The last 9 SNG's that I ended up HU in I finished 2nd 8 out of 9 times. I don't know if it's just luck or my play at this point. If I post a report of the key hands here, hopefully it's not too long, maybe someone with some more HU can help me out. Thanks.

SNG #1 - Blinds are 200/400 when we get to HU.
Me - 10000 / Him - 2600
Key Hands:
-[5h][2h]BB check. Flop 654 rainbow. I bet 800, called. Turn K. I bet 400, called. Weak, I know. River 9. Double check. He takes it with [5s] - Lucky I didn't lose my whole stack?
Blinds 300/600. I'm still ahead 10 to 3.5
-BIG LOSER- [Td] BB check. Flop [Jc][Tc]. I bet 1200, called. Turn . I put him all-in for 1220, called. He has [Th]. Just disgusting luck?????
I'm still ahead 7.5 to 6.
-[Js][3s] in SB. I min-raise to 1200, called. [5c][As]. He bets 600, I call. Turn . He bets 1200, I call. River . He bets 600, I call. He wins w/ [9h]
I'm down 9.5 to 4.
-Last hand [Jc] in BB I check. Flop [Qs][Tc]. I bet 600, he raises to 1200, I push in, he called [Td]. Runner-runner club flush.

In 13 hands I never won more than the BB. I raised 3 out of 6x in the SB. 1 raise was called when he had the A9 hand.
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SNG#2 - This one was short. Blinds are 200/400. I'm behind 10 to 3.
-Pocket 2's in the SB and I push. He folds.
-[9c][8h] in BB. He min-raises, I call. Flop [6s][5c]. I push, he calls. [8d]. It's all over w/ no help on turn or river.

That was it. 2 hands and it was all over. Did I have any other choice?
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SNG#3 - 2 table SNG. Real battle. 25 hands long. I start w/ 16 to 11 lead. Blinds are 300/600 w/ 50 ante.
-[Kh][9d] in BB. He raises 3xBB, I call. [3h][4d]. I bet 1200 (1/3P), called. Turn . I bet 1200, called. River . I check, he bets 1800 (1/5P), I call. He has [3s]. I pick up Big Pot. I'm ahead 22 to 5. Well in hand, right?
Blinds 400/800 w/ 50 ante the very next hand.
-I try to steal a pot w/ [2h] w/ a raise in SB, but he calls and pushes flop.
-He pushes next 2 hands in SB and I only have 42off and 96off so I fold.
Lead is now 17 to 10.
-In SB w/ [2h] I try to steal again w/ 3xBB raise to 2400. He pushes and I have to fold. Now I only have him by less than 2000
-Very next hand [8h] in BB I check. [Ah][3d]. Check, check. Turn . I bet 1600 (Pot), called. River . I bet 2400 (1/2P), he pushes. I fold. He shows [2s] for trip Aces.
I'm behind 17 to 10 now. We trade blinds for the next 5 hands w/ only 1 flop.
-[8d][7c] in BB, check. [6d][8c]. Check, check. Turn . Check, he bets 1600 (Pot), I call. River . I bet 1600 (1/3P), he folds.
-[Td][4d] in BB, check. [Th][2c]. I bet 2400 (1.5P), he calls. Turn . I move all-in (semi-bluff), he calls w/ [4h]...flush draw......River is a blank. I win!!!
I'm up 20.5 to 5.5
-[Qd][7d] in BB. He pushes. I call. He has [9s]. Board is all blanks and he doubles up. I'm still up 1000.
-END GAME [Th]. He raises 4xBB and I push for almost 4x his bet. He calls w/ [7d]. Board [7s][9d]..............STRAIGHT ...... BOAT

I raised PF 5x and was called 4x. I lost 3 of the 4 that he called or a little less than half of my SB's.
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SNG #4 - 5 table SNG. HU lasts 1 hand.
I'm WAY behind 50 to 17.5. Blinds are 400/800 w/ 50 antes.
Only hand [Kc] in SB. I raise 6xBB to 4800, he pushes, I call. He shows [Jh].
Board [Jc][7h][5h] and just for extra emphasis
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SNG#5 - 2 table SNG. HU lasts 9 hands. Blinds start at 300/600 w/ 50 antes. I have 22 to 4.5 lead to start and I piss my chips away right from the start.
-Very 1st hand [8c] in SB. I bet 4xBB, he pushes, I call. He shows [8s]. GREAT!! Until on the turn.
Lead is now 17.5 to 9.5 for me.
-Very next hand [7d] in BB, he pushes, I call. He shows [Kc]. on the river.
I'm down 18.5 to 8.5. Next 2 hands are folded by SB each.
-[As][8c] in SB and I push, he calls. He shows [Tc]. Board comes KQ2TJ. Now it's my turn to get lucky, but not that lucky as the most my Gods can give me is a split.
I take the blinds in the next 3 hands as he folds SB once, folds BB to my SB raise, and we check down when he completes in SB.
-LAST HAND [6d] I push (way overboard) and he calls, but shows [9h]. I'M ACTUALLY AHEAD!!! Board [7d][8c]...now I'm behind, but with more than 10 outs..........almost 20 outs!!!.........you sadistic poker gods.
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SNG #6 was a great 27 hand battle where blinds started 300/600 and ended at 600/1200. I was down 8.5 to 5 when we started and the biggest single pot was 7200 (I lost middle pair/Queens to top pair/Kings) and that was the only pot to go over 3000. Way to many important hands to post unless requested, but after a set of Queens and my AQ vs A6 when an Ace flopped I had him down to 700 and all-in w/ A6, but he had pocket 9's and survived. I had him down to 1000 2 hands later, but my K9 lost to his 62. Then it got ugly. My AQ suited all-in lost to his pocket 8's and we were even again. On a board where the flop was 888 he paired on the turn and checked as I paired on the river and bet, but his pair was bigger. Then we had the forementioned biggest pot of the HU session that I lost. I had 1000 left now and fought back with the old Doyle hand [2s] with a flush on the river to beat AK that flopped a K. But the final hand he flopped 2 pair and suckered me in with small bets on my straight draw and took the game. I know there was absolutely nothing I could have done different here.





I guess this is enough as this is basically what each one has been like. If I get any responses to this, I'll post the rest if needed. Is this just a run of bad luck? Where are my biggest leaks?

Well you were unlucky in some situations for sure.

Some things I would recommend is not to steal with junk ( 9-2 etc) when you are way up. You are letting them back in the game when they push their mediocre hands because they have to. Just push your hands ( look at sage thread) and put the pressure on.

And when you get a good hand or a good flop don't slowplay. Jam it in they will call often with bottom pair or a draw

just had 8 4th place finishes 12 OTM

Will kill for a second place finish.

Tough, man. Sadly, often HU comes down to just luck. I've lost more by being unlucky than by being beaten. One thing you might try is slowing down. Often it's easy to get in too much of a hurry. Try seeing if you can wear them down. Don't go for a quick kill, but grind on them a bit. Make them play your game, not you theirs.

Thanks again for all the advice guys. Played 1 SNG today and finally popped it. No bad luck at all HU. Opponent was the best player at the table (besides me ) and I pretty much knew that one of us was winning a few hands in. He did do something a few hands in that bothered me, but I'm going to post that in another post/section of the forum.

HU lasted 7 hands and he started with a 7.5 to 6 lead. I lost only the blinds twice.
Final hand:
STAGE #378757531 TOURNEY ID 1057915 HOLDEM SINGLE TOURNAMENT NO LIMIT $200 - 2006-04-15 18:28:57 (ET)
Table: 6834543 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 7 - PAYMEDAMONEY ($9995 in chips)
Seat 9 - CAYMANKING ($3505 in chips)

CAYMANKING - Posts small blind $200
PAYMEDAMONEY - Posts big blind $400

*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to PAYMEDAMONEY [Jd]
CAYMANKING - Calls $200
PAYMEDAMONEY - Checks

*** FLOP *** [Ac][4c]
PAYMEDAMONEY - Checks
CAYMANKING - Bets $400
PAYMEDAMONEY - Calls $400

I figured if he had 2 clubs and was drawing to the flush, I'm gonna pay him off. I want all his chips here. He's pretty aggressive and he's gonna bet with anything here. I hope he has an Ace.

*** TURN ***
PAYMEDAMONEY - Checks (Not a dangerous card for me at all.)
CAYMANKING - Bets $800
PAYMEDAMONEY - Raises $2400 to $2400
CAYMANKING - All-In(Raise) $1905 to $2705
PAYMEDAMONEY - Calls $305

*** RIVER ***
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PAYMEDAMONEY - Shows [Jd] (Three of a kind, fours)
CAYMANKING - Shows [6d] (Two Pair, sixes and fours)
PAYMEDAMONEY Collects $7010 from main pot

I also want to ask about the pocket 7's from last game. Here's the entire hand. HU would it have been right to think that he's either got 2 OC's or a higher pocket pair, with a possibility of Ax lower than 7 would be the only hand I'm way ahead of? Am I over analyzing or should I have any thoughts about folding this hand? Or playing it any differently at all. I know that if I had just called there is no way I could have continued with this flop.

STAGE #378093944 TOURNEY ID 1050311 HOLDEM SINGLE TOURNAMENT NO LIMIT $100 - 2006-04-14 22:00:44 (ET)
Table: 6821667 (Real Money) Seat #7 is the dealer
Seat 4 - HOTGIRL18 ($6325 in chips)
Seat 7 - PAYMEDAMONEY ($7175 in chips)

PAYMEDAMONEY - Posts small blind $100
HOTGIRL18 - Posts big blind $200

*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to PAYMEDAMONEY [7c]
PAYMEDAMONEY - Raises $500 to $600
HOTGIRL18 - Raises $1000 to $1200
PAYMEDAMONEY - All-In(Raise) $6575 to $7175
HOTGIRL18 - All-In $5125
PAYMEDAMONEY - returned ($850) : not called

*** FLOP *** [10s][6h][Qc]
*** TURN ***
*** RIVER ***
*** SHOW DOWN ***
HOTGIRL18 - Shows [Qh] (Three of a kind, queens)
PAYMEDAMONEY - Shows [7c] (One pair, sevens)
HOTGIRL18 Collects $12650 from main pot

sng 1 - i hate the min raise with J3 but i don't see anything majorly wrong with it but of course read dependent.

sng 2 - nothing to do there with those stacks

sng 3 - when you have him that low, you don't want to give him easy opportunity to get chips and since he's gonna push with a wider variety of hands and you can't call, don't try to steal so much. you are just giving him chips many times, especially when you do it with hands so weak you have to fold to pushes. J8 hand, don't bet so much on turn as he's not gonna believe you have the ace and once he calls, i don't see him folding, save money on the river. T4 hand, pushing is not a semi bluff. totally read dependent.

sng 4 - nothing to be done

sng 5 - bad luck at first. THe K6 hand. I think i count 14 outs. He has the Jd and a T makes him a straight better than yours. So you need a K, diamond or 5.

Try playing instead of trying to win when you get to heads up. You will increase your #1Finish dramatically. The Point your missing is that when you are the big and dominant stack, you don't need to win, he does. That alone is all the pressure you need to put on him. He is the one who will be desperate to get back in and for sure will make a mistake. Play the Player and don't slowplay and try and trap him, when you hit the flop, bet and bet hard. If he fires back at you hit the brakes and check call it down unless you know you have the nuts. If you act weak your opponent will come after you with less then optimal hands. Heads up is a combination of psycology(spelling?) and who gets hit in the face with the deck. If you can get the other players "ego" involved in the game, while you keep yours in check you will do fine. Let him "write a check his butt can't handle" while you cash it. Nothing hurts your opponent more then thinking he has you and then seeing you have him. You know his mindset, he doesn't know yours.

If he keeps pushing and playing wild every hand let him take the blinds till you get a good hand then "snap him off ". You are way ahead, you don't need to win you already are. You just need to keep from losing. Well thats my opinion anyways. Take it for what its worth. IT HAS WORKED FOR ME GREAT. Have A Great Day and "May the AA's be with you".

Very good advice, falcon. Often times you can lay back, but keep the pressure on, too. Raise and fold when they play back. Mostly, players without a lot of experience play far too tight. It's easy to know when they have a good hand because they'll overplay them. They fold up with hands that are decent HU hands. Keep putting pressure on them, and wait for them to crack. Good cards help, too. Second best hands in HU suck.

Just as an afterthought, I know I was far behind here & this maybe should go in the low content section, but this is how it goes. Guy was very good the whole way, but a little luck too. I mean was this really necessary HU?

STAGE #383550311 TOURNEY ID 1112420 HOLDEM SINGLE TOURNAMENT NO LIMIT $100 - 2006-04-21 20:44:49 (ET)
Table: 6925433 (Real Money) Seat #7 is the dealer
Seat 3 - BRAVESFAN12 ($11535 in chips)
Seat 7 - PAYMEDAMONEY ($1965 in chips)
PAYMEDAMONEY - Posts small blind $100
BRAVESFAN12 - Posts big blind $200
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to PAYMEDAMONEY [Ad]
PAYMEDAMONEY - Raises $700 to $800
BRAVESFAN12 - Raises $1800 to $2000
PAYMEDAMONEY - All-In $1165
BRAVESFAN12 - returned ($35) : not called
*** FLOP *** [5d][9c]
*** TURN ***[Qs]
*** RIVER ***
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BRAVESFAN12 - Shows [Qd] (Four of a kind, queens)
PAYMEDAMONEY - Shows [Ad] (One pair, queens)
BRAVESFAN12 Collects $3930 from main pot


Anway, here are the updated stats since the middle of March when I started playing SNG's agian......
38 1 table SNG's
1 - 4
2 - 8
3 - 7
50% ITM but only 18.67% ROI
If we add in 2,3,&5 table SNG's those numbers hike up to
46 SNG's - still 50% ITM, but 40.77% ROI

If I could have just turned some of those 2nd's into 1st's I'd probably have a remarkable ROI.