General FAQs

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Where are my bwin hand histories?

There are several ways to access your hand history. The easiest way is to:

1. Open the lobby
2. Select “Settings” from the main menu
3. Then select “Advanced options” – “General settings” and finally “Hand History”
4. Click “E-mail instant hand history” and after the new window opens, select “My last 5 – 100 hands”.

This method will only give you access to your last 5 – 100 played hands.

The second method, which will give you the full hand history, is to keep the history on your computer. You can find the files in this folder if you have saved the client in the default location:

Windows XP: C:\Program Files\bwincom\bwincomPoker\HandHistory
Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\Programs\bwincom\bwincomPoker\HandHistory

If you don’t have the option to save played hands activated, you can do so by following these steps:

1. Open the lobby
2. Select “Settings” from the main menu
3. Then select “Advanced options” – “General settings” and finally “Hand History”.
4. Make sure the “Store hand history logs” is ticked. Choose to store the last 1 – 365 days.
5. Save your settings.

Now your hand history will be saved on your computer.

Remember that folders are automatically deleted when:

1. The number of days you specified to save the hand history have been exceeded.
2. 365 days have passed (since this is the maximum that the system can save hand histories).

Is it ok to push with more than 10 big blinds?

The 10 big blind rule is only a suggestion, not an absolute law. Here are some guidelines to use when you are first to act or everybody in front of you has folded:

  • If you have less than 10 big blinds, you should either push or fold. Any other action pretty much commits you to the pot so if you are going to play a hand you may as well push and maximum your ability to get others to fold.
  • If you have more than about 15 big blinds, you should either raise a standard amount (about 3 BB) or fold. Stealing the blinds does not affect your stack enough to risk pushing.
  • From 10 to 15 big blinds is a gray area. Depending on your opponent or your hand you may push, raise, or fold. If you have a really strong hand like AA or KK, you probably want to raise to encourage action. If you have a marginal hand like a small pocket pair or AJ, you may want to push to encourage opponent to fold.

The Wizard will analyze just about any hand, but you must keep in mind that it only compares pushing to folding. If you have more than 15 BB, pushing is probably not your best option and you should use the Wizard’s recommendation with caution.

Does the Wizard provide advice while you are playing a hand?

No, the Wizard does not provide real time advice. Besides the obvious ethical reasons, providing real time advice is against the terms and conditions of most poker sites.

If anybody could play near perfect end game strategy just by following a software program’s advice, then everybody would buy the program. That would be good for the program’s author, but the games would soon become unbeatable.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to learn end game strategy, but it takes more effort than most players are willing to put in. That is why it works. You make money off the players who do not put in the effort to improve.

Where can I find good SitNGo strategy articles?

Here are two terrific collections of SitNGo articles and message board posts:

NL-Holdem.net (external link)

Jennifear’s Recommended Reading and Tools (external link)

Here are some good SitNGo strategy articles for the beginner:

3k Post: How To Learn Good Them SNGs (tl;dr) (external link)

DavSimon’s SnG Strategy Guide (external link)

Common Beginner Pitfalls To Avoid by TLR (external link)

Once you have the basics down, you can move on to some more advanced concepts.

ChrisV’s Partial SNG Book (external link)

Sit and Go Moves by vqc (external link)

ICM calcs: Calling AI after Raising/Pushing Over Raise (external link)

Low buyin SNG dos and don’ts (external link)

These forums offer excellent discussions about SitNGo tournaments:

The 2+2 Forums (external link)

2+2 Favorite Threads and Links for STT FAQ v.3 (long) (external link)

STTF Tools – Software, Videos, & Link Collection (external link)

FlopTurnRiver.com (external link)

Third party reviews of the SitNGo Wizard:

PokerSite.org (external link)

PokerSoftware.com (external link)

What is the most importing thing a new user should know?

Two skills you must develop to beat no limit hold’em single table tournaments are:

1. The ability to put your opponents on fairly accurate hand ranges.
2. Knowing the correct action to take based on the current game parameters.

The SitNGo Wizard can teach you skill number 2. Unfortunately, skill number 1 can only be learned through experience. It is important to understand that your ability to determine the correct action to take is only as good as your ability to estimate opponent hand ranges. The SitNGo Wizard evaluates push/fold decisions based on the opponent hand ranges it is given. If the opponent hand ranges are wrong, the Wizard’s advice is likely to be wrong.

The SitNGo Wizard uses a feature called opponent modeling to estimate opponent hand ranges based on player actions, stack sizes, and position. Opponent modeling is intended to provide a rough starting point for opponent hand ranges. This feature is extremely dangerous if you do not understand that the estimated hand ranges may not be accurate. The software simply does not have enough information to make accurate estimates in all situations.

Every week I see messages posted on various poker message boards that say something like “SngWiz told me to fold AK!” without giving any opponent hand ranges. The author of the message has usually concluded that the Wizard gives bad advice and cannot be trusted. The real problem is most likely that the author does not understand that the opponent hand range estimates are not correct for the hand in question.

When reviewing a hand in the Wizard always make sure the opponent hand ranges are reasonable. They are easy to change. Just click on the opponent model to pick a different model or click on the hand range itself.

In summary, failure to review the estimated opponent hand ranges will cost you money!

Am I allowed to use the Wizard with PokerStars and FullTilt?

Absolutely! You are allowed to use the Wizard to review hand histories after you have finished a session.

PokerStars and FullTilt prohibit the use of any ICM calculator while the poker client is running. The intent of the policy is to prevent players from using a software application to get advice on a hand while the hand is active.

The primary target of the new policy is a certain competing ICM program that offers real-time advice while playing. I have made it clear many times that I believe offering real-time advice is cheating. A FAQ in this forum clearly states my policy concerning real-time advice. I completely support the spirit of the new PokerStars policy.

In order to comply with PokerStars policy, the Wizard disables the importing of hand histories and the entering of custom games whenever it detects that the PokerStars client is running. You can still use the quiz mode while playing. PokerStars has approved this action.

In order to comply with the FullTilt policy. the Wizard will shut down whenever it detects that the FullTilt client is running. FullTilt has approved this action.

Am I allowed to use the Wizard with PokerStars and FullTilt?

Absolutely! You are allowed to use the Wizard to review hand histories after you have finished a session.

PokerStars and FullTilt prohibit the use of any ICM calculator while the poker client is running. The intent of the policy is to prevent players from using a software application to get advice on a hand while the hand is active.

The primary target of the new policy is a certain competing ICM program that offers real-time advice while playing. I have made it clear many times that I believe offering real-time advice is cheating. A FAQ in this forum clearly states my policy concerning real-time advice. I completely support the spirit of the new PokerStars policy.

In order to comply with PokerStars policy, the Wizard disables the importing of hand histories and the entering of custom games whenever it detects that the PokerStars client is running. You can still use the quiz mode while playing. PokerStars has approved this action.

In order to comply with the FullTilt policy. the Wizard will shut down whenever it detects that the FullTilt client is running. FullTilt has approved this action.

I purchased a license but it has expired. How can I activate it?

Make sure your computer’s system clock is set to the correct date.

Make sure your fire wall is not blocking the Wizard’s access to the internet.

Select “License Management” on the Wizard’s help menu. Then click on the Register button.

If you still have a problem, open the About box on the Wizard’s help menu and send your license ID to support@sngwiz.com.

What poker sites are supported by the Wizard?

The Wizard will import hand histories from the following poker sites:

Can I use my Wizard license on a second computer?

Yes, you can use your activation code on up to three computers at a time.