Knowing Your Limit on Satellites

Think about the example above. If you are paying $100 to buy-in to a satellite, as long as you aren’t doing that satellite more than nine times, then you are coming out ahead over buying into the actual event. The problem is, if you end up going past that point, then you’ve officially gone in the complete opposite direction if you end up buying into the event, and instead of paying the $1k buy-in, you’ve basically paid $2k to buy-in to the one tournament! This is never a good thing, which is why you should set a limit on the number of satellites that you are willing to buy-in to before you actually start playing. Most people will stick with 2-4 satellites in most situations, but that’s completely up to you and your style of play!

Style of Play for Satellites

A lot of this will depend on the type of satellite that you are playing. More often than not a satellite is 9 or 10 total players, which gives the feel of being a sit-n-go essentially. Sit-n-go strategy is key, as you should be very tight throughout the beginning of play, and raise a bit more often as you gain a bigger stack. If you simply aren’t getting hands and your stack is slowly starting to deplete, then you should just look for a spot to be able to get it all in ahead, and potentially get a nice double up. Some satellites will give more than just one seat into the big event, and if this is ever the case then you should be sure to adjust your play if you get down to the final three or four people, because at this point it isn’t about WINNING, but simply about finishing in those top two or three spots!

Overall, satellites are an option that almost all poker players should look into. It can save you quite a bit of money in the long run, because if you can pay $100 to buy-in to a $1k tournament, and you only min-cash the payout is still excellent for you because you will be making a ton back on your original $100 investment.

Big Stack

A big stack pretty much consists of over 30 big blinds to me. What I mean by this is that you can three bet often, and continuation bet comfortably as well. When you have a deep stack, you have to be a bit careful about your stack unless your opponent is looking to get it all in. At that point, you have to decide if betting over your opponent and getting it all in is what you want to do with that draw. Obviously with something like a straight flush draw, you should go ahead and get it in because you have so many outs. But if it’s a straight draw this makes your decision a bit harder. A good thing to potentially base it off of is how your opponent has played to this point in the tournament, so use any information that you can.

Midsize Stack

This is typically around 20-25 big blinds, and if you have a big draw, you’re probably going to try to get it all in as quickly as possible. It’s tough being all in on a draw, but the chance to double up your stack to 40 or 50 big blinds is tournament changing, so this is a spot where the move is necessary. Even if your opponent has top pair, you have a great shot to pick up a nice double up and even leave your opponent very short stacked after it all.

Short Stack

The short stack in this situation is really anything under 20 big blinds. It’s very hard to play in this situation with a draw, but more often than not you are just going to get it all in and hope to double up. When short stacked you are always looking for a good spot to potentially double up, and this is as good of a spot as ever to do so. Hopefully your opponent bets out into you first, so that you can three bet and get it all in (or almost all in). If your opponent simply checks to you, you can still bet pretty big depending on the size of the pot though. If you have only a straight draw and can see a free card, it may not be a bad idea to sit back and do that though to see what your chances are after the turn!

Cash Games

Obviously in many cash game situations players will worry less about their chip stacks than they will in tournament poker. But, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to it in many situations. If your opponent is a deep stack and the river card that hits is one that improved the board (gave it straight draws or flush draws) then you probably want to just stay away from it all together. There’s definitely a good chance that your opponent is looking to check raise you in this situation. Also, your opponent might bet out at you, which causes a whole different class of questions that you should be tossing around before making any moves.

Poker Tournaments

Tournaments are where your life is toughest when it comes to deciding on whether or not you should check or bet on the river. You have a limited number of chips to work with in this situation, so you should definitely factor that into your decision. If you are a short stack and only have top pair, then just checking down and seeing if you have the lead is typically the right decision. The way to think about it is to think about what exactly your opponent would call your final bet with. If they were to call, would your hand be better than ANYTHING in their range? If it wouldn’t be, then it’s simply a spot where you need to check and hope that your opponent was attempting to hit a draw and didn’t get there. Your job in a poker tournament is to slowly build that stack, and winning a pot that you’ve bet into on both the flop and turn will still help you pick up some chips.

Overall, just remember to put your opponent on a range. If you do this, it can help you make your decision about what to do much easier. Also, watch the board for any draws, and if that draw ends up hitting then there is definitely no point in throwing out a bet on the river, unless you are hoping to bluff your opponent out of the hand all together!

25+ Big Blinds

This is a nice spot, where all that you really have to do is continue to play your game. You have more than enough big blinds to make calls and raises when you feel comfortable doing so, and don’t have to worry about pushing it all in anytime soon. In this situation, it’s very important to not go on tilt after the bad beat, and the best way to do this is simply sit back and wait for a good spot. This may take quite a few hands, but if you try to push the action to get all of your money back right away, it will push your chip stack backwards, way more often than it will forwards.

15-25 Big Blinds

This spot isn’t quite as easy, because when you start getting near 15 big blinds, you can’t really be making raises and then folding. If you get a hand that you like with that many big blinds than just push it all in. Now, since you can’t play as many hands here, you’re going to want to keep yourself as patient as possible, and literally fold everything but the big ones pretty much. If you are in the upper part (between 20 and 25 big blinds) and are in position with a shot to steal the blinds, that may not be a bad idea, but just don’t get crazy doing so.

Under 15 Big Blinds

It’s simply all in time. This is one of the bigger problems that players have though after they get hit by a bad beat and are short stacks. Many players don’t think that they can wait for a good spot to get it all in, so will push it within the next 1-3 hands, which isn’t a good idea unless you pick up a big one. Just be aware that the next big hand that you go all in with, that you should be way ahead and in a great spot to double. Pushing your 9-8 suited isn’t a great play unless you are in position with only the small and big blind to act after you normally. Just don’t push it all because you are on tilt, because that is the worst way to possibly leave a poker tournament.

Deep Stack Play

Now deep stack play can vary quite a bit, and a lot will depend on where you are at in the tournament. If you are early on in the tournament then you should just play standard and not get too crazy. On the other side of things though, if you are nearing the money, you should loosen up your play a bit to put pressure on the shorter stacks. It’s always important though to remember that you don’t want to be in a spot where you are risking YOUR stack that close to the money. The best spot that you can be in is that you are the deepest stack at your table with quite a few short stacks around you. Just be aggressive with a deep stack, as this is the best way to be able to build up your stack, three-betting and continuation betting is definitely a good idea in many spots.

Short Stack Play

This is where it’s a big tougher, because when you are a short stack you have to pick your spots carefully. Most of the time, you’ll find that you have to sit back and just wait to get a big hand, or to be able to push it all in when you are in position with a semi-short stack sitting near you. The most important thing to watch is how many big blinds you have remaining. If you start to get under 15 big blinds then you shouldn’t be doing any regular raising, and you should instead just be moving all in. The problem is, if you pick up a hand like K/Q and make a small raise, your opponent is likely to make a move over the top and put the pressure back on you (if they are the deep stack), and this will just leave you with a tough decision for all of your chips.

If you find yourself as one of the middle stacks, then you can just continue to play your game, and continue to build your stack hopefully as you work your way towards the money! Players all have different types of playing styles, but it’s important to be sure that you constantly change your style though, in order to throw off opponents at your table, so that they don’t get reads on your play.

Counting Big Blinds

This is important for both your stack, and your opponents stack as well. Raising and three-betting is always good in poker, UNLESS you have a small number of big blinds remaining in your hand. For sit-n-go’s it is recommended to base your decisions on whether or not you have more or less than ten big blinds. We’ll call ten the magic number here. If you are raising with your hand, and you have ten big blinds or less, then you should simply be pushing all in. This puts pressure on your opponent, and just raising a small amount will make life tough when betting on the flop. It’s also important to know your raising range heads up, but we will cover that more in-depth below. As far as counting your opponents’ big blinds, if THEY have less than ten big blinds, you should be pushing all in regardless of how many chips you have as well. Making your opponent choose to call off their chips for their tournament life is a tough decision for them, and is one that you want them constantly having to debate.

Hand Range to Push All In

This is one of the toughest decisions for many players, as it can be hard to decide exactly whether or not you want to either risk your stack, or push all in to make your opponent risk their stack. The rule of thumb that I usually live by is that I’ll be pushing all in with less than ten big blinds, or if my opponent has less than ten big blinds, with any ace, any pair, and most king’s. On top of that, if you have something like Q-10, or Q-9, I’d typically push that all in as well. If you can make these shoves and continue to pick up blinds without getting a call from your opponent, then it works out excellent as your opponents stack will continually be getting smaller. Now, for what to call your opponents shoves with, I’d probably recommend hands that have an ace, and most pocket pairs above sixes. You’ll find that depending on how short your opponent is, they could be pushing a pretty wide range of hands.

Reading Players

Oh what a difference THIS is between live and online poker. Reading players is something that is almost impossible to do in online poker tournaments, unless you are simply reading their style of play. You get zero tells, and no way of reading into how they are talking either. Some people will choose to chat online, but that really doesn’t give you much information. In live poker tournaments though, you can read into how players play each hand, things that they do when they bluff, and also different tells that they have throughout a wide range of hands. It is a huge benefit for live poker tournament players to be able to read players, so why not take advantage of this when you are heading towards a nice big pay day?

Speed of Play and No Multi-Tabling

Online poker allows players to see an incredibly large number of hands per hour than live poker does, and this even stands true for poker tournaments as well. While many online poker players use the option to multi-table, in order to not only see more hands per hour, but also to avoid making mistakes in big tournaments or cash games; this option is obviously not offered in live poker tournaments. Players who play in the live events simply have to sit back and play only the hand that is dealt to them, which can definitely be a bit slower. This is why it is very important to pay attention to your opponents at the table, and keep yourself occupied so that you avoid making any types of mistakes. These mistakes that can be made can include playing too loose or too aggressive, and also betting too big or too small into a pot!

Multi-Tabling

Multi-tabling is a great option for cash game poker players, because it gives them the chance to be patient in choosing which hands they want to play. Players who multi-table also pick up a factor that a lot of players don’t take into consideration that can help avoid going on tilt. When players set up multi-tabling, they typically set the “auto-rebuy” on, which means that if they lose an all-in with their chips, then it will automatically put the money back onto that specific table. What this means for players is that if they lose an all-in pre-flop or on the flop, you can simply go on to the next table and not worry about what’s going on at the table before. This can help make it so that your play is not affected by the outcome, and you can just focus on playing well! At the end of a session, you can then take a look at your poker tracker or your account and see where you stand.

Knowing When to Break

This is incredibly hard, because stopping when you are losing is a tough thing to do. If players hit a down swing, their first instinct is to try to get their money back and get back to the tables. If you can sit back and relax for a bit, maybe grab a bit of food or go watch TV, it can help you out quite a bit. A lot of players will actually simply leave their house and head out for a bit to clear their head and take some time away from the tables. Taking time away is almost never a bad thing, unless you are on an incredibly hot streak, and if that is the case then you should continue to grind it out.

Lowering Stakes

Moving down to the lower stakes is a very good option when you are losing a bit at your normal stakes. This is the best option for players who simply don’t like leaving the table, and can’t force themselves to get up from their seats. In this case, if you can keep playing solid poker, playing at the lower limits can help you potentially win some money back, and keep you involved in the action by picking up some frequent player points, and even bringing in rake back to help turn that tough swing around as well.

Negative Emotions

It’s never easy, believe me, I’ll be the first person to admit to that. After your pocket King’s get hit on the river by their two pair, all you want to do is get up and yell and ask your opponent what exactly they were thinking. This is definitely the worst thing that you can possibly do that. The truth is actually, if you simply take the beat, and then go on to the next hand, you can bet that doing so will send a message to your opponents that you are a strong player. It can definitely make players lay down to your big bets (or bluffs), so you should always stay positive! On top of that, being negative will only make you play worse as well, by bluffing off more of your chips, and making it far more obvious that you are bluffing as well.

Positive Emotions

It sounds crazy to say that you shouldn’t be able to celebrate if you win a big hand, but sometimes it’s simply a better idea to lay back and hold in those emotions. This shows players that you know how to win big hands, and know what you’re doing. This could definitely help in later hands, as bluffs are more likely to get respect folds, and players will overall just be more scared of your play. You can bet that some of the poker pros, or stronger poker players in the game remember exactly how a player handles their wins, just as much as how they handle their losses as well.

Overall, the most important thing is simply to control your tilt, and control your emotions in general. Remember that you aren’t the only player who’s ever been sucked out on! It happens to the best of us, and we’ve all been the person who’s hit that lucky river card as well.

More Straight Forward Strategy

When it comes to multi-table tournaments, there is all kinds of strategy involved. Early play, late play, heads up play, big stack play, short stack play, positional plays, in game play, and much more than you could possibly imagine. It can be quite a bit overwhelming for players who are either new to the game, or aren’t used to playing in big multi-table tournaments. This is why sit-n-go’s can be a good place to start, or simply a good game to play consistently. There is definitely strategy involved in sit-n-go’s, but it is fairly easy to pick-up, and it’s all about being patient and looking for spots to be able to get it all in ahead. Sit-n-go strategy can take a few hours of reading up, or watching videos, and you can be ready to get into the small stakes action.

Multi-Tabling Sit-N-Go’s and Saving Time

Many thing that sit-n-go players will overlook from time to time is the option to multi-table sit-n-go’s. Players find themselves playing a bit too loose pretty often in sit-n-go’s, which is why it’s always a good idea to play a few of them at once. The whole idea behind these tournaments is to be very patient and play big hands, and then get it all in with a good hand when running low in big blinds. Playing a few different sit-n-go’s will give players the chance to be patient and not have to focus on one single event.

Also, it will save quite a bit of time, as making a run in a multi-table tournament can last hours and hours, or even days on end. The toughest part about that is that in some situations after playing for hours, you could only make a small cash, or unfortunately not even make a cash at all. Playing sit-n-go’s allows players to grind out results and not have to play for the entire day. Of course, some players do prefer to play through the day and attempt to make that deep run, but for the players who don’t have time, sit-n-go’s are an excellent option.