Tournament strategy
Alright it’s been a while since a strategy / serious / good post, so lets try one shall we?
I’ve played over 500 sit&go’s in less than a month. This number is achieved by playing 6 at once multiple times a day. It’s an insane number, and when poker tracker informed me of it I couldn’t believe it myself, but it all added up.
Since these games pass by like cars on the street, I rarely have time to reflect on my game, since it is almost completely autopilot. The odd hand sticks out, but the way I play hands doesn’t change. Yes, I play the same hands the same way every time. Now to the seasoned pros out there reading this (and I’m sure Negreanu and Ivey have this blog as their homepage) you will quickly state that in order to be a successful poker player you can’t play every hand the same since people will catch on to your strategy and read you like a book. And guess what? I know that! But guess what else? It doesn’t matter! See, I’m only playing short $30 games. There isn’t much time for actual “poker” before the blinds become too much of a factor. Once they do, no amount of changing gears is going to really affect much. You can start limping with AQ and raising with 98s but I figure the overall net effect won’t be that much, since it really doesn’t make *that* much difference in long run EV. Additionally, I just can’t give credit for my opponents watching me that closely in these semi-low limits. I have evidence for this. One side-product of multi-tabling is you are forced to be patient and wait for hands since you can’t play marginal hands with much confidence. You end up having to throw them away in face of strength since you can’t obtain strong reads on your opponents. So it is not uncommon that I have a tourney where I don’t play even one hand for the first few levels. Even after 50 folded hands in a row, opponents rarely give me credit for a hand and I still get a lot of playback, which is fine for me, but it just says that opponents really aren’t watching you all that much.
What I find is more common, is opponents watch you for 5 hands or so. They remember what you did at most, 5 hands ago. If you’ve raised the past 3 hands (AK, QQ, TT) and you pick up AQ, you’re raise will be interpreted as a steal, guaranteed. If you’ve raised 4 in a row, I can guarantee you will receive an all in reraise from some idiot who “won’t allow you to bully the table anymore”. So I’m always careful to be aware of how often I’ve raised. If I’ve raised 3 out of 5 and pick up AJ in late position and the pot hasn’t been opened, I usually will just limp, since I don’t really like going to war with that hand, even if it is a favorite against random hands. The problem usually is that I can’t remember which tables I’ve been catching cards on. I’ll end up making a raise from late position with KQ and get major reraises and then realize my mistake. You simply aren’t allowed to raise often, even with good hands, don’t try it. Basically, your hands have to be getting progressively better for raising in order to stand up to the eventual all in you’ll face. Now if you like to gamble with hands like 99 vs an all in then be my guest and call, but I generally like to take the result of the tournament out of lady luck’s hands as much as possible, and will avoid calling all ins with marginal hands, even if I feel that I’m probably a 60% or more favorite, unless I’m offered good pot odds.
Since I’ve been playing 6 at once, I’ve really developed a system of playing, that I really don’t even think about, but am going to try and detail it here. Lets see how far I get. Most of this strategy is from Harrington’s books, which are just amazing guides for tournaments.
I have to simplify my decision making process a lot, and basically give up on a lot of marginal situations where it may be +EV to continue in the hand, but because of the blind aggression I would have to employ to make it EV I can’t follow through on it and end up folding.
There are basically 3 portions of a 9 person sit&go. The first portion are the first 3 rounds where the blinds are 10/20, 15/30 and 25/50. The second being where the blinds are from 50/100-100/200 where the field sizes and hand flexibility is limited. And the final portion being the final 4, whatever the blinds are.
1st portion
There is a lot of room for playing around if you are so inclined. I am not. I basically just sit and wait for very premium hands to play and hopefully double up when I do. Preflop I’m raising with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, AQ and that’s pretty much it. If it is folded to me in semi-late position I’ll start raising with KQ, AJ, 99, 88, 77. I limp with mostly any pair, KJ, QJ, JT and other lower suited connectors if there are a lot of people in the pot. Now this list is pretty standard, but it works for a reason. Early position I don’t want to be raising with medium strength hands since anyone who calls me will probably have me beat and I’ll be throwing money in a pot where I may be the underdog. I need to be able to make easy decisions post flop. Once the flop comes, if I am heads up after I raised preflop, I’ll bet the flop no matter what. If called I generally give up on the hand unless I improve down the road. If it’s a multiway pot, I’m betting top pair almost always unless the board is particularly scary and my kicker is weak (ie I have Qc4d and flop is QsJsTd). If someone bets into me when I have top pair, I’ll reraise almost always to see where I’m at and hopefully take it down there. If I face any real big raises I’ll usually drop the hand unless I have something close to the nuts. I’ll go all in if need be with a set on the flop, I’ll take my chances that someone has a good draw/TPTK/higher set. My main goals in the first portion are not to lose a lot of chips when I have a mediocre hand, and to try and double up by pushing my overpairs/2 pairs/sets hard. I avoid almost all all-in confrontations preflop unless I have aces or kings, I’ll take my chances there to double up. And that’s pretty much it. Usually if I’ve picked up a hand or two here I’ll be sitting at about 2-3k in chips after starting with 1.5k.
2nd portion.
Once the blinds get to 50/100, the game changes pretty dramatically. You aren’t getting a lot of the big implied odds to limp with a lot of the marginal hands people like to limp with, so there is a lot of heads up / 3 way raised pots that are contested. Here I continue my regular game, but start to raise a little more liberally as stealing the blinds is a decent result if you raise with A9o from the button. Additionally I start to bet pretty much any pair on the flop if I’m heads up, and 2nd pair if its three way. I’m almost never limping at this point in time, and I start to throw away really low pocket pairs. One thing people love to do is when there is a limper or two, is to go all in from the blinds, and you’ll be sitting there with 55 thinking what to do (hint: fold). It mostly depends on the cards, but I’ll either be sitting at around 3k here or really low under 1k. For some reason that is how it always works out. When I have under 10xbb I may take a few shots at the blinds with all-in’s with marginal hands like 77 and AT. My main goal is to make the money and that isn’t going to happen with 900 chips. I have to double up eventually, and if I steal the blinds along the way it only helps.
3rd portion.
Down to 4 opponents - the dynamic changes a lot. Everyone is trying to get to the final 3, including myself. There usually is one severely short stack that everyone is waiting for to drop out, or two semi short stacks battling for 3rd. Rarely is it a four way race, but it does happen. Here aggression can really pay off, as people are reluctant to put their tourney on the line before they are guaranteed cash. So if I’m the short stack with less than 8bb, I’m pushing with almost any 2 cards in the hopes of again stealing the blinds as well as getting lucky and doubling up. Sometimes I get carried away here stealing the blinds and people actually call with complete shit just to stop you. It is here that I feel my game has the most strength though since intricate reads and poker play on the flop isn’t as big as a factor. If I’m the big stack at this point I’m pretty much playing like the standard player, just waiting it out. It is always satisfying when multi-tabling to see you’ve made the money without even doing much. Once it’s down to three I am pretty damn aggressive, since I’ve made the money and really want to get either 1st or 3rd. So I’ll steal steal steal until someone picks up either a big hand or I do and someone plays back at me with nothing.
Ok so this guide turned out to be what I expected. An ambiguous clone of almost every other tournament guide that I’ve ever read. But these are the standard plays for a reason. They are sound mathematically. If someone beats this strategy they either got lucky, or you got unlucky. Really it is that simple. If you hit TPTK late game and someone slow played trips against you, there isn’t much you can do since you will be ahead way too many times to slow down and not get paid. In sit&go’s, luck is a massive factor. You have to push with hands that are +EV and if someone wakes up with a monster or sucks out on the flop, its part of the game. I’ve pretty much grown immune to going all in on the short stack with AQ, someone calling with QT and winning. It does not bother me anymore since all in confrontations are a must, and usually everyone involved is playing somewhat correctly. Just make statistically profitable moves and you’ll win in the long run.
Wow can I spout off anymore generic poker advice?
I’ve played over 500 sit&go’s in less than a month. This number is achieved by playing 6 at once multiple times a day. It’s an insane number, and when poker tracker informed me of it I couldn’t believe it myself, but it all added up.
Since these games pass by like cars on the street, I rarely have time to reflect on my game, since it is almost completely autopilot. The odd hand sticks out, but the way I play hands doesn’t change. Yes, I play the same hands the same way every time. Now to the seasoned pros out there reading this (and I’m sure Negreanu and Ivey have this blog as their homepage) you will quickly state that in order to be a successful poker player you can’t play every hand the same since people will catch on to your strategy and read you like a book. And guess what? I know that! But guess what else? It doesn’t matter! See, I’m only playing short $30 games. There isn’t much time for actual “poker” before the blinds become too much of a factor. Once they do, no amount of changing gears is going to really affect much. You can start limping with AQ and raising with 98s but I figure the overall net effect won’t be that much, since it really doesn’t make *that* much difference in long run EV. Additionally, I just can’t give credit for my opponents watching me that closely in these semi-low limits. I have evidence for this. One side-product of multi-tabling is you are forced to be patient and wait for hands since you can’t play marginal hands with much confidence. You end up having to throw them away in face of strength since you can’t obtain strong reads on your opponents. So it is not uncommon that I have a tourney where I don’t play even one hand for the first few levels. Even after 50 folded hands in a row, opponents rarely give me credit for a hand and I still get a lot of playback, which is fine for me, but it just says that opponents really aren’t watching you all that much.
What I find is more common, is opponents watch you for 5 hands or so. They remember what you did at most, 5 hands ago. If you’ve raised the past 3 hands (AK, QQ, TT) and you pick up AQ, you’re raise will be interpreted as a steal, guaranteed. If you’ve raised 4 in a row, I can guarantee you will receive an all in reraise from some idiot who “won’t allow you to bully the table anymore”. So I’m always careful to be aware of how often I’ve raised. If I’ve raised 3 out of 5 and pick up AJ in late position and the pot hasn’t been opened, I usually will just limp, since I don’t really like going to war with that hand, even if it is a favorite against random hands. The problem usually is that I can’t remember which tables I’ve been catching cards on. I’ll end up making a raise from late position with KQ and get major reraises and then realize my mistake. You simply aren’t allowed to raise often, even with good hands, don’t try it. Basically, your hands have to be getting progressively better for raising in order to stand up to the eventual all in you’ll face. Now if you like to gamble with hands like 99 vs an all in then be my guest and call, but I generally like to take the result of the tournament out of lady luck’s hands as much as possible, and will avoid calling all ins with marginal hands, even if I feel that I’m probably a 60% or more favorite, unless I’m offered good pot odds.
Since I’ve been playing 6 at once, I’ve really developed a system of playing, that I really don’t even think about, but am going to try and detail it here. Lets see how far I get. Most of this strategy is from Harrington’s books, which are just amazing guides for tournaments.
I have to simplify my decision making process a lot, and basically give up on a lot of marginal situations where it may be +EV to continue in the hand, but because of the blind aggression I would have to employ to make it EV I can’t follow through on it and end up folding.
There are basically 3 portions of a 9 person sit&go. The first portion are the first 3 rounds where the blinds are 10/20, 15/30 and 25/50. The second being where the blinds are from 50/100-100/200 where the field sizes and hand flexibility is limited. And the final portion being the final 4, whatever the blinds are.
1st portion
There is a lot of room for playing around if you are so inclined. I am not. I basically just sit and wait for very premium hands to play and hopefully double up when I do. Preflop I’m raising with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, AQ and that’s pretty much it. If it is folded to me in semi-late position I’ll start raising with KQ, AJ, 99, 88, 77. I limp with mostly any pair, KJ, QJ, JT and other lower suited connectors if there are a lot of people in the pot. Now this list is pretty standard, but it works for a reason. Early position I don’t want to be raising with medium strength hands since anyone who calls me will probably have me beat and I’ll be throwing money in a pot where I may be the underdog. I need to be able to make easy decisions post flop. Once the flop comes, if I am heads up after I raised preflop, I’ll bet the flop no matter what. If called I generally give up on the hand unless I improve down the road. If it’s a multiway pot, I’m betting top pair almost always unless the board is particularly scary and my kicker is weak (ie I have Qc4d and flop is QsJsTd). If someone bets into me when I have top pair, I’ll reraise almost always to see where I’m at and hopefully take it down there. If I face any real big raises I’ll usually drop the hand unless I have something close to the nuts. I’ll go all in if need be with a set on the flop, I’ll take my chances that someone has a good draw/TPTK/higher set. My main goals in the first portion are not to lose a lot of chips when I have a mediocre hand, and to try and double up by pushing my overpairs/2 pairs/sets hard. I avoid almost all all-in confrontations preflop unless I have aces or kings, I’ll take my chances there to double up. And that’s pretty much it. Usually if I’ve picked up a hand or two here I’ll be sitting at about 2-3k in chips after starting with 1.5k.
2nd portion.
Once the blinds get to 50/100, the game changes pretty dramatically. You aren’t getting a lot of the big implied odds to limp with a lot of the marginal hands people like to limp with, so there is a lot of heads up / 3 way raised pots that are contested. Here I continue my regular game, but start to raise a little more liberally as stealing the blinds is a decent result if you raise with A9o from the button. Additionally I start to bet pretty much any pair on the flop if I’m heads up, and 2nd pair if its three way. I’m almost never limping at this point in time, and I start to throw away really low pocket pairs. One thing people love to do is when there is a limper or two, is to go all in from the blinds, and you’ll be sitting there with 55 thinking what to do (hint: fold). It mostly depends on the cards, but I’ll either be sitting at around 3k here or really low under 1k. For some reason that is how it always works out. When I have under 10xbb I may take a few shots at the blinds with all-in’s with marginal hands like 77 and AT. My main goal is to make the money and that isn’t going to happen with 900 chips. I have to double up eventually, and if I steal the blinds along the way it only helps.
3rd portion.
Down to 4 opponents - the dynamic changes a lot. Everyone is trying to get to the final 3, including myself. There usually is one severely short stack that everyone is waiting for to drop out, or two semi short stacks battling for 3rd. Rarely is it a four way race, but it does happen. Here aggression can really pay off, as people are reluctant to put their tourney on the line before they are guaranteed cash. So if I’m the short stack with less than 8bb, I’m pushing with almost any 2 cards in the hopes of again stealing the blinds as well as getting lucky and doubling up. Sometimes I get carried away here stealing the blinds and people actually call with complete shit just to stop you. It is here that I feel my game has the most strength though since intricate reads and poker play on the flop isn’t as big as a factor. If I’m the big stack at this point I’m pretty much playing like the standard player, just waiting it out. It is always satisfying when multi-tabling to see you’ve made the money without even doing much. Once it’s down to three I am pretty damn aggressive, since I’ve made the money and really want to get either 1st or 3rd. So I’ll steal steal steal until someone picks up either a big hand or I do and someone plays back at me with nothing.
Ok so this guide turned out to be what I expected. An ambiguous clone of almost every other tournament guide that I’ve ever read. But these are the standard plays for a reason. They are sound mathematically. If someone beats this strategy they either got lucky, or you got unlucky. Really it is that simple. If you hit TPTK late game and someone slow played trips against you, there isn’t much you can do since you will be ahead way too many times to slow down and not get paid. In sit&go’s, luck is a massive factor. You have to push with hands that are +EV and if someone wakes up with a monster or sucks out on the flop, its part of the game. I’ve pretty much grown immune to going all in on the short stack with AQ, someone calling with QT and winning. It does not bother me anymore since all in confrontations are a must, and usually everyone involved is playing somewhat correctly. Just make statistically profitable moves and you’ll win in the long run.
Wow can I spout off anymore generic poker advice?
posted by RikkiDee at 3:28 PM
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