Strategy question, HU as shorty against tight/passive

Hey guys,

so I had this really weird SnG yesterday which took over 2 hours (no turbo). I managed to get ITM and got in the HU with about 3600 chips villain having the remainder of 9900, blinds 100/200/25 with a few minutes left before they went to 200/400/25, which essentially put me into push/fold mode.

At first I played fairly standard HU, however after a few minutes I realized that he was super tight. So my strategy gradually changed to something like this:
- I pushed like a maniac, every half-way hand (every face card + x, SC or better)
- I folded total crap hands in SB (like 26o, which unfortunately I got quite a few of)
- When he completed, I'd played the hands I'd fold in SB (see above) and shoved if playable
- I overshoved his raises with half-way playable hands about 50% of the time, other 50% I played them and folded with crap
- I overshoved/pushed the flop if I hit anything on the flop. I did not however open pushed with total crap when I didn't hit

Overall I only had two really "good" hands AKs, which he folded to me and 44, where he folded to my overshove PF.

He folded to pretty much any aggression, still I just couldn't get the chip advantage. He led out every flop btw.

So my question is this: How would you play against such a super tight player with the goal to win the SnG in the end?
The thing is, he would only call a push with a premium hand like AA, KK, QQ and so on, which would probably crush you, only hope to suck out on him.
- Would you push with ATC all the time?
- Would you overshove his raises with total crap?
- Would you overshove on a flop where you have total crap (he completed to you) and missed? You didn't even have a draw on any flop.

Most of you will probably say: "You're so dumb, just push everytime if he's so tight and overshove his raises" or something. But in my opinion it's not that simple, remember the goal is to win ...

I don't have a HUD (since I'm playing on a Mac), but from the feel of it I'd say his stats were about (only HU):
15% of his hands he raised PF, 40% of the time he completed the SB, 100% opening the flop.

So, how would you play?

When you're talking about "pushing like a maniac", are you referring to the time when blinds had increased to 200/400 or before? Pushing 18x BB HU seems a little much for me.

Otherwise, the only part that I'd disagree with is this:

Originally Posted by elitemob

I overshoved his raises with half-way playable hands about 50% of the time, other 50% I played them and folded with crap

Against passive players who continually open fold or complete then suddenly raise, you need to have a real hand to play. I wouldn't shove over with hands like JTo or 87s in this spot.

Originally Posted by elitemob

So my question is this: How would you play against such a super tight player with the goal to win the SnG in the end?
The thing is, he would only call a push with a premium hand like AA, KK, QQ and so on, which would probably crush you, only hope to suck out on him.

True, but how often is he going to have a premium hand like TT+ or AQ+? Probably 5% of the time or less meaning that 95% of the time you take the blinds without a fight.

Originally Posted by elitemob

Would you push with ATC all the time?

With 9x BB and an opp this tight, yes I would until he started calling me lighter.

Originally Posted by elitemob

Would you overshove his raises with total crap?

No, almost certainly not if he had been passive. A raise from a player like this usually means a decent hand unless he has changed gears.

Originally Posted by elitemob

Would you overshove on a flop where you have total crap (he completed to you) and missed? You didn't even have a draw on any flop.

I think I'd want at least some piece of the flop, overcards to the board or a draw to shove over. However, against a player who leads the flop every time first in, even bottom pair will do for me.

Hope that helps! Oh, I would definitely play on a PC (or switch your Mac to PC mode) to use a HUD, Pokerstove, SNG Wiz and software like that. Admittedly I have a bias against Macs but at least as far as poker is concerned you can't beat a PC

1- I'd raise ATC on the button and be much more inclined to shove over any flop that I hit than just std raise.

2- No, I wouldn't just overshove his raises with ATC. Like tai said, to RR, you have to have a hand.

3- I would again prefer to have SOMEthing.

I compensate for the fact that I can't use HUD, Stove, and Wiz by posting more on FTR! *crowd cheers*

Ok, thanks for the answers

@ tai:

Of course I meant shoving like a maniac for after the blinds went higher. About the point where you disagreed. You're right, the funny thing is (I didn't post that in detail) I overshoved once with A9s and he folded, so I was like "huh?". I did it a second time and he folded again. Maybe he was afraid or something and folded his AQo, I don't know. He definitly opened up a bit after like 10 minutes, but kept being passive to aggression (but lead the flops).

@ Illfavor:
Sorry for the dumb question, but you would raise instead of push with < 10BB HU? Or did you mean push?

So I suppose I still wasn't aggressive enough against this guy. Probably the best way to go about it is, as soon as you get the read and as you two suggested:
- push ATC in position/only overshove raises with some kind of decent hand, fold crap to his raises
- do that till you reach 13 (?) BB or something in that area, so you can continue said strategy with raising instead of pushing and not risk your whole stack

I guess what spooked me about pushing crap from the button was, that there is no "finding out, when he calls me lighter", because if I shove with 37o and he calls with TJs it's probably over and of course, I wanted to win ;P

Not dumb, as I failed to clarify, though the answer is obv. Raise in those first few mins, then push at 200/400. No sense std raising half your stack away

I'm not sure about the 13BB thing. I'd probably still be shoving at 13BB. You could shove, or: std raise to t1000, see a flop with a pot that's half your remaining stack and fold when you don't hit and he leads out as he always does, which will happen 2/3rds of the time, and have to shove again...Or just shove preflop and take the massive amount of chips in the blinds. If he wakes up with that golden hand he's been looking for, you shrug and move on, assuming he wasn't the short stack by then anyways!

If opp is tight I would play it differently then the way you played.

I raise every hand the minimum I need to get him to fold, sometimes 3 BB does it, sometimes 2.5. If he calls and check the flop I bet it about 1/2 pot. If he calls and I am first to act I would bet non scary flops (low flops)

I fold any none premium hand if he plays back

Vs tight players you want to win it by chopping their stack in small pots, mainly by picking the blinds, you want to avoid big pots as much as you can