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The first and biggest rule of playing winning poker imo is money management. At all times you must be playing your absolute hardest to try and win a little at a time, and at all times you need to make sure your not putting too much at risk. Most players with good money management adhere to the no more than 5% rule but that is the cap, I like to put only 1.5-3.5% in play at once, but thats right for how much I have, with a smaller bankroll there is nothing wrong with playing for 5% at a time, or maybe even a bit higher with say a 90$bankroll, playing a 6.60 SNG isnt really too risky. By employing this rule two huge things happen, YOU NEVER GO BROKE, and you will ALWAYS BE COMFORTABLE because you wont be risking too much of your money. Which means you will play so much better.
Second, At the core of poker is math. Its a game of infinite creative possibilities revolving around Math. Pot Odds, and Calculating how likely you are to hit the cards you need are the integral part of the game, a good rule of thumb to calculate your card hitting odds on the spot is say u have a draw and u need x amount of cards, well all u do (since there is 52 cards in a deck) is take the number of cards in the deck u need and times it by two and you will have your odds of hitting that card on the next card. With AK on a 2 5 7 flop, u have three aces and three Kings so six cards, u have a 12% chance of hitting one on the turn, and a 24% chance by the river, due to there being two cards to hit one of them, turn and river. getting a good Grasp on the Math is a very good way to get yourself a solid foundation as a player, it helps in alot of spots to know where u are mathmatically.
Third, Dont ever let your Ego play a hand for you. It isnt a pissing match, its a trying to win match. Getting upset of trying to play your hand with a hard-on to really show a guy whats what is such an easy way to lose. You need to always be as level-headed as possible to give yourself the right read on the situation and to really weigh if you need to play any longer in the hand or not. To understand this sort of detached approach to cards is very important after you get to the point where its easy to be a little upset over how things are going. Every hand is a new chance, and make sure you dont sell yourself short in a hand because childish emotions start rising. Be cool.
Fourth, Its a game of people! you must be watching your opponents as much as you can, understanding them is the key to figuring out how to beat them (as long as the cards fall right which they will in the long haul) there is nothing more satisfying that making a really good call, or making a really good fold. If you can get interested in the psychological side of the game, you will get hooked, because mastering that is how u make some good money.
All forms of poker are very different. There are Sit and Go's, there are Multi Table Tournaments and there are Cash Games, limit and no limit.
Sit and Go's are all about math and being tight in the begining when the blinds are not consequencial and pushing slight edges, say like K high's on the buttons when the blinds being won will add a signifigant amount to your stack. playing any stakes lower than 20 you can absolutely demlosish them if you follow a couple basic guidlines and are constantly watching the game for betting patterns from your opponents indicating tendencies in their play, how comfortable they are playing, and if they really are trying or are just trying to gamble. The guidlines are as follows:
1. You never want to risk more than 10% of your stack on a hand before the flop unless you are in the top 2-3% of hands, (top 1% is QQ+, 2% is ten ten+, and 3% is AK suited and up) when the blinds are low, there is no need to take a risk that essentially only when leave u guessing throughout the hand and put your tournament equity (the value u have with your chips to win the tournament) at risk without any real solid reason to take such a risk, when the blinds are low you just have to play super tight and watch your opponents for reads.
2. You cannot let yourself get blinded out this is probably the most important part of any Sit and Go. If at any time you have around 3-4 Big Blind left in your stack, (example blinds are 120/240 three Big Blinds would be 720) If you get to that point you HAVE to move all in before the blinds reach you. It may be tough but you have to find the best spot u can and if you have to go all in with a weak hand so be it, because if you dont try to steal the blinds before they reach you you will lose too much of your stack, and then you have no fold equity by moving all in, someone will call you because they dont have to call much more. Thats Sit and Go Suicide you have to try and pick up that money for free, and if your called, hey u can be a little ahead or just suck out, but u have to push your edge while u have it.
3. Tight is Right! stupid gambles equals overall loses: Your only job is to make it too the money spots, if u can do that most of the time your simply put a winning player, so that only requires proper stack management, in any tournament you could break down your stack growth and decline in a chart, and every time it grows or declines u risk even more from how much u can win with a big hand. Say u drop 500 chips in the begiging and u pick up aces the next hand and you double plus u get the blinds, well now u only get 2k instead of 3k because u only have 1,000 as opposed to 1,500. Every Chip is very valueable in a Sit and Go U throw away a good portion of your chance to win it by not understanding how to properly manage your stack. Not letting yourself get blinded out has alot to do with how much u should not splash around but just push your edges when u think u have them. And the real cool part about all the smaller buy ins is so few people take their stacks that seriously, they are just fucking around, and if you are looking at every hand and Tournament as a serious investment then you have a big edge. If you can stay patient in the early parts and then when u know your opponents better later on and know how to push hands when u need to and not take borderline situations as situations u should run with, then there is no reason why you shouldnt mop up the smaller buy ins.
OK its late but thats a good start on Sit and Go's. There are so many things that can be said about good poker its ridiculous, and its mostly stuff u just have to learn as you go by experience, there are alot of subtleties that just are better learned at the table, but if you really look at those principles I think you will have a good light to lead u down the tunnel youll be walking if u decide to keep playing and really take it seriously. And always remember you have a job more important than to win money at the tables, and thats to grow as a player. The only way to find yourself essentially making more money is to become a better player, so when u make a mistake, analyze it and figure out why it happened that way and move on to the next game wiser. You should always be focusing on your own shortcomings at the tables and try to really see why u didnt win a hand, not just thinking man that was a bad card! Always ask yourself, did a bad card fall? or did I make a questionable play? Or ask yourself, could I have played that hand differently to have a better result if I see that sort of situation rise again?
Cards are extremely random, you will run into a billion different situations if you continue to play, and thats why its so interesting, there are so many scenario's to examine and figure out, its a very complex series of riddles, and are wasting alot of time if you just lament bad cards and put your focus and energy into that thought line after u leave the table, instead really try to always anylize it from a couple points of view and get ready to be smarter for the next hand. Thats the real secret to success in this buisness, you have to be almost robotic about your emotions over cards, but u have to be very human about how u approach the situations as they come at you, that is you need to learn from your mistakes and always consider a couple points of view.
Ok thats enough for now on SNG's, let me know if this helps your game!
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