Please see the below screen cap where I was playing just such a player. I raised the standard amount every hand and he folded every time. He only won 4 hands the entire match. I kept thinking that he would have to play back at me but he never did.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
HU Strategy
By no means do I consider myself a professional grade player. I do however believe that I am above average. I also believe that because I tend to play lower limit SnG's ($25 or less), I feel that I have superior skills than most of my opponents. This really shows when I get to HU play. Most of the people playing these low limit SnG's are complete garbage at HU. Their strategy consists of pushing all in preflop early and often. Many times all I have to do is wait for a monster, slow play it, and let them push into me. Other times you will find a player extremely timid. Never raising preflop. If you believe that you are playing against the latter, I recommend that you test the waters. Raise preflop every hand until he plays back at you. If he folds four or five times in a row without realizing that you are bullying the shit out of him, then you are playing against a terrible HU player and you will win the match by continuing your aggression.
Please see the below screen cap where I was playing just such a player. I raised the standard amount every hand and he folded every time. He only won 4 hands the entire match. I kept thinking that he would have to play back at me but he never did.
Please see the below screen cap where I was playing just such a player. I raised the standard amount every hand and he folded every time. He only won 4 hands the entire match. I kept thinking that he would have to play back at me but he never did.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Never give away value.
I'm sure you all know the importance of the value bet in cash games and regular tournaments, but I cannot stress enough how vital getting every ounce of value out of each hand is in the turbo SnG. Because the blinds are raised so quickly, you cannot afford to give away the opportunity to amass chips, ever. The goal is simple, if you believe you are ahead, make as big a bet as you can that you realistically expect your opponent to call (i.e. no pushing all in with an over-bet hoping your opponent is dumb enough to call). Now obviously your villain may draw out on you, but over the course of 100 SnG's the math will even out.
Never miss an opportunity to value bet!
Never miss an opportunity to value bet!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Response to Reader Question
Question Posed to me: Did you ever play standard sng's, if so is the transition to turbos hard?
Answer: I find that my attention span is extremely low, which is why I never really did well in MTTs because after the first hour, I'd always get bored and give all my chips away. I'd always play cash games because it requires little to no attention span (note that does not mean no concentration).
So when I first tried a Turbo SnG I loved it. I started on the 10 mans, but found that a lot of people would call my continuation bets with drawing hands (which is not good for me). So I went to the 6-mans where I can really push people around.
I like the Turbos because by the time people realize that you are bullying them around, it is too late for them to do anything about it, you already have most of the chips at the table.
If you play a slow tight patient game, Turbo's are probably not for you. They really require a calculated aggression and a lack of fear of going out first. If you play too tight, the blinds will be over your head in no time and your all-in push wont scare the guy who has been playing aggressive and accumulating chips from the start.
The payout structure in the 6-man SnGs is very forgiving, typically paying 2x buy-in for 2nd and 4x buy-in for 1st. Note that this means you can lose 4 in a row, then win the 5th, and be back to where you started (maybe minus $1 or so).
This is why I play the way I do. My style lends itself to either being out immediately (usually 50% of the time), or winning (usually 50% of the time). And this is ok since winning 1 allows me to lose 3 and still be profitable.
Answer: I find that my attention span is extremely low, which is why I never really did well in MTTs because after the first hour, I'd always get bored and give all my chips away. I'd always play cash games because it requires little to no attention span (note that does not mean no concentration).
So when I first tried a Turbo SnG I loved it. I started on the 10 mans, but found that a lot of people would call my continuation bets with drawing hands (which is not good for me). So I went to the 6-mans where I can really push people around.
I like the Turbos because by the time people realize that you are bullying them around, it is too late for them to do anything about it, you already have most of the chips at the table.
If you play a slow tight patient game, Turbo's are probably not for you. They really require a calculated aggression and a lack of fear of going out first. If you play too tight, the blinds will be over your head in no time and your all-in push wont scare the guy who has been playing aggressive and accumulating chips from the start.
The payout structure in the 6-man SnGs is very forgiving, typically paying 2x buy-in for 2nd and 4x buy-in for 1st. Note that this means you can lose 4 in a row, then win the 5th, and be back to where you started (maybe minus $1 or so).
This is why I play the way I do. My style lends itself to either being out immediately (usually 50% of the time), or winning (usually 50% of the time). And this is ok since winning 1 allows me to lose 3 and still be profitable.
Aggression: Essential in Turbo SnGs
I apologize for not making the first post as promised last night. I ran out of time after a long night at work.
This blog is mainly targeted around my SnG of choice which happens to be the low limit 6man Turbo NL Hold‘em. I have discovered that my play style fits these SnG’s extremely well. My first tip is aggression in the early levels. Before the blinds go up I raise a lot pre-flop, I rarely call with any hand pre-flop because having the lead in the hand is so important. I find that 8 times out of 10, a pre-flop raise followed by a continuation bet is enough to take down the pot. Also at these levels, if you miss the flop and get played back at, folding your hand will not cost you as much as 1BB only represents a small portion of your stack. If you can employ this strategy and can get an early chip lead, you will put yourself in great position to cash which is so very important in SnG’s to maintain a positive ROI (Return on Investment).
See below how important getting an early lead is. In the Hand History below you can see that because I was able to knock someone out in the first hand and double my stack, I was able to use my chips to lean on everyone else and took down the entire table in 21 hands.
This blog is mainly targeted around my SnG of choice which happens to be the low limit 6man Turbo NL Hold‘em. I have discovered that my play style fits these SnG’s extremely well. My first tip is aggression in the early levels. Before the blinds go up I raise a lot pre-flop, I rarely call with any hand pre-flop because having the lead in the hand is so important. I find that 8 times out of 10, a pre-flop raise followed by a continuation bet is enough to take down the pot. Also at these levels, if you miss the flop and get played back at, folding your hand will not cost you as much as 1BB only represents a small portion of your stack. If you can employ this strategy and can get an early chip lead, you will put yourself in great position to cash which is so very important in SnG’s to maintain a positive ROI (Return on Investment).
See below how important getting an early lead is. In the Hand History below you can see that because I was able to knock someone out in the first hand and double my stack, I was able to use my chips to lean on everyone else and took down the entire table in 21 hands.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Welcome
Well here we are again. This blog is going to be dedicated to the art of the Sit and Go. I plan to make my first strategy post tonight, and will be updating the blog as often as I can, (probably a couple times a week), with bankroll info, PokerTracker Stats, and Hand Histories (and pretty pictures too).
Note: I do not claim to be the best player out there, but I do have decent success at Sit and Go's (SharkScope me at PokerStars if you like: 'dharrison'. I believe I am currently showing an +8% ROI over ~350 games played). Enough to where I thought people might come and listen. If you like the blog, please leave notes/comments so I know people are reading and enjoying :)
Note: I do not claim to be the best player out there, but I do have decent success at Sit and Go's (SharkScope me at PokerStars if you like: 'dharrison'. I believe I am currently showing an +8% ROI over ~350 games played). Enough to where I thought people might come and listen. If you like the blog, please leave notes/comments so I know people are reading and enjoying :)
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