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Having a basic strategy is a must for anyone who plays
tournaments, especially quick-moving no-limit hold'em sit-and-go tourneys.
Without one you're basically hanging in the wind, making decisions without
regard to where you stand in relation to the other players or the size of
the blinds and antes. That's a poor way to manage the limited number of
chips you begin a tournament with. But even with a basic strategy in hand
table conditions and your starting cards may conspire against your
well-laid plans and leave you with few options other than moving all-in
with any two cards. At times like these it's important to be able to shift
gears and alter your style of play. Knowing when to do so can be the
difference between finding yourself short-stacked and making it into the
money. The key to figuring out when to change gears is to know the other
players sitting at your table as well as you can. Usually you'll have
nothing more to go on than the first fifteen to twenty hands you play
before the blinds begin rising to significant levels, but you can learn
enough to make good decisions in a relatively short amount of time.
Unless your cards and position dictate otherwise, it helps to play
conservatively in the first two levels or so and pay close attention to
every hand your opponents contest. Make use of the note-taking feature in
your card room's software and comment on how often each player raises, how
often they limp in with odds, whether they like to play multi-way pots,
how many opponents they will bet into, and what sorts of cards they show
down. By the time you've finished two levels or so, you should have a
pretty firm grasp of what sorts of players you're up against.
By this point, assuming you haven't hit a monster hand early on to double
up, you'll most often find yourself down a bit from your starting stack.
This isn't anything to worry about, as you now have enough information to
start picking spots where you can exploit your opponents' tendencies. As
long as your table isn't fully loaded with hyper-aggressive Gus Hansen
types, the other players have probably noticed you haven't been playing
many hands and they will give you some degree of respect when you enter a
pot. This will usually work out well as you begin to loosen up your
starting hand requirements, allowing you to take a few pots and build your
stack back up a bit.
How do you decide when to switch gears? Watch for your opponents'
tendencies to change around the third or fourth level, starting with the
most aggressive players. When these opponents begin to sit back on stacks
they've built up, it's time to jump into action. Most of your truly tight
opponents won't shift gears themselves quickly enough, so this is prime
territory for picking up a lot of small pots with aggressive play. Begin
looking for opportunities to raise in any position with hands you might
not otherwise consider - any pair, any ace, any two face cards, and suited
connectors as low as five-four will work great. There will be a period -
maybe as long as a full level, but sometimes less - where your opponents
won't realize you've changed your approach, giving you a lot of chances to
claim blinds that are now worth taking. In addition, your opponents will
have a harder time reading you when they realize their initial impression
of you as a rock wasn't correct, so if you hit a monster you'll most
likely be paid off.
The key to knowing when your opponents have picked up on you - or when you
need to let go of a hand when you're challenged - is the time you spent
getting to know them in the beginning of the tournament. The guy who's
only raised twice throughout the entire game probably has a real hand. The
formerly aggressive player who's been sitting back, but suddenly comes to
life when you get aggressive, has probably recognized signs of his own
style in the way you've been playing and has decided to play sheriff.
You'll have to rely on your reads in these situations, as there's no
one-size-fits-all solution to navigating tough hands when you've changed
your approach. Keep in mind, though, that the further you get into the
tournament, the more likely you're going to have to be willing to go all
the way with a hand that isn't the stone cold nuts. If you did your
homework in the early going, your chances of making the right decision in
such a situation will be much greater. Don't be afraid to trust your reads
and switch gears when the situation calls for it.
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