Sloe Times

I don't own any poker books. Everything I know about the game I learned through trial and error as well as picking up hints and advice from those kind enough to provide it. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing but there are some possible weaknesses in my game because of it. I don't understand how to quickly determine the number of outs I have after the flop and turn. This limits me to either folding if I'm not sure about my hand, playing my strong hand, or (semi?)bluffing drawing hands. As I've mentioned before I'm also trying to learn the dynamics of position and betting. So, I took the plunge and bought a couple of books. I believe they're both written by Sklansky and Mason with one being on Advanced Holdem and the other being on Tournament Holdem. However since they have not arrived yet, I thought I should put some real thought towards what my existing strategy is before I start filling my head with new ideas. This should help me understand where I deviate from the recommended and better understand why I play the way I do.

I think the fundamental bit of knowledge that drives everything else is that SNG is a game of elimination. Because the money you make playing this type of game only comes if you place 1st - 3rd, the goal is to not be eliminated before that stage of the game.

To meet this goal I've adopted the following betting strategy. Almost never raise pre-flop. This means that if the cards in my hand are not AA, KK, or QQ I call or fold. Avoid if possible, calling any bet that would soak up 1/3 or more of my stack unless I know/feel I have the nut hand. Watch how everyone else bets, I'll need to have a feel for the style of the players by the time the table shrinks from 10 to 4 or 5. Typically SNG tables get very tight when it gets to 4 or 5 players because no one wants to get so close to the money just to be knocked out. Using the information I've collected on how they bet and what they bet on I try (cards willing) to be more aggressive at this stage but still don't slide too far from the hands that I will PFR which I would classify at this point as 99 or better. At the point I make it into the money I tend to loosen up quite a bit more and PFR every time I've got what I consider a playable hand which is any pocket pair, broadway, Axs, and Kxs.

Over the most recent collection of SNG games, I tried to change that formula up by being a little looser earlier on (when it's cheaper, yeah right) or betting good hands more aggressively pre-flop to reduce the number of opponents at the flop. With various combinations of this, I've met little success. I can't imagine that this is because I'm not betting strong enough, especially when it's 10x the BB usually. Perhaps it's just poor timing that I get a good hand and so do a bunch of other people. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I do know that until I better understand what's going on I'll go back to the style I described above.

My goal is to more consistently be in the money going from an average of <45% up to ~60% of the time. Right now things seem very streaky and I'm not sure if it is me, or something else.