the award belongs to me...
$30 SNG...blinds 10/20...i hadn't entered a pot yet...got AKo mid...some guy UTG + 2 limped in , another limped...it came to me...i bet 4.5 BB's or 90 in chips...everyone folded except the UTG + 2...no read on anyone...

flop comes K78 rainbow... he min. bet, i thot, let's take a chance, SURELY he can't be on the draw to that 78, plus would he call a 4.5x BB bet with a 910? (hmmm, maybe) or 56? anyway...i smooth called...

4th st a 9... board now K789...he immediately goes all in! I'm thinking, if he HAD it already, wouldn't he slowplay it? i thot he was on the nut draw strt hand...

WRONG.... thinking my thinking was good, i called, he slightly had me covered...i flipped over AK...he flipped over a freakin 56 off suit... i was drawing dead for the river...and went to the kitchen to make a rum and coke...i was finished for the night...

Moral? ...early in a SNG, someone goes all in...you'd better think twice and 3 times about calling it... think Survival...
or ... wth...sometimes even the best laid plans of mice and men go wrong...there'll be another day...it was only 30 bucks. orrrrr, go ahead and take down a medium sized pot by betting it strong...1.5- 2 x the pot...chase out the draws...better to win a medium pot, than to go to the kitchen to make a coke and rum.

Great post Bill. So often in SnGs you have to ignore your basic poker instincts- I find this can be quite tough, especially if you have been running bad.

There is a big difference between knowing what is the right thing to do and actually doing it. I had a problem overplaying AK preflop in SnGs, cause I was seeing so many smaller aces being overplayed, but I seem to have got it resolved.

In this situation it is tough cause you basically know you have him, and want to maximise, while not allowing him to suck out. This is a great post because I think it shows you how you cannot assume that anyone will do what they 'should' in small-ish SnGs- like not calling a 4.5 BB raise with 78. This makes it nearly impossible to accurately put someone on a hand, and justifies exactly why survival at all costs is your aim, as you say.