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How to get better at playing SNGs

Hello-

I mainly play SNGs nowadays as I’ve found MTTs too rough for my emotional well being.  Playing thousands of SNGs is what many of the online pros have done for years and built up there bankrolls and then moved on to MTTs and cash games.

The key to winning SNGs is tight is right and tighter is righter.

There was a SNG I played last night where I won one of the first 36 hands and was just sticking around until the blinds got higher and higher and it was just push fold mode.

The one hand I won was my QQ versus an A9o shove and an AJ overcall.

Then I made a call with A5o in the BB versus an UTG shover who was short, he had K3s and I held and we were down to 3.  My A7o held versus K6o and we were down to HU.

I won a race with 66 versus A4o and took it down.

I played very few hands and still managed to win the turbo SNG.

I’ve found a few tools that are helpful to winning SNGs.  One of them is a free ICM calculator

Using this has shown me what hands I should be pushing with and what hands I should be folding when we get into the late stages of the game.

Lately, I’ve gone bust from a few SNGs with Q8o on the button, I’ve been pushing with about 4 or 5 blinds thinking it’s a good push but I ran it on the ICM calculator and it turns out that it’s not a good push.  I need to be pushing there with QTo or better.

So I could have folded the button there and waited for a better hand to push with before the blinds got to me again and took a big chunk of my stack taking away my fold equity.

There’s also other tools to help you get better at SNGs.  One is called SNG Wizard.  It calculates your equity at every stage of the game.  It will basically help you make the most profitable play mathematically.  It comes with a 30 day free trial so you can use it before you have to buy it.

SNG Wizard and the free ICM calculator will help you with the tough decisions you face in the end game.

Use them and start winning more SNGs.

Good luck at the tables.

-Adam