Another more recent SNG for you guys to laugh at :)

[wonderland]

After doing some reading on Harrington and watching some tutorial vids i took another stab at the desperately challenging $1 SNG. Like playing those old Commodore 64 games when you're a kid, this one was also irrationally tricky.

Another abysmal death at 6th place. Combination of 2 crucial mistakes and getting zero cards as the chip dog before hitting a shitty M zone and having to push.

This is my most common game i'd say.

Just to point out, i was getting some good reads on the players, noting half of them to be loose, weak and stupid. When i tried to take the pot with 75 it was just to put out a feeler for that player. Sometimes i'll do that to get information, if they're super weak/tight it can pay off later.

Oh and the huge huge mistake i was going off pot odds + the fact that the all in was going on all in with weak cards + the fact that the player to my left was weak.

PLEASE NOTE: when i min raised it was a miss-click, i meant to check or fold or something. Honest.

Man, that bastard short stack ended up becoming the big stack bully.

Enjoy

The Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) was developed by JeffreyGB at http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com.

---Tournament Summary---
$1.10 SNG: Finished 6/9 for $0
Data for 43 hands.
You played 9 hands (20.93%)
You raised 4 times preflop (9.30%)

K 4 CO-1 (M = 50.00; f+f+f+f+F)
K T MP2 (M = 50.00; f+c+c+F)
Q 3 MP1 (M = 50.00; f+f+F)
3 7 UTG+1 (M = 50.00; f+F)
3 4 UTG (M = 50.00; F)

-----Hand 1-----
Hero's M = 50.00
PokerStars Game #20353219498: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/09/12 16:31:03 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (1380 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (1660 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1540 in chips)
Seat 4: MaddMaxx83 (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (1360 in chips)
Seat 7: VeseMan (1320 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1860 in chips)
VeseMan: posts small blind 10
wonderland08: posts big blind 20
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt 7 6
oturan: calls 20
pinoy65: folds
BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
MaddMaxx83: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: folds
VeseMan: calls 10
wonderland08: checks
Flop: J 5 7
VeseMan: checks
wonderland08: checks
oturan: checks
Turn: 4
VeseMan: bets 20

wonderland08: raises 80 to 100

oturan: folds
VeseMan: calls 80
River: 4
VeseMan: checks
wonderland08: checks
Showdown:
VeseMan: shows 3 K (a pair of Fours)
wonderland08: shows 7 6 (two pair, Sevens and Fours)
wonderland08 collected 260 from pot



-----Hand 2-----
Hero's M = 54.67
PokerStars Game #20353244029: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/09/12 16:31:59 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (1380 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (1660 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1540 in chips)
Seat 4: MaddMaxx83 (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (1360 in chips)
Seat 7: VeseMan (1200 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (1640 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1840 in chips)
wonderland08: posts small blind 10
oturan: posts big blind 20
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt 9 K
pinoy65: calls 20
BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
MaddMaxx83: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: folds
VeseMan: folds
wonderland08: raises 20 to 40

oturan: calls 20
pinoy65: calls 20
Flop: 7 Q 4
wonderland08: checks
oturan: checks
pinoy65: checks
Turn: 2
wonderland08: checks
oturan: checks
pinoy65: checks
River: T
wonderland08: bets 75

oturan: folds
pinoy65: calls 75
Showdown:
wonderland08: shows 9 K (high card King)
pinoy65: shows 8 T (a pair of Tens)
pinoy65 collected 270 from pot


8 Q BU (M = 50.83; f+f+c+f+f+c+F)
A T CO (M = 50.83; f+f+r+f+f+F)
J 7 CO-1 (M = 33.89; f+f+f+f+F)
8 J MP2 (M = 33.89; f+f+f+F)

-----Hand 3-----
Hero's M = 33.89
PokerStars Game #20353386897: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/09/12 16:37:24 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (150 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3190 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1495 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (2930 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (1360 in chips)
Seat 7: VeseMan (1300 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (1525 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1550 in chips)
Eckbrecht: posts small blind 15
angelrm: posts big blind 30
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt K J
VeseMan: calls 30
wonderland08: raises 70 to 100

oturan: calls 100
pinoy65: folds
BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: calls 70
VeseMan: calls 70
Flop: T 3 9
angelrm: bets 60

VeseMan: raises 180 to 240

wonderland08: folds
oturan: folds
angelrm: calls 180
Turn: 5
angelrm: checks
VeseMan: bets 960 and is all-in

angelrm: calls 960
River: 6
Showdown:
angelrm: shows 8 7 (a straight, Six to Ten)
VeseMan: shows A T (a pair of Tens)
angelrm collected 2815 from pot


7 9 BB (M = 31.67; r+f+f+f+c+c+F)
6 5 SB (M = 31.00; p+f+f+f+f+F)
Q 3 BU (M = 30.67; f+f+f+f+F)
9 2 CO (M = 30.67; f+c+c+F)

-----Hand 4-----
Hero's M = 30.67
PokerStars Game #20353520602: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/09/12 16:42:41 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (210 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3160 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1495 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (2795 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (2880 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (1380 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1580 in chips)
BBSRadio: posts small blind 15
curasan: posts big blind 30
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt J Q
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: calls 30
wonderland08: raises 70 to 100

oturan: raises 70 to 170

pinoy65: raises 40 to 210 and is all-in

BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
angelrm: folds
wonderland08: calls 110
oturan: calls 40
Flop: 8 5 T
wonderland08: checks
oturan: checks
Turn: 3
wonderland08: checks
oturan: checks
River: 7
wonderland08: checks
oturan: bets 100

wonderland08: calls 100
Showdown:
oturan: shows K T (a pair of Tens)
wonderland08: mucks hand
oturan collected 200 from side pot
pinoy65: shows 8 8 (three of a kind, Eights)
pinoy65 collected 705 from main pot


6 2 UTG+1 (M = 23.78; f+F)
Q 2 UTG (M = 23.78; F)

-----Hand 5-----
Hero's M = 14.27
PokerStars Game #20353618965: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/09/12 16:46:26 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (1440 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3190 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1450 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (2060 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (2820 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (1070 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1470 in chips)
angelrm: posts small blind 25
wonderland08: posts big blind 50
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt 4 6
oturan: folds
pinoy65: calls 50
BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: calls 25
wonderland08: checks
Flop: T T A
angelrm: checks
wonderland08: checks
pinoy65: bets 150

angelrm: folds
wonderland08: folds
Uncalled bet (150) returned to pinoy65
pinoy65 collected 150 from pot



-----Hand 6-----
Hero's M = 13.60
PokerStars Game #20353637423: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/09/12 16:47:08 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (1540 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3190 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1450 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (2060 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (2770 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (1020 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1470 in chips)
wonderland08: posts small blind 25
oturan: posts big blind 50
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt T Q
pinoy65: folds
BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: folds
wonderland08: calls 25
oturan: raises 50 to 100

wonderland08: folds
Uncalled bet (50) returned to oturan
oturan collected 100 from pot
oturan: doesn't show hand


6 3 BU (M = 12.93; f+f+c+f+F)
9 8 CO (M = 12.93; f+f+f+F)
3 2 MP1 (M = 12.93; f+c+F)
A 7 UTG+1 (M = 12.93; c+F)
2 5 UTG (M = 12.93; F)

-----Hand 7-----
Hero's M = 12.93
PokerStars Game #20353782627: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/09/12 16:52:37 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (3117 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3340 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1375 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (1685 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (1030 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (970 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1983 in chips)
angelrm: posts small blind 25
wonderland08: posts big blind 50
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt 5 T
oturan: folds
pinoy65: folds
BBSRadio: calls 50
curasan: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: calls 25
wonderland08: checks
Flop: 3 Q 3
angelrm: checks
wonderland08: checks
BBSRadio: checks
Turn: J
angelrm: checks
wonderland08: checks
BBSRadio: checks
River: K
angelrm: checks
wonderland08: checks
BBSRadio: checks
Showdown:
angelrm: shows 4 7 (a pair of Threes)
wonderland08: shows 5 T (a pair of Threes)
BBSRadio: shows A 8 (a pair of Threes - Ace kicker)
BBSRadio collected 150 from pot


8 3 SB (M = 12.27; f+f+f+c+f+F)
5 K BU (M = 11.93; f+f+f+f+F)
8 Q CO (M = 11.93; f+f+c+F)
T 3 MP1 (M = 11.93; f+f+F)
5 K UTG+1 (M = 5.97; f+F)
7 5 UTG (M = 5.97; F)
Q 3 BB (M = 5.97; c+f+c+f+f+p+F)
4 J SB (M = 5.30; r+f+f+f+f+F)
3 T BU (M = 4.97; f+f+f+f+F)
9 8 CO (M = 4.97; f+f+f+F)
6 4 MP1 (M = 4.97; c+f+F)
Q 5 UTG+1 (M = 4.97; p+F)
7 5 UTG (M = 4.97; F)

-----Hand 8-----
Hero's M = 4.97
PokerStars Game #20354027609: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/09/12 17:01:57 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (4517 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3240 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1125 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (1260 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (1480 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (745 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (1133 in chips)
angelrm: posts small blind 50
wonderland08: posts big blind 100
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt 6 7
oturan: folds
pinoy65: calls 100
BBSRadio: calls 100
curasan: folds
Eckbrecht: folds
angelrm: calls 50
wonderland08: checks
Flop: 9 6 6
angelrm: checks
wonderland08: checks
pinoy65: checks
BBSRadio: checks
Turn: Q
angelrm: checks
wonderland08: bets 100

pinoy65: folds
BBSRadio: folds
angelrm: folds
Uncalled bet (100) returned to wonderland08
wonderland08 collected 400 from pot


Q 5 SB (M = 6.97; c+f+f+f+f+F)

-----Hand 9-----
Hero's M = 6.63
PokerStars Game #20354072523: Tournament #107808910, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/09/12 17:03:37 ET
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Table '107808910 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: pinoy65 (4667 in chips)
Seat 2: BBSRadio (3140 in chips)
Seat 3: curasan (1125 in chips)
Seat 5: Eckbrecht (1260 in chips)
Seat 6: angelrm (1380 in chips)
Seat 8: wonderland08 (995 in chips)
Seat 9: oturan (933 in chips)
oturan: posts small blind 50
pinoy65: posts big blind 100
Preflop: wonderland08 dealt 9 A
BBSRadio: folds
curasan: folds
Eckbrecht: raises 100 to 200

angelrm: folds
wonderland08: raises 795 to 995 and is all-in

oturan: calls 883 and is all-in

pinoy65: folds
Eckbrecht: calls 795
Flop: 7 T 8
Turn: 2
River: T
Showdown:
Eckbrecht: shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Tens)
wonderland08: shows 9 A (a pair of Tens)
Eckbrecht collected 124 from side pot
oturan: shows K A (a pair of Tens)
Eckbrecht collected 2899 from main pot



The Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.4w) was developed by JeffreyGB at http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com.

[taipan168]

OK, there is quite a bit to work on here. Hopefully nobody will berate you, they should give you constructive feedback

Overall I think you really need to work on your preflop hand selection which is far too loose. You REALLY should not be playing hands like KJo, QJs etc from early and mid position, particularly with a limper in front.

1. 76s - I just call the turn donkminbet to see if I can spike a 3, 6, 7 or 8. Raising isn't terrible though.

2. K9s - ugh, don't raise here (take it this is where you misclicked). At best, just complete and see if you can flop something nice. Folding wouldn't be bad here either. As played, on the river, I would just check it down. Against two $1.10 players your bluff WILL get called.

3. KJo - dump it preflop from UTG+1. I would fold it even if there wasn't a limper in front.

4. QJs - eaaaaasy fold preflop for me, and as played with the re-raises after you, even easier fold. On the river, WHY CALL the 100 bet? You're beating like NADA here. Even A or K high beats you dude!

6. QTo - I would open raise it when folded to in the SB, make it 150 to go. As played, I would call the BB's donkminraise and play carefully on a Q or T high flop. You're getting 3:1 odds to call the raise. I wouldn't be in this spot because I would have open raised in the first place.

8. 76o - BET THE FLOP PLEASE! With three opps seeing the flop, chances are that somebody will call. I bet like 200 here and hope somebody calls or better, raises. As played, BET MORE on the turn, bet 200 - if they'll call 100 they'll call 200.

Rest later

[wonderland]

hey taipan,

thanks for the critique

I have some questions/comments.

2. Yeah that was a miss click like i say, i would NEVER min raise with that, or anything for that matter.

3. Really?? KJ fold from that position? wow. And QJ fold? so i'm really only opening with AA, KK, QQ, AQ, AK ? unless everyone has folded to me and then it broadens somewhat?

6. But QT is really good enough to raise with in late pos? that i also didn't expect.

8. My M rating was so low here that it was do or die. I wanted someone to enter the pot so that's why i checked. Whole game could have turned around for me then if someone had tried to steal the pot.

What about my last hand. Was i right to go all-in?

cheers

[fulksy]

i have similar opinions, i think too loose in early position, should be foldin KJ's and QJ ect. i also don't like slow playing, thats when you get those bad beats that you talk about. with the A9 i would fold to a raise, no clue if i'm remotly right here but when i'm low<10bb i like to be the one opening the pot, usually in late position, at this point you want to steal your way to bigger stack, i would rather raise in late position with 910s then call a raise with A9... hmmm wonder if i'm right here.

[taipan168]

OK, just to finish off. On Hand 8 I was going to say that your aim when you flop a hand like this is to get as many chips as you can in the pot, preferably being AI on or before the river, and the way to achieve this is by BETTING.

Hand 9 (A9o) - don't like this shove. It would be fine if it was folded to you but in this case a) you don't have a whole lot of fold equity and b) there aren't many hands you dominate in opp's range.

3. Really?? KJ fold from that position? wow. And QJ fold? so i'm really only opening with AA, KK, QQ, AQ, AK ? unless everyone has folded to me and then it broadens somewhat?

Yes! KJ/QJ are poor hands from early position, just because they look all pretty and colourful doesn't make them good! I don't like giving hand guides because hand selection is very situation dependent but in both those situations I would play the following:
- JJ+ (and maybe TT) and AK/AQ: Raise to 120-150
- 22-99 (and maybe TT): Limp and play for set value on the flop
- EVERYTHING ELSE (including AJ, KJ, QT, QJ etc. whether sooted or not): IN THE MUCK.

6. But QT is really good enough to raise with in late pos? that i also didn't expect.

This is different because it's blind vs blind, so you're essentially up against a random hand. Plus, the 75 chips in the pot is about a 7% increase to your stack, so they're worth stealing, and if you're called a) you hit a Q or T on the flop 32% of the time and b) you may be able to take the pot down with a c-bet.

8. My M rating was so low here that it was do or die. I wanted someone to enter the pot so that's why i checked. Whole game could have turned around for me then if someone had tried to steal the pot.

But you yourself have complained that these players are such donks they call with all sorts of crap, so this is the PERFECT situation to bet a really strong hand and build a big pot so you can win a big pot! If somebody limped in with 33 or QT, they may call a bet but may not bet themselves. I bet the flop 100% of the time here.

[fjuanl]

Hand 1 - Well played, that turn card gave you a TON of outs and villian seems to have a very weak hand.

Hand 2 - misclicks are no fun. Dont bother bluffing the river, you've played the hand so passively that its pretty obvious that you have nothing...not to mention $1 players will call with a lot of stuff

Hand 3 - fold preflop with or without a limper. Just to give you an idea how tight I would recommend behind in early position here...most of the time I'd fold AJo there (with or without a limper)

Hand 4 - see hand 3. Think about the hands that call preflop raise. AJ, KJ, AQ, KQ...all of which you are 30% against. Plus whenever you actually see a flop you like, you could very easily be outkicked and end up losing a lot of chips. If theres a raise in front and you have QJ or KJ, just pretend it turned into 72o

Hand 5 - nh, I see a lot of people chase in situations like this. You probably need 4/1 odds or better to draw to this because the paired board gives someone with trip aces a chance to beat you even if you hit

Hand 8 - With 4 players seeing the flop at the $1 level, you'll almost get called every time if you bet the flop strong.

Hand 9 - It seems like you get into short stack desperation mode and just get all in with the any somewhat decent hand. As taipan said, being patient is great for sng players. I'd suggest googling "Poker Stove" and downloading the program. Plug in A9 against a range of hands that you think this person would minraise with, and you'll see how bad of shape you're in.

Heres why being patient and focusing on survival is key in Sng's. The payout structure. 4th place gets 0% of the prize pool and 3rd gets a big 20%. In large tournaments, often the difference between the bubble and in the money is as low as 1% of the prize pool. In SnG's the difference is 20%, which is huge. This doesnt mean you should just fold fold fold and hope you get in the money. Since theres such a big gap between between 3rd and 4th, its unprofitable to be calling raises and all-ins with marginal hands, EVEN if the players know your stealing from them. Good luck at the tables

[taipan168]

fjuanl explained it really well, great post - particularly WHY limping KJ and QJ was bad in those hands and the need for patience in SNGs.

[wonderland]

Cool, i've taken in all the info from my last two hand postings.

Thanks for the feedback.

As a result, my early game is super tight now. Although i get really stuck when i have QJ or KJ now... coz i used to push 'em and now i just limp if i can. But if i miss i get the hell out.

My real issue now is with mid game. When there's 5/4 people left. It feels almost impossible to dodge that many bullets and make it into the money. Last night i played one that nearly killed me. It was about 90 minutes long and i went all in and lost twice only to come back and finish 2nd. I was gonna post the HH but there must have been 100 hands played.

Think my next posting will be about bubble-game.

Cheers guys!

[Stripclubjunkie]

If u wanna limp QJ/KJ then do it during the first 2 levels and only if sooted, on the button and with limpers in front!

I suppose you know ICM right?

[wonderland]

ICM, it's a term that keeps cropping up but i hear it's not explainable in brief. Any good articles on it?

cheers.

[Stacks]

Don't be limping KJ/QJ. Those hands aren't good. Bad reverse implied odds, meaning often you can catch and still be beat by dominating hands like KQ,AJ,AQ,AK, etc. So don't risk it. Just fold them in the early portion of a SNG. Don't worry about being too tight in the early levels of a SNG, it can't happen imo. Start looening up when either the blinds increase to a substantial size, the number of players decrease by a few, or you shortstacked.

[wonderland]

hmmm i'm getting a little confused.

Coz all the hands i've been told to fold imply that i should be way way tighter early on, but you're saying not to worry about being too tight?

Actually i've found an improvement in my game if i play super tight early on. I usually get to 2 players down with about 1400 chips then pick a spot to increase a little. That said, it isn't getting me right into a comfy M zone. Just keeping me sort of safe.

What do you mean by loosen up in the mid stages, you mean start to play those KJ in position? limp with pairs? can you expand on that at all?

Thanks

[taipan168]

ICM, it's a term that keeps cropping up but i hear it's not explainable in brief. Any good articles on it?

Try this one (there's three articles all linked together):

http://www.chillin411.com/node/7

[Stripclubjunkie]

You should never limp with small pp in the midstages of a sng.

ICM in short means that you just push when your M is low (10 x bb) instead of raising. Say u pick up KT on the button w/ blinds 200-400 , everyone folds. Say u know the blinds are semi-tight and will call w/ 15% of their hands, then you be correct to just push allin. Bc they are putting their tourney life at stake. Bc what would you do if you raise 3x bb with KT, one sucker calls and you miss? C-bet, and he has hit with Qx

And remember its always better to go all-in than being the caller. If you call a allin then your hand have to hold up. By pushing you can win the hand 2 ways, by him calling and u win or he just folds.

strip

ICM in short actually means gaining chips is less important than staying in
because the value of each chip is not equal
the value of your last chip is higher than the value of your thousandth chip because that last chip can get you ITM if someone is knocked out so losing your last chip can cost you being ITM, but losing your thousandth chip still leaves you with 999 chips left.

[Rage2100]

After you have read a few articles and learnt a bit about ICM, I recommend you download SNGWIZ. It has a 30-day trial and also has a quiz mode, which may help you with your push/fold decisions.

http://www.sngwiz.com/