Pre-flop: Early Phase
Pre-flop Introduction
There are four things that must be established before you can decide how to act pre-flop:
1: The current tournament phase you are in.
2: Your pocket cards.
3: The actions of the other players
4: Your position at the table.
You should already be familiar with all four of them but we will give the table positions a quick look to refresh your memory before moving on to the correct course of action.
Table Position
Here is the picture and chart we introduced earlier:
| Players |
Early |
Middle |
Late |
Blinds |
| 10 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| 9 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| 8 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| 7 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| 6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| 5 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| 4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| 3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
It is the location of the dealer button and the number of players at the table that determine the positions. The positions disappear as the number of players drop; beginning with the early, then the middle and finally the late ones. When there are only two players left at the table it is known as a heads-up game which is something you can’t learn from a manual. It comes with experience.
►There are 10 players at the table. There are two players to the left of the player on the button and after them comes you. That makes your position an early position.
►There are 10 players at the table. The player to your right is the player on the button. That makes you the SB.
►There are 7 players at the table. Your are sitting to the right of the player on the button. That makes your position a late position.
►There are 7 players at the table. There are two players to your left and after them comes the player on the button. That makes your position a middle position.
►There are 5 players at the table. The player to your left is the player on the button. That makes your position a late position.
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Early Phase
You have 24 or more BB and are consequently in the early phase. The chart below shows the correct course of action for the early phase.
Here is a printable version of the complete Sit N Go strategy handout (including the chart below).
| Your Hand |
Raises Before You |
Early Pos. |
Middle Pos. |
Late Pos. |
Blinds |
| AA, KK |
None |
Raise |
| Exactly one |
Raise |
| More than one |
All-In |
| QQ |
None |
Raise |
| Exactly one |
Raise |
| More than one |
Fold |
| AK |
None |
Raise |
| Exactly one |
Call |
| More than one |
Fold |
| JJ, TT |
None |
Call |
Raise |
| One or more |
Fold |
| 99 to 22 |
None |
Call |
| One or more |
Fold |
| AQ, AJ, KQ |
None |
Fold |
Raise |
| One or more |
Fold |
There is also the matter of how large your raises should be:
| Raises before you |
Size of your raise |
| None |
4BB + 1 BB per caller |
| Exactly one |
Triple the raise + an amount that equals all calls made after that raise. |
Finally there are some special rules to consider:
| Special rule |
Your Hand |
Your action |
| There is one or more raises after you |
AA, KK, QQ, AK |
All-In |
| Any other hand |
Fold |
| Somebody raises to more than 6 BB. |
AA, KK, QQ, AK |
All-In |
| Any other hand |
Fold |
| The size of your raise exceeds 50% of your stack |
- |
All-In |
The chart of the early phase does not need much explanation. Your hand, the actions of the other players and your position all affect how you should play. A stronger hand makes you less sensitive to your position and the actions of the other players. A weaker hand makes you more sensitive to these factors. Nevertheless, protecting your chips is your primary concern and therefore the chart advocates a very careful style of play. The chart only tells you to go all-in straight away when you have one of the two best possible starting hands and there has been more than one raise before you. In this scenario you want to apply maximum pressure to force the other players to fold and leave you with the pot which should be significant. Even if they don’t fold you will have a strong enough hand to backup your bet. The same logic applies to the special rules where all-in is the correct action. Placing balanced bets is the key to everything:
►You must never bet so much that you scare everyone away before the pot has grown to a significant size. That would just be a waste of your playable hand.
►You must never bet so little that you make it cheap to call because this will attract a lot of opponents relative to the size of the pot. A lot of players remaining in the hand in combination with a relatively small pot give you bad odds. You want things to be the other way around – a big pot relative to the number of players remaining in the hand. Ideally, your opponents would initially invest chips in the pot but eventually fold to pressure before the flop is dealt.
The rule that says you should go all-in if your bet or raise exceeds 50% of your stack is known as 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. |
Pre-flop: Early Phase - Example 1
It is the early phase. Your hand is Td-Jd. This hand is not in the chart.
Your correct action: Fold
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Pre-flop: Early Phase - Example 2
It is the early phase. Your hand is 7h-7s. There has been one call before you but no raises.
Your correct action: Call
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Pre-flop: Early Phase - Example 3
It is the early phase. Your hand is AQ. There has been two calls before you but no raises. There are seven players at the table. You are the BB.
Your correct action: Raise to 6BB (4BB +1 BB per caller)
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Pre-flop: Early Phase - Example 4
It is the early phase. Your hand is Tc-Td. There has been one raise before you and one player called that raise. The raise was to 2BB. There are eight players at the table. There are two players to your left and after them comes the player on the dealer button. That makes your position a middle position. Your correct action: Raise to 8BB (Triple the raise before you + an amount equal to all calls made after that raise: 3 x 2BB + 2 BB) A player after you raises. One of the three special rules applies to this scenario. If your hand is AA, KK, QQ or AK you should go all-in. You fold with any other hand. Your hand is Tc-Td as stated earlier. It is your turn to act.
Your correct action: Fold
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