SNG Lesson Part One

In my recent blog I mentioned that I wanted to spend some time and discuss one of my SNG sessions with you. In this session we came into three-way action being the underdog and also facing the bubble position. Over the next few post I want to share with you this experience as I went from the complete underdog to victor by being able to read my opponent, read the texture of the board, and being patient. Without further ado let's drive right into the SNG session.

What we know: We are facing one known opponent, Sana, and one unknown opponent. Before we begin let's take a look at what we know about each opponent.

Sana - His strategy is mainly Tight-Aggressive. He normally raises 3-4 times the BB about 90 percent of the time when he holds a good hand. He likes continuation bets, and will put you all in if he reads that you missed the board. He's definitely someone we need to watch out for. The only advantage to this is he gained his strategy by studying us; realizing that Tight-Aggressive can definitely pay off, he has adapted this method himself. The downfall is, he knows we know this and obviously knows how we like to play.

Unknown - This guy first seemed like a really lucky fish but then something else developed. It seemed at first he took some chances to gain chips, but now he only seems to push at pots when he has the best (or at least a great) hand. I've seen him move all in several times and get called - his hand was a monster hand and he won. We want to keep pots small when going against him.

Hand 1, Blinds 150 / 300
Sana: 3328
Unknown: 4187
Hero: 1485

Sana post SB. Unknown post BB, Pot is 450.
Hole cards, 3s Ts

Unknown calls 300

Our Impression: T3 suited isn't a bad hand in the small blind, but with the amount of chips we have I really want to put myself in a situation where I can bet all in and double up. With the button calling the blind the value of my all in now can be called by not just one, but two opponents who have me more than covered. I opted to fold.

Sana checks, Unknown makes a bet after the flop and Sana folds.

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Hand 2, Blinds 150 / 300
Sana: 3028
Unknown: 4637
Hero: 1335

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 450.
Hole cards, Ah 5c

Hero raises to 1,355 and is all in

Our Impression: With out low stack and first to act we are happy to push all in here. If we get called we might have to suck out if our opponent has an Ace. Otherwise we would be an underdog to only pocket pair. In reality we just hope to get the blinds and move on to the next hand.

Sana and the Unknown folds, Hero wins 750.

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Hand 3, Blinds 150 / 300
Sana: 2878
Unknown: 4187
Hero 1935

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 450.
Hole cards, As 3s

Unknown raises to 600, Hero calls 450, Sana raises to 2878 and is all in

Our Impression: Our Hero raised on the button which means he might not have a great hand and could be attempted to steal. We have A3 suited which is a fine hand to see a flop with especially at a discount. Normally I might push all in here, but with the Unknown raising I would like to see a flop. If the flop comes out with an Ace, a flush draw, or a straight draw, I might push all in and hope my hand holds up. My plan is ruined when Sana decides to shove. Being that the Unknown player raised and I called this raise, he must have a really good hand to come over the top of both of us like this. I don't put him on wired royalty since I think we would want to trap a little. But I do think we are at least beat and we are going to have to lay down this hand.

Unknown folds, Hero folds.
Sana shows Ac Jh and wins 1800

Our Impression: He had our Ace dominated. The only thing we had going for us would have been the flush. This ended up being a good fold even though it was a tough one. My timer almost ran out before I clicked the fold button.

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Hand 4, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 4078
Unknown: 3587
Hero 1335

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, As Qc

Hero raises to 1335 and is all in, Sana folds, Unknown calls 935.
Hero reveals As Qc
Unknown reveals Ah Qs

The Showdown: 8h Ad 7d 6h 4d

Hero and Unknown splits pot for 1435 each

Our Impression: Another situation when we are first to act and have great cards for three-way action. When our opponent calls we aren't as nervous as we would be if we pushed in with Ace-small or King high. It's a slight disappointment when our opponent reveals he is holding similar cards, allowing us the only chance to win is a long shot flush draw. Or course there are positives in this scenario as well... we didn't loose the showdown so we are not out of the game.

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Hand 5, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3878
Unknown: 3687
Hero 1435

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Kd Qc

Sana folds, Unknown calls 200, Hero raises to 1435 and is all in
Unknown folds

Hero wins 800.

Our Impression: With Sana folding and the small blind only calling I have full confidence that my KQ might be the best hand. With my low chip stack I can not survive very much longer facing these large blinds. I am fortunate to get dealt such great cards in my situation and gladly shove all in. As I thought, my opponent's cards weren't strong and he elects to fold.

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Hand 6, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3878
Unknown: 3287
Hero 1835

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ks Qd

Unknown calls 400, Hero raises to 1835 and is all in, Sana folds, Unknown calls 1435

Hero reveals Ks Qd
Unknown reveals Ac 7d

The Showdown: Ts Td Qh 2s 8c

Hero wins 4070 with two pair, Queens and Tens

Our Impression: When dealt KQ off-suite again I am more than glad to shove all in. Our opponent calls us with a lesser hand then I believe he would have if we didn't move all in on the last couple hands. In his mind we keep going all in, what he doesn't know is that we definitely had the cards to do it. When our opponent shows his A7 off-suite I know that I am a slight underdog to win and I must make a hand.

The flop was beautiful for me. With a complete rainbow board it eliminated the possibilities of any crazy flush draws he could make on me. It also put me at over 85% to win with him needing an Ace, or two running Sevens to make his hand. The Turn made things better given me over 90% to win with leaving him only 3 outs, an Ace. The River sealed his fate and I double up to chip leader.

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Hand 7, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3478
Unknown: 1452
Hero 4070

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ts 8s

Hero folds, Sana folds, Unknown walks with 400.

Our Impression: We just won a lot of chips and we don't need to do anything stupid to loose them. It's free for us to fold here and I don't want to get into a duel with Unknown, as I have a feeling he will come over the top if I limp in a pot with him. I get out of the way and let Sana take care of him. Sana walks him which seem unusual to me. The only thing I can imagine here is Sana had horrible cards and also had a feeling Mr. Unknown would come over the top especially after just loosing a bunch of chips to an underdog. - Sana, your comments are welcome as to why the heck you walked him =).

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Hand 8, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3278
Unknown: 1652
Hero 4070

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, 7d 4c

Sana raises to 1400, Unknown folds, Hero folds

Sana wins 1000.

Our Impression: With Sana's raise off the button to 3.5 times the BB we must respect his hand and fold our horrible 7-4 off suite. There is no reason to protect our blinds especially since Sana has not done a lot of raising pre-flop.

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Hand 9, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3878
Unknown: 1452
Hero 3670

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Kh 5c

Unknown folds, Hero calls 200, Sana checks

Flop: As 9d 5c
Hero bets 400, Sana folds.

Hero wins 800.

Our Impression: Our hand isn't great but worth seeing a flop. Raising here might be an option, but with Sana shoving a big raise last time I know he could push all in and attempt to collect my raise. I would have to fold so I just elect to call hoping I can steal off the flop. The flop's rainbow A-9-2 can look intimidating if your not holding an Ace. I make a "feeler bet" to hopefully steal this pot. If Sana calls I can put him on the 9's, if he raises I can put him on the Ace. Sana folds without hesitation and my "bluff" worked.

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Hand 10, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3478
Unknown: 1452
Hero 4070

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ad Ks

Hero calls 400, Sana raises to 1600, Unknown folds.
Hero re-raises to 4070 and is all in, Sana folds.

Hero wins 3600

Our Impression: My call was an attempt to mix up my play with full intentions to check-raise hoping that someone would raise pre-flop. Sana makes my day by betting 1600, 4 times the BB. Our Unknown player folds and I move all in. The hands I put Sana on are pocket pair (but not A-A or K-K) or an Ace (or King) down to 7. If Sana held pocket A-A or K-K I would see him placing a bet 2-3 time the BB, wanting action. The large pre-flop bet indicated to me that he didn't want to be called but still had a hand. So why push all in then? Sana committed almost half his chips in this hand. It's a huge laydown for anyone and most people would feel that they are pot committed. I also didn't want to call, have a flop that missed me and be facing an all in bet. I rather put the money up now and hope to either be in the lead or have him fold. Surprisingly he folds. Sana announced in the chat he was holding A8 suited before he folded. Even though we did read him correctly this was a huge laydown for him. He ran out his timer and could not make a decision. I believe if he had more time he might have called realizing the pot odds he was looking at. Of course I would have welcomed the call being over 65% to win and about 10% to split. Sana was a huge underdog and I don't know how he folded. Any higher of an Ace or if time allowed I believe I would have had a call.

This concludes our first 10 hands in which we came from small stack to chip leader and looking rather healthy. In my following post I will continue this three way action until we are down to the last cards being dealt. As always, I encourage feedback on how these hands where played. Usually I receive IMs or e-mails but I highly encourage you to use the comments instead. Therefore your feedback can be shared with everyone.

Until next time,
y.