Online Sit and Goes – Adjusting Your Game to Stakes

Insight from Trips111 - July 2006

It’s no contest.  My favorite type of on-line poker is the No-Limit Sit-and-Go.  I have always been partial to tournaments and the idea that there is a definitive winner in a reasonable amount of time.  I started playing on-line about two years ago and began with a very small stash.  In the early days, I would play the ring games and eek out a few big wins.  Then, one day, by accident I hit the Tourney tab and my life was never the same.

Since then, I’ve played thousands of tournaments with escalating stakes and have learned a lot about the types of players and plays in each structure.  Let’s take a look at what type of game you need to be successful at every level of On-line Sit-and-Go games.

Baby Stakes
So, you find the Tournament tab and don’t want to take a bath – so you sign up for the cheapest they offer.  You’re seated at a table next to JackUoffer and B-LowMe.  Without much introduction to the game or interface the cards are flying, and before you know it, three players are all in.  The very cheapest tournaments tend to be an exercise in restraint.  My advice - without Kings or Aces - stay out of the early rounds of betting.  And by early, I mean the first five hands.  After that, the looneys tend to reveal themselves, and your strategy should shift.  The lower stake games tend to be full mostly with beginners with too little or too much confidence in their hands – you know, fish.  You need to get into pots with marginal hands in the beginning.  Don’t bluff, but if you hit a flop solidly you can bet for value.  Nothing fancy here.  Just extract as many chips as you can.  Occasionally you will run up against a higher straight, or set-over-set battle, but for the most part, made hands will pay you off handsomely.

So, you make it through the first few levels with a double up.  Now what?  The middle stages of low limit tourneys tend to be pretty easy picking.  If you are the aggressive sort you can anger enough players to get plenty of action on your quality hands.  The key to the beginner’s mindset is to understand that they believe you are ALWAYS bluffing.  I’ve been called all the way down against 2 3 off suit when the board has completely missed.  It’s as if they want to say, “I knew you didn’t have it!”  Middle portions of the tourney tend to be ripe with all-in bluffs on the river.  With a middle pair and a healthy stack, I prefer a call here.

The final rounds tend to be ABC poker.  The players tend to be a mix of a few solid players, some lucky lunatics, and a couple fish.  I like to raise every pot I play in the later stages provided I have a healthy stack.  People really get tired of it and will stand up to you – hopefully you will have raised with a nice hand and you can pick another off.  The key here is relentless aggression.  You tend to really bother other players this way, but they will be throwing their money at you to prove the can play too.  To make this plan work I should mention that you should be well versed in the advanced concepts of Pot Odds and position-play.  Raising with any two cards is a very effective strategy, but you will not be able to bluff every hand.  You will still need to make good poker decisions post-flop. 

Oh, and by the way, a beginner likes to meet your aggression with what they believe to be the holiest of holy responses – all in – pre-flop mostly.  That’s OK. If you have a premium pair or high ace - call, if not fold.  You will be making so much off the other hands, you don’t need to make it all in one.  In fact, if you have enough playing experience, you really should prefer to bet enough to single the someone out, but avoid pre-flop all ins.  You would rather let your experience guide you post-flop then gamble with the fish.

Middle Stakes
Believe it or not, middle stakes games can be some of the most difficult to navigate.  While some of the beginners are swimming to deeper waters, there are a bunch of good players in the middle levels.  Whether they aren’t comfortable playing the higher stakes, or are trying to rebuild their stacks – the point is, you cannot assume just because the stakes aren’t putting a dent in your pocketbook that the players aren’t taking the game seriously.  So, how should you shape your game at this level? 

Well, there will be far less all-in pre-flop moves at the beginning, so you should prefer to play more pots than less in the opening rounds.  I like to establish a bit looser table image (if the cards are solid enough for me to do so).  The player I’m targeting is that beginner graduating to the next level.  They tend to have some game but have trouble releasing hands like top pair, or two pair in the face of aggressive betting.  So, when I have the goods and I can spot one of these players, I like to raise my good hands into them.  Sure, you risk them folding and not getting full value, but more often than not they want to show how shrewd they are and will pay you off.  My advice then is to bet your sets when they hit.  Slow playing will too often lead to a series of checks or a 1/3 bet that will be folded if you come over the top.

Keep an eye out for the more experienced player at this level.  They will be ready for your post-flop continuation bet, and will call you down with middle pair.  I don’t like to bluff much at all, but I will almost always stop bluffing after the first failed attempt until I have more intelligence on the players.  The middle rounds of these tournaments tend to be very basic poker again.  Waiting for quality hands and playing your position as always. 

Once you reach the end of these middle stakes games, many of the concepts talked about below come into play.  That’s right, the players at the end of middle stakes tend to be quite good, and capable of many advanced reads.

High Stakes
OK, so you’ve built your bankroll and you are ready to play with the big dogs.  First you should know, everyone else with a sizeable bankroll is likely a pro and the games will be the toughest you ever played.  Simply put, these tables will be stocked with enough solid players that you will not make nearly as much off your premium hands.  With that in mind, you will have to open up your game a bit and make more “moves” on your opponents.  Straight value-betting a flopped nut flush will seldom work here.

The early rounds of a high stakes game should be an exercise is observation and conservative play.  Many people like to come out firing and make a mark on the table, and if you are one of those people, you will either be a prohibitive player if your card hit, or these players will make you pay.  When you are sticking it all in with bottom two pair, they will be gleefully calling with their set.  These players do not call without the goods in the early rounds, so be very careful what you bet on.  Not that you can’t bluff or win a few pots with well-timed bets, just that the risk is often not worth the result.  You should watch very carefully for the first 20 hands or so.  Pay particular attention to the show-down hands and betting patterns that lead up to those hands.  Try to put every player on a hand while it’s happening and correct/confirm your observations when you get to see their cards.  I suppose this is good tournament strategy regardless the stakes, but at the high stakes having a firm read on each player type becomes absolutely critical.  Here’s why.

There are stock plays in Hold ‘em that we all know and have executed 1000 times.  Well, high stakes players have executed them all 10,000 times.  They have seen every trick, trap, slow-play, back alley mugging, post oak, and all-in river bluff.  Don’t get me wrong, each of these moves are necessary and can be quite effective – but you MUST know the player you are making them on to decide whether they are worth making.

Here then are each of these moves, when they work best, against what type of player, and when to avoid making them.  I’ve put this in the High Stakes section because you often need all the elements together for it to work, while in the lower stakes you can take someone off with a lot less effort.

Trap/Slow Play
One thing a high stakes player does that middle and lower stakes players don’t is figure their pot odds.  With this tool, they often deftly navigate around your traps with dancer-like grace, only to land on your head when they fill out their flush or straight.  Here’s how to properly execute a trap against an experienced player.

• Have a hand!  It’s not a trap if you don’t have the goods.   More on this under Post-Oak bluffs.  You should have at the very least top two pair.  Trips or a set are better, and flushes and straights are best.  Of course full houses are good, but only if you hold the pair in the hole.  If I am sharing the pair on the board, I don’t like to trap.
• Technically, a trap or slow play means checking or betting a small amount in the hopes of looking weak to an opponent, and thus winning another bet.  The choice of a small bet or check is made depending on your pre-flop bet and position.  If you were first to act pre-flop and led the betting with something like 4 or 5 times the BB, then I like a small continuation bet after nailing the flop.  To your experienced opponents this bet looks fishy and you often get one bet right there from a non-believer.  Then, I like to check the turn and just call any bets to me.  Finally, on the river, provided I’m pretty sure to be holding the nuts I make one last run at the pot.  Sometimes it’s in the ½ pot range, but I prefer a big all-in move.  If you’ve calculated your opponent properly, they might just call you figuring you are on a steal.
• The other most likely scenario is that you act second in the betting and called an original bet.  After a scary flop (say A55, and you hold AA) your opponent may check or bet a small amount at you.  I like a check or call here.  When the next card comes out I don’t fool around anymore.  If my opponent bets, I put in half the pot.  If they bet, I re-raise. 
• It’s almost never a good idea to trap for two cards.  Checking the flop and the turn is a mistake most of the time – largely because you fail to win any other bets, and if your opponent misses both cards, you’re likely not to win anything while giving them two free cards.  Take the example above with A55 and pocket AA.  If you wait to bet until the river, exactly what cards will your opponent need to catch to bet into you?  No, unless they are very unlucky and make a smaller full house, they aren’t going to pay off two checks and a bet.  However, they might just look you up if you check the flop and bet the turn.

The bottom line on traps is that most experienced players will not be totally fooled by anything you do.  They will probably have an inkling what is going on, and any action you get will be of the calling variety.  Unless they are drawing to a larger hand, you will seldom get re-raised while holding the nuts.  Of course, sometimes that does occur and my advice is – go all in!  Once a player puts in half their chips trying to take you off your hand I’ve found they are quite hard-pressed to release their hand.  Your all-in move will look like a pissing match and you will quite often get paid off.

The target opponent for traps is a hyper-aggressive type who likes to fire at a lot of pots.  They will see your weak betting and respond as they do whenever they see weak betting – fire away.  A tighter, more conservative player will more likely be happy checking all the way down, so it’s best just to bet out.  You probably weren’t going to make anything more off the hand anyway.

Back Alley Mugging
One thing an experienced player can do that a novice player cannot is lay a hand down.  A Back Alley Mugging occurs when a scary card hits the board and you bet representing that big hand.  Of course, it’s not a mugging if you are holding the nuts, so this play is by definition a bluff.  Here are the conditions for executing the play.

• What did you put your opponent on during pre-flop betting? 
  
  Often larger-than-normal raises from early position are middle pairs or A x(small).  Smaller-than-normal raises from middle to late position tend to be the drawing hands from 4-5 through 10-J.  In these circumstances, look to represent a high card when the lower cards are not connected.  But be careful, if that early big raise just checks the flop then check raises your mugging on the turn, you should be ready to lay down.  Also, even though the King on the turn may look scary to 6-7 off, unless you put in a pot-sized bluff, they will often be getting the odds they need if they are four to their straight.  The best board for a mugging is disconnected and three suits.
  
  When you suspect your opponent has a premium hand and you have let them take the lead in the betting, I like a middle pair mugging.  For instance, a player in late position raises 4 times the BB and you, in the BB, call (with something like A-6).  Now, the board comes out Q52.  You check and your opponent fires a 1/3-sized continuation bet.  I sometimes don’t go away to this type of betting figuring my Ace may still be good if he is betting JJ, or KK.  So, I call.  Then another 5 pops off.  I like to occasionally bet right here.  I’m representing a marginal call on the flop with a hand like A5 (pretty darn close actually) and now that my trips have rolled off, I’m trying to take down the pot.  This play takes some stones, but I’ve got many players to lay down sensing that I was just defending my blind and got lucky with the board.

Muggings are a good play and can often be done with little risk to your stack.  The key player to target is one who is very experienced, who you have seen lay down big hands before, and is your basic rock/tight type.  The player should have a healthy stack close to, or slightly smaller than your own.  Bigger stacks and looser opponents are a recipe for disaster here.  Often, even if they are afraid of the second five, they will put you to the test and raise your mugging.  There’s nothing worse than your victim knocking your knife aside with their Tommy gun.

Post Oak Bluff
Ah, the classics.  A Post Oak Bluff is a small bet either on the turn, or more normally on the river that looks to an experienced player to be a last attempt to get paid off for a made hand.  For example, say you are in the pot with one other player and it’s up to $600.  You have been bluffing the entire hand and put your opponent on a pocket pair they just haven’t been able to release.  An ace falls on the river.  Your opponent, now leery of that Ace (and also a card you very likely could have given the betting to this point) checks to you.  Instead of letting this pot go, you decide to go for the bluff.  But instead of betting a large scary amount, you bet $200.  To an experienced player this looks like a relieved player who’s caught their ace, or found their second pair on the river trying to squeeze out just a little more from their opponent.  It is an elegant move when it works and can be quite fulfilling, but several conditions must apply.

• You’ve missed your hand completely but you haven’t been simply calling throughout the hand.  Call, call, call, bluff is one of the easiest bluffs to pick off.  I will call that Post Oak Bluff with King-high.  No, you had to have shown some strength along the way to properly represent a made hand on the river.
• Your opponent has to have been paying attention.  If you have reason to believe they are distracted, this won’t work.  They will switch back from their fourth and fifth game and simply call….what do they care, it’s just 1/3 the pot – hell they are getting 4 to one on their bet.
• It’s nice if your opponent has either seen, or experienced a real suck bet from you in this game.  That is, on another occasion, a bet of a similar proportion has been made by you and paid off by another player when the river filled out your hand.
• Finally, this, and most other bluffs work best against just one opponent.  But in particular, the Post Oak DOES NOT WORK on two people.  Why?  Well, simply because that river card often made the other players hand, or gave them enough (second nut flush, or middle straight) to look you up and call.  I never try this move on more than one player.

The Bottom Line
Every move you ever learned is need to succeed at the higher stakes.  There is not better proving ground for those moves then in the tiny stake free for alls.  If you want to just try these moves out, I suggest the lower stakes first.  Most of the above are bluffs and therefore are potentially costly.  On the other hand, you cannot win without a well-timed bluff.  Here is an example of one of these moves from some of my own play.

High Stakes Sit and Go – winner receives $360,000 – top 5 are paid
Blinds:  100 / 200
Antes:  25
Players left:  8
Stacks:  (1)1200, (2)4000, (me)8000, (4)3500, (5)7000, (dealer)850, (sb)2500, (bb)6000.
My Hand:  AJ suited

One and Two fold.  I come in for a raise to 700.  Four and Five fold.  Dealer calls (with A Q off), Small and Big fold.  The pot is now 1900.  The flop comes K 5 10 – three suits.  I lead out with a 1/3 sized bet.  The dealer makes a loose call drawing to an inside straight.  The pot is now 2600.  The next card is a 2.  I check, and the dealer checks.  The last card is a King.  I decide to go for the Back Alley Mugging and bet half the pot – 1300.  Notice that even if my opponent has a 10, this would be a very difficult call for them.  The dealer folds, and I pick up a nice pot with the weakest hand.

When playing Online Sit and Goes there you should put a heavy emphasis on observant play- keeping track of betting patterns and show-down hands.  Unlike ring games where people often will show up for a few hands than flit away, in a Sit and Go, your opponent is there until they get knocked out.  Having a good feel for whether they like to bet out, or trap their monsters can make and save you a lot of money in the long run.  All that observation is no good to you however unless you use it against your opponent.