I see all of the great threads listed from the past and all stickied stuff.

but what should i focus on?

I play STTs on FTP 2$ right now.. I am rolled to play a little higher but I want to learn first. What should I learn? I understand that there is all the stuff like ICM, Blind play... I might be asking a dumb question.. but im just trying to figure out what to focus on


I know a little bit about opening hands and blind play. Start tight at the beginnning then open up later in the game...hhmmm

You should understand that it'll take time before you know where you stand results wise. So A/ Don't think you've got a 50% ROI when you start off on a heater B/ Don't hit the bottle if you ain't setting the world alight to begin with........All the strat will be a learning curve, just play the games and question things as and when they happen. Post here for advice etc..

...that and read the FAQ sticky. Gl.

I get that. But what should I focus on strategy wise? At these micro limiits should i worry about learning how to completely understand ICM?

So I missread your post and thought you were just starting off. Presuming that you're a winning player already then expanding your knowledge into ICM seems like the logical step. You can do this by reading up on things like Chip Equity and downloading software like Sng Wiz or using an ICM calculator for push/fold spots you're having trouble with.

If you're not already beating the micros then you've most likely got several problems with your game. Post hands here that you're unsure of, anything you think might be considered to basic to warrant its own thread you'll get better responses if you post in the Beginners sticky.

Thank you

ICM is a very good tool, provided you know how to use it. I think the most important thing is to be able to accurately gestimate what your hand value is % wise preflop and obviously know how to put people on ranges. The default ranges on ICM programs are most often off. It takes time to put people on ranges based on their play, their stack, position etc and alot of people are great at estimating.

Without a doubt table selection is very very important. There is a thread on this on the 2nd page of this forum. You want to play with fish and not regs. I would read the thread if you are not aware of this as every even break even, let alone winning player will substantially effect your ROI.

It pays to be a nit even though it sucks. And learn to abuse the bubble. You have no idea how many chips you can pick up by being aggressive on the bubble. Pound people bvb and shove many hands

Focus on cash and spare yourself a hella lot of heartache.

THIS.

lol

I am learning the $6.50 SNG's and something I have learned quickly is that doubling your stack doesn't double your equity in that SNG, you stand to lose more than what you get if you win a coin-flip, so generally, be the aggressor or have a premium hand (QQ+ and AK, though in some unique spots at the bubble, maybe even tighter, though that rarely happens)

Get the trial subscription to deucescracked.com and download AMT's Last Man Standing series. It explains all of the basics. If you play that way you will make money in the micros.

To give a more direct answer:
1) learn low blinds 'playable hands' (aka, raise AQ+, TT+ in unopened pots any blind level and set mine any pocket pair 10/20-15/30), post hands that give you trouble
2) learn the concepts behind pushing with 10bb and how fold equity works
3) start to learn ICM/sng wiz/icm trainer or similar, run hands to learn the basics and post hands if you have questions

What you say is very general and quite wrong and misleading, it is very dependent on the situation, opponent, your stack, blind level,
and if u doubling your stack at the beginning of the tournament, your equity goes up let's say if you start with 10% after doubling the your stack you will have 18-19% because there are other 8 players.

I believe what he is saying is that in the early stages (first 2 levels for example) taking a coin flip to double your stack is not an ideal situation and not what you are really looking for. The advantage of doubling up to 3,000 chips right in the beginning of the tournament does not out-weight the cost of going broke for a winning SNG player. I would think that this is essentially true at the lower and micro levels where a good player can exploit spots over their opponents through good shove/fold tactics later in the game.

I could be way off but I'm pretty sure there's a few cases of minstacks doubling up and more than doubling their equity too.

For the OP I would follow regret$'s advice the best you can.

check/fold

Seriously this.

If everyone says to learn/play cash why play sng then ? Just curious here since there are some grinders that make $ playing sng.

This. Im also curious.

Yeah dont get that because the swings in cash even for a great player are MUCH worse. def more soul crushing. And cash is much more difficult to learn

Probably becuase they've already invested so much time and energy in learning them at a time when the reg:fish ratio was much lower and the expectation in the games was much higher. I'd imagine if a lot of those playing SNGs now were offered the chance of a time machine to go back to when they started and to have the choice of which game to learn, a good proportion of them would choose cash.

The ceiling on earnings in cash is much higher than it is in SNGs. Swings are everywhere, and BRM is important in all forms of poker, but if you had to choose to learn a format with a limited earning potential (unless you happen to be one of the very best out there) or one with a much higher ceiling on earnings and a much larger field of players, which would you choose?

Good points on both, I still think that micro-mid stakes SNGs are best for building your bankroll and then when you have a comfortable roll make a transition to cash. But hey, just my opinion.

SNGs are easy to learn, but hard to master. So, yeah, they are good as a bankroll builder, but after you have a decent roll make the switch to MTTs or cash games.

Is the situation at the SNGs rly so drastical?

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