Bubble delema...

[TheScientist23]

In a weird turn of events, we were down to 4 people in a $1.25 9 player SnG and I found myself grossly understacked.

Me: 1120
Villain 1: 3860
Villain 2: 4990
Villain 3: 3530

The blinds were at 30/60. What kind of strategy could you use to even it up a bit? They are all horrible players, doubling/tripling up early on with a coin toss. It's a tough situation because even if you shove and steal blinds, it amounts to next to nothing.

I ended up getting 1st place in the SnG. How did I do it, you ask? Well I'll tell you what I did. I flopped 2 ace high flushes in a row, that's what I did. Haha yeah I got really lucky, but if that hadn't of happened, is there anything you can do to give just a little bit of an edge?

[bjsaust]

Thing is, atm you still have almost 20 bbs, and at this point with villains this bad, its still totally possible for them to knock each other out.

I dont adjust much until blinds go up or I blind down. Still look for good steal spots, but I'm playing fairly quietly here.

[taipan168]

I agree with bjsaust. There's no need to go crazy with marginal hands since it's much harder to steal blinds from stacks that are much bigger than yours. With 20x BB you still have some time to pick up a good hand (and when you do, play it aggressively).

[TLR]

I agree with Tai and bjs, you are still deep enough to play solid poker

Two adjustments:
1. It is a shorthanded game, hands like A8-AJ,KQ go up in value, SC and low PP go down in value
2. I would make my 'standard' raise a bit higher, for example 5BB instead of 3BB when opening, big stack have easier time calling a bit bigger raises, and it will be easier for you to build big pots with your big hands this way

[TheScientist23]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. In hindsight, I guess it is pretty obvious what to do considering stack/blind ratio, but 3 people backing up the exact same thing reinforces the point.

[bluedevil907]

Two adjustments:
1. It is a shorthanded game, hands like A8-AJ,KQ go up in value, SC and low PP go down in value

At the $1.25 level it's extremely important that you label who ISN"T adjusting for a shorthanded game, however. The A8-AJ range is going to get you into trouble fast if you don't recognize someone who is still just playing AQ+.

[mcdonough22]

At this point, they all have stacks that can absorb a hit from you, so you have to wait for a pushing hand that will show down well. Luckily, the blinds are low, so you have time to wait for some good hands. Dont think about trying any naked steals against $1 donks until the BB = 150, 200. Aint worth it. One doubleup and you're in the game (as you already found out).

[yourfather]

Basically what they said, but in addition this has worked well for me:

In these situations, I find that if there are one or two players who make loose calls and don't understand ICM you can shove a little earlier than normal, such as with 13-16 bbs rather than 10-11bbs, with like AQ+ 99+ rather than standard raising.

You'll often take down blinds at this point which is fine, but also will often get called down by A9-A10-AJ, mid pairs, many hands that you dominate.

So play tight but shove with more BB in your stack. Does anyone agree/ disagree with this?

[TheScientist23]

At the $1.25 level it's extremely important that you label who ISN"T adjusting for a shorthanded game, however. The A8-AJ range is going to get you into trouble fast if you don't recognize someone who is still just playing AQ+.

It's the $1.25 level. No ones just playing AQ+.

I bubbled out of a different SnG when I went All-In with A-Ks and got called by 3-3. I don't know about you, but if I'm the chip leader and it's the bubble, I'm not calling the other big stack's push with 3-3.