Interview with SNG Wizard developers
PokerSoftware.com: Talk about SNG Wizard's development. Where did the idea come from?
SNG Wizard: I purchased a copy of SitNGo Power Tools (SNGPT) in 2005 and it immediately turned me on to being a winning sit and go player. It was a terrific idea at the time, but I hated the user interface and immediately came up with several ideas for improvements. I made some suggestions, but they were pretty much ignored by the author.
I am a professional software developer and started tinkering around with ICM in my spare time. By the fall of 2005, I had a basic working ICM program. By that time, it was painfully obvious that the author of SNGPT was no longer actively developing it, so I decided to turn my experiment into a commercial product.
In early 2006, I released SitNGo Wizard. Since then, I have published over 200 updates, which are always free to paid customers.
PokerSoftware.com: What separates SNG Wizard from other programs like it?
SNG Wizard: The major unique features include the ability to handle previous limpers, callers, and raisers, the ability to handle over-callers, quiz mode, hand range graphs, the ability to import hand histories from dozens of poker networks, a fully-functional 30-day free trial, and a 90-day money back guarantee.
PokerSoftware.com: Talk about the difficulties of making an ICM calculator. How is the math formulated and updated?
SNG Wizard: The ICM calculations are actually pretty simple. What's tricky is converting hand histories into decision trees and evaluating them efficiently. I have put a lot of effort into optimizing the analysis engine. Every time the user views or modifies a hand, the Wizard instantly computes the entire range that the user can push or call with. Other ICM tools can do this, but it takes a few seconds.
The optimization really shines when you view a hand range graph, where tens or hundreds of hand ranges are being computed. The graphs would take minutes to compute without the optimization. Instead, most graphs are displayed instantly.
PokerSoftware.com: Why is an ICM program critically important for an online poker player to have?
SNG Wizard: An ICM program will teach you how to play the late stages of a tournament, when the blind levels are high. That is also where you make most of your profit.
Often, the correct decision is counter-intuitive due to the payout structure. There are times when you should be pushing any two cards, which is a concept that many new users have trouble absorbing. There are also times when it is correct to fold premium hands. Not folding a premium hand is a small mistake because it doesn't come up that frequently. However, folding trash hands that you should be pushing is a huge mistake because it occurs much more frequently.
PokerSoftware.com: What feedback have you received from customers?
SNG Wizard: The response has far exceeded my expectations. I have received many e-mails from users who have become winning players thanks to SNG Wizard. Actually, they became winning players because they put in the study time needed to learn proper endgame strategy, as SNG Wizard does not automatically improve your game. You have to put forth some effort. The more time you put in, the more you will improve.
PokerSoftware.com: What features will likely be rolled out in the future?
SNG Wizard: The big thing I am working on is importing hand histories into a database. This will open up a whole new world of possibilities, like instant access to any previous hand history, advanced filtering and sorting, quizzes based on mistakes you made in actual tournaments, and profit and ROI graphs.
I am also working on a new user interface that takes advantage of the database and can be translated into any language.
PokerSoftware.com: Talk about development of the quiz feature, which is unique in the industry.
SNG Wizard: When I first added the quiz feature, it had only a few customization options. That meant a typical quiz would contain a wide variety of situations.
Then, a user sent me a long list of options he wanted to see added. That's when it dawned on me that you could learn a lot faster if you could set the quiz up to concentrate on specific situations. For example, say you want to study how to react to a push when you are in the big blind with four players left. I added most of the options the user requested, plus a few I came up with.
Now, you can set the quiz up to quickly master very specific situations. Once you are scoring well on that one, move on to another. I think you learn much faster this way compared to doing general quizzes where the hands are very different from each other.
PokerSoftware.com: How long do customer support inquiries take to be returned? What's the best way for customers to contact the site?
SNG Wizard: I usually respond to e-mail within a few hours unless I am traveling or sleeping. For questions that other users may be interested in, it is best to post a message on the sngwiz.com message board. For other questions, send an email to support@sngwiz.com.
Author Announcements for SNG Wizard
Release 1.0.1.208 - Improved quiz mode support for multi-table tournaments
Posted by: SitNGo Wizard
Date: 2009-11-05 23:47:08
Improved quiz mode support for multi-table tournaments: The quiz mode now has better support for multi-table tournaments. When you select a multi-table tournament structure and ICM equity mode, the quiz will produce final table hands with the correct total number of chips. When you select chip equity mode, the quiz will produce hands that with total chip counts equivalent to having 2 or 3 tables left in the tournament.
Tournament structures support decimal accuracy payouts: Tournament structures now allow you to enter decimal fractions for payouts. Instead of having to enter whole numbers for percentage payouts, you can now enter fractions.
Cake tournament structures added: Add tournament structures for Cake Turbo, 20 player, and Step satellite tournaments.
Bug Fix:
Add 2500/5000 blind level to 180-man PokerStars tournament structure.
Import OnGame hand histories that incorrectly label the big blind as the small blind.
Fix problem importing Cake hand history blinds with comma delimiters.
Add 5th place payout to GiocoDigitale NLHE Step 2 structure.
Fix bug in custom opponent models where effective stacks less than 3 big blinds were computer incorrectly.
Fix import of Party Poker blinds for German step tournaments.
Fix problem in game summary view where opponent Call% ranges were displayed in the Open% field.
Synopsis
SitNGo Wizard (aka SNG Wizard) can make you into a formidable sit and go player faster than you would have ever thought possible. This slick little program is part of a new class of training tools consisting of an ICM calculator and some automation to make life easier when hunting for the correct play. And it works!
You can find the correct play immediately and learn how to think for yourself as you go along. It won't be long until you play the final 20 or 30 hands of a sit and go with absolute perfection; a very profitable skill to have!
We recommend SNG Wizard as a must-have tool for all SNG players!
Get a lifetime SNG Wizard license for free right here on PokerSoftware.com. All you have to do is sign up and play on a new poker site! Click here for details.
License:$99
Compatible sites:
Features:
- Excellent tutorial helps you learn to use the program quickly and easily
- Simple graphic interface
- Quiz feature speeds up the learning curve dramatically
- Analyze your own hands and check your decision making
- Incredible power from a very simple program
- Generate graphs to help you analyze your late-stage play
Full Review
SitNGo Wizard is the most powerful of the Automated Independent Chip Modeling programs, or AICM's. Although all three of the well-known sit and go tools are fairly similar, SitNGo Wizard holds an advantage due to a bevy of unique features it includes.
SNG Wizard works by importing your hand histories files into the program and runs an analysis on your hands. You will then be able to see the hands played back to you to look for any mathematical mistakes. After a while, you will notice that you are probably making the same mistakes over and over and you will fix those leaks. Here is a sample tournament view from your hand history import:
SitNGo Wizard is a great tool for learning a very solid short stack strategy. By far, the most popular sit and go format today is the Turbo format. The blinds grow very rapidly, so you can’t just fold your way to the money. It is not uncommon to still have six or seven people left in a single-table tournament when the average stack size is about five big blinds. At this point, you have to know what your ranges are for calling or pushing all-in pre-flop so that you can have an edge over your opponents. By playing a high enough volume and making the correct mathematical plays, you will have an advantage. SitNGo Wizard will help you learn what the correct ranges are in a fraction of a second.
The next time you pick up A-9 offsuit in the big blind with three big blinds left and the button shoves, you will no longer wonder if you should fold. Instead, you will know from using SitNGo Wizard that the right play is to call based on the stack sizes. Here is a look at the game view where you will spend most of you time:
Thre is also a charting feature that will allow you to see hand range percentages for your opponents:
With SitNGo Wizard, you can use the Quiz feature, import your own hands, and get instant reports on how you're playing. The quiz feature allows you to customize your quizzes for difficulty level, number of players, table position, and several other parameters. Each question gives you a game scenario and the option to shove or fold. You will then make a choice and the quiz will keep a running total of your results. This is a solid tool to develop your decision-making skills.
SNG Wizard also has a feature called Future Game Simulation (FGS). This is a feature that attempts to compensate for the downfall of the ICM method of short-stacking. For example, ICM only accounts for the current hand. It doesn’t take into consideration factors like the big blind being forced all-in on the money bubble. In general, ICM tends to undervalue medium stakes, so it’s usually better for medium players to play tighter because the value of shorter stacks busting is very high. Also, ICM tends to overvalue short stacks, because, again, ICM doesn’t take into consideration the short stack's probability of busting in future hands. SitNGo Wizard’s FGS option will help take your short stack play a step further by allowing the simulator to take into consideration future hands.
The graphics aren't beautiful, but the program is fast, slick, and easy-to-use, with a graphic interface that works intuitively. It will teach you how to play nearly perfect late-stage sit and go strategy. The late stages are where the money is. How well are you really playing? Get SitNGo Wizard and find out.
SNG Wizard
