Thursday, January 31, 2008

SNG vs Cash: A quick ramble

And it is a purely psychological matter as well.

For example, when I'm in a SNG, I'm not afraid of losing some chips early. I will go ahead and call someone down with a overpair knowing that I may likely be beat by a better overpair. I have no fear though that I cannot come back from a short stack and take down the game. Heck, yesterday I was down to 360 chips with blinds at 50-100 and 7 players left in a 9seat SNG. I ended up taking 2nd (and should have had first if not for a runner-runner bad beat during HU).

The point being is that my opponent can't get up and walk away with my money in a SNG. I still have a chance to make $$ as long as long as I have chips in front of me. And so far, I'm doing a good job of that. My FT BR is back up over $350 solely on the strength of $5 SNGs. I have enough confidence that I'll be going up to the $10 SNGs without fear of being successful. I'll remain there until my BR rules allow me to start on $20.

With SNGs my opponents can't change during the game and I don't have to develop new reads every 5 minutes. That's been a problem with my PokerStars cash game experiment. I'm too slow to develop reads. I'm too aggressive out of position. And I'm not disciplined enough to give up good but not great hands. Like 88 on a 7-6-3rainbow board. Lost a buy-in to KK. It was obvious he had an overpair yet I called him down. Need to stop doing that.

I also managed to lose half a buy-in with Ac-Qc on a rag board. If the guy calls my first bet, he's probably calling my second bet on a rag board. He may fold away any draws if he has them. The point being, IT WAS A RAG BOARD. Which means he has something and is not drawing at something. That probably means I should stop betting into him and let the hand go!

Sorry for the ramble that is called this post. I need to start writing from home and concentrating on my writing. Otherwise my 6 readers will stop coming back!

In other news, I have an Amazon gift card to spend and want to buy a book that focuses less on tourney NLHE and perhaps more on cash/ring NHLE. What do you all suggest?

My library so far: Super System 2 (very good, will do a write up soon on what this book has taught me), Full Tilt Strategy Guide: Tourney Edition, Dan Harrington's Vol 2.

Thanks for your help!

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
FT BR: ~$350
PS BR: ~$60

4 comments:

  1. nlhe theory and practice by sklansky

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  2. thanks LJ, that is one of the ones I've been considering.

    Also - thanks for stopping by! I wasn't aware you tread over here =)

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  3. http://www.notedpokerauthority.com/. Ed Miller writes excellent columns for Card Player on cash game play. I can only assume his books are as good or better. He gives sound advice in an easy to understand format. I have never read his books but have read a lot of his writings.

    While you are at it, read Phil Ivey's article on Full Tilt. It's probably the best poker advice you will ever read. Seriously.

    By the way, calling all-in with Kh10h! Really? Tsk tsk. LOL.
    TMS

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  4. I'm on Ed Miller's email list and have gotten some value out of his writings. I'll check out some of his books now as well.

    Kh10h - was that a cash game vs a small stack that actually showed up with AQ and then I sucked out with a turn 10 and a river 10 (a queen would have given me a straight as well i believe). Anyways, it was a terrible play by me but thankfully, as my next post will tell, I've sharpened up my cash game considerably.

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