Online Poker Strategy Articles

Brett Chen

Hi guys! This week I'm going to be doing a follow-up article on my SNG challenge. In my previous article, I shared my statistics as well as some general strategy on how to approach SNGs. As many of you know, I am willing to take some risks early on in SNGs to accumulate chips so I can be in a good spot to take control in late game. Before I post my updated statistics, I want to go over some late game strategy that has enabled me to be successful in these SNGs.

I notice a lot of players who play SNGs tend to play the same way throughout the entire thing. What I mean by this is that they tend to play tight and aggressive from beginning to end. Even as players are getting eliminated, they do not open up their range of hands; always waiting for that premium hand to play with. This is a major leak. These are the types of players I love to take advantage of mid-game and late-game by stealing their blinds. As players get knocked out, it is very important to open up your range of hands. To many of you, this may sound very old, but believe me, it is a very tricky thing to try and master.

Many people say, "Opening up your range of hands is simple! I know that I'm supposed to start playing more hands. Duh!" I know a lot of players who automatically push with Ax or Kx when it is folded to them in mid-game. Their logic is simple: I am most likely ahead right now and I want to steal the blinds for another round. There are a few things wrong with this. First of all, if you get called, you will be either dominated or at a coin flip. Let's say you push with A6 or K7. What's going to call you' Certainly not A5 or K6. Anything that calls you will have you murdered as a 70-30 underdog. That is why it is important to account for position when pushing with these types of hands. Usually, I will not push with Ax or Kx unless I'm on Button or SB and it's folded around to me. They are simply troublesome hands.

Opening up your range of hands allows you to pick up much needed blinds to set yourself up for a first place finish later on. Something I like to do in mid-game and late-game is push with hands like 87 or JT. The reason why I like to do this is because 1) I might not get called and I will win some blinds, which is perfectly fine since these hands are not even close to strong or 2) I will get called by Ax or Kx or a mid-pocket pair. There have been many times where I've pushed with medium cards and got called by AK or AQ. At this point, I am a 60-40 underdog, which isn't nearly as bad as 70-30. Of course, there is the possibility that someone with wake up with aces or kings. But there is also the possibility that my apartment will burn down or my car will get a flat tire tomorrow.

Don't play scared. That is what I always tell myself when it gets to late game. Many times, I am unafraid to push with any two cards, confident that my weak opposition will fold and give me the blinds. Anyone who plays scared will find it difficult to win higher buy-in SNGs. This is because even if you crack top three, your chip stack will most likely not be in a good spot to give yourself a chance to win first.

I think that after reading this column and applying it, you should see your SNG results improve by a lot. You will begin to see yourself with more chips than your opponents, thus giving you a slight edge. There are some other things to discuss about SNG strategy, but I will save those for my later SNG challenge updates. Here are my SNG stats so far in my challenge:

Total Winnings: $4,050
Winnings/SNG: $10.13
Hourly Wage: $67.87
ROI: 18.41%
ITM: 37.00%

Total Invested: $22,000
Total Returned: $26,050

Time Invested: 59.67

Total: 400
1st 59
2nd 48
3rd 41
4th 46
5th 42
6th 44
7th 38
8th 30
9th 38
10th 14
-

Yes, I have not gotten many SNGs done because I have been busy and playing a lot of cash games on the side. On top of all this, I have other challenges that I'm working on. My goal from the beginning of this SNG was to win $10k overall, or $1k per 100 SNGs. So far, I am right on track. During my last SNG post and my current post, I ran into a cold stretch for while where my ROI fell as low as 12%. However, I was able to modify my game a bit and ended up on a tear on the last 40 SNGs. Right now, my ROI has risen to almost 18.5%, which is a big improvement from 12%. My hourly wage is a bit complicated, because I've recently doubled my number of tables from 4 to 8. Obviously, I am satisfied with my hourly wage. I hope to be able to maintain this pace throughout the challenge and maybe win more than $10k. I plan to try and crank out 200 SNGs this week, so hopefully I'll be able to have another update at 600 SNGs soon! Thanks for reading

note by gank: Sit and Gos are one of the most profitable forms of online poker, and consistent winning is easily attainable. Look at my product Sit and Go Domination to see how you can make a lot of money playing sit and go poker.