Lesson 5: While playing pre-flop

sngtraining Many players think that when the blinds are small (early in the tournament), they should play more hands in the hope of doubling quickly. This thought is correct for multi-tabling tournaments where you must accumulate chips to take as long as possible. However, it does not work for tournaments in simple tables. Again, simple tables tournaments are a matter of survival ... your goal is to keep as long as possible to make enough money.
The strategy I'm about to teach you only work for tournaments sit 'n go that meet the following criteria:

No Limit Texas Hold'em (no limit)

Normal speed (no "turbo events")

One table (not multi-tabling)

9-10 players (no tables to six players)

If you play a different type of poker, this strategy may not be the best. Why?

The SNG one table are different from all other types of poker that there is then a question of survival. Unique SNG tables are fairly short (usually you make your money in less than an hour), so that you can sometimes make your money without even playing a single hand! However, for a chance to win the tournament, build your chip stack will help you.

Problem 1 - Playing too many hands

Play pre-flop is the easiest to master poker tournaments SNG party. By cons, most no-limit players do not succeed! The first reason why players have poor results in SNG is that they play too many hands, what effect they lack chips rapidly during the tournament, or they restore tokens that they would have been able to accumulate.

Many players think that when the blinds are small (early in the tournament), they should play more hands in the hope of doubling quickly. This thought is correct for multi-tabling tournaments where you must accumulate chips to take as long as possible. However, it does not work for tournaments in simple tables. Again, simple tables tournaments are a matter of survival ... your goal is to keep as long as possible to make enough money.

Problem 2 - Do not adjust the game based on the size of the stack

In addition to playing too many hands, losing players make another mistake pre-flop; they do not adjust their properly set depending on the size of the stack.

When bad players have a big stack of chips, they play a lot more hands. Moreover, when their stack shrinks, they changed their minds and no longer play the premium hands. If you want to be a player SNG winner, you must do the opposite of those who lose!

Again, this is a matter of survival. When your stack is bigger, you want to play fewer hands. Your goal is to wait for the bad players will be compromised in order to make money. By cons, if you take a few hard knocks or if the flop does not work for you and your chip stack is reduced, you must open your game (play more hands) for accumulating chips needed.

Hoping that it makes sense to you (this is not the case for players who lose!). So the key questions now are: what hands should I play and what changes should I make to my hand selection depending on the size of my stack?

Part 2: The strategy of winning preflop!

As we said above, the losing players play too many hands. And when they have fewer chips, they tighten and do not play enough hands. Furthermore, SNG tables are a matter of simple survival, duration, that is to say, he must stay as long as possible to make the most money table. For this purpose, you must do the opposite of bad players.

So what hands should you play pre-flop? Ok, here we are. The hand selection should be based on the following two measures:

EV hand

M Stack

(If you have not read the section on EV and M-Zone, please, do it now)

To determine which hands to play pre-flop, follow this simple guide:

If (EV X 100)> M, raisez! Otherwise foldez.

Note: This guide assumes you beginners hands are the first to invest in the pot. However, you must understand that this guide is only ... a guide. Poker is very situational. There will be times when you can and should deviate from this guide. We will cover these situations in the advanced lessons.

Ok, to explain what the formula means, using the example KQ used in previous lessons, my EV KcQc is 0.67 and my M is 13.3.

0.67 X 100 = 67

67 (EV X 100) is higher than 13.3 (I M), then we must raiser!

In this example, if my score was M above 67, I folderais KQ. Again, my goal is survival. If I do not have to play a hand, I will not do it. I prefer to sit on lots of chips to give tokens when I do not have to. You should follow the guide of the first hands until you reach the amount of money from which the strategy changes (we'll cover this in another lesson). I have provided a chart of expected values ​​(Starting Expected Value Chart) so that you can refer to them during the game, however, the Charter represents the average EV for each hand and is not adjusted for the position. KcQc a larger EV in last place in one of the first positions. So sometimes it may be okay to play KQ from the button, but not the positions of the environment or the blinds. I use a tool called Tournament Indicator that automatically shows me the EV of each hand, depending on the positions and my current score million. Then I can quickly see if a hand start or not meeting the criteria.

Now, we still have a question: how do I raiser?

Part 3: How raiser relying on the M-Zone

Now that you know which hands to play pre-flop, we must determine how raiser. The online poker is different from live poker, in that the players are higher Raises. With your first premium hand, you do not want multiple callers see the flop with you. So you want raiser enough to reduce the number of opponents while protecting your stack of chips. So the amount you raisez should be based on the size of your stack in comparison to the pot - your M-Zone. Here are the highlights:

Green Zone Raisez = 5X the big blind

Yellow zone Raisez = 4X the big blind

If M = orange area is higher than 7, raisez 3X the big blind. Otherwise, go all-in.

Put red zone = all-in.

Dead Zone = Well, there is not much you can do here!

Again, these tips assume that you are the first player to invest in the pot. We will cover other scenarios shortly. But basically, the higher your M, the higher you must raiser. Smaller it is, the more you need to be protective of your Raises.

Now, pay attention to the orange and red areas. When you have an M of 7 or less, your only option is to put all your chips in. Do not try to limp or make a small raise. Dan Harrington explains in his book Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II when you go all-in, you have two chances to win the pot:

1) All the fold and you win the blinds and antes world;

2) You have a caller and your hand improves.

When your M is 7 or less, you do not have enough chips to play after the flop. You can not bluff or steal the pot because the amount of chips you have left after investing in the pot is not big enough for anyone out after the flop. Then you must put all your chips in pre-flop and hope that everyone foldera. Do not break this rule. If you are first to act and your (EV X 100) is higher than your M PUT ALL-IN!


Now, we still describe the situation where everyone limps (call the amount of the big blind) or raise. If someone limps, follow the same instructions. If someone raise, you need more information to determine the right thing to do. For now, if you have AA or KK, raisez the amount of the pot. Other hand beginners require more information to determine the strategy to use. We will cover this in the lesson on "Player Profiling" (profile analysis of players).
Follow this strategy only pre-flop can improve your results in SNG. However, a good post-flop play is a necessity to get the most money possible. We will cover this in the next lesson.

Source: http://www.sitngotraining.com