Playing extremely tight tables

[stuck]

Yesterday I was in a very tight SnG tourney. There were *no* maniacs at the table, and everyone was playing tight (i usually play tight the first few rounds, then make a move). the blinds were up to 100/200 only one person was gone and only one person had a chipstack above 1000. Anybody have suggestions on how to play this type of table?

I tried to play as I usually do once the blinds get that large, and i have a chipstack of ~900 but I got burned badly. Should i have continued to play tightly even though the blinds could have eaten me fairly quickly? What should I have done?

(so far, i've finished 1st in about 1/2 of the tourneys i've played, other than that, i don't really place very much. any idea what's going on there?)

[Fnord]

Be more inclined to steal blinds.

[johnnyawe]

Whatever you've been doing just keep doing it and share it with the rest of us. 1st place in 50% of SNGs is awesome.

[Chicago_Kid]

so far, i've finished 1st in about 1/2 of the tourneys i've played, other than that, i don't really place very much. any idea what's going on there?

50% 1st is sick--I heard that good players win 20-25%. The vast majority of people don't finish in THE MONEY more than 50% of the time.

However, to answer your question, have you recently moved up a level? If so, then you might expect the competition to be tighter. If not, don't worry about it---it sounds like you're profitable while you're learning.

[Manomanman]

See a lot of flops early on with decent starting hands (get involved in like 35% of flops), and hope to flop a monster against another small monster.

Then just hammer on the blinds when possible. And never fear Aces. Selective aggression is the key.

If the table is indeed playing "tight aggressive" kind of like a micro WSOP, you've got to be VERY clever and find some angle to win. If you don't, and your skill is equal to the table's, then you've got an identical shot at winning. You really have to advance your play, picking up on betting patterns, reading tells, and building your stack by being that much better than everyone else. When there's no more dead money left, it's time to play some serious poker; these SNG's sound like good WSOP/major tourney practice, IMHO.

[Krapp]

I finish in top-3 every 2 to 3 games. (about 1200+ SnG games). Getting to 3 vs getting to 1 isnt much different in playing style. Although, good HtoH play can really make a difference from 2nd place to first.

If everyone is in and its 100/200, I hate these situations. To avoid I try and to loosen the game with some early all-ins (AK, JJ+) before the blinds get very high. I have found, aggressive play can be contagious and other oops might just fall in line and knock each other out.

If in your situation, I probably would keep the very aggressive style and go-in more with the preflop hands mentioned above (maybe even AJ+, 10/10+ too). If everyone folds, you get a nice 33% increase in chipcount. If ppl call, you should be a good favorite (at least 50%). I would also tighten the preflop plays and be extremely weary calling a 200bet with any strong hand. (I would all-in not call). The trouble with calling is your risking a sizable % of your chips, not knowing what your opps will do (you could get re-raised or beat-out on the flop). Especially true for AQ and lower, JJ-, connected suitors.

These plays are better in position. Especially if theres just 0-2 calls in-front of you. Now your all-in can return a 50% return on your chipcount. On the flipside, if I see a raise in front of me, I would fold or all-in if I had AA, KK, QQ, AK. Maybe JJ is a bit tough against a raiser, so you would assume 50/50 or worse if you played. Maybe with AA, KK you can call, but I would very-very aggressive on the flop. I personally would rather pick-up my 33-50% increase or worst case play HtoH hold AA, KK.

Having a tight/conservative table image is also very good at this point. Since opps will put you on a very strong hand.

[JJgoneMAD]

Whatever you've been doing just keep doing it and share it with the rest of us. 1st place in 50% of SNGs is awesome.

Well said. I'm on a mad winning streak at $5 SnGs and even with this luck i don't finish 1st place 50% of the time. I thought i was doing well, You DaH MAN!

From my experience, if you keep playing tight along with the rest of the table, the one who gets dealt the best cards will win as the blinds get bigger and bigger. Might as well take a chance, choose a good spot to steal blinds when they are worth stealing and not let luck be the deciding factor in your finish. If you play at stars, generally, attempted steals gone sour won't break your bank. If you use position smartly, you'll get caught stealing about 1/4 of the time, you'll have much better chance to finish ITM than the campers. If you have the discipline to fold the steal attempts that have failed, you should still be in better shape than others. If we are talking about PP though, i guess stealing blinds become that much tougher.