SNG - The Most Important Aspect

[AndyB]

I thought it would be useful to discuss which aspects of Sit-n-Go strategy successful players consider the most important to their ITM. (if you lost that one aspect, it would reduce your ITM the most).

Feel free to discuss other aspects if I have missed some. (I was considering making this a poll, but am not sure it the list is complete). If anyone would like to make it a poll, feel free.

Hand Selection
Table Position
Betting Strategy
Bluffing/Steal play
Bubble Play
Pot Odds
Reads
Stack Management
Positive Mindset
others?

Andy

[nogenius]

Probably bubble play.

[Fleece]

aggresion. stealing ect

[vqc]

Bluffing/STeal play is a big part of being aggro on the bubble.

[pgil]

adapting to the table/situation

[TLR]

There is no single aspect that is 'more important'
Different stages of the Sng call for different aspects
Early on hand selection is critical
On the bubble agression (which is a combination of Betting strategy, bluffing, and reads) is critical
Stack management is important all the way
Threeway - Heads up reads become very important

You need a good skillset in all the areas you mention and more, and you need the adaption ability mentioned by pgil to use them in the correct time

[A10Chief]

For me personally, stack management and hand selection are probably the most important to my ITM. My ROI probably gets its biggest boost (or lack thereof) from shorthanded/bubble aggression. I play $5.50's and $11's, so sometimes just hanging out and folding most of your hands preflop will get you to the bubble.

[Cpaz]

For me, it's not getting sucked into playing marginal hands early, even from the button. I very rarely get involved early unless I have monsters. When I do get a little frisky that's generally when I go out early. If I make it to the bubble there's a good chance I'll cash.

[invizyn]

You also have to be in a good mindset. If you go into an SnG thinking that you won't make it ITM, or that AA always gets sucked out, etc., you won't be able to play your 'A' game. You have to let go of all of your prior experiences every time you fire up a game and just play your greatest ability.

[zenbitz]

I'm going to be contrarian here. It's very hard to place higher than 3rd without at catching at least 1 hand.

You can "fold like superman on laundry day" until the blinds his about 75/150 - then you have to steal. Now, stealing is (duh) key to sucess, but I rarely find bubble/near bubble situations where I can steal my way ITM - UNLESS I have doubled up at least once already. But frankly, if you are more or less a short stack, someone is going to gamble with you and you are going to have win at least a coinflip. More liley you will have to dodge a couple 3:2s as well, if not suckout yourself.

Now, I think you only need 3000 chips to squeak into the money, but then you will need to hit a hand or to to get HU. HU, I like my chances vs. the riff-raff in the mid-level SNGs, as long I am not outstacked > 4:1 and the blinds are not too high.

I should say that this is my experience based on Poker Stars primarily. Other sites are probably fishier. I may be biased by playing alot of turbos recently as well. Sometimes, 3-4 people bust out early, but I have also been to several where everyone is still in at blinds 75/150!

[AndyB]

You also have to be in a good mindset. If you go into an SnG thinking that you won't make it ITM, or that AA always gets sucked out, etc., you won't be able to play your 'A' game. You have to let go of all of your prior experiences every time you fire up a game and just play your greatest ability.

Good point, I was actually thinking of including this in the list.

[DavSimon]

This may not be a particular strategy, but I do feel it is more important than any other individual skill....and that is Experience
What I mean by more important is that it "outweighs" many skills or can make up for deficiencies in particular areas.

If you crave action and don't like waiting for premium hands......experience with post flop play can make up for poor hand selection and position. If you have trouble calculating pot odds or have a bad attitude that day, experience can help you pinpoint the right time to make a move regardless of the odds or your mood. If you realize your timing is off and your bluffs are not working....experience will kick in and tell you it is time to tighten up significantly and camp for a monster...and will give you the patience to wait for it. Experience will reveal the differences between bad play and bad luck on a daily basis. You can win by playing poorly and getting lucky.....you can also win by playing exceptionally well while still getting unlucky....what is it that objectively tells you how things are going, or when it is time to change things up? There really is no substitute for seeing a whole lot of hands and situations play out.....that is not to say you can not be successful without experience, but if you lack experience you really need to be sharp at several of the afore mentioned facets of your game that day.
You can be a phenom or an expert at a particular skill....but I will choose the person who has a ton of experience and a completely average skill set to win in the long term. Shooting stars are exciting and burn bright....but how long do they last? The stars that last are the inconspicuous ones that have been there since the beginning of time and will be there for an eternity to come.

To me it seems that experience is often overlooked in the rush to be “good” at this game. Everyone learns to rules of holdem, the hand rankings, basic and even advanced strategy can be learned in a relatively small amount of time…..it seems that everyone is in a rush to play at ever increasing stakes – to maximize the time they spend playing. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, I believe that often people get wrapped up in their short term successes and ambitions and forget how important “paying dues” and “time spent” really is. What is my point? Feed that thirst for knowledge you have right now, analyze and discuss hands/situations to death, however there is no substitute for having one…two…three or more years of poker experience under your belt....and that the lessons learned over time tend to be the most valuable so don't forget them.

[Stripclubjunkie]

Good post as always DavSimon

[JeffreyGB]

With any poker, I think BR management is key. At first, that means simply not risking too much to overcome variance. Eventually, it also means risking enough for the rewards to still be meaningful.

As far as specific factors in play that relate to success, I've said before that I think understanding Folding Equity (which incorporates a lot of what you need to know for proper bubble play and also by definition includes the gap concept) is the single most important thing to really master. A lot of the other things on your list would be built-in to a proper understanding of FE by my thinking as well (so perhaps that's too general an answer, but in any case it stands).

I also agree with Dav that experience [with a caveat of working to learn while building the experience] is key, largely because a player who learns while building experience will ultimately force himself to be good in all of the areas discussed above.