how to play tight/aggressive with no hands

[grasshoppah]

Hi. I am new here. Cool hangout.

In comparison to many others, i probably have little experience playing hold'em. i have read a couple books and lots of stuff online about MTT's and SnG's.
I think i am a decent player... in the last 3 months, i have finished 9th, 15th, and 21st, in the smaller rebuy tourneys on Stars... (3 and 5).
i recently built a $30 deposit into $250 playing $5-$10 SnG's. This got me out of the $120 hole i was in.

My question is more about SnG's. I like to think of myself as tight/aggressive. Although i think about 60% of the time i feel like i am playing tight/passive-weak. I think i tend to fold premium hands to easily when i don't hit the flop and i have no draw. In later rounds, when 70% eliminated, I am more comfortable acting on my "gut reads" and re-raising when i think my AK-J is beating a smaller A-kicker... when i don't suspect a pair... or when i know someone is on a draw. I am still learning to read, then trust my read and act on it.

Here's my question finally!! What do you do when you are playing tight and you just aren't getting the cards?? OR, you wait and wait for premium hands and they get beat by complete shit (7-10s makes 2 pair, etc). When you know you 'run' has ended. And the premium cards come less and then they don't hold up like they were on the 'run'... is this a time to learn a new style of play? After all... good players need to be able to switch gears right? Do i need to start playing J-8s in level 4 after i have established a real tight table image? Maybe i should start playing like a loose super aggressive maniac for 3-4 rounds?

OR... does one simply need a bankroll to account for swings that will happen because of chance?

I want to learn how to play the people and not the cards.

grasshoppah.

[gingerwizard]

tight/aggressive means you don't play when you don't have the cards.

Playing J-8s in level four is asking for someone to take the chips you've been saving for bubble play. People at lower levels don't pay too much attention to your table image. they play their cards. some play their stack and position also.

When your stack starts to dip below 10xBB go into push fold mode. Only play premium hands though.

When down to around 5xBB you need to think about pushing any two in the SB when folded around. Push a wide range from the button etc.

Below 5xBB (some would say lower) your looking for a spot to push and to be first in the pot when you do. If you're at the stage where that means T5o UTG then so be it. You can't wait to be blinded away.

Now that you see push/fold is important why throw 300 away raising J8s? When i doesn't work you'll have thown 600 away effectively when you do double through.

Stick to tight, wait for cards and look for spots to push when your stack is getting low. Let the others waste their money on J8s. Its the number of players doing this that allows good players to make money.

[Fortune 500]

here's a simplistic rule to keep in mind... if you're not getting any hands, you'll most likely have a tight image. It takes a while to develop this at low levels, but you'll get thereeventually. Don't be afraid to SPARINGLY make moves at small pots when you have position. Your image will allow you to get away with this, even if you don't have cards. You're not going to build a big stack doing this, but you can often at least stay ahead of the blinds and antes until the right spot and cards comes along.

[Lokedog]

First off - Welcome!

As far as bankroll management goes - check out this link http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...poker-4971.htm - bankroll management is VERY important.

As far as the late game strategy goes, it's essential to become more aggressive. The blinds are getting large, and waiting around for premium hands isn't going to cut it. I used to be ultra conservative and would let my stack dwindle to an M of about 4-5 before I started pushing and actively trying to steal blinds. But at the levels that me and you play at, the other players will call w/ a whole lot of hands, so I think it's important to start going into push/fold mode around an M of 7/8 - it will make them think twice about pissing away a large chunk of their stack with those j/8's .

Also be sure to check out all of the article that are posted around here, and start posting some late game HH's for everyone to look at to answer any specific questions you may have.

[dreday]

Try to see cheap flops in the early rounds of and sng, preferably in positon, with suited connector, gappers, and small pocket pairs. These type of hands can pay off big if you hit the flop hard, especially in multiway pots, also if you completley wiff the flop it will be easy to get away from the hand w/o investing more chips.

In later rounds, say when the blinds are @ 30/60, 50/100...., if your still card dead, try rerasing in position when u supspect the inital rasier is weak , and that all depends on your read. By the middle to later rounds you'll know who the Donks are and who the solid players are. Pull a squeeze play when your in the BB and there are multiple limpers ahead of you, just make sure you have enuff fold equity in order to pull this off.

[Da GOAT]

thinking you have an image at these low lvls is silly.

opp's just play their cards full stop!! and play them badly. ABC poker will prevail, if you have FPS it wont work out.

[JeffreyGB]

The key when you're not getting cards is playing situations. Look for players that don't tend to play a lot of pots - raise their blinds. When you're in position and it's folded to you, raise (with any two if need be).

Here's a history that illustrates some of these concepts. It's a $22 I played with a sticky note over my cards:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ic.php?t=33869

[ShowMeAtlas]

I often find myself typing a raise amount into the box without a clue what cards I have. Just wait for the right time. You haven't played a hand in 5 orbits, bb is weak, no shortstacks in the way to push...etc.