Super Turbo Sit N Go’s

There are a couple of major poker sites that are offering “Super Turbo” sit n go tournaments. The essence of the events is to start players off with a very small amount of chips and provide very short rounds. Most of these sit n go’s are done within half an hour. These events are viewed by many as virtual “luckfests”, but in reality, a solid aggressive player can still do well in these games.

First, I do not take the approach of some that like to try and gamble it up to build a lot of chips early. Most of these super turbo events start with 500 or fewer chips at 10 – 20 blinds. Gambling it up is relying totally on luck and you don’t need to do this here. In the early rounds, I will almost always only play the top 10 hands with a few variations on the button. I might play A-10 or A-9 on the button as long as there is no raise. If I am in a very passive table, I may take a flyer with a couple of face cards, but only if the pot is not raised.

If I enter a pot with a big hand, I am raising. In a normal game, I am going to raise from 3.5 times the blind to a pot sized bet. In these cases, I am going to typically overcommit on my betting pre-flop. The reason is that many players will push with utter garbage trying to gamble it up. I want them to have to pay to get lucky. Also, I do not want to price someone in that is trying to speculate with a hand in late position. Essentially, if they want to play, they are going to have to pay.

Middle pairs and small pairs I am going to see a flop with if it costs 10% of my stack or less. If I hit my set, I am playing it fast unless it is the nuts. Also, if I have a hand such as A-K or A-Q and I flop top pair, I am playing it fast. If someone flops lucky against me, so be it.

The above is how I will typically play until we get down to around the bubble. The exception is if I am at a tight table and the blinds are a significant portion of my stack. I will then pick a spot or pick a hand and run with it.

Otherwise, once you get to the bubble period, you strategy will depend a lot on several factors. First, what is your chip stack. Are you the chip leader with a decent cushion? If so, you may want to let some players knock each other around. By the time you are at the bubble in most of these games, there will likely be two stacks that basically have to pick a hand and go. There is no reason to risk a lot of chips to try and bust someone if you do not have to.

If you are a medium stack or if the stacks are somewhat even, you need to selectively gamble and be aggressive. Pick a reasonable hand and try to steal the blinds, especially if you can do it against a stack that seems to be trying to squeak into the money. There are going to be times where you will bubble as a result of your gamble. You may run into a bigger hand or you may just flop unlucky. That will happen. In most cases, this should keep you afloat and build your stack.

If you are the short stack, you want to try and push either with a legit hand that gives you the best chance to double up, or you want to push while you have some fold equity. If you can push against a stack that isn’t much larger than you, you will many times receive a fold. However, be wary of pushing against a stack that is at least 5 times your size. They will almost always call to try and get to the money.

Once you make the money, your strategy will depend on your chip stack. If you are short, push and pray. This is also relative to the other stacks. Sometimes you might be the short stack but the stacks are somewhat even. At that point you want to play like a medium stack.

A medium stack will want to knock the short stack around a bit and try and steal blinds against the other medium stack if it exists. The only time you want to really mess with the chip leader is when you have a solid hand to go to war with.

If you are the chip leader, your strategy should be determined by your stack size. If you have a nice cushion, you may want to let the other two stacks knock each other around. Many times what will happen is that you have a super short stack and in that case, you will probably want to take a shot at busting him. Of course, play your solid hands aggressively, and if you have a couple players that seem to be content to move up to 2nd, then continue to attack their stacks.

In most cases, you want to play a normal heads-up strategy once you get to that point. My only caveat to that is if the blind have gotten really high. If you are looking at 750 – 1,500 blinds and up, then you want to play pretty much any reasonable hand. In the case of the super turbos with only 300 chips as starting stacks, 500 – 1,000 is the push with anything range. When the blinds are this high, whomever is catching cards will likely win. Your best bet is to go in with a reasonable hand and hope you are not behind and don’t become unlucky.

Super turbo sit n go’s can be a lot of fun, but be aware ahead of time that there is a higher degree of luck involved. Balance out that luck with solid play and you should do well in these little tourneys. Good luck to you at the tables.

- James “Compncards” Guill

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