I've been busy playing the Empire/Party SNGs for the past few days with moderate success. I say "moderate" because although I have been winning more as time goes on (no doubt due to improved play), I'm still disappointed with a lot of my finishes. There have been a disheartening number of 4ths, and a good many 3rds where I had hoped for higher. After playing 34 SNGs total so far, and having a good day today, I thought a little reflection was in order.

I play well against 2 opponents and heads-up (at least I think I do). Most people seem to agree that once you're in the money, you play for first and generally play loose, fast, and all out (especially against weak/tight opponents). With 5 1sts, 8 3rds, and only 1 2nd place finish, I'd say I'm doing something right when I make it to the money. I'd like to see a few more firsts in that distribution, but I accept that luck plays a HUGE part when the blinds are 400/800. The point is, I don't puss out and hope for 2nd place: I push hard.

While we're talking in-the-money play, it should be noted that a lot of times that I took a 3rd, I came into the money on a short stack. Against high blinds and other powerful players, that's admittedly a tough spot to be in, but there's a leak in my game here somewhere that I'd like to work on. Either I've got to work on making it to the money with more chips, or perhaps gamble a little less when short stacked and try and pick my spots to push in better. There's always that little euphoric sigh of relief once I'm in the money (especially when I was a few blinds from elimination), that is so easily followed by an all-in "hey let's gamble" bet from me. It's not horrible strategy, but I might do better to relax and wait for a medium-decent hand if I can, instead of ATC.

The bigger problem for me (and this is related to coming into the money short) is the number of 4th-6th place finishes I've had: 14 in all (which is equal to the number of 1st-3rd place finishes). I recall a few times I got booted in 5th or 6th on bad beats or plays that upon reflection I couldn't have played much differently, but there were definitely some times where I gambled and lost here. I know I've bluffed at some bad pots where a simple check would have been the better play. Overall, I think a few things I need to watch myself doing are:

• Limping with cards that aren't "bad", but are bad in early or middle position. Playing easily-dominated hands like KJo from early position in the early levels is a sure way to flop something you can't get away from, but are almost certainly beat with.
• Not limping enough in late position with medium strength hands. Especially with few callers in front, I should probably play more on the button. I know position is important, but in some ways and situations I fail to apply it fully.
  
• Bluffing on the flop, especially out of position. Sometimes it works, but most often someone will raise behind me, or I end up betting into some fancy dandy that flopped a full house and is gonna check raise all in.
• Start taking note of bubble play situations, especially those where I ended up in 4th. I end up here on the short stack more than I would prefer, which is undoubtedly half of the problem (see above 3 points). Even then, I tend to play the "steal a blind here and there and wait for someone to get beat" strategy, which I should probably stick with unless I am the chip leader or near the chip leader. I don't know what the leaks are, but if I start paying attention I should be able to stop them and move into the money more often.

I'm also discovering just how truly awesome the poker blogging world really is. There is a TON of information and strategy out there. Two excellent posts on SNG strategy are Poker Nerd's SNG Strategy and this useful response to it. (both are excellent poker blogs)

Lastly, I should reveal that although my overal SNG return on investment is hovering somewhere in the single digit percentages, in my last 6 games it's been above 50%, and I'd like to think that's not just a lucky streak.