Mastering the 180-seat SNGs: interview with Tomsom87
We chat with new PokerStrategy.com coach Tomsom87 to discuss his game of choice, the 180-seat SNG.
"20% ROIs are sustainable with work and study"
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| Tomsom87 Image courtesy of Blondepoker |
PokerStrategy.com: Welcome to PokerStrategy.com. Tell us a little about your history in poker.
TomSom87: I started playing poker in about summer 2010 when I was working with an old high stakes regular. He was telling me about the game and the sort of money that you could make playing poker.
The first thing I remember doing was signing up to a training site and watching videos whilst playing some $0.25 SNGs on the side to practice.
About a year later, I got a staking deal with an Australian high stakes regular and learned how to grind properly. My staking deal was initially for 180s with a view to moving into MTTs when I learnt the basics of how to play a short stack effectively.
During the past four or five months I have not been grinding as much as I would like as I have been focusing on finishing my degree. I finished a couple of weeks ago and plan to get back into grinding my usual games of 180-seat turbos and some turbo MTTs on the side.
PokerStrategy.com: Why specifically do you play the 180-seat SNGs?
TomSom87: They fit in with my lifestyle much more than regular speed MTTs. I also have a full time job working from home so my grind time is restricted to weekends and evenings.
With turbo SNGs it's possible to play a lot of games in a short space of time - this means that I can also have a life outside of poker, which is very important. I am also lucky that the peak time on Stars kicks off at around 5pm, the same time that I finish work.
"180-mans play much shorter stacked than regular MTTs"
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| Tomsom87's graph (click to enlarge) |
PokerStrategy.com: 180-seat SNGs seem like one of the few MTT formats you can really grind, yet also be flexible. Would you agree?
TomSom87: Exactly this. Although they are somewhat repetitive, you can easily 20+ table them without too much effort - meaning that you can play a massive amount of volume in a short space of time.
If you have a busy schedule and can’t commit to eight hours or more at a time for playing regular speed MTTs, then I would highly recommend anything with a turbo format.
PokerStrategy.com: How do the 180s differ from standard MTTs?
TomSom87: They play much shorter stacked than regular speed MTTs and payouts are fixed. It's also much easier to assess your position in the tournament as the bubble is always in the same place.
PokerStrategy.com: What is the standard like compared to the equivalent value MTTs?
TomSom87: I think the standard is much better in 180s compared to the regular MTTs as there is a much higher concentration of regulars in the average fields. Having said that, I still think ROIs in excess of 20% are obtainable with a lot of hard work and study.
"I hope to bring an upbeat approach to PokerStrategy.com"
| PokerSchool 2.0 |
 TomSom87 is one of eight new coaches to join our Poker School.
We have new coaches for No Limit cash, tournaments, SNGs and Omaha. Find out who else is joining us, as well as reminding yourself about some of the familiar names, in our new look English Poker School. |
PokerStrategy.com: How well do 180s prepare you for live MTTs?
TomSom87: There was definitely a learning curve for me when going to play live. Live MTTs are much slower; when you're used to playing 20+ tables and making decisions every second, you need to find a way of passing some time and not playing hands you wouldn’t normally play simply because there is nothing else to do.
Also, live MTTs generally play much deeper in terms of stack sizes; a lot of live players start open jamming when they get to less than 20BB. This is completely different to 180s. Also, there's not much post-flop play in 180s.
PokerStrategy.com: What do you hope to bring, and gain, from being part of PokerStrategy.com? Do you have much experience as a coach or mentor?
TomSom87: I still have a joint stable (which was massively downsized whilst I finished my degree) where I regularly provide coaching for horses.
I also ran a stable for a Canadian reg where I provided coaching on a daily basis for horses. In total, I think I have coached somewhere in the region of 30 people and some of them have gone on to do extremely well.
I really enjoy coaching and I hope to bring my upbeat approach to PokerStrategy.com and hopefully make some informative and entertaining videos and live hand histories reviews for members. Coaching is an amazing thing to do for my own game, as having people ask me questions (and questioning why I'm doing something) makes me think in-depth about my own game and constantly makes me think about what I'm doing and why.
I don't think I’ve gone through many reviews where a spot came up that I didn't make me think twice, nor gone through one of my hand histories wherein I didn't make a mistake. There's always room for improvement and if you start to label everything you’re doing as standard, you're probably missing out on some more profitable lines.
