I used to have a lot of success playing SNG's but now find it almost impossible to place. I am basing this on less than 20 SNG's so maybe it is too small a sample but maybe my strategy is wrong.

Practically every time I go out it is by going all in preflop with the odds in my favour. I get upset when, for example my pocket K's are called by a mug with A2 and he hits an ace to beat me. However I have been thinking that even if I went all in with AK and was called by 2 lower unpaired cards I am only a 2:1 favourite and as such if I repeat this move 3 times throughout the tournament I am actually quite likely to go out on one of the occasions.

Do people find it is more profitable to avoid all-ins and base your strategy on stealing blinds from those you have eamarked as tight players or players holding medium sized stacks? You can then fold to all in rereaises and avoid putting all your chips on the line constantly by going all in or calling all ins, even as a big favourite?

On average, I think it is to the better poker player's advantage to not put a lot of chips in preflop.

Sidenote: KK vs A2 is 2:1. AK vs J9 is 3:2.

20 SnG's is way too small of a sample to judge your success. I play around 5-6 SnG's a day and find that what works best for me is to play real tight in the first few levels. Don't worry about building a big stack early in them. There is usually a lot of wild action during the early levels in SnG's. Let the fish knock each other out. I try to avoid coinflips early in them as I am usually unlucky when I get into that kind of situation. Play tight, wait for your hands, let the fish knock each other out, and don't try to steal blinds until the levels are somewhat high. This is my strategy and it works for me. If you want an opinion from a pro here is a good SnG strategy from the Professor.

http://fulltiltpoker.com/proLessons.php?lesson=1

I generally only go all in PF on very special occasions.

a. If I have AA (perhaps KK depending on who I am up against) and I am reraised, I might put somebody all in to take the pot down right there or take them out

b. If I'm a big stack I'll call the all in of a short stack (or put him all in) if I have a fighting change with my hole cards.

c. If I am a short stack with the blinds and antes rising I'll go all in with an Ace, suited connectors, two high cards, etc.

Maybe you should go all in less and see more flops. That way you can hone your poker skill and learn how to make tough laydowns when the flop is scary and somebody is showing strength.

All in with suited connecters?
I'm new so correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe suited connecters lose most of the time to big cards. The reason why they are so valuable in NL HL is because they are sneaky and get big payoffs when you hit flush/straight draws on the flop. They payoff big sometimes, so its nice to see the flop with them, but they don't seem like all-in cards.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I'm new .

Notice he said he pushes with suited connectors when he's the short stack. I think this is a good move not only for the straight and flush value, but you are also likely to have two live cards. If you push with Ax or Kx, even suited, you are much more likely get called by someone who has you dominated.

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I'm CDO. It's like OCD, but everying is in order just like it should be.

I did say I would only do this if I was desparate or had a huge stack.

Besides, heads up a hand like 98s plays well against 77 and lower and any two overcards like AK.

As a matter of fact, when I am a big stack and/or have a tight semi-aggressive table image, I use suited connectors to bully people with reraises PF.

Danimal,

That is the strategy I use. I am playing single table 10 player sit and gos. If I don't hit any cards I am often left with around 600 chips and blinds of say 25/50 up against the wild players who have 2000 chips.

I then find it hard to see flops as even a minimum raise is costing 1/6 of your stack, so you can't really afford to speculate on any hands like low pocket pairs or Ax suited and are reduced to playing premium hands and being prepared to go all in on any hand you play.

I honestly don't know the answer, maybe it's just a bad run but I am starting to feel it may pay to be aggresive early on and look for a double up then sit back.

I thought about this a little more after playing some SnGs this aft.

I realize now that I do not have a strategy. I've played where I have only limped in and folded on the flop for about 2 out of the first 15 hands. I sometimes get to 20 or 25 hands without making a single bet. During this my stack will shrink 20-25% but that's not really a problem usually.

Another time I got KK on the first two hands and went to war and knocked two guys out. I used that image to be aggressive and steal a lot of pots and then sit back and maintain my stack lead for the whole tourney. As a matter of fact, that win was one of the easiest I have ever had. Everybody was afraid of me for the whole tournament.

So now that I think of it, my style from tourney to tourney can be very different and as well I switch gears during tourneys. A lot of how I play depends on the run of cards I am getting and how the other players are playing.

If I can get all my money in with KK or AA I will. But I'm not out there looking to push hard... I'm perfectly happy to pick up medium/small pots.

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-You may not know this, but poker is a game of incomplete information.