Bluffing Post-flop early in SnG's

[Staple Gun]

I play a TAGG game early on in the first few levels of SnG's, but I find that you can usually take a lot of chips if you limp with pockets, or you see a flop from BB for free.

An example is earlier, a tight player from MP limps in, SB completes and I check. Flop came 10-6-2 rainbow and SB bets 60 into a 60 pot. I had no read but he seemed tight for the first couple hands, and I wasnt worried about the player from MP. I decided to raise 120 thinking he would lay down anything but TPGK or better. Is this a good play early in SnG's? or is it to big of a risk and I should save my stack for later when the pots really matter.

[Alibi]

Dont risk it. Save every chip

[JeffreyGB]

It depends.

The last SnG I played at UB was a $22 wherein I became the chip leader by the second level, and had more than doubled up by the third. All without showing down a hand.

If your table is playing aggressive/crazy early on, definitely bide your time. If your opps will lay down questionable hands, then start playing some poker! Doing so will do wonders to get your bigger hands called, and will end up making you a lot on the times you hit. The biggest issue is to pay a lot of attention to reads/position/folding equity, and to see the flops CHEAP. Once you've done that, if you're in position and your read tells you that a reraise will win you chips, go for it.

Again, however, if your table is loose early, then don't get involved unless you can do so cheap and then hit a flop well.

[Staple Gun]

Well lets say you limp with 10-J sutied and miss on Q-5-4 flop. Theres 2 other people in and you think you can bluff them out about 70% of the time with a pot sized raise. The pot is 70 chips, would you do it? What if the pot was 140 chips?

[JeffreyGB]

Well lets say you limp with 10-J sutied and miss on Q-5-4 flop. Theres 2 other people in and you think you can bluff them out about 70% of the time with a pot sized raise. The pot is 70 chips, would you do it? What if the pot was 140 chips?

Yes. Usually a pot sized bet isn't even required, unless you've been making pot-sized and higher bets regularly. In this circumstance, since they both checked to me (or I have a very strong read that one of them raised as a steal), I'm betting. I'd probably be more inclined to bet 50/100 into a 70/140 pot, but that's just me. Same info, less cost.

Again, this is only possible because you had position and reads as a requirement to limp the hand.

[dalecooper]

The easiest way to pick up chips in a typical SnG is this:

1. Limp in (or see the flop for free from the big blind) with one to two other players.
2. This should be after the blinds are meaningful (BB of 50 or higher). This means the pot is worth picking up, and hopefully any loose crazies have been eliminated already.
3. If the flop is garbage (rainbow, mostly low cards) bet half the pot.
4. If you are raised or called, you're done with the hand, let it go.

To disguise this steal, I play the exact same way when I hit a real hand from one of the blinds. If I play KJ from the blinds and hit top pair of kings or jacks, I bet half the pot. If I play 57o from the big blind and the flop is T63 rainbow, I will also bet half the pot, as long as there's only one or two other players and the pot is worth picking up.

In some SnGs with good players you may have to set up elaborate steals or execute ballsy bluffs to steal pots and increase your stack. But in the typical SnG against the typical tighties, you can't beat the above method. The price is right; you typically win the pot better than half the time, making it enormously profitable; and there's almost no risk, because if you're called or raised you lose very little. Compared to an aggressive bluffing style, this is l0w risk and high reward.

[mgobluefb]

If you're fairly sure that you can take down the pot, of course you can go ahead and bluff. However, I rarely bluff early in an SNG, the blinds are so low at this point that the chips you win from bluffing don't really outweigh the risk. Early in an SNG, you have to conserve chips.

[ihategnomes]

There is better places to use chips, one example would be raising more in LP with less.

[Staple Gun]

Dalecooper, I agree with your post, obviously no one should be betting out every flop early on, but I picked up like 400 chips in a SnG the other day without ever betting more than like 80, I got like 4 or 5 pots that were easy bluffs, and I didnt do it in a way to make me look like a LAGG or maniac. Then again I have lost a few hundred doin the same thing at times.

[JeffreyGB]

There is better places to use chips, one example would be raising more in LP with less.

Isn't this still bluffing? Using position is part of bluffing intelligently.