Finishing 5th in SNG's, what does it mean?

[Staple Gun]

I've been finishing 5th a lot in the SNG's I've played. What does this mean? am I playing to passive, I'm usually the guy who hangs around 1000 till the blinds are 50-100 then try to make a move. A couple I have been unlucky when i was AI, AK vs. A7 board gets two sevens, A10 vs. A4s they get a flush, but even so i need to be higher than 1000 at this point right?

[zenbitz]

i have been trying to limp early in the tournies w. pockets and AXs and suited connectors. try 2 trap a big pot with nutz. playing agressive w./ good hands might win some, but u might get maniaced.

[Toasty]

It depends how many times you are finishing 5th.

If you have around 4-5 finishes it means very little as it could just be coincedence. If you are finishing 5th on a regular basis, you need to look at your game to see why you are losing.

Do you have poker tracker ? If you do select the later levels and see what hands you are bumming out on and go from there...

[Staple Gun]

Alright, It's only about 10 SNG's but still i have had like 6 of those 4th or 5th finishes and there all the same story, I get up to about 2000 and as the blinds raise I slowly go down.

[zenbitz]

I am pretty much a money losing novice at SnGs - and I have a similar problem. I think when they blinds hit about 10% of you stack, you are going to have to make a play with some crappy cards. All-ins in good position should steal you blinds, which keep you alive for a while longer, and if you get a caller, hope for a crap shoot.

[Toasty]

Once the blinds start getting high and the amount of players has dropped some you need to start blind stealing a lot. I try to aim for at least one steal per orbit to maintain my stack.

Do a search someone wrote an excellent post on blind stealing.

[Krapp]

I've been finishing 5th a lot in the SNG's I've played. What does this mean? am I playing to passive, I'm usually the guy who hangs around 1000 till the blinds are 50-100 then try to make a move. A couple I have been unlucky when i was AI, AK vs. A7 board gets two sevens, A10 vs. A4s they get a flush, but even so i need to be higher than 1000 at this point right?

- You need to get in the mix early and try to increase your stack. If your normal NL play is sound, your stack should be better-off more times than not. Although, identify the laggs at the table and try to avoid calling anything other than min-raises. If you gonna throw more money into the pot, you should be doing the raise. If your able to build your stack once the blinds get bigger, youll have more options, one of which is blind-stealing...
- Once the blinds get above 10% if you stack, avoid limping and go into push or fold mode. You need to identify which preflop hands and position you want to push your chips with.

Overall, you must be doing some things right to finish 5th and I am guessing its the overly tight play before the blinds get high. However, if you want to place in the money more, some significant chances are probably needed.

[zenbitz]

say you are down to 10xBB and are the BB dealt a decent draw hand like K8s or 67s. There are only limpers.

Do you push, raise, or check?

Does it matter how many limpers? Their stacks?

[mike4066]

Krapp pretty much nailed it.

You need to become more aggressive later on in the SnG's. If you play tight early on then take advantage of your tight table image. Start stealing blinds, Start pushing pairs a little harder.

[Krapp]

say you are down to 10xBB and are the BB dealt a decent draw hand like K8s or 67s. There are only limpers.

Do you push, raise, or check?

Does it matter how many limpers? Their stacks?

Check. Push is the other option if you are holding Ax or pairs (preferably AQ+, TT+). You need to watch for opps that either limp with premium cards or will call with junk (i.e. loose opps). Although you can go to wrong by pushing AQ+, TT+ with 10% of your stack. You could loosen the push requirements depending on what you know about the limpers. If the blinds go to 20%+, then you definately need to loosen requirements. I am also assuming 5 or less opps in. If there are more you need to tighten your preflop requirements...