Hello everyone, I tried doing a search for this answer as well as looking in the stickies. In a 9man STT are you suppose to base your play on cEV solutions or $EV solutions? I know with MTT's you base your play on cEV until you near the final table, then switch over to $EV. But with STT do you go with $EV from the start or once you reach the money....final 3 or 4 players? Thanks for any advice and help!

Actually, you should go with $EV decisions in all tournaments. But they can be hard to calculate, and in an MTT near the beginning, there is little practical difference between cEV and $EV, so cEV is a practical shortcut. In a 9-man STT, the difference between cEV and $EV can be quite significant, so go with $EV if you can, right away. For example, if you can flip for stacks on the first hand with a 55:45 edge, you'll still be behind in $EV.

Thank you so much for the response....really cleared that up for me. Just starting out learning how to play 9man STT, I've heard Colin Moshman's Sit-n-Go strategy book is STILL the book to read/study. Do you agree?

If there was some reason that I was restricted to reading only one book about STTs, I might choose Moshman. However, I think I'd learn more by reading several books, including Moshman. I found Harrington on Hold'em invaluable. Secrets of Sit'n'Gos by Phil Shaw had its uses too.

Someone else also told me that HOH was very useful for STT's...yet a lot of others have told me otherwise. I studied HOH 1 and 2 because up til now I've been a MTT player, and the few STT's that I have played, HOH strategy was all I knew so that's what I applied and actually did ok. So you agree it CAN be applied to STT's?

In SNG play $EV should be the main factor that you base your play around, due to the chips you hold not representing the equity you actually have in the prize pool, for example a cEV based decision may tell you that calling a shove in the first hand of the game with QQ is a positive cEV decision where as based on $EV this would be a fold, its important to differentiate between the two based on the game type you play

I understand what you're saying....but HOH has such a tight starting hand selection for early, middle and late positions that don't they also hold up well for 9man STT?

I noticed I didn't answer your question is full, you want to be using $EV from the start of a 9 man STT, this calculation is also dependent on other factors such as blind to stack ratio, blind levels etc which may make your $EV decisions looser or tighter, an MTT uses $EV calculations also when near the bubble not just on the bubble, the only time you stop using $EV in a 9 man STT would be heads up, by which time the stack to blind ratio becomes so high that shoving is generally optimal. I think you will find that HOH advocates only tight starting hand selections from all positions during low blind play where you wish to be avoiding playing large pots in marginal spots, as opposed to pushing your edge later on it pots that offer relevant equity gain, as blinds increase, so to will the range of hands that you will be playing from late position, and if in a 9 man STT with players being eliminated your starting hand selections from EP and MP will also increase. I would also still say Moshman's SNG strategy is the way to go, and offers some valuable concepts ( though I found the content most useful for early and mid blind play)

I will also be picking up Moshman's book no doubt.....thanks for your help Chanty!

Not a problem have a great read it really is great for us SNG players