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I am not, by any means, a MTT guru. Nonetheless, I wanted to reply. Personally, by reading a lot of your posts, I think that you are an excellent player. I think that you provide a lot of incite to the game on these boards.

Honestly, I think you answered your own question with the subject line. Patience. Anyone can get caught up in the moment and make a move, that in hind sight, was not the right move. Keep an even keel. Take a step outside the moment and reaffirm your current objective: winning.

Keep playing your game and good luck.

KJ against the blinds in generally a good move. You played it right. The problem is that you will run into great hands once in a while, which was unlucky.

You were playing good poker putting the pressure on him.

The only thing you can do differently is "probe" with 1/2 pot or pot bet which will leave you with some chips and allow you to get away from the hand if he comes over the top. In this case, you had a good bit of your stack committed to the pot so tough to get away from it.

Came in 59th in a 789 player $100 buy in MTT. I saw soupie blasting away too. When I got knocked out - ITM, TYvm, he had about 15k chips, which was the average stack at that point - with about 55 players left.

When it got down to the about 30 to go to get ITM I folded AQs/o about 4 times. And I watched other NOT fold hands like that and get kicked out.

In the end I only had about 2000 chips left (with 500/1000 blinds) and went AI from the button with AT and was called by the BB with AQ. Bingo, bango.

Only won about $276, but it's nice to be ITM on a MTT. Alot of landmines to dodge.

Dominating SnGs? Care to share some of your strategies on SnG's, Im currently trying to tack the 10$ tables, but I am having a bit of a rough time doing so.

My SnG strategy is to get ITM. I don't care if I take 1st or not. That's #1. I don't care if I limp into 3rd place with 5 chips left. There are two finishing positions - ITM or Not.

Chips have no value - they are a method to Buy Time - which is the most important thing in SnG's. If you have a dominant chip stack and a weak table, they can also be used to buy options. $10 SnG players typically don't bet well post flop - 30 chip betss into a 300 chip pot, that sort of thing. If the table is playing that way and I'm in the chip lead, then I start playing alot of drawing hands - anything suited and connectors, any pair.

Early in the game, especially, I play Everything like a drawing hand. The main thing I learned is when the blinds are low, people will call 3-5x BB calls with anything, and will sometimes catch a great hand, or call out a flush even when the betting says they shouldn't try. So early I play defensively and don't get involved in AI calls with anything but AA - and Never AK. I hate AI moves or calls with AK. It's an Unmade hand, and can be beaten by a pair of 7's if you don't catch something. People play AK like it's AA and get knocked out all the time.

Here are my "swing thoughts" when it comes to SnG's on any level. (I play $10/1 - $50/5 and I play about 6-15 games almost every night.)

1. Patience - if you wait long enough the fools will remove themselves from the table. I used to want to punish fools, but would hurt myself instead. Now I let "the table" take care of them. When there are 5 players left then I might play.
2. Chips are time, not money.
3. Yield to strength. If I make a good sized bet with top pair and get raised AI, then I'll fold - especially early, but in general as well.
4. Hide your strength. If you have AA or KK, raise preflop to clear out the total crap, and then slowplay based on what the board shows. Bet the minimum or 1/3rd of the pot unless there are scary draws on the board. And even then, you have to be careful, because some fool will go AI hoping for heart and catch it.
5. Play with care - I don't get AA cracked and get knocked off a table, because I'll fold them if it looks like someone caught something better and they bet like they got it.
6. Be a "Catcher" not a "Thrower". When people raise preflop and miss their flop they have a tendency to bet Huge or go AI. When people want to push you out of a hand, they do that too. DON'T BE THE ONE THROWING THOSE BETS. Be the one catching them. Be the slowplayer, be the one with the better kicker and let them play into you. Throwers get caught and they're out. Catchers can look at their options and make intelligent decisions.

Finally you have to play the right cards preflop in the right positions. You have starting hands - based on the standard chart and what you should do with them. These hands vary Widely based on position. They also vary widely based on whether there's a raiser ahead of you, or multiple limpers. Raise and reraise in front of you, I recommend folding anythign but AA. If there are 5 people at the table and 3 go AI and you have AA, then FOLD. You're point is to get ITM, not have your aces cracked by a 4 card flush or pair of tens that catch to make trips.

Blind stealing is not all that it's cracked up to be when you're on the doorway to ITM. I see people all the time, when the blinds are large try to steal (or defend) the blinds and end up getting knocked out 4th. Get ITM, then steal the silverware, go AI with J6o - who cares? But try to steal with KT against Ax when there are 4 players left and the next thing you know you're finding a new table.

Patience, play ONLY quality cards (based on position and betting preflop), play Defensively, and let time do the work for you. DON'T GO AI before you get ITM, unless you're very shortstacked and need to double up. Why go AI? If you have a strong hand, be a catcher, not a thrower. If you have a weak hand, then get out. If you're scared of a drawing hand with one card to go, try this - CHECK IT. Let the river come. Chances are it Won't be the card they need. Then bet and watch them bluff into you. If it does come. Bet anyway and see if you get raised.

Too many people get knocked out going AI to keep that 4 flusher from drawing the 5th card on the river. What happens. The bastard calls and catches the flush. BaBye to you.

Play smarter than that. If someone is drawing, I let em. They're gonna call me anyway. If they miss then there u go. If they hit it, good for them, I get out of the way.

Do I get bluffed out sometimes? Yep. If you're going to go AI on a bluff, then you can have the chips. But, eventually you'll be caught.


This is not a foolproof system. I can finish outside the money 4 tables in a row or finish ITM 4 out of 5. It's still Poker. And if the table is very tight and sophisticated, then you just have to play.

Something I have realized recently about SnGs is that if you want to come in the money regularly, you have learn how to play small stacked. I have been working on this part of my game because I it was a major weakness that kept me out of the money. In the last 5 SnGs I've played, every one I have dropped to the small stack below 9BBs usually with 5-6 players left and come back to make the money (1,2,1,3,2). I am not talking about limping into the money, I am talking about walking into the money with a stack of consequence... Radashack goes over small stack play in his tourney advice section which is what I have based my strategy on.

I agree with you that making the money is important but I will only settle for limping into third without a chance at 1st or 2nd if I don't catch any cards or my stack is so small that a steal raise would be called anyway.

-sed

1 word. Experience.

There is no substitute for it, and no words of wisdom anyone can offer you to replace it. You'll get there, just keep plugging away, and then come join us in the winners circle .

I agree with Rada. And I'm going to read that short stack strategy.