Centrist
04-26-2004, 03:21 PM
It seems like most of the discussion here is about NL SNGs, including that excellent tutorial a while back by benfranklin.
I wonder if we have many here who play limit ... and, if so, if you'd like to discuss strategy. I suspect it's very different from the optimal NL strategy, and also simpler. Maybe that's why I like it better than NL.
The weird thing is, I actually built my bankroll at the NL ring games. Yet I'm somehow not inclined right now to play NL SNGs.
Anyway, here is what I would consider a basic strategy:
Rounds 1 to 3:
For the first several rounds, you have a little bit of leeway, but you mostly want to play really tight. You want to make sure you make it to level 4, minimum, even if you don't win a hand.
You should only play aggressively with a couple of the premium hands -- AA and KK. Keep betting/raising pre-flop and on the flop. Back off and call someone down if they're betting aggressively in later rounds on a coordinated board.
Your odds of winning with AA and KK are strong enough to make the risk worth it -- and raising early increases those odds.
You can also play speculative hands for one bet. I would limit those to pocket pairs -- aiming for a set. That way you know if you've made it on the flop, and can fold (or hit the gas) after having risked one bet.
Suited aces or connectors might tempt you to stay in -- if you have a four-flush ... and you have only a 1 in 3 chance of making the flush. Fold them and avoid temptation.
With this early round strategy, most of the time you will play very few hands, win nothing, bleed away some chips, and make it to rounds 4 or 5 with perhaps $500 to $600 in chips.
Occasionally, you'll have a big hand or two and have $800 to $1200.
Rounds 4 to 6:
Most of the time, you're short-stacked here, and you're looking to steal or double-up.
You're trying, at this stage, to let players drop out and let the blinds rise before you make your move. A pre-flop raise will win the blinds more often (and they'll be worth more) when you have 5 people left than when you have 8. So you're still playing a waiting game -- looking for that opportunity to either steal or double ... both being easier to do with a smaller field.
You can use one of several moves, here:
1. Wait until the field dwindles and blinds rise, pick an ok hand (like Ax or a pair) and open raise.
2. Get lucky and find yourself with a premium hand, raising all the way.
3. Identify a couple of tight players sitting next to each other, and raise when they have the blinds.
You will probably need to win at least two hands to make final 3. There's definitely some skill and subtlety involved in knowing when you're positioned for F3, when you can wait it out and when you need to selectively attack.
There's a basic balance involved here. You don't want to let your stack fall below, say $450 or so ... you want to make one of the above moves before then. But you want to do it as late a round as possible, with as small a field. You'll have fewer callers, and your raise is bigger money. Wait until the blinds are worth risking your stack for.
Later Rounds/Final 3:
If you scramble your way into the money, attack. You may be out in one hand. If you win that first hand, though, you're in the running and your attacks have weight behind them because you can hurt their stack.
When your first attack or two works, you're probably in F2, and the trick, of course is to play really good heads-up poker. That's the part I'm not so good at.
Any thoughts/observations about this strategy are most welcome. Thanks.
I wonder if we have many here who play limit ... and, if so, if you'd like to discuss strategy. I suspect it's very different from the optimal NL strategy, and also simpler. Maybe that's why I like it better than NL.
The weird thing is, I actually built my bankroll at the NL ring games. Yet I'm somehow not inclined right now to play NL SNGs.
Anyway, here is what I would consider a basic strategy:
Rounds 1 to 3:
For the first several rounds, you have a little bit of leeway, but you mostly want to play really tight. You want to make sure you make it to level 4, minimum, even if you don't win a hand.
You should only play aggressively with a couple of the premium hands -- AA and KK. Keep betting/raising pre-flop and on the flop. Back off and call someone down if they're betting aggressively in later rounds on a coordinated board.
Your odds of winning with AA and KK are strong enough to make the risk worth it -- and raising early increases those odds.
You can also play speculative hands for one bet. I would limit those to pocket pairs -- aiming for a set. That way you know if you've made it on the flop, and can fold (or hit the gas) after having risked one bet.
Suited aces or connectors might tempt you to stay in -- if you have a four-flush ... and you have only a 1 in 3 chance of making the flush. Fold them and avoid temptation.
With this early round strategy, most of the time you will play very few hands, win nothing, bleed away some chips, and make it to rounds 4 or 5 with perhaps $500 to $600 in chips.
Occasionally, you'll have a big hand or two and have $800 to $1200.
Rounds 4 to 6:
Most of the time, you're short-stacked here, and you're looking to steal or double-up.
You're trying, at this stage, to let players drop out and let the blinds rise before you make your move. A pre-flop raise will win the blinds more often (and they'll be worth more) when you have 5 people left than when you have 8. So you're still playing a waiting game -- looking for that opportunity to either steal or double ... both being easier to do with a smaller field.
You can use one of several moves, here:
1. Wait until the field dwindles and blinds rise, pick an ok hand (like Ax or a pair) and open raise.
2. Get lucky and find yourself with a premium hand, raising all the way.
3. Identify a couple of tight players sitting next to each other, and raise when they have the blinds.
You will probably need to win at least two hands to make final 3. There's definitely some skill and subtlety involved in knowing when you're positioned for F3, when you can wait it out and when you need to selectively attack.
There's a basic balance involved here. You don't want to let your stack fall below, say $450 or so ... you want to make one of the above moves before then. But you want to do it as late a round as possible, with as small a field. You'll have fewer callers, and your raise is bigger money. Wait until the blinds are worth risking your stack for.
Later Rounds/Final 3:
If you scramble your way into the money, attack. You may be out in one hand. If you win that first hand, though, you're in the running and your attacks have weight behind them because you can hurt their stack.
When your first attack or two works, you're probably in F2, and the trick, of course is to play really good heads-up poker. That's the part I'm not so good at.
Any thoughts/observations about this strategy are most welcome. Thanks.