8), winner from the first hand limped into me (no other callers), had 4 4, raised another BB, called, flop came 4d 9h 9d, checked into me, I checked back (wairy of first hand), next card Kd, she bet 24 (had her on a flush), called by me, last card rubbish, she checked, I checked again (I had approx. 120k left, she had me covered and we were both chip leaders going into the hand), she turns over her pocket 9s to show her poker.

wow great check!!

it looked like you didn't get the run of the green

well done all the same

Clareman

bops wrote:

wow great check!!

it looked like you didn't get the run of the green

well done all the same

1 of the main reasons I didn't bet back into her was cause I knew I'd beat her in heads up, she had qualified for the final by the amount of points she had won rather that full wins, I've seen her play heads up before as well. The pot at that stage was more that most other players had so the winner was going to be in a very good place.

Clareman

I was going to edit 1 of my previous posts, but I thought it merited a post on it's own.

Big thank you to olly for his advice, it almost worked out, but it definetly made me money tonight, I'll buy that man a beer if I ever meet him

ollyk1

Clareman wrote:

I was going to edit 1 of my previous posts, but I thought it merited a post on it's own.

Big thank you to olly for his advice, it almost worked out, but it definetly made me money tonight, I'll buy that man a beer if I ever meet him

I dunno if the advice was that good Clareman but the next time I'm down in Fanore you can point me in the direction of a good home game! lol

Well done on the third place finish, as Bops said you didn't catch too many breaks on the night so its especially sweet to make a tasty return on a night like that.

Clareman

The fact that I had to google to find out where Fanore is should let ya know my knowledge of the area

Mellor

Continued winning some smallish hands to get back to about where I was, BB again (blinds 4/8), winner from the first hand limped into me (no other callers), had 4 4, raised another BB, called, flop came 4d 9h 9d, checked into me, I checked back (wairy of first hand), next card Kd, she bet 24 (had her on a flush), called by me, last card rubbish, she checked, I checked again (I had approx. 120k left, she had me covered and we were both chip leaders going into the hand), she turns over her pocket 9s to show her poker.

Imagine that had of happened to Tilly against against Ivey, "I thought you had kings", pretty much an identical hand, results based thinking maybe as the reactions to each play was very different

Clareman

I was thinking that myself, I really got into watching Late Night Poker online, I was modelling myself on Phil Ivey last night

I didn't make a fish face at her tho