The Comprehensive SNG Guide to Success
In this course, longtime Run It Once coach Ryan Martin walks you through all things sit-n-go and provides the keys to success to turn you into a winning SNG grinder.
What to do before cards are even dealt
Ryan kicks off the series by sharing his goals for the course and giving a brief overview of his credentials before concluding w/ a module-by-module breakdown of the topics covered in each section.
There are a lot of misconceptions about SNGs floating around in the poker world. In this video, Ryan addresses two of them: that 'SNGs are a dead game' and that 'tight is right' when it comes to early game play. Spoilers: he does not agree!
Today we discuss the origins of ICM, the importance of this model in SNG and tournament poker, as well as the fallabilities of overreliance on it.
A discussion on the different motivating factors for wanting to learn SNGs and an overview of some of the most popular offerings currently available online
Ryan provides a framework for how to go about researching the SNG format you've selected to pursue, touching on methods for figuring out things like who the biggest winners in the games are today and how much they're beating the games for, what kind of variance you can expect in the format, and how a good rakeback/VIP program can supplement your WR
An overview of some basic poker terms and theory concepts that help to inform the more technical elements to come in future lessons of the course
RFI ranges, play by position, blind strategies
An overview of what's coming up in Module Two; the first of four position-by-position deep dives in to the factors that dictate our early game strategy from the LoJack and HiJack and how different player tendencies encourage different adjustments
In this lesson we take a closer look at the inherent factors working in the button and cutoff's favour in NLHE and focus on building robust cold-calling and three-betting ranges.
An exploration of one of the trickier positions at a poker table, including an explainer on why focus on improving your blind-versus-blind play can have significant, tangible impacts on your WR.
In his final early game positional analysis Ryan dives in to the single most detrimental position to every player's WR: big blind play. This lesson offers tips to optimize the construction of your BB defense strategy to minimize your losses from this position.
Maximizing your winnings against the weaker players at the table is imperative to success in poker - this lesson gives some ideas for how to go about doing exactly that!
Playing the big/short stack, cold calling/3B strategies
In this lesson Ryan provides an overview of what to expect coming up in module #3 as well as a lesson on how our RFI ranges have evolved as we've gotten shallower and the factors playing in to why they now look like they do.
Why do we cold call in poker? What qualities make hands strong candidates for cold calling? How do our cold calling ranges shift as we get shallower? Ryan answers all that and more in this lesson!
An analysis of how our three-betting ranges in the cutoff and button have changed as we've gotten shallower, how our incentives shifting has altered what our three-bet "bluffing" ranges look like, as well an explanation as to why we are now opting for a three-bet all-in component w/ some hands.
How we defend our blinds on 60bb's is dramatically different than how we do so on 30bb's. In this lesson, Ryan breaks down both blinds individually and goes over the factors in why we are constructing our strategies in the manner we do facing an open on shallower stacks, how our new defense strategies compare with what we were doing on 60bb's, and then closes the lesson w/ a discussion on how blind-versus-blind play has shifted as we've gotten shallower.
We've all been there: the action's been folded to us w/ 15bb and we have no clue what the best way to play our hand is. Which factors are important to consider in these spots to ensure we make the play that makes us the most money? And what, if any, characteristics do hands that tend to prefer one course of action over another have?
ICM, the bubble, push/fold, payout structure analysis
Ryan kicks off the ICM-intensive part of the course w/ a discussion on the two most important tools for improving your ICM knowledge - your ICM calculator and a few big picture ICM concepts that will help you to better understand the outputs you're seeing from it.
A look in to how bubble factors change as players are eliminated and how the payout structures of different SNG formats incentivize different approaches to maximizing your ROI
PROTECT YOUR EQUITY! In this lesson Ryan dives in to why bubbling a SNG is such a disaster and goes through some spots in ICMizer to highlight just how tight we're forced to be calling off in some of these bubble spots and exactly how costly calling off too wide can be.
How exactly should we be manouvering as the chipleader on the bubble? Ryan suggests some ways to go about effectively doing exactly that as well as discussing a couple of mental blocks that he feels are having a negative influence on people's winrates in these spots.
Ryan concludes the ICM portion of the course by revealing his fourth and final Fundamental, discusses some tips for player and pool tendency review, and then shares w/ the viewer an example of a spot he gets creative stealing EV on the bubble as the shortstack.
HU play, note-taking and color coding, optimizing your time, HUD design
This lesson kicks off w/ a discussion on why the we should be fluid/dynamic in our approach to HU play and is followed by the introduction of a couple of concepts that should be kept in mind when constructing your HU ranges as well as some general tips for doing so on 10-20bb stacks.
How much edge can be gained from having meticulous notes on your opponents? A LOT (in SNGs), Ryan argues. In this lesson he breaks down his personal process for colour-coding and taking notes on his opponents.
In this lesson Ryan reveals THREE (3) tips for improving the efficiency of your cEV and ICM push-fold study, including the 'Four Points' approach that he coined himself.
A discussion on table organizing/management and some third party programs that help improve the efficiency of your online grind.
In this final lesson to FTGU: SNGs Ryan discusses the three characertistics of a well-constructed HUD as well as some suggestions for stats he thinks are important to include in your own. To cap this lesson, he reveals his own HUD and goes thru the stats he's included in it and why he thinks they're useful.