How to Beat Sit 'n' Go Poker Tournaments

There is a new book soon to be released for Sit 'n Go strategy by Timoth Neil. You can order it from the SitNGoTraining.com Bookstore. Here's the product description:

Sit ‘n’ Gos are one-table tournaments, where the first three players split the prize money (50% for first, 30% for second, 20% for third), are the most popular form of online poker tournament played today. It is estimated that more than half of all Internet poker players (and many land-based cardroom players as well) regularly play Sit ‘n’ Gos. They’re quick tournaments, averaging only one hour to play, and lucrative for players who know the strategies.

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Bluffing: Tell A Consistent Story

I told you a few posts ago that you can't bluff a fish because they are not listening to the "story" that you are trying to tell them through your bluff. However, there is a flip side to this... don't try to bluff a good player with an inconsistent story. Let me give you an example from one of the sit and go's I played last night.

It is the very first hand of a $10, 9 person sit and go. I have not played with anyone at this table, so no read history to go on. However, I am looking at their profiles on sharkscope.com and the majority of the players have negative stats (that's a good thing!). I am dealt 88 in middle position and open-raise 4x the blind. The player to my left calls, as does the button. The blinds fold, three players remain.

The flop is Ks 7s 2h. Typically against a single opponent on a semi-coordinate board I would put in a pot-sized continuation bet here. However, against two or more players, I play more cautiously. I check, as did the other two players.

The turn is a [Ks 7s 2h] 4h. With no action on the flop, and two flush draws on the board, I decide to take a shot at the pot. I bet the size of the pot. The player to my left thinks about it for a moment and then calls. The button folds.

At this point I am a little confused. How could the 4h have helped my opponent's hand? I can only think of two scenarios. First, he is slow-playing a pair of kings or maybe a set. However, with two flush draws out there, he should be trying to move me off the hand. The other possibility is that he is on a flush draw. If that is the case, he really didn't have the correct odds to call my turn bet. Again, with no read on this player, I have no way to know whether he is a tricky player, or just a bad player drawing incorrectly.

The river comes [Ks 7s 2h 4h] 4d, pairing the board. Well, there is good news and there is bad news. Which do you want first? The good news is that if my opponent was on a flush draw, he just missed his draw. The bad news is that I still don't have a clue what he has! The 4 on the river wouldn't have helped him, unless he called preflop with something stupid like A4. So I consider the river a blank and decide to bet like I did on the turn.

I bet out about half the pot. My opponent immediately pushes all-in. Oh, great. The first hand of the tournament and I am forced to make a decision for all my chips against a player for which I have no experience reading. In a situation like this I try to run through the possible hands that are beating me and see if the betting patterns from my opponent throughout the hand fits with those possible holdings. One note... since I do not have any history with this opponent I tend to assume he is playing straight forward instead of playing tricky.

The board: Ks 7s 2h 4h 4d

Hands beating me:

KK--Very unlikely. I would have expected my opponent to have reraised preflop with this holding.

Kx--More likely with the preflop call than KK. However, I find this unlikely because of the flop check. With a 2-card flush on board and two opponents, it would not be in his favor to give a free card. He might have been planning to check raise his top pair and his plan was foiled by the button's check. However, he was given an opportunity to raise on the turn, now with two flush draws, and he didn't take it--he just smooth called. I certainly wouldn't do that with just a pair of kings against that board. So, I do not think he has kings at this point.

77--Unlikely. Early in sit and go's while the blinds are still low, I see a lot of players call raises preflop with medium pairs. They hope to hit a set on the flop and potentially stack their opponents. He might have called my preflop bet with 77. Similar to the Kx example above, he might have checked the flop with the hopes of check-raising. However, when the second flush draw fell on the turn, he just called instead of raising. With a set against two flush draws, if I were playing his hand, I am getting my money in at this point. So a set of 7's doesn't seem to fit the betting pattern consistently.

22--Unlikely. Same reason as the 7's, but less likely that someone would call a 4x preflop raise with 22.

4x--Maybe he called preflop with A4s or something silly like that and now has trips. The flop check would make sense. The turn call would make sense if he had spades or hearts giving him a pair and a flush draw. However, if he did have a 4, why would he push the river? Why wouldn't he up my bet slightly to try to extract more chips from me? A 4x seems unlikely.

74, 72, and 42 all seem unlikely due to my preflop raise.

So at this point, the story that he is trying to tell is inconsistent with any of the hands that are beating me. Let's look at one of the options that I am beating: the busted flush draw...

Let's say he started the hand with Ax suited. I think this is the most likely because many players (incorrectly) call preflop raises with suited aces.

1. He checked the flop which is consistent with missing the flop or taking a free card on a flush draw.
2. He called my pot-sized turn bet. This is inconsistent with missing the flop but is consistent with a flush draw.

So we are down to a flush draw as the most probably holding. Now, the push on the river...

1. If he has any of the hands that are beating me, I would expect him to try to get value for his better hand. A small raise would make sense, but the push is inconsistent with a made hand on the river.
2. If he put me on a busted flush draw, again, a small raise would move me off the hand. So again, the push is inconsistent if he thinks I have a busted flush draw.

At this point the only holding that fits the pattern of my opponent is if he has a busted flush draw. The push on the river appears to be his attempt to get me to fold the better hand.

I called. He turned over A9s for a busted flush draw and I double up with my pair of 8's. A great read and a great result.

The point of this post is to highlight the importance of telling a consistent story when trying to pull off a bluff. If your opponent is actually trying to put you on a hand (like I was), in order for a bluff to work, each of your actions preflop, on the flop, turn, and river must add up to make the hand that you are representing possible. If your story isn't consistent, your opponent might just look you up (as I did). If you are planning to bluff a hand, forget about your actual cards and play the entire hand consistently as if you were holding the cards that you are trying to represent. That way you are telling a consistent story that is believable by your opponent.

Until next post, good luck at the tables!

Advanced Sit and Go Poker Strategy

I am in the process of writing the advanced sit and go poker tournament strategy and lessons. The advanced lessons will build on the basic strategy and will cover the following:

• Lesson 10: Profiling Players
• Lesson 11: Active Observation
• Lesson 12: Reading Player's Hands
• Lesson 13: Deviating From Basic Strategy
• Lesson 14: Bluffing / Stealing
• Lesson 15: Multi-Tabling
• Lesson 16: Moving to Higher Stakes

If you have applied the information in the basic strategy, you should already be playing profitable sit 'n go poker. However, the advanced lessons will help you take advantage of information that is readily available at the table, thereby increasing your "in the money" finish percentage. If you wish to receive an e-mail notification once the advanced lessons are available, please join my mailing list.

Until then, good luck at the tables!

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Something Fishy!

I have taken some nasty beats over the last few nights. Last night I lost three sit and go poker tournaments in a row. Following my bankroll rules I quit for the night. After a losing session like this I always take some time to reflect on my play. I try to determine if my results were due to poor play on my part or something else. There was definitely something "fishy" about my loses last night!

In all three tournaments I was knocked out by the "fish" at the table. In poker, we refer to bad player's as fish. Fish play too many hands and do not have the post-flop skill to back it up. They call too many bets after the flop. Fish stay too long in the hand trying to catch that miracle card. They hope their 2nd pair is good. They draw without the proper odds. We should all LOVE to have fish at the table. Because of their loose and passive play, fish are your primary source of food. You will make most of your profit from them and you should welcome them with open arms!

However, their poor playing also causes problems for the better players; the biggest problem is the suck-out. I have often heard good players complain about the number of bad beats they take. This should not be something to complain about (although we would all prefer that our good hands hold up!). A bad beat is when you get your money into the middle with the best hand and then someone draws out on you to win the pot. Because you are a better player you will get your money into the middle with the best hand more often than not. And as a result, others will draw out on you.

So, how should you play against the fish? I have three pieces of advice:

Avoid Coin Toss Situations

Many people make the mistake of pushing hands where they are only a small favorite to win. Although this is absolutely correct in a cash game situation, you should avoid it during tournament play, especially single table sit and go tournaments. For example, if you flop top pair on a semi-coordinated board and your opponent is drawing to a straight or flush. In this situation, they have almost a 40% chance of making their hand by the river. Against a good player you can move them off the pot by betting enough to make it mathematically incorrect for them to call. However, fish typically don't look at the math but instead draw to their straight or flush regardless of the odds. Avoid all-in confrontations in these situations unless you are in the money.

Push Your Monster Hands

In the situation where you have the probable best hand with a draw to the nuts, push these hands against the fish. Many times they will draw to a weaker hand than your draw. You want to look for ways to get all your money into the middle and extract as many chips as possible from your fishy opponent.

Use Implied Odds

If you are in a hand against a fish that has shown a tendency to play to the river and the fish has at least as many chips as you, use implied odds to justify drawing to the nuts. Many good players will fold to flop bets if they do not have the immediate odds to justify a call. However, if you make your hand against a fish, it is more likely that you will be able to get all their chips if you hit your hand. Against another good player, they will be aware of your draw and will shut down when it comes, so your implied odds are poor. However, against a fish, they will often not recognize when you hit your hand and will give up all their chips to a river push.

One last comment on playing against fish... embrace bad beats! Sure, we would both prefer that our hands always hold up. But again, if you are getting your money in with the best hand, you will experience more bad beats than those who only occasionally get their money in with the best hand. Embrace the fact that you are the better player and that you out-played your opponent. After you get your chips in, it is up to the poker gods whether or not your hand will hold up.

Progress Report: Broke $600

I guess it is time for a progress update. I am on a quest to turn $50 into $5000 playing sit and go poker tournaments. I am following strict bankroll rules which guide the stakes that I am allowed to play.

Attached is a copy of my chart. I am still on an upward trend. As you can see just before the 300 game mark I ran into a period of bad cards and bad beats. I believe my bankroll rules saved me from giving back all my profit. During that time I quite playing after a couple of losses. This helped me to avoid going on tilt.

My bankroll balance is just over $600 now. The next level on Full Tilt is the $30. Based on my bankroll rules, I am unable to move up to the $30 level until my bankroll exceeds 25x, which would be $750. So I have about $150 to go before moving up to the next level.

As for the difference between the $10 and $20 levels... there isn't much of a difference. I have seen "fish" at each level on the way up. However, I will note that I am seeing more "winning" players at the $20 level than I saw at the $10 level. At the $10 level I would only typically see a couple of players with positive ROI. But at the $20 it is normal to see 3 or 4 players with positive ROI and upward trend charts. The key is still to identify the weak players and go get their chips before the other players do!

So how do you "go get their chips" before others do? That is something that I will cover in my advanced lessons, to be released within a few weeks.

For now, may your only beats be bad beats!

It Depends!

I received an e-mail today from a reader of my blog asking for advice on a hand she played in a recent sit 'n go tournament. She said she raised with 99 and the board came K83 rainbow. She bet half the pot and was raised. She thought about it for a while and then decided to fold the hand. She asked if it was correct to fold in this situation. My response was initally simple:

It Depends!

Making decisions in poker is far more situational than the cards you hold and the cards on the board. I offer some general guidelines for post-flop play in my course, but in order to make solid decisions you must think further than this. Here is a list of questions that I sent her and a brief explaination why each question is important to making the correct decision.

What stage of the tournament are you in?
If you are in the early stages of a tournament, play will be different than if you are on the bubble or if you are already in the money. Players will typically see more flops in the early stages but might tighten up on the bubble. In addition, some players will make tighter pre-flop decisions at a full table than at a short table. Asking this question helps you begin to put your opponents on a hand.

What position were you in?
If you raise from early position, your opponents (at least the one's that are thinking beyond their own cards!) will put you on a better range of hands than if you were to raise on the button. Raising from early is announcing to the table that you have a real hand. Callers after are also announcing they have a real hand. However, if you raise on the button, many will interpret this as a steal and not give you credit for a hand. Knowing the position helps you think about how your opponents are likely to have translated your raise.

How many players were left to act?
Building on the concept above, if you raised an early position at a full table with 6 or 7 people left to act, that indicates you have a stronger hand than if you were to raise from the small blind with only 1 player left to act. In contrast, at a short table with only 4 players, raising from early position means less than the same raise at a full table.

What was your M pre-flop?
Again, this is about understanding how your opponents might think about your hand. If you raise pre-flop with an M that is large (say 20 more more), some will put you on a wider range than if you were to perform the same raise with an M of 5. With a low M, they should be asking the question, why didn't they push all in? Do they have a monster and are trying to get some action?

How have you been playing pre-flop?
Again, this is to help you understand how your opponents might view your raise. If you are raising every hand, they will put you on a wider range of starting hands than if you folded the last 20 hands. It is also good to know the amount you have been raising pre-flop. Has it been the same amount each time? Or do you raise more with big hands and less with weaker hands?

How have you been playing post-flop?
Do you typically put in a continuation bet when you are the pre-flop raiser? Or do you check and call to the river? A player that always puts in a c-bet will get less "respect" on the flop than a player who typically checks but this time bets. This again goes to how your opponents will interpret your bets.

How many people called your raise?
The writer didn't indicate how many people called, but I assume it was only one. However, this is important to know. If three people called, there is a higher probability that one of them has a K than if only one player called.

What was their M pre-flop?
Similar to the question above, if they called with a high M, they might be on a wider range than if they called with a low M. If their M was below 7 and they just called the raise, I would put them on a stronger hand than if they called with a high M (assuming I believe they know what they are doing).

What position where they in?
If you raised pre-flop from under the gun and you were called by the player immediately on your left, I would put that player on a stronger hand than if the call came from the big blind. Why? Because the player on your left still has other players left to act. So for them to call they are risking a reraise. But the call from the big blind closes out the action.

How has each of your opponents been playing pre-flop?
If the person that called your raise is playing every hand, I would put them on a wider range of cards than if it were a tight player that only plays big cards and maybe AK-AQ type hands. Are they the type of person that likes to see lots of flops? Do they usually reraise with premium hands, or just limp or call a raise. Knowing the betting patterns of your opponents is one of the most important aspects of making correct decisions.

How has each of your opponents been playing post-flop?
Does your opponent frequently reraise to a continuation bet? Or do they fold if they miss. If they hit a big hand do they slow play it or bet aggressively. As above, understanding the betting patterns of your opponents helps you to narrow down the range of hands they might be playing.

She responded to my questions but couldn't remember enough detail to answer all of them. She did provide the following:

• She was in middle position and had been playing about 50% of her hands.
• The caller was on the button and wasn't playing very many hands (tight).
• The blinds folded, so two players saw the flop.
• She was playing passively after the flop, only betting when she had a hand.
• The caller was also playing passively after the flop.

Well, this isn't a lot of information to go on. But we can draw some conclusions based on this. First, from the view of the button, since she was playing many hands, the button probably put her on a weaker starting hand. However, since she was typically passive after the flop but bet the flop this time, the button must have assumed she hit the flop. But the button still raised her post-flop bet.

Thinking about it from her view, she raised before the flop and was called by a tight player with two people still to act. If the tight player had a hand like AA or KK, he probably would have raised, trying to isolate. However, he just called. Therefore, I would put this player on a couple of high face cards or maybe a medium pocket pair. She bet after the flop, but the button raised. Assuming the button was paying attention, he knew she only bet after the flop when she hit. So for the button to raise in this situation, he is saying he also hit.

At this point I would ask two questions. First, what hands could my opponent hold that I am beating? Well, it is unlikely that the button would raise with two face cards that didn't contain a king, and it is unlikely the button would raise with a pair smaller than my pocket 9's. So I can't think of any hands he would raise with that I am currently beating.

Next question, what hands could he have that are beating me. Here you must think about the betting pattern of your opponent and see if the bets make sense based on your previous observations. Hands beating me:

• AA--unlikely. The button would have probably reraised pre-flop.
• KK--also unlikely. Probably would have reraised pre-flop, and the appearance of another K on the board makes the odds of KK lower.
• AK--yes my opponent would probably just call pre-flop. And with only top pair, my opponent could be betting for value with what he thinks is the best hand, or probably wants to end the hand quickly. So AK fits.
• KQ to KT--also possible. Might be reraising to buy information and try to determine if his kicker is good. KT is less likely because of the tight nature of the player.
• TT to QQ--less likely. Although the button might have just called with these hands, it is unlikely he would bet into me with the K on the board. Although some players do this to buy information, as discussed above.
• 88--unlikely. Depending on how tight the player was, they might have folded 88 to a preflop raise. However, most players would have just called the flop bet with 88 (flopped set) hoping you bet into them on the turn (and will raise at that point). Can't rule it out, but less likely.
• 33--unlikely for the same reasons as 88.

So, where do we stand? Based on the information above, I can't think of any hands we are beating that fit the profile and betting pattern of our opponent. However, AK or KQ fit. So if your opponent now has a pair of kings, you are drawing to 2 outs with only about a 8% chance of making it by the river. Based on this, I would let this hand go and wait for another opportunity.

I could write a separate post on each of the questions above. However, my goal here was to help you think a little further about the situation each time you are faced with a decision. This might seem like a lot to go through on each hand, but over time, it will become natural. I recommend you do this while not in a hand also. By doing so you are forced to pay attention to the betting patterns of your opponents. When they turn over their cards at showdown you can adjust your reads based on the new information. Then, when you are faced with a decision during a hand, you have a foundation of information to work with to help you make better decisions.

Sorry for the long post. But I hope it was helpful!

Heads-Up Play

I just posted Lesson 9: Heads-Up Play. You can access the lesson from the course outline. In this lesson I cover 6 key areas for heads-up play.

1. Small-ball poker--What is small-ball poker and why is it is the correct strategy for heads-up play.
2. ICM--What is ICM and how do you use it to make decisions while playing heads-up.
3. Most flops miss--A key concept that you must understand to play properly after the flop.
4. Small blind play--What are the key things you should think about when playing from the small blind.
5. Big blind play--The power position. How to use it and counter small blind strategies.
6. Short-stacked play--Understand the basics of push/fold decision making.

This lesson marks the end of the basic sit 'n go training series. I am heads-down working on the advanced lessons. The advanced lessons build on the basic lessons will help you take your game to the next level, increasing your "in the money" finish percentage and giving you further information to help you WIN sit 'n go tournaments. I will post a note on this blog when the advanced lessons are available.

Until then, may your only beats be bad beats!

SharkScope Banned by PokerStars

PokerStars.com, the largest of the online poker sites, recently added SharkScope.com to their list of banned software. SharkScope is a subscription service that allows you to access the win/loss history for sit 'n go players. PokerStars uses the following criteria to determine which 3rd part tools to include in their ban:

1. Any program that shares hole card data with other players or programs is colluding, and is prohibited.
2. Any program that works off of a central database of player profiles or hands played is prohibited.
3. Any program that plays without human intervention (a "bot") or reduces the requirement of a human playing. For instance, an "auto-folder" is prohibited.
4. The practice of datamining (observing games as a non-player for extended periods to build up a large collection of hand histories for future reference) is prohibited.
5. Any software that offers advice on the appropriate action to take, and which is also programmable or configurable beyond a simple slider to choose a level of aggressiveness or tightness.

I understand and fully agree with PokerStars desire to ban software that meets one or more of the banning criteria. However, I do not think SharkScope meets the criteria. It might brush up against number 2 on the list, as you an use the information in SharkScope to help you profile players. But you can not obtain hand history from SharkScope, and there is no integration with a client that helps you made decisions while you play.

Because SharkScope is a web-based tool, there is nothing PokerStars can do about you accessing and viewing the website. What they can do is to limit the information that SharkScope is able to extract from the PokerStars databases. This means that the PokerStars player information you view through SharkScope will become increasingly less accurate which will impact the quality of your initial player profiling.

However, the good news is that PokerStars lists Tournament Indicator as one of its accepted programs. I use Tournament Indicator to help me make solid decisions while playing sit 'n go poker tournaments online. Tournament Indicator does keep a small database of player history locally on your computers but only information from the tables that you have played at or observed. You can use this information to determine the playing tendencies of people you have played against previously. The tool tracks things like how tight or loose the player is, whether they are aggressive or passive after the flop, aggression factor, and even breaks information down so you can see how they change their game in response to changes in their m-zone. If PokerStars were to ban Tournament Indicator, I would discontinue playing on the site.

You should check to see if the tools you use while playing are acceptable to PokerStars. You can see a full list of the programs and sites approved and banned at the PokerStars website.

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In The Money Play

Money, money, money, monnnnnnnnney...... money! Sorry, I was just running the song from "The Apprentice" through my head. It is a great song for sit 'n go poker, especially when you make it to the money!

Well, this post is the let you know I added "Lesson 8: In The Money Play" to the SitNGoTraining.com site. You can access it from the Course Outline. Check it out when you get a chance. Here's a summary of the information covered:

In The Money Play

• The sit 'n go prize pool and how it should affect your play.
• Adjustments from the pre-flop sit 'n go strategy.
• Playing from the small stack.
• Medium stack play.
• And the best scenario, playing as the big stack!

To summarize the information in the lessons, there are a number of changes you should make to the sit 'n go strategy based on the playing characteristics of your opponents and the situation you are in. I will cover them in detail in the advanced lessons. But for now, when you make it to the money in a sit 'n go, your goal should be to WIN, not to survive long enough to make it to the next pay level. So play aggressively, even it that means you get knocked out of the sit 'n go in 3rd place.

Covered in detail in the lessons but summarized here: For the small stack, first in vigorish is your main weapon. Use it. As the middle stack, put pressure on the small stack and play straight-forward poker against the big stack. As the big stack, pressure, pressure, pressure is the name of the game.

Good luck at the tables!