Titan SNG for review

[rong]

Hi all,

Below is a hand history from a 10 man torney $2 + .40 SNG from Titan.

I have recently joined this site having previously only really played Pacific. The blinds here go up MUCH faster, every 7 mins and make bigger leaps from one level to the next. As such I have found that my normal tight play isn't working as effectively. I only landed ITM 2 out of my first 15 tables, there were some bad beats but I figured my game must be ineffective for these tables, so I changed my style somewhat, playing very tight early on and getting very aggressive as soon as the blinds het 50/100, even though there are still often 6 or 7 players left at the table. The players here are much looser than they were at pacific, often seeing all ins called by Ax or KJ, so I have loosened my calling range to as low as AT with 5 players left once the blinds get big and am also pushing preflop with all sorts just to steel.

This change in style has proved much more effective, but I would like some feedback on how I played this game as I am not used to playing this aggressive against so many players, and don't want to get into any new bad habits, I'm sure I have enough already.

So any feedback would be much appreciated. The format of the hands is a little different to normal as I coudn't use the standard method, but hopefully you can work with it.

cards ...---... stack ...---... players ...---... big blind ...---... M
Q4o sb ...---... 1500 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 50.00
T5c ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 49.67
98h ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 49.67
J2d ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 49.67
82d ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 49.67
62o ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 49.67
T4o ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 20 ...---... 49.67
A7o ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 24.83
Q4o ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 24.83
Q8o BB ...---... 1490 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 24.83
94o SB ...---... 1450 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 24.17
75o ...---... 1430 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 23.83
J4o ...---... 1430 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 23.83
75o ...---... 1430 ...---... 10 ...---... 40 ...---... 23.83
J5o ...---... 1430 ...---... 10 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.89
93o ...---... 1430 ...---... 10 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.89
54o ...---... 1430 ...---... 10 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.89
T5o ...---... 1430 ...---... 9 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.89
KTd ...---... 1430 ...---... 9 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.89
A6o BB ...---... 1430 ...---... 8 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.89
52o SB ...---... 1370 ...---... 8 ...---... 60 ...---... 15.22
T5o ...---... 1340 ...---... 8 ...---... 60 ...---... 14.89
Q9o ...---... 1340 ...---... 8 ...---... 60 ...---... 14.89
63o ...---... 1340 ...---... 8 ...---... 100 ...---... 8.93
62c ...---... 1340 ...---... 8 ...---... 100 ...---... 8.93
96o ...---... 1340 ...---... 8 ...---... 100 ...---... 8.93
62c ...---... 1340 ...---... 7 ...---... 100 ...---... 8.93

Hand 1
saw flop | saw showdown
Button Button (2280)
SB SB (3140)
BB Hero (1340)
UTG (2120)
UTG+1 (1830)
CO-1 CO-1 (690)
CO (3600)

Preflop: Hero is in the BB with J 8
2 folds, CO-1 calls 100, 1 fold, Button calls 100, SB calls 50, Hero checks.

Flop (400) 2 8 T
SB checks, Hero checks, CO-1 bets 400, 2 folds, Hero raises to 800, CO-1 moves all-in for 190.

Turn (1790) 3

River (1790) 3

Hero shows J 8
CO-1 shows 7 9

Hero wins 1790 with Two pair, Eights and Threes with a Jack for a kicker

Hand 2
saw flop | saw showdown

Button (3040)
SB Hero (2230)
BB BB (2120)
UTG (1830)
UTG+1 (3600)
CO (2180)

Preflop: Hero is in the SB with K 7
4 folds, Hero calls 50, BB checks.

Flop (200) 8 4 6
Hero checks, BB checks.

Turn (200) 3
Hero checks, BB bets 100, Hero calls 100.

River (400) 5
Hero bets 300, 1 fold

Hero shows K 7

Hero wins 700 with A straight, Eight high

32o ...---... 2430 ...---... 6 ...---... 100 ...---... 16.20
T7o ...---... 2430 ...---... 6 ...---... 100 ...---... 16.20
64o ...---... 2430 ...---... 5 ...---... 100 ...---... 16.20

Hand 3
saw flop | saw showdown

Button (3450)
SB (2080)
BB (3040)
UTG Hero (2430)
UTG+1 (4000)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 9 9
Hero raises to 2430, 4 folds

Hero shows 9 9

Hero wins 2730 with One pair, Nines

K5o BB ...---... 2730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 9.10
72o SB ...---... 2530 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 8.43

Hand 4
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (2430)
SB (4100)
BB (3450)
UTG (2280)
UTG+1 (2740)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with 8 A
2 folds, Hero raises to 2430, 2 folds

Hero shows 8 A

Hero wins 2730 with High card: Ace

Hand 5
saw flop | saw showdown

Button (4000)
SB (3250)
BB (2280)
UTG (2740)
UTG+1 Hero (2730)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A T
1 fold, Hero raises to 2730, 3 folds

Hero shows A T

Hero wins 3030 with High card: Ace

83h ...---... 3030 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 10.10

Hand 6
saw flop | saw showdown

Button (1980)
SB SB (2840)
BB Hero (3030)
UTG (4000)
UTG+1 (3150)

Preflop: Hero is in the BB with 3 8
3 folds, SB calls 100, Hero checks.

Flop (400) 3 9 3
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn (400) 5
SB checks, Hero checks.

River (400) J
SB checks, Hero bets 200, 1 fold

Hero shows 3 8

Hero wins 600 with Three of a kind, Threes

Hand 7
saw flop | saw showdown

Button (2640)
SB Hero (3230)
BB (4000)
UTG (3150)
UTG+1 (1980)

Preflop: Hero is in the SB with A 8
3 folds, Hero raises to 3230, 1 fold

Hero shows A 8

Hero wins 3430 with High card: Ace

Hand 8
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (3430)
SB (3800)
BB (3150)
UTG (1980)
UTG+1 (2640)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with J K
2 folds, Hero raises to 400, 2 folds

Hero shows J K

Hero wins 700 with High card: King

84o ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.43
QT0 ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.43
A9o BB ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.43
87o SB ...---... 3830 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.77
73o ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.43
KTo ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.43
Q2o ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 200 ...---... 12.43
K9o BB ...---... 3730 ...---... 5 ...---... 300 ...---... 8.29
K2h SB ...---... 3430 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 7.62

Hand 9
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (3130)
SB (8500)
BB (1380)
UTG (1990)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with Q A
1 fold, Hero raises to 3130, 2 folds

Hero shows Q A

Hero wins 3580 with High card: Ace

62o ...---... 3580 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 7.96
J9o BB ...---... 3580 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 7.96
K6o SB ...---... 3280 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 7.29
QJo ...---... 3130 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 6.96
Q6o ...---... 3130 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 6.96
K8d BB ...---... 3130 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 6.96

Hand 10
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Button (1670)
SB Hero (3280)
BB (8800)
UTG (1250)

Preflop: Hero is in the SB with Q Q
1 fold, Button raises to 1670, Hero raises to 3040, 1 fold.

Flop (5010) 3 5 K

Turn (5010) J

River (5010) 8

Button shows A J
Hero shows Q Q

Hero wins 5010 with One pair, Queens

T4o ...---... 5250 ...---... 3 ...---... 300 ...---... 11.67
T8 BB ...---... 5250 ...---... 3 ...---... 300 ...---... 11.67

Hand 12
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Button (1250)
SB Hero (5400)
BB (8350)

Preflop: Hero is in the SB with T T
Button raises to 1250, Hero calls 1100, 1 fold.

Flop (2800) 3 4 T

Turn (2800) 2

River (2800) 9

Hero shows T T
Button shows 7 7

Hero wins 2800 with Three of a kind, Tens

Heads Up

Hand 13
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Button (8050)
BB Hero (6950)

Preflop: Hero is in the BB with Q Q
Button calls 150, Hero raises to 1200, Button calls 900.

Flop (2400) 6 A 7
Hero bets 1200, 1 fold

Hero shows Q Q

Hero wins 3600 with One pair, Queens

Hand 14
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (8150)
BB BB (6850)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with 4 Q
Hero raises to 600, BB calls 300.

Flop (1350) J 2 3
BB checks, Hero bets 900, BB raises to 1800, 1 fold

T4 ...---... 6650 ...---... 2 ...---... 300 ...---... 14.78
J8 BB ...---... 6350 ...---... 2 ...---... 300 ...---... 14.11

Hand 15
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Button (8950)
BB Hero (6050)

Preflop: Hero is in the BB with 3 J
Button calls 200, Hero checks.

Flop (800) 4 Q 7
Hero bets 800, 1 fold

Hero shows 3 J

Hero wins 1600 with High card: Queen

92 BB ...---... 6850 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 11.42

Hand 16
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (7050)
BB BB (7950)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with 9 8
Hero calls 200, BB checks.

Flop (800) 6 K 6
BB checks, Hero checks.

Turn (800) 4
BB bets 400, Hero calls 400.

River (1600) 9
BB checks, Hero bets 800, BB calls 800

Hero shows 9 8
BB shows 9 2

Hero wins 3200 with Flush (Spades) with King high

AT BB ...---... 8650 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 14.42

Hand 17
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (8850)
BB BB (6150)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with K K
Hero raises to 1200, BB calls 800.

Flop (2600) Q Q 9
BB checks, Hero bets 1200, 1 fold

Hero shows K K

Hero wins 3800 with Two pair, Kings and Queens with a Nine for a kicker

J9 BB ...---... 10050 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 16.75
J5 ...---... 10250 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 17.08
94 BB ...---... 1050 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 1.75
92 ...---... 9650 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 16.08
64 BB ...---... 9450 ...---... 2 ...---... 400 ...---... 15.75

Hand 18
saw flop | saw showdown

Button Hero (9050)
BB BB (5950)

Preflop: Hero is on the Button with Q 4
Hero raises to 800, BB calls 400.

Flop (1800) 9 8 2
BB bets 2000, Hero raises to 4000, BB moves all-in for 3150, Hero calls 1150.

Turn (12100) 4

River (12100) 7

Hero shows Q 4
BB shows Q 9

Hero wins 12100 with Flush (Diamonds) with Queen high

[taipan168]

The HH format is kind of hard to read, but I'll give it a go:

1. J8o - I guess this is OK against the shorty, I'm not delighted about this though

2. K7o - raise preflop, 250 sounds good. As played, fold the turn - you're drawing to a gutshot without correct odds, and the 7 may not be a good out. River bet is fine obv.

3. 99 - Unless the blinds have gone to 100/200, I don't like shoving 24x BB from UTG here. Why not raise 250 and take it from there? If they have gone up, shoving is fine.

5. ATo - haven't run this in SNG Wiz but I am pretty sure this is not a good shove from the CO with ATo

6. 83s - sorry to be harsh, but jeez what a way to win a small pot with a big hand. BET the flop, even if you bet 200 that's better than checking behind. Again, BET the turn, why check behind here? Sure, opp might have folded but many opps will call a bet with a hand like missed overcards but won't bet themselves.

7. A8o - I'd standard raise rather than shove here, although I do not think shoving is terrible

8. KJo - don't donkminraise (DDMR). 500 to go here.

K6o SB ...---... 3280 ...---... 4 ...---... 300 ...---... 7.29 (between 9 and 10) - if it was folded to you I would shove this

12. TT - reshove this hand. If BB shoves over you're in a bit of a bad spot.

14. Q4o - DDMR, particularly heads up. I'd make it 750-900 to go preflop. As played, sucks to get C-Red but I don't think you have any choice but to fold.

15. J3o - bluff bet on the flop is OK, but 600 rather than 800 should do the job.

16. 98o - raise if you want to play, 1000-1200 seems good. I'd only complete the SB if BB was very passive. As played, I'd fold the turn, opp may already have gotten there with the flush and even if a fourth spade does come on the river, there are bad reverse implied odds if he has a bigger spade (ie. you could lose a lot of chips with the second best hand).

18. Q4s - DDMR. 1000-1200 to go preflop.

[rong]

Yeah sorry, the format is a little unorthodox, but it's the best I could do, only other option was to have the full play of every hand, whether or not I took part, and I figured this was the better option. Thanks for taking the time to go over it.

Here are responses to your comments. The ddmr comments are something I need to work on as sometimes I dont feel i have enough to raise, but dont want to fold either.

Hand 2 - Preflop raise makes sense. As for the call, I just didn't buy his min raise and figured it was possible I was actually in front. So with the draw and overcard I figured why not?

Hand 3 - blinds had gone up that hand. so new M = 8.1

Hand 5- sngwiz shows a warning sign, not sure exactly what that means.

Hand 6 - Yep, totally agree in hindsight. Was hoping he'd hit a little something so I could get a chunk of his stack, waste of a great flop really.

Hand 7 - A8 in sb. I was going on the theory that with M of marginally over 10, i should be pushing with ATC if I'm sb and its folded to me. Plus, I'd been raising a lot so figured weeker hands might call.

Hand 8 - KJ - the donkminraise - I was a bit confused as to what to do here. I had raised so much hat I figured if I pushed all in I may well get called with Ax which would put me way behind, and I figured after all those pushes, i might get reaised all in here and then not want to call ie someone giving me a taste of my own medicine, but I didn't want to fold for nothing, hence I figured the small raise was little risk and easy to get out of relatively unharmed.

The sb of K6o between hands 9 & 10 - I had 3280, big blind was big stack with over 8000 and short stack had 730, so I was reluctant to risk running into a moster and bubbling out with shortie on an M of 1.68

Hand 12 - If big stack had reraised I would of folded and let him have it. Smallstack who pushed all in had M of 2.7 & I would of given bigstack the opportunity of taking out smallstack if he wanted to, or else join me and check all the way which I figure was a definite option, and suited me even better, more chance of small stack finishing 3rd and me guaranteed 2nd.
Do you think it is sometimes worth calling in this situation in the hope of another caller, as often in this situation everyone checks anything but monsters meaning small stack has 2 players to beat to stay in?

Hand 14 - duly noted. I know this sounds pathetic, but it can be scary to raise 3xbb with blinds so high, it would be worth villain pushing with almost anything as I am folding so many hands here to a push. I'm sure thats the wrong attitude, but I really try to see how villain plays heads up over a few hands before I start risking my stack or a significant portion of it on Q high.

Hand 15 - makes sense, does same job but risks less chips.

hand 16 - so you think 89o is a raising hand here? I am never sure with my connectors heads up. Agree with the rest of your comment.

Hand 18 - Once again, you think this is a raising hand heads up? These are the kind of hands I find cost me chips if raising. I am pushing with this if I'm major big or short stack, but I struggle with my decisions when its pretty even.

Thanks again for your original comments, look forward to any further comments.

[taipan168]

The ddmr comments are something I need to work on as sometimes I dont feel i have enough to raise, but dont want to fold either.

If you find yourself in this situation then that's an indicator that you should be pushing or folding preflop. That said, a minraise can be sufficient at higher buyins with tight players but at lower buyins it won't give you any joy.

Hand 2 - Preflop raise makes sense. As for the call, I just didn't buy his min raise and figured it was possible I was actually in front. So with the draw and overcard I figured why not?

The reason I don't like the call is that not all of your outs may be clean on the river. Eg. the K, K, 5 and 5 may make opp a better hand that costs you a lot of chips on the river. As an alternative, if you think he is bluffing, then I would RAISE his bet rather than just calling. 350 or so seems good.

Hand 3 - blinds had gone up that hand. so new M = 8.1

In that case shove is fine

Hand 5- sngwiz shows a warning sign, not sure exactly what that means.

Means that the shove is either slightly negative EV or below the "edge" it deems necessary in this situation. Click on the individual hand to see the analysis

Hand 7 - A8 in sb. I was going on the theory that with M of marginally over 10, i should be pushing with ATC if I'm sb and its folded to me. Plus, I'd been raising a lot so figured weeker hands might call.

As I said I don't think that shoving is terrible, but the other thing you need to take into account is that you're shoving into the big stack, if he calls and wins you are out of the tourney as the second stack

Hand 8 - KJ - the donkminraise - I was a bit confused as to what to do here. I had raised so much hat I figured if I pushed all in I may well get called with Ax which would put me way behind, and I figured after all those pushes, i might get reaised all in here and then not want to call ie someone giving me a taste of my own medicine, but I didn't want to fold for nothing, hence I figured the small raise was little risk and easy to get out of relatively unharmed.

Agree with your logic, but make it 500 to go to give you a little more fold equity.

The sb of K6o between hands 9 & 10 - I had 3280, big blind was big stack with over 8000 and short stack had 730, so I was reluctant to risk running into a moster and bubbling out with shortie on an M of 1.68

Totally agree with the fold in that case

Hand 12 - If big stack had reraised I would of folded and let him have it. Smallstack who pushed all in had M of 2.7 & I would of given bigstack the opportunity of taking out smallstack if he wanted to, or else join me and check all the way which I figure was a definite option, and suited me even better, more chance of small stack finishing 3rd and me guaranteed 2nd.
Do you think it is sometimes worth calling in this situation in the hope of another caller, as often in this situation everyone checks anything but monsters meaning small stack has 2 players to beat to stay in?

The thing is, if you get shoved over on, big stacks can often do that with hands you're way ahead of (think smaller pocket pairs) meaning that you fold the best hand preflop with pot odds hugely in your favour, which is a very bad thing. Plus, even if big stack does just call rather than shove over, they often do not follow the check down convention meaning again that you fold the best hand on the flop.

hand 16 - so you think 89o is a raising hand here? I am never sure with my connectors heads up. Agree with the rest of your comment.

Depends on opp, if he/she is very LAGG I fold it, if they have been passive, folding a lot - I raise it.

Hand 18 - Once again, you think this is a raising hand heads up? These are the kind of hands I find cost me chips if raising. I am pushing with this if I'm major big or short stack, but I struggle with my decisions when its pretty even.

This hand I would definitely raise, it's an above average hand and it's soooooted...again, depends on how passive or aggressive opp has been.

[rong]

Thanks again for the feedback Tai, much appreciated.

But one more thing, the calling shortie and allowing others to call. In general, do you think that is worth doing or, if you have a reasonable hand that fairs well heads up, do you think the push is better.

I often find that people will stick to the checking down convention, unless they hit 2pair or better, in which case you aren't usually going to fold anything that beats them anyway. Also, does the checking down theory tend to happen more or less as the buyins incrase?

[taipan168]

But one more thing, the calling shortie and allowing others to call. In general, do you think that is worth doing or, if you have a reasonable hand that fairs well heads up, do you think the push is better.

Depends on your hand and your read on opp. The thing about the TT hand is that TT is very vulnerable to overcards (can't remember the exact stats but I think overcards come on the flop about 70% of the time. If you flat call and opp flat calls as well and overcards come on the flop, what then?

I often find that people will stick to the checking down convention, unless they hit 2pair or better, in which case you aren't usually going to fold anything that beats them anyway. Also, does the checking down theory tend to happen more or less as the buyins incrase?

Can't really generalise, I think it's more to do with the player. Most good players will check down unless they hit a big piece of the flop (TPTK or better) but there are so many donks out there who try to bluff you off your hand and end up doubling up the shortstack.