Party SNG's - Limit and NL

[lonnie]

I just recently moved to Party and have been playing limit cash games exclusively, which I got in the habit of when I was clearing my bonus.

I decided to give the SNG"s a try, since I have had moderate success with them at Stars.

The players at Party have surprised me so far. They are truly horrible, which I didn't expect based on some of the play I have seen in the ring games. They see way too many flops and will raise and call raises with Ax.

I started out by playing limit. Out of 11 limit SNG's, I placed first 3 times and second once for a net win of +24.00.

Even though I have won a few dollars at these, I absolutely hate the format. The blinds go up much too quickly for someone that likes to play tight preflop. I play much tighter in tournaments than in ring games.27% VP$IP overall which of course includes a ton of head up and shorthanded play. When blinds are lowest, I am 20% VP$IP, which is lower than my 24% norm for cash games.

The blinds go up every ten hands, so if you catch a bad run of cards, you are screwed. You will get blinded out of the tourney. The good thing is that the rest of the players are so loose that if you do catch a hand, they will pay you off.

I have decided to switch to NL at Party because of the horrible blind structure. If I only catch one hand per tournament, I at least want the potential to win enough to ensure that I am ITM.

So far I've played 6 NL SNG's, which I no is not a sample at all, but I am up 19.00. One 1st and 2 2nd's. I have found if you play extremely tight at first, you can usually see 3-4 people knocked out by the time the blinds go through you twice.

Once 3-4 people are out, it is much easier to isolate an opponent when you hold a strong hand. In a full SNG ring, I don't like to raise my premium hands too much, because I am not sure how many of those maniacs are going to call. If I get 2 or 3 callers instead of one, I stand a good chance of getting beat.

Waiting until the maniacs have burned up their chips and the table is 6 or 7 handed, you can usually get an opponent 1 on 1 when you hold premium cards. The worst thing you could see is looking at AA on the first hand of the tourney. You might get more callers than you bargained for. (I say this tongue in cheek of course, I alway want AA).

I'm going to continue this strated to see how it works for me, basically sitting out on all but the best hands until 3 maniacs have busted out.

Anybody else tried this? Or do you think it is better to be aggressive early to get a stack?

[gutshot]

Funny you should mention the AA first hand thing as I had it this morning. UTG, I raise to 80 on 10/15 blinds. Reraised in LP to 200. I make it 400 to go and this clown pushes. I have to call and see his pocket Queens.

He hits a Q first card on the flop and I'm packing on the first hand of the tourney. Man, that stings so bad. Poker gods paying me back for my flopped quad 5s last nite I guess.

This was all at Empire, and I must agree with you that the players in the SNG are pretty bad. I hadn't played Party/Empire since March or April and my game has evolved quite a bit since then.

How do you think it compares to the SNGs at RV?

[zilch]

I hate party SnG format, but unfortunatly they are easy cash. I much prefer playing the SnG's at Pokerstars but although I'm making money there, nothing near as much as at Party. Some of that is down to the fact that Party's are half the length of PS so $/hr PP wins hands down.

I've noticed not much difference between NL and Limit at Party. My stats are about the same for each. I have played 10 7CS SnG's with outstanding results 5 - 1st and 3 2nds. I keep meaning to play a few more to see if they really are that fishy. (BTW I suck at 7CS). I remember my first one of these after I had just played some play money games to get into 7CS. A few hands into the game I get dealt Seven hearts. There were still three other people left in the hand all with nothing!

[lonnie]

I think the SNG"s at RV are pretty similar to the one's at Party, except the blinds may go up even faster. Haven't played a whole lot of SNG's at RV, mostly just ring and MTT's. As far as quality of play - I'd say it's very similar.

[|~|ypermegachi]

I think the SNG"s at RV are pretty similar to the one's at Party, except the blinds may go up even faster. Haven't played a whole lot of SNG's at RV, mostly just ring and MTT's. As far as quality of play - I'd say it's very similar.

i just checked my stats lately and i'm shameful to even post my sng results at RV...but yeah you really do need a few good cards to win in that because the blinds go up very fast. and if you're stuck in a very tight table (happened to me a couple times), there will be like 7 people left, and blinds are already 50/100...it becomes a crapshoot very fast. their turbos have even more crapshooting goodness!

[gutshot]

I was gonna say the same about RV SNGs. Blinds do go up quicker at RV, so Empire/Party was a nice change of pace.