14/01/2012

PKR New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

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New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

How to combat the resurgent trend of limping when the blinds are high in Sit &
Go s
By Nick Wright on Monday 7 Dec 2009 12:00
3Recommend
Alex Keating at HUGS

Trends in Sit & Go's change all the time, so make sure ou're up to
speed with high-blind limping, large open shoves and the donk lead
Although there are many who argue that Sit & Go s are a solved game in terms
of optimum strategy, I believe there are trends within them that come and go
and evolve over time. Ignore these shifts and you re missing out on a healthy
edge, as a move that once screamed weakness may now very well indicate
massive strength (or vice versa). In this article I m going to look at three of the
trends I ve noticed playing low stakes Sit & Go s ($10-$30) in the last few
months, starting with the dubious practice of limping in when the blinds are
high and moving on to look at the overbet shove and the donk lead.
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PKR New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

Limping high
There s no one-size-fits-all definition for a high blind limper (HBL), but I d
advise making note of any player who routinely limps at blinds of 50/100 or
higher. By this point most stacks are 15 big blinds deep or less and in these
circumstances open-limping is almost always a bad play. The standard and
preferred play is to raise or fold, yet there s been an influx of high blind limpers
in six-max turbos, even when play is five or four-handed (making open-limping
an even worse option).
High blind limping always used to suggest a polarised range: either massive
strength or a hand an opponent really wanted to see a cheap flop with but
would fold to any resistance. Now though it seems a wide selection of players
are high blind limping a range of hands that includes Q-T, Q-J, K-9, K-T, 2-2+,
Ace-rag suited and, of course, monsters (although weak players are
increasingly just mini-raising these). Having limped in, the general practice is to
either see a cheap flop or snap-call when someone tries to isolate their limps,
although limp-folding is not out of the question.
Obviously the popularity of this move means you have to adjust, and while you
can shove wider for value against these players as their high blind limping
range is wider, you have to accept that you ll get called more often. Jamming
over an HBL thus tends to put you in a lot of high-variance spots.
My theory is that players are choosing to limp more often when blinds are high
because the overall aggression factor in Sit & Go s has increased so much.
They thus feel that by open-limping and folding they save chips or if they
open-limp and call a reraise or a shove their hand plays better against that
range than if they had open-raised and decided to call all-in.

The large open-sho e

Another trend in Sit & Go strategy is the large open-shove. Just as the
standard open-raise size has shrunk in recent times, from 3BB to 2.5BB and
maybe even lower, at the other end of the spectrum the size of stack people
are willing to shove all-in has grown.
The cutoff point for having a one-move stack (shove or fold) used to be ten
big blinds. Any more than that and the consensus was that you should just
open-raise and respond accordingly. Over time, however, opinion and playing
styles have shifted. In tournaments, raise-folding with a stack of less than 20
big blinds is now frequently seen as incorrect. This thinking has also filtered
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PKR New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

through to Sit & Go s, so you ll often see players open-shoving 12-15 big
blinds, and not just as the chip leader on the bubble.
These moves often fall into the category of unexploitable shoves , so called
because they will show a profit, in terms of chip EV, whether anyone calls or
not. The open-shove with a stack size such as 15BB has also increased in
popularity due to players realising that they re left with an awkward stack size
on the flop if they open for 3BB and pick up a single caller. The pot will be
anywhere between 6.5 and 7.5BB, so with a stack of 12BB you re in an
awkward spot postflop if you miss. You have a bit too much to shove and you
can t bet half pot or more intending to fold as you ll leave yourself shortstacked. At this point the open-shove, although a bit extreme, certainly seems
to offer a far easier decision than a standard raise. The argument goes that a
shove will often get players to fold hands such as Sevens or Eights hands
they might have moved all-in in with if you d simply made a standard raise.
Debate continues to rage as to whether an open-shove for more than 10BB is
optimum even if it is unexploitable, or whether a standard raise (intending
either to call an all-in or fold to a three-bet) is a better line. Either way, the
move is becoming more prevalent and you need to watch out for it and adjust
where possible.

Donk i

Perhaps the biggest trend in Sit & Go s in the last year has been that of regular
players drifting away from the traditional six-max and ten-handed formats to
play multi-table Sit & Go s with 12 to 180 runners. Because of this, a few
moves that almost violate the tight is right STT code have began to crop up
more commonly in the six- and ten-man games.
Leading into the preflop raiser christened the donk lead by the online forum
crowd is an unorthodox move that doesn t exactly have a rich heritage in the
Sit & Go arena. Standard Sit & Go strategy dictates that chips gained are
worth less than those lost, so preservation rather than accumulation is the
order of the day. As such, bloating pots, especially out of position, isn t very
clever. Because of this you barely saw the donk lead in days gone by, and
when you did it was almost always a sign of huge strength (from a competent
player). But these days the donk lead usually means something very different
and has merged with the blocker bet. A donk lead varies wildly in size,
whereas a blocker bet is by definition around a third of the pot or less.
Here s a common situation I see at the tables. I make a raise to, say, 180 from
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PKR New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

the cutoff at 30/60 and get called by the big blind. The flop comes an
innocuous looking 3-8-T rainbow and the big blind min-bets 20 into a 360 pot.
It s a pretty obvious tactic to get a cheaper turn card than I would allow him and
narrows his range to drawing hands and weak made hands such as an Eight or
a Ten with a bad kicker. There are a couple of ways to combat this. Should
you wish them to fold then often simply coming over the top either for a large
raise or all your chips will do the trick. Be careful though, as some players get
stubborn and will call any amount with any draw on the flop. In that case,
waiting till the turn to blow them off their hand at the risk of them actually
making their hand is sometimes a better play. Even ignorant players are less
likely to chase with only one card to come!
If you actually have a hand, then manipulating the pot size in your favour by
raising an amount you think your foe will call is better than simply calling the
donk lead in most instances.
3Recommend
Sha e

Commen
The game and the strategy behind it is constantly changing and as players, we
have to adapt to new ideas and strategies. Reading articles like this is free, but
you might just learn something.
If you dont understand some of the 'lingo' used, then google it and read what
an open limp is, dont expect the article writer to wipe your arse as well.
Comment by Pspacer11 - 27/09/10 (Report)
Sorry, but half of this is like reading chinese. Any chance of helping us little
guys, the ones who play to learn and don't speak the lingo.
Comment by CelticGold - 30/01/10 (Report)
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PKR New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

it's more simple,no one can teach ou how too pla the game,if we all followed
so called pro's advice we'd all pla the same and the game would be just a
heads up gamble ever time....slow pla top hands with thehope of drawing as
man pla ers in as possible...it never failed me,especiall when pla ing in
casino's.
Comment b obimike - 24/12/09 (Report)
low stakes $10 - $30 eah ma be for ou mate but what about us $1-$5
pla ers,does this advice transfer to that level too??
Comment b Billmillar80 - 23/12/09 (Report)
Thank ou for the article. I am a veteran local club pla er but online is different
again. I found our article helped to remind me to freshen up m game and to
watch for others pla ing this limp bait game. Thank ou.
Comment b DavidSullivan - 17/12/09 (Report)
Please! Less jargon. Remember man people reading these pages are
beginners. Limping???? You need to make it a little more basic gu s.
Comment b englishfrank - 08/12/09 (Report)
not reall sure what is the benefit to post a strateg article?.....teach fish to pla
better?......praise our egos?...or do ou earn mone from pkr?....all these
genorous pokerteacher at the tables and forums are ver welcome....give our
wisdom for free....and dr out the fishponds.....no pokerpla er should pa for
his learningtime an more......
Comment b bschuermann - 08/12/09 (Report)
pants
Comment b compass87 - 07/12/09 (Report)
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14/01/2012

PKR New moves in low-stakes Sit & Go's

Rela ed link
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

The basics of reading a poker hand

Aces rock
A simple blueprint for MTT success
The new Sit & Go landscape
Folding our wa to (some of) the mone
The big pa off

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

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