Phil Hellmuth says play only top hands in NL hold em. Tight is right. All that jazz.

Obviously this doesn't work in Sit N Gos as the # of players dwindles. When you're down to 5, 4, 3, and 2 players it's a whole different game.

I had my first SNG experience last night at the free UB tables. I was the first one to bust out at the first table (bet big with a flopped straight; was called by a flush draw who then busted me out when he caught the flush on the turn). At the second table, I finished 2nd. Went to bed feeling generally happy with myself, although I was pissed at myself for busting out when I did (AJ losing to AK -- I could smell that he had AA KK or AK, but I couldn't make myself throw away the AJ with an AKT flop). The play was a lot tougher than at the free ring games, that's for sure!

<--me being happy to find decent competition without risking any $$ yet.

One hard thing to get used to is that your opponents could literally have ANYTHING once you're down to 3 players. At that point, I found that I was playing the other players more than the cards. Even online, you really can smell weakness.

So here's my question for the forum. Are there any guidelines for what cards I should call with once it's down to 3-4 players? What sorts of hands should be raised? And (the important question): why? How should I be thinking about these hands? Are there mathematical guidelines, or is it mostly play by feel?

As always, many thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Phil Hellmuth is full of crap. Have you ever watched him on TV. He raises K8 and all kinds of other junk when hes in position (not that Im saying thats a bad idea, it just doesnt match his book).

When the SNG is down to 3-5 players, you shouldnt be limping in at all. You need to raise if you want to play a hand. The blinds will usually beu high by now and you need to be stealing them, not letting the BB in for free.

Youre correct about it being more about feel than the cards at that point. You need to be very aggressive but know when to back off when you get played back at. If your level of aggression is right, you'll get played back at when you have the goods and you will bust someone.

Shorthanded you normally want to raise most pairs, most aces, and alot of the time you have 2 faces. There are many many different styles for shorthanded play, so you really need to just try different ones and see what fits you. The one thing you CANT do is sit there and wait for premium hands. You'll blind out.

I've limped in a few times w/ a monster hand, but it just hasn't paid off too much. In SNG's it seems that people will put money in at an extreme disadvantage. Blinds 25/50, I raised 3xBB w/ 1250 in chips w/ KK, and got reraised by the SB to 1150, and so I went all in and he called of course...guy was incredibly aggressive and suckout out two stacks. He raised me w/ 62 sooted...and beat my KK. In these SNG's, I just try and protect my hands and let the fish make their calls...