10 person sit and go's

[bdubbers]

at what point do you stop playing tight and start being more aggressive. just when you think the "maniacs" have killed eachother off? whenever i lose in these it seems i start tight then when its time to make a move i start getting cold cards and by the time i get something to play the blinds have passed me a few times and im looking at a 1 to 3 chip disadvantage. maybe i'm making my move too late?

[2Tone]

At risk of making myself out to be far more on an expert than I actually am ...

For me, it is less a matter of "Oh, now there are five players left and blinds have gone up, time to throw the aggressive switch" and more of a gradual progression from very-tight at the beginning to (hopefully) stealing blinds left and right in heads up play. Perhaps think of it of increasing in 10% increments for each player that is knocked out.

One other observations. I find play changes noticeably as you get to within one/two/three players of the money, depending on size of the field. No one wants to have played for that long, and end up with nothing so close to the promised land. This can be a prime time to make some moves -- with the obvious caveat that if these go wrong, it can be you who ends up finishing so close but yet so far!

[bdubbers]

i think i'll just stick to ring games. i fair much better in them. im better when i can play and win a big pot, or even sit through a cold run of cards without feeling like i HAVE to win a big hand.

[humpty99]

Patience is key. You can finish in the money in these things by winning 4 or 5 medium pots. Wait for solid starting hands, and always come in raising. There will be people that call you down with terrible hands, but raising still gets rid of most of the junk hands. This allows you to go heads up or three way on most pots which works to your advantage. If you have good instincts, you'll realize when someone caught their hand based on their betting. I'm not saying I always catch it, but I'd say 80% I know when I'm beat. I don't have any stats for you, but I finish in the money most of the time.

On an added note, if you are playing Party Poker that is one big reason why you feel luck is involved so much. The blind structure for the SNGs at Party are the worst of any big name site. I used to play there, and did well there also, but now I've found that Paradise and Poker Stars give good solid players a much better chance to win. Take a look at Paradise Poker's SNG structure, then look at Party and you'll see what I mean. The one draw back of this structure is that it takes longer. A SNG on Paradise will take close to 90 minutes as opposed to 60 or less on Party. Party is a good site with a large player base, but Paradise is the best I've played on and I have no affiliation what so ever with any site.

[2Tone]

Do you find the better blind structure outweighs the number of “I’ll call with anything” players at Party?

[johnbaker]

I find that a very tight agressive strategy always keeps me healthy until the blinds are 50/100 and higher. At this point I start relying on stealing the blinds more, and I will play suited connectors in a 3 or 4 way unraised pot.

There is a LOT of luck involved in these sit and go's, i won $300 by winning a lot of $10 and $20 ones, then i lost it all playing the $5+1 ones where everyone calls with crap and dont let you protect strong hands. You are a dog in EVERY pot you enter in cheaper sit and go's, for long term success I suggest sticking with $20+2 and higher.