SNG

[Urbanknight]

What is the best general SNG for someone trying to build their BR, Heads up, 9 or 18 player?

just out of curiousity, Just finished BARELY ITM on an 18 table but there was a few times where the lady snatched my ass out the fire...

also I play on stars, what seems to work out better for most people, the std SNG or the turbo?

I generally play a really solid tight game until blinds get high or I'm on the final table

[aokrongly]

My opinion. If you play tight and solid then 18 player is best. It gives you more time to get the kinds of hands you like to play and it gives others time to loosen up when they see people take pots with crap. A few of them will want to roll with the pigs after a while. Plus more time gives you better reads on the other players. You should practice observing every hand and making notes of what they raise with, if they check post flop if the flop misses them, if they slowplay, etc. You can use that later.

I've only played one turbo and hated it. (It was a MTT turbo) You have to play wide open and luck beats skill, in my opinion.

If your game was wide open then you might do well.

Play tight, play agressive, play position, observe your opponents and exploit their weaknesses, play for ITM and play a well rounded game - preflop, post flop, etc and the 18 person game will work for you. If you want to play more open or hyperagressive style then a faster game is probably better, like a 9 player or a turbo. In a slower game they'll catch on and start making you pay.

That's my opinion. It sounds like you haven't play a ton of tourney's yet - I could be wrong. Play a consistent game and measure your results. If you get knocked out, write down why. Be honest. Did you get unlucky really? or was it a hand you weren't supposed to be in. Did you try to steal the blinds and get raised then think, WTF and call with Q9s? If you play a consistent game and record what happened then you will get better over time. If you play by the seat of your pants (even tight) and ignore every loss as bad luck or bad timing, then you'll be one of the many rabble who think they win half the time but actually get ITM 33% of the time and burn off their money. In short I'm asking "can you spot your own weaknesses"? It helps if you can.

[Urbanknight]

do you pretty much JUST play tourneys or do you do std money ring games as well?

One other thing, in a tourny setting, if you take a major hit that drops your money in play by half or so, how do you generally go about staying in with mounting blinds and players with the money to easily call your AI's... just go with like top 13s or what?

[aokrongly]

If you're playing based on relative value then you're taking hits that correspond with the blinds. In an early hand I might lose 10x blind on a hand that doesn't work out. 150 at 15, 200 at 20, etc. So there's time to rebuild. Generally early you'll get more multihand pots, etc. So there's more risk as well.

Middle, people start to tighten up so you're going head to head more. That's when having notes on the other players helps.

Late there's alot of blind stealing and you have to know when to yield and when to attack. One bad blind steal attempt with an average stack and you're hurting.

I only play SnG's - typically 30/3 3 table, but some other amounts and single tables occassionally, although I've played alot more of them in the past.

How do I get healthy if I take a hit? I play like I played b4 if I have enough chips to play the hand right. If I don't then I look for opportunities to steal. If I've noticed that the blinds don't defend, I'll try hitting them. If the only caller (or raiser) b4 me doesn't know how to play post flop and will fold if the flop doesn't help them, then I try to isolate to just us two - without going ai preflop - and try to push them out of the hand. If it's a multiway pot that will get me back 3-4x my short stack then I'll go ai with suited connectors and hope for the best.

The best thing for being sick (which is what I call being short stacked) is patience and using every edge I can find. That generally does not mean going ai at the drop of a hat. Guage how many blinds you can survive and look for opportunities or great cards.