SNG Lesson Part Two

This blog is a continuation of our previous entry. If you have not read the previous entry yet, then this blog will do nothing but confuse you. So please read the previous entry first.

Hand 11, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 1878
Unknown: 1052
Hero 6070

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ks 4h

Sana raises to 800, Unknown folds, Hero folds.

Our Impression: Our play here could have been to call or push on Sana and take down this pot. Sana just made a huge laydown prior to this hand and I doubt he is capable of doing so on this hand. Our K-5 off-suite is not a great hand to call his raise, even if it's 400 more. I am almost certain that regardless of the flop, Sana will push all in and I will loose 800 chips instead of 400. A King on the flop only makes it worse since I will most likely call his all in and be an underdog to win (Sana having a higher King). The best flop that can happen for me is two pair or trip fives. Also, knowing Sana's play structure we know he wants to be called. A one up raise from Sana means AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, or pocket pair down to 8-8. All these hands have us beat so we must lay down our King high.

Sana wins 1000 and shows pocket 7s.

Our Impression: Not as strong as a hand that we'd expect from Sana, but still had us beat as a 30% underdog to win.

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Hand 12, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 2478
Unknown: 852
Hero 5670

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Ts 7s

Unknown folds, Hero calls, Sana Checks

Flop: 5s 7d Js
Hero bets 400, Sana folds

Hero wins 800

Our Impression: We limp in with our medium strength hand and hit middle pair and a flush draw off the flop. A 400 bet here will tell me the strength of my hand without risking a lot. If he calls I can put Sana on middle pair or a flush draw. If he raises, I put Sana on a pair of Jacks. Sana folding made life easier.

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Hand 13, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 2078
Unknown: 852
Hero 6070

Sana post SB, Unknown post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, 5h 2c

Hero folds, Sana folds, Unknown walks with 400.

Our Impression: We fold our weak hand on the button. This should make complete scenes. What I don't understand is how Sana walked a guy that had only 452 chips after posting the BB. In my opinion, bad play by Sana if he had any sort of hand better than mine.

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Hand 14, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 1878
Unknown: 1052
Hero 6070

Unknown post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, 7h 3h

Sana raises to 1400, Unknown calls 852 and is all in, Hero folds.

Sana reveals Kh Jd
Unknown reveals Kc Ts

Our Impression: With Sana's rather large raise I don't put him on too grand of a hand since a small bet would more likely get called. However with my weak hand I opted to fold. I did consider calling and hopefully Sana and I would cooperatively check it down and increase the chances of eliminating Mr. Unknown; however, I didn't want to risk the fact that Sana might push on the Flop and force me to fold if I did not make my hand.

Ultimately we made the right fold. Sana's K-J has Mr. Unknown's K-T dominated by almost 70%. All we can hope for is that Sana's K-J holds up and we go into heads up action.

The Showdown: 9d 8c Ks Qc 5d

Sana wins 2504 with a pair of Kings, Queen/Jack kicker.

Our Impression: This was a very interesting board. After the flop Sana was 80% to win. After the Turn, Sana was still about 80% to win but couldn't win with Two pair as a Jack would have made his opponent an straight. Sana needed to dodge a three Tens, and three Jacks to win. If the board paired, other than a King, Sana would tie. Even though the Queen wasn't "thee" card his opponent needed to win, it did open up a lot of outs for him. Sana dodge a lot of bullets to win.

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Heads Up 1, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3330
Hero 5670

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Qh 3d

Hero calls 200, Sana checks

Flop: 8d 9h 6d
Sana checks, Hero checks

Turn: Jh [8d 9h 6d]
Sana bets 800, Hero folds

Sana wins 800.

Our Impression: Our first mistake was not raising with Queen high. After the flop missed our hand I didn't want to force anything since I still had a huge chip leader over Sana. My intensions were to bet on the Turn if he checked to me again, however he beat me to it and I layed down my hand.

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Heads Up 2, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3730
Hero 5270

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

Sana folds. Hero walks with 400.

Our Impression: Even though we had a great hand Sana did not know this. Mathematically it was incorrect for him to fold since he was getting plenty of odds to at least limp in. In this case he was lucky to fold since I would have raised my hand and he would have lost 400 instead of 200; however, if he continues to fold on the SB without a hand it will work into my favor as this heads up progresses.

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Heads Up 3, Blinds 200 / 400
Sana: 3530
Hero 5470

Hero post SB, Sana post BB. Pot is 600.
Hole cards, Qs Jd

Hero raises to 900, Sana folds

Our Impression: A standard raise here with Q-J os and we get no action.

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Heads Up 4, Blinds 250 / 500
Sana: 3130
Hero 5870

Sana post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 750.
Hole cards, 9d 2c

Sana folds, Hero walks 500.

Our Impression: We already know that Sana has been folding too much heads up. There is nothing to discuss here.

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Heads Up 5, Blinds 250 / 500
Sana: 2880
Hero 6120

Sana post SB, Hero post BB. Pot is 750.
Hole cards, Jc 5d

Hero calls 250, Sana checks

Flop: Jd 6c Qh
Sana bets 1000, Hero raises to 2000, Sana reraises to 2380, Hero calls 380.

Hero reveals Jc 5d
Sana reveals Td 9h

The Showdown: 4d 3h [Jd 6c Qh]

Hero wins 5,760 with two pair, Jacks and Fours
Sana takes second place.

Our Impression: Sana got caught shoving his chips in on a draw. Something I always preach about not doing. I believe Sana felt I was on a complete bluff and figured he had a better shot at winning then I did. If he would have made his hand, it would have been a great call, but mathematically this was a loosing play. Sana is a great heads up player and could have waited for a better time to shove his chips in the pot. I believe that Sana got impatient and it cost him all the difference from finishing first to finishing second.

In conclusion this was an extremely good, and tough battle. I was able to pull off a win by being a complete underdog coming into the action. The ability to know when to push and know when to fold really came into play for me in this game. As I look back on my play I do notice some things I should have done different, but over all I believe I played a well game especially in my situation. I do encourage feedback on my play, so please feel free to comment.

Cheers!