Ok, so not quite flawless, but I played it as perfectly as I ever have. Unfortunately, I can't paste hands from OnGame, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

The not quite flawless part was I was screwing with a donkey the whole time, or most of the time. Tapping on the aquarium is more acceptable in SNGs, thank god. I usually don't watch the early rounds because it makes me sick, but I did this time.

Early on, two donkeys were jawwing at each other. Didn't take long for one of them to go buh-bye. Never does. The other kept on heehawing, and I decided to have some fun. I told him he was no better than the first one. He, of course, disagreed.

I doubled up early by playing a good hand very well. Short-term memory loss and the lousy ONgame software keeps me from posting it. Alas. Then, with maybe 6 left, I knocked out a short stack with 68o from the SB with better than 2:1 odds. Naturally, this made our friendly neighborhood jackass hoot and holler about my luck. Cool.

When there were 4 left, I said, "too bad you are hopelessly outclassed". He said, what??? I said there are three better players than you left (although he was the chip leader, but fading chips.) At that hand, he sucked out on the bubble short-stack and I had to type, "now, two." He was way behind but got lucky again, which I had to point out, of course.

I busted number 3 when I was 3:2 ahead PF, then he caught, then I caught and it was over for him. Again, our buddy was screaming about how lucky I was. I said, "now, it's your turn, donk." He said, "you think you have my game sussed out?" I replied, "sure, that's easy." And I proceeded to play this fish like the fish he is heads up, typing insults and taunts at a furious pace. I raised, called, trapped, pushed, and screwed with him until I finally got him in position to pin him.

One, two, three, the ref slammed his hand on the mat and it was all over. He really had one chance. He sucked out on me one time to get the chip lead, but it didn't last long. He was so readable it wasn't funny.

It's all about patience, now. If you wait long enough, you'll find a place to either wipe them out or lose to an enormous suckout. I've had both the last few days. The times I've been knocked out have been 3:1 suckouts versus better hands. Either I've improved a lot, or these are even easier now than they were 2 years ago. They are way too loose and stupid early,--how I've lost with AA and KK--then too tight and so weak late that you can pretty much do whatever you want. If you know more than they do about playing the game, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. And there is plenty of fish.

You can accumulate chips late with raising, and folding to pressure, because they never catch on. If they push back, it's only because they have a hand. Keep the pressure on, and eventually they'll push back when you have the goods. The key is keeping the pressure on them. No need to push all in if you're over 10 BBs. And no more than a 2.5BB raise is all you need to get them to fold or let you know they have a better hand. Fold it and you still have plenty of chips. A couple more well-timed raises, and you're back where you were. Simple. The trick is to learn how to feel when it's a well-timed raise. Often, against some who are really weak, you can even raise half your stack and they'll fold without having to risk a push. You have that much fold equity in late games now. Pushing is almost automatic, but, beware, their idea of a good hand to call with and yours is far different. A6 is a monster hand to them, as is any small pair. Don't push with an A unless you've got a good kicker. But Broadway cards most often give you 2 live cards on a push.

Keep the pressure on. Stay cool. And don't let them get to you. If you are never in a place where they can bust you, you'll win a lot more than you lose. A lot more!

Comments?

I understand what you're saying and it's the conventional strategy, but I've been playing around with some different ideas as the climate has changed. I'm trying very hard to find ways to be aggressive and gather chips without putting my tourney life on the line should I run into the rare big hand. I've seen these guys fold to an all in that didn't even raise the BB double! I've seen them fold to the short stack who didn't have 2 orbits in his stack.

They are so bloody weak, now.

And to all,

I apologize for the seeming egotism of the thread title. It was appropriate as this was one of the very rare times when I made every decision exactly correct. Very rare, for me, anyways. It was a fun one. Esp the way said donkey had jacked his jaws and I wrecked him, all the while telling him I was going to wreck him and leaving no doubt that I would and did. You know he's a donkey as he still thinks I got lucky to beat him. That's the true definition of a donkey, which is the stubborn half of a mule.