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Short handed SNG advice, Dr_Monkey, 1. Aug 2003 07:56
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This happened a few days ago and I don't think I played it correctly.

$5 NL SnG at Empire. It is down to 4 players. Two almost equal big stacks. Probably 2500 and 3000. I was one of the small stacks. 1600. Over small stack was about the same.

The feel of the table was that me and the other short stack were just trying to hang on. The two chip leaders were pretty aggressive and work well with each other. They would bully us around but not each other. Very hard to steal the blinds from them. Earlier, if I or the other guy called, one of the big stacks would raise. As the blind got higher, it was more costly to get into a pot.

I didn't want to confront one of these big stacks since I was so close to the money. And I think the other short stack felt the same way. We pretty much were hoping the other would blind out.

Hand unfolded like this:
3000 chip lead is BB,
I am SB, about 1600
other short stack is UTG, about 1100 also, maybe less.
Other chip leader is Button.

Blinds: 150/300.
UTG folds.
Button raises to 600.
SB folds.
I have 7 7. Was thinking now is my chance to get into a pot. But Raise made me stop dead in my tracks.

I had a strong feeling he was trying to steal the blinds. But if I called I would only have 1000. This would put me at a serious risk of blinding out if the hand doesn't go well. Maybe come out betting. If he was stealing, he would probably fold. If he called, I probably was beat by a higher pair.
I thought about re-raising, to let him know that I had a hand and to get some information perhaps. But I thought, a re-raise probably would make him go all in so I wouldn't be getting any information.
I though of going all in, but that becomes a coin toss. Maybe he had Ax and my luck a Ace would hit the flop.

I ended up folding. A few hands later, I tried stealing the blinds from the other short stack with an all in. KQs. Lost to his A8o.

I think I miss my opportunity with the 77. If I had to do it over again, I would call, then come out betting on the flop regardless of what it was. Hopefully win the pot. If he calls, maybe we check to the river. If he raises, I probably have to let go of the hand.

I am interested in how others would have played this hand?

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Re: Short handed SNG advice, Wren, 1. Aug 2003 08:19
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I would have gone all-in preflop with my 77. Reasoning:

- There's a decent change he will fold. You haven't been playing too many cards, so he has to give you respect for a pretty good hand. It's not like you're a TINY stack - he'll have to call 1000 more if you go all-in here. He's gonna be hardpressed to call with a hand like K8 or Q9, which he very well might make a minimum raise with on a steal.
- If he doesn't fold, I'd say you're looking at, approximately, the following possibilities for your opponents hand: Overcards: 60%. One over, one under: 20%. Bigger pair: 12%. Smaller pair: 7%. Two undercards: 1%. Therefore, in only 12% of cases, you're a big dog. In 60%, you're slightly better than a coinflip. In 20%, you're a significant favourite and in 7% you're a huge favourite. Overall, your hand has +EV against his.
- You really don't want to just slip into 3rd place. The big money goes to 1st, so you should be focused on winning the tournament and not just on "hanging on".

My 2 cents worth :O)

on 1. Aug 2003 07:56 Dr_Monkey wrote:
> This happened a few days ago and I don't think I played it correctly.
>
> $5 NL SnG at Empire. It is down to 4 players. Two almost equal big stacks.
> Probably 2500 and 3000. I was one of the small stacks. 1600. Over small stack
> was about the same.
>
> The feel of the table was that me and the other short stack were just trying to
> hang on. The two chip leaders were pretty aggressive and work well with each
> other. They would bully us around but not each other. Very hard to steal the
> blinds from them. Earlier, if I or the other guy called, one of the big stacks
> would raise. As the blind got higher, it was more costly to get into a pot.
>
> I didn't want to confront one of these big stacks since I was so close to the
> money. And I think the other short stack felt the same way. We pretty much
> were hoping the other would blind out.
>
> Hand unfolded like this:
> 3000 chip lead is BB,
> I am SB, about 1600
> other short stack is UTG, about 1100 also, maybe less.
> Other chip leader is Button.
>
> Blinds: 150/300.
> UTG folds.
> Button raises to 600.
> SB folds.
> I have 7 7. Was thinking now is my chance to get into a pot. But Raise made
> me stop dead in my tracks.
>
> I had a strong feeling he was trying to steal the blinds. But if I called I
> would only have 1000. This would put me at a serious risk of blinding out if
> the hand doesn't go well. Maybe come out betting. If he was stealing, he would
> probably fold. If he called, I probably was beat by a higher pair.
> I thought about re-raising, to let him know that I had a hand and to get some
> information perhaps. But I thought, a re-raise probably would make him go all
> in so I wouldn't be getting any information.
> I though of going all in, but that becomes a coin toss. Maybe he had Ax and my
> luck a Ace would hit the flop.
>
> I ended up folding. A few hands later, I tried stealing the blinds from the
> other short stack with an all in. KQs. Lost to his A8o.
>
> I think I miss my opportunity with the 77. If I had to do it over again, I
> would call, then come out betting on the flop regardless of what it was.
> Hopefully win the pot. If he calls, maybe we check to the river. If he raises,
> I probably have to let go of the hand.
>
> I am interested in how others would have played this hand?
>
>
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Re: Short handed SNG advice, gary ford, 1. Aug 2003 08:29
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on 1. Aug 2003 07:56 Dr_Monkey wrote:
> This happened a few days ago and I don't think I played it correctly.
>
> $5 NL SnG at Empire. It is down to 4 players. Two almost equal big stacks.
> Probably 2500 and 3000. I was one of the small stacks. 1600. Over small stack
> was about the same.
>
> The feel of the table was that me and the other short stack were just trying to
> hang on. The two chip leaders were pretty aggressive and work well with each
> other. They would bully us around but not each other. Very hard to steal the
> blinds from them. Earlier, if I or the other guy called, one of the big stacks
> would raise. As the blind got higher, it was more costly to get into a pot.
>
> I didn't want to confront one of these big stacks since I was so close to the
> money. And I think the other short stack felt the same way. We pretty much
> were hoping the other would blind out.
>
> Hand unfolded like this:
> 3000 chip lead is BB,
> I am SB, about 1600
> other short stack is UTG, about 1100 also, maybe less.
> Other chip leader is Button.
>
> Blinds: 150/300.
> UTG folds.
> Button raises to 600.
> SB folds.
> I have 7 7. Was thinking now is my chance to get into a pot. But Raise made
> me stop dead in my tracks.
>
> I had a strong feeling he was trying to steal the blinds. But if I called I
> would only have 1000. This would put me at a serious risk of blinding out if
> the hand doesn't go well. Maybe come out betting. If he was stealing, he would
> probably fold. If he called, I probably was beat by a higher pair.
> I thought about re-raising, to let him know that I had a hand and to get some
> information perhaps. But I thought, a re-raise probably would make him go all
> in so I wouldn't be getting any information.
> I though of going all in, but that becomes a coin toss. Maybe he had Ax and my
> luck a Ace would hit the flop.
>
> I ended up folding. A few hands later, I tried stealing the blinds from the
> other short stack with an all in. KQs. Lost to his A8o.
>
> I think I miss my opportunity with the 77. If I had to do it over again, I
> would call, then come out betting on the flop regardless of what it was.
> Hopefully win the pot. If he calls, maybe we check to the river. If he raises,
> I probably have to let go of the hand.
>
> I am interested in how others would have played this hand?

You shouldn't have tried to steal my blind----
>
>
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Re: Short handed SNG advice, Dr_Monkey, 1. Aug 2003 08:33
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on 1. Aug 2003 08:29 gary ford wrote:
> You shouldn't have tried to steal my blind----
> >
> >
But you were drunk. I stole your nachos so I figured I would steal your blinds too.

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Re: Short handed SNG advice, trwebb26, 1. Aug 2003 09:31
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Based on your stack size, and blinds - I would've gone all in pre-flop
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Re: Short handed SNG advice, Jav, 1. Aug 2003 10:33
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If it was earlier in the tournament, then folding is a good choice. But based on your description of the table, I think your best option is to go all-in preflop. If you just call his bet, then go all-in on the flop you are giving him more ways to continue with the hand. He might call anyway, but if he hits any part of the flop he'll probably continue with you afterwards.

But with that being said, I'm on a streak of about 8 tournaments without a money finish.....
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Re: Short handed SNG advice, Dr_Monkey, 1. Aug 2003 10:44
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Looks like the majority think all in preflop is the way to go. And I have to agree. It makes sense.

But like you Jav, I have been on a bad streak with my SnGs. Missed the money 3 times, getting 4th. Guess I was a little gun shy to go all in, hoping the other short stack would make a mistake. Hopefully, I won't make the same mistake again.

Thanks to all for the advice.

Good news is, the next tourney I played, this time I went to $10 SnG, I didn't play shy. Got aggressive when the blinds got high. Stole my share of blinds to get into the money, then out played the remaining two players to finish 1st. That win put me back to where I was before I started my losing streak.
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Re: Short handed SNG advice, Jav, 1. Aug 2003 11:21
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Good for you. Now just keep it up!
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