Still learning, not sure if I played this right, some suggestions please.

[Pazma]

Hi, as the title suggests I'm a bit of a novice, or at least I am to online poker. I've usually only played a local game once a week, in a pub and drunk. I'm trying to take it more seriously now however and I've signed up to PokerStars. I read a bit of a strategy guide for playing sit and go's and it seemed to be working well, then I had to think for myself and I busted out lol. I was playing a $3.50 9 handed sit and go, I kept it very tight in the early stages and only played premiums in early position and high cards in late. I had a tight image at the table, this is what I was going for. In the late stage of the game I opened up a bit, stealing blinds with suited A's, mid pairs, large suited connectors etc . . . I was still folding to min raises in my big blind though, when I was weak or medium, I wanted to keep the tight image up. So, I have an average stack size (around 2.7k) and I was getting good cards so I was raising a bit. In the small blind, for 3 hands in a row I got KQ off suit, A7, then A9 suited. Each time it was just down to myself and the BB, each time I raised 3x the blind. The blinds were 50 and 100. He folded the first, re-raised on the second to 900 and I folded. Then on the 3rd, I raised the usual and he comes over the top with an all-in. I called and got knocked out to AQ. Was it the right choice to call there? My thinking was that it was such an overbet that it looked like a bluff, I'd raised him a few times and I thought he might think I'm trying to steal. I thought there was a good chance he had something like Ace rag or KJ, maybe even a total dirt hand, although he seemed to be decent enough and such a blow up would be unlikely with two rags. Sorry for the long post but I figured the more information I give the better. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Wesley Harms]

Genuinely can't bring myself to read that

[bustamoves]

i think it's understandable that you call it off with A9 given the dynamic that seems to have developed since they appear to have happened one after the other. i'm sure he would ship with all small pairs so you're ok vs that part of his range.

it's not really ideal to be getting allin with A9 at the 50/100 level though i'd imagine.

one other thing you could consider is raising less than 3x so that you can steal for less and fold having less invested when you get reraised.

On a separate piece of advice, it's a good idea to save Hand History and try convert it using a Hand History converter (e.g. google deucescracked hand converter) as it's much easier to post and for others to read and so will yield more feedback on here.

gl

[Winning!]

Your decisions late should largely depend on how close you are to the bubble, since simply cashing in STTs (single-table tournaments) which pay a small pool to top 30% is of much greater value than in regular MTTs where 10-15% are paid, and payouts are extremely top-heavy.

Like with 4 left and 3 paid, this is a clear raise/fold since we cant risk bubbling without the very top of our range. Obviously the further from the bubble we are, the less risk-adverse we should become, but still mostly just r/f this deep.

[Pazma]

Your decisions late should largely depend on how close you are to the bubble,

This is what I should have considered he was thinking too, players will tighten up at that time and he was unlikely to push without very good cards. I guess in hindsight it wasn't such a good call.

one other thing you could consider is raising less than 3x so that you can steal for less and fold having less invested when you get reraised.

On a separate piece of advice, it's a good idea to save Hand History and try convert it using a Hand History converter (e.g. google deucescracked hand converter) as it's much easier to post and for others to read and so will yield more feedback on here.

gl

I'll try 2.5x in future, less risk, same rewards. I'll check out the Hand History converter too, thanks for the tips lads, much appreciated.

[ibimon]

I would also advice to move down to at least $1.50 sngs and play there until you are comfortable. Hell, go even further down to maybe $1 on 888 or something,where the player field is quiet weak and great for beginners, also their don sngs are quet good, and there you will learn the push/fold range quiet fast. If you are just starting and without any online poker experience, the 3.50 sngs will eat into you BR very fast, and I don't think its the best level to learn at, your graph will look like a roller-coaster. At that level you will meet a lot of grinders who've been at this level for quiet some time, and this would hinder your learning curve.

Personally I found sng's the best place to adjust to online poker. I had a decent ROI, but the volume they require to be somewhat profitable just couldn't be matched with work , wife and two kids.