Flop, Turn & River
How To Evaluate Your Hand
If you have already gone all-in, it means you can’t do anything but wait for the showdown. If you still have chips left, then you need to evaluate your hand.
Once the flop is dealt you can have three types of hands which you should already be familiar with:
►Made hands
►Drawing hands
►Trash hands
A made hand can be anything from top pair to royal flush. Bear in mind that a made hand must have at least one pocket card contributing to its ranking. Community cards of matching rank are not worth anything to you if none of your pocket cards can be combined with them to form a higher hand.
Made hands: Top Pair, Over Pair, Two Pairs, Trips, Straight, Flush, Full House, Quads, Straight Flush, Royal Flush.
Drawing hands are generally not playable in a sit and go tournament seeing as they will fail to improve the majority of times and in a sit n go a lost showdown will likely mean elimination. One could say that the monetary value of a chip you lose is higher than that of a chip you win. If you lose your stack there won’t be a next hand to play, whereas winning a hand is no guarantee for finishing in the money. This is the reason why drawing hands should generally be treated as trash hands.
How To Play Your Hand
To understand what hands to play and what hands to fold on the flop you must understand the concept of the continuation bet.
| Continuation bet: You make a continuation bet when you continue your aggressive pre-flop action on the flop. Aggressive pre-flop action means that you raised pre-flop. A continuation bet (or raise) must be relatively big to qualify as a continuation bet. It must be aggressive. As a rule, you should bet 2/3 of the current pot size or alternatively raise to three times the bet before you. This gives your opponents bad odds for calling. |
The continuation bet is a powerful action because it renders your opponents passive and thereby prone to folding; thus making it possible for you to win the hand prematurely (without having to see the showdown). This is particularly valuable if your hand is questionable.
Here is a printable version of the complete Sit N Go strategy handout (including the chart below).
Two pairs or higher: Always playable.
Top Pair / Over Pair: Playable only if you raised pre-flop.
Trash Hand: Playable only if you raised pre-flop and there is only opponent remaining in the hand who has not yet bet anything. If this single remaining opponent bets or raises you must always fold.
When you have a playable hand you play it aggressively;i.e. by betting and raising.
Size of your bet: 2/3 of the current pot size.
Size of your raise: Triple the bet/raise before you + an amount that equals all calls made after the bet/raise in question. |
We will take this opportunity to remind you of the do-or-die rule.
| The do-or-die rule: If your correct bet or raise costs you more than 50% of your stack you must always go all-in. You can not hope to achieve anything with less than 50% of your stack remaining, not in the current hand and nor in any future hands. Therefore, you must take the opportunity to apply maximum pressure. Your opponents might very well fold to that pressure and if they remain in the hand you will at least have produced a huge enough pot to be worth your while. It is a win/win situation to go all-in and a lose/lose situation to do anything less in the context at hand. |
Please observe that the playable hands outlined above are very black and white and reality is not always that simple. You may also have to factor in the number of players remaining at the table and in the hand, how favourable the community cards are as well as the actions of your opponents and their general playing styles. We will focus on the community cards here. Although the actions of the other players are plain and simple to see, reading their true intentions is not something you can learn from a manual. It comes with experience.
There are two basic scenarios to consider. Both of these scenarios were presented in an earlier part of the school (Texas Hold’em strategy - Hand Odds). First out is the scenario that fits the hands we have already prescribed for you.
Full Table Multi-way Pot Scenario
You will need a top pair to win at the very least. Whether a top pair is enough to win or not depends on the community cards and the current betting behaviour of your opponents. When you have top pair or over pair you need to pay careful attention to the community cards and your opponent's betting behaviour because these are two frequently beaten hands.
Unfavourable community cards:
►2 community cards of the same rank. Your opponent could have a trips.
►3 community cards of the same rank. Your opponent could have a full house. Even if you have full house you will need a high pocket pair to ascertain that you have the winning hand. Preferably an over pair.
►2 pairs among the community cards. Your opponent could have a full house. Even if you have a full house you will need the higher trips to ascertain that you have the winning hand.
►3 coordinated community cards that can form a straight with 2 connected pocket cards of medium or high rank. Your opponent could have a straight. Even if you have a straight you need it to be the nut straight to ascertain that you have the winning hand.
►4 coordinated community cards that can form a straight with a medium or high pocket card. Your opponent could have a straight. Even if you have a straight you need it to be the nut straight to ascertain that you have the winning hand.
►3-4 suited community cards. Your opponent could have a flush. Even if you have a flush you will need a high pocket card of that suit to ascertain that you have the winning hand.
Unfavourable betting behaviour exhibited by your opponent:
►Betting & raising.
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The clues within the scenario above will usually point you in the right direction. Unfavourable community cards, relative to your current hand ranking, in combination with unfavourable actions taken by your opponent or opponents mean that your hand needs improvement. If your hand needs improvement on the flop in a Sit N Go, then it should generally be folded.
The other scenario is a more complex one where your pocket cards and the community cards do not play as big of a part:
Short-handed Table Heads-up Pot Scenario
Here you must weigh your actions carefully against the community cards, your opponent's pre-flop actions, current actions and general playing style. Your hand is secondary. Should you have a top pair or higher you have little to worry about but a hand below a top pair is not necessarily in need of improvement. It depends on what your opponent is up to.
Unfavourable community cards:
►3 or more community cards that rank higher than your pocket cards. Your opponent could have a top pair.
►4 connected community cards that you are not forming a straight with. Your opponent could have a straight.
►4 suited community cards that you are not forming a flush with. Your opponent could have a flush.
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