Originally Posted by msc0015

I have been playing low limit SNG for the last couple months. I play very tight and aggressive. My bankroll was always up and down between $84-$90 last month and now between $89-96. SO i am slowly making my way up, but i dont want to move to higher stakes until i increase my ITM. I would say right now its about 45%.

However, Every time i miss the money, I finish in 5th but usually 4th.

I play very tight. I usually follow this strategy
http://www.pentictonpoker.com/files/sng.pdf

I am very good at not chasing and making reads when players are chasing straights (however i get beat by people who chase a lot)

I was wondering if anyone could share some insight on how you get past that pesky 4th place spot.

I'm not sure exactly what limits you're playing, and i'm not an expert myself but I'm not so sure about the advice given in that link.

first of all, you should always play for first place, especially in single table SNGs. Dont just play for the money in these. I could see if its an 1800 man 10 dollar MTT where 50th place is like 200 bucks, but in single table sngs the only way you're gonna make some money is if you get first most of the time.. If you're content with winning 3 or 5 bucks for 45 minutes of playing, you should play cash games (where you can win more than that with good play, depending on the limits/table atmosphere).

If you play well, you win more in the long run this way. As I said I'm not sure what limits your playing but lets say you're playing 3 dollar sngs (i'm simplifying this, so bear with me), 1st gets 13.50 and 3rd gets like 5.50. And this guy is kidding when he says he can get you into the money that often. Even he himself states that you're gonna be a short stack often and you'll have to risk your tournament with only moderate hands. Half the time you're going to bust out this way.

if you play a hundred sngs and get 3rd in 75 of them, you win $412 (a $112 Return). However, say get first whenever you win, but you only win 40 of them (which is LESS than the 45% you say you make ITM), that's still more, $540 to be exact. play to win. 3rd place very often doesn't even buy you another tournament entry.



And imo playing using that strategy will almost never get you first place unless you get a monster and win a lot of chips at some point in the tournament. The reason is, you're going to be a short stack 90 percent of the time, which is going to get you owned HU. You have to get aggresive later in the tournament. the chips become more important than the cards.
this guy advises you to let people take your blinds and hope that someone busts out before you do, that's not the way to play imo.

Use your reads, steal pots, steal blinds, be aggressive. The guy is right in that usually you slide into the top 5 pretty easily because low limit players are redonkulous, but when the blinds start increasing (especially if you are playing Turbos), you have to start going after pots. Unless you're playing with a table full of maniacs, which happens rarely. It's five handed now, which means if you have something like ATs, you probably have the best hand, you need to bet some chips in position with those kinds of hands. And especially if you hit flops you need to put some chips in the middle. don't be coy, bet the pot.

also, if you're getting beat by people chasing draws, either you're being unlucky which happens or you're giving people the odds to chase.

(another thing you can try is FL sngs, which you can afford to be more aggressive, and fish play wayy more aggressively often getting you more chips...but unless you're patient, play a Turbo, so it won't last two hours...note, these aren't as easy to find, at least on poker stars. often There's like one at a time which takes twenty minutes to fill up)

also, I disagree with this guys opinion on 6-max. You can win 6-max just as easily as full table sngs, with the same strat except once you get aggressive, you play more hands, imo.

I had the same problem as you initially and switched my start and had instant success in low limit single table sngs by simply playing tight at the beginning, paying ALOT of attention to my opponents and getting aggressive after a few blind levels.
if you're ever playing, I can rail you if you'd like and see what you're doing. hit me on aim theonejanitor
i'm a low limit player myself and we can share ideas.

my two cents. someone more knowledgeable can come and add on to this or upgrade this.

u play on cake and play sngs finish 4th u make $

Originally Posted by msc0015

I play very tight. I usually follow this strategy
http://www.pentictonpoker.com/files/sng.pdf

i didnt read this after he mentions that FTP is best cos u can get custom hoodies from them, that u will get ITM 75% of the time for sure and saying that 6max sngs are rigged......imo, anyone who starts out a "strategy guide" with the above statements should not really be listened to.

the best idea would be for you to post some hands, especially hands where u are 4/5 handed and are faced with a big/tricky decision.

Originally Posted by theonejanitor

first of all, you should always play for first place, especially in single table SNGs.

Er... this is wrong.

If you get 4th in every sng you play you could probably play 18 mans profitably.

It's pretty generally considered that in a STT you play to cash then play to win.

Originally Posted by theonejanitor

at low limits, Its not worth the hour playing to profit less than you paid to enter the tournament, imo at least, unless you're like 8-tabling. Especially considering how easy those things are to win in the first place.

what kinda SNG pays u less for getting itm than it costs to enter?