Back from Holiday - Challenge update

Actually been back for one week today, but wasn't in the mood to update the blog. had a few life issues that had me tied up, but still managed to play several tournaments and work on completing my challenges.

$5 Sit n Go Challenge - COMPLETED

Played: 20
ITM: 35%
ROI: 27%

finishes
1st: 5
2nd: 2
3rd: 0
4th+: 13



So thats it... challenge completed. Didnt really crush this level, but made $29.50 profit. I haven't played single table sit n goes since '06 but i think my roi during this challenge is more than respectable, in fact i think it may be considered un-maintainable (is that even a word?).

Single table Strategy:
This level is where most beginners start at, so the level of play is understandably weak. Basically I played tight early until blinds got large and/or 4 to 5 players remain. Generally this will be around 50/100 to 75/150 blinds. Then shove any hand i'm willing to open from any position. Basic & simple.

These tournaments are good for players that are good at multitabling 8+ sngs. which is something i'm not good at and would not even attempt. The low roi requires large volume play to be profitable imo. which is why i'm sticking to multi-table sngs.

gl.
Isgrinder

Micro Stakes Pre Flop Strategy

Part I - Position

I identified several playable hands in my Micro Stakes SNG Starting Hands Guide, this post will discuss how they are affected by Our Position, Stack Size and Stage of Tournament. But before i discuss those situations i want to look at bet sizing.

So we've identified the hands that we are going to play, but how much do we bet with these hands? It is standard to raise to four times the big blind (4xbb) when opening a pot... that is you're the first to act, And 4xbb +1bb for every limper in the pot.

Resist the temptation to raise more because your hand is vulnerable. e.g with AQ or 88 under the gun(utg), or less because you have a big hand. e.g AA or KK in middle position. This is a typical donkey mistake... my hand is vulnerable so i will raise more to drive out the fish... i have a monster; i don't want to scare the fish away.

The problem is that you will be building huge pots with your weak hands and small pots with your monsters. Exactly the opposite of what you should be doing! Not only that, but any semi-intelligent villain will be able to tell when you have a monster hand and when you're hand is weak and be able to play correctly against you. But I digress, for now stick to the 4xbb standard at all times.

Starting Hands: 22 - AA, ATs+, KQs, QJs

Position refers to where you’re sitting on a table relative to the dealer/button.

Early Position – Refers to the 3 seats to the left of the button. I will also add in the 4th seat; So that is the SB, BB, UTG and UTG+1. Generally you want to play extremely tight in these positions.

Raise: TT+, AQ+

Re-raise: QQ+, AK

Limp: 22-99,

Middle Position – Refers to the next 3 seats after early position; MP1, MP2 and MP3 (high jack). As we move closer to the button we can open more hands.

Raise: ATs+, TT+

Re-raise: same as EP

Call: 22-99

Late Position - Refers to the final two seats; the Cut off and the button itself. All hands listed can be played from this position and usually by raising.

Raise: All hands first to act
Reraise: JJ+, AQ+
Raise: TT+, AT+, KQs 4x+1bb for every limper in pot
call standard raises: 22 - TT
Limp behind: 22-99, QJs

note: We are looking for a specific result with our calling hands; with our pairs we want to flop a set. with our suited connectors we want 2pair or a strong drw to continue keeping in mind pot odds. If you feel you can get away from TP you can limp behind with a wider range: 78s+ A4s+... just remember we're Not going broke with top pair weak kicker.

With our reraising hands we want to let go of the weaker hands if our opponents shove AI or not reraise if the raise is from EP. For instance if you reraise with AQs and he shoves you will fold(with out a read). If tight utg player raises 4xbb we may consider flat calling with JJ or AQs and playing cautiously.


Importance of Position – As a micro stakes player you will notice that most of your opponents have no concept of position. They will play any hand from any position. You will not be making this mistake. Position is important because play moves clockwise, as a result the later your position the more information you have on you’re opponents.

Position = Information = Money.

As your opponents act before you, you gain information on the strength of their hand. Limping may indicate weakness or raising may indicate strength. As a result you can make a better decision on which hands to play.

Let’s look at AT played in EP & LP

You hold ATs utg+1 and raise 4xbb (bb=30)
Villain calls in MP
Villain2 in LP re-raises to 550
We have to fold (without a read).

Suppose instead of re-raising villain2 calls. Flop comes A27 rainbow. You have paired your Ace and bet out 1/2 the size of the pot, MP folds and now villain2 shoves… you fold. Villain shows A8s. Poor play on his part but calling would probably be equally as bad by you.

Now you hold ATs On the button (ontb)

Utg +1 limps in, followed by MP2 you raise 4x+1bb for each limper, utg+1 folds and MP2 calls, flop comes KT5 rainbow. MP2 checks and you make a little more than ½ pot size bet … villain folds. Note: you probably could do this with a wide range of hands once you become more experienced and learn to punish limpers.

Poker is a game of incomplete information… the more info you have the better you can play.

Note: I’m trying to provide basic strategy in this post; consequently it’s somewhat tighter than I play myself. For example, I usually open raise 3xbb and open all of these hands from all positions and re-raise with most of them from late position. But I’m pretty confident playing post flop at this level and can adjust according to the situation. If you’re a novice or struggle at these stakes the strategy above should be a good base to start from.

Part II will discuss stack sizes and stages of the tournament

Study Guide

Read any interview with any successful poker player and they will all have 'constant study' and self analysis as one of the keys to becomming a winning poker player. In this section i will go over basic poker concepts and eventually deal with more advance ideas.



Starting Hand Guide

Poker Odds

Bankroll Management

Pre-flop Strategy

Post-flop Strategy

Finding time to play

Its been dificult over the past couple of weeks to find time to play. I have free time but all free time isnt necessarily the best poker time. I've been sick for the past weak and a half, i've had dates or my lady friend wanted to talk on the phone. Its been hard to find that 3.5 hrs of uninterupted time needed to play the 180s amongst these distractions.

Despite all the time issues i've been having, i've managed to make 2 more final tables finishing 9th & 6th, bubbled once in 19th and gone deep twice busting 30th and 28th. I've also won several $3 - $6 45 player tournies. Not great results, bankroll is increasing, but still haven't played really well.

I eventually want to play large MTTs so i will have to work out something with these time issues.The large field MTTs normally take 7+ hrs to complete.

Good News!!!
OMG THE MIAMI DOLPHINS WON!!!

Update

Just finished playing another $4/180 tournament. I made it heads up with about a 4:1 chip lead and blew it.

The competition was much better in this one. I made several mistakes, and got extremely lucky on at least two occassions. But I played really well in other spots and was pleased with how i navigated several dangerous situations.

My headsup on the other hand was a colossal mess... i wouldnt say that i was out played as much as i played poorly... i think i became impatient in spots... anyway i will review the tournament and try to learn from the experience.

Good News!!

I'm now showing a profit on sharkscope!

Videos

I promised to put up a few vids in a previous post.Since i've been crushing the 45s again lately, i've done one of my wins in those and my $4/180 sng win lastnight.

$3 45 player sng 44MB 25minutes

$4 180 SNG WIN
1st HOUR 29MB 17minutes

2nd HOUR 28MB 16minutes

3rd Hour & Final Table 28MB 15minutes

Final Table & HeadsUP play 38MB 20minutes

I think i played well in both tournaments but definitely made some mistakes. Feel free to critique them.

The videos were produced in camtasia studio 4 and will play properly in windows media player. I have another media player on my computer that played the video but without sound, so if you have that problem try windows media player 9.

Paying Attention Costs Nothing

This is the title of one of Rizen's Articles from the Good Reading section on the left. He observes how many players pay a huge buy-in fee to enter a tournament and then proceed to not give it their full attention, thus leaving money on the table. I know that i am also guilty of this because i usually play while also watching tv or browsing websites online.

While my buy-in fees are alot less than those players in his article, the principle is still the same. I know that i'm a good player when i'm focused and on my game, yet i constantly play with many distractions around me. How good can i be if i were totally focused everytime i played? what would my results be like? why can't i stay focused during tournaments?????

This article really caught my attention because just this afternoon i played a tournament where i was chip leader with about 28 left. I had about 43K chips, 2nd place had less than half that. I was also browsing several websites at this critical stage with the bubble approaching. Some how i managed to get involed in two hands that saw my stack shrink to 18k. Then i had to tighten up because of a terrible table image and two large stacks to my left. I finished 19th. Very disappointed in myself.