Pre-flop: Late Phase

The basic parameters

You have 13 BB or less and are consequently in the late phase also known as the push or fold phase. There are only two viable actions to choose between in this phase:

All-In
Fold

This may sound simple but it is actually the most complex phase of the tournament. The blinds are eating huge chunks from your stack and many of the players are likely already eliminated. You must play loose aggressively and outwit your opponents by reading and bluffing. There are two basic things that you must establish when deciding how to act in the late phase.

The number of opponents remaining in the tournament. The state of your stack.

The number of opponents remaining in the tournament has a huge impact on how you must play. There are three distinct scenarios defined by the number of players, including you, remaining in the tournament:

Bubble: 4 or more players remaining in the tournament.
In the money: 3 players remaining in the tournament.
Heads-up: 2 players remaining in the tournament.

Your stack can be in 3 absolute states:

Rich: Your stack is 10BB or more.
Intermediate: Your stack is 5 or more BB but less than 10 BB.
Poor: Your stack is less than 5 BB.

Before moving on to the scenarios you must learn the starting hand categories that will be used in the charts to come.

Strong hands: AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, TT, 99, KQ, AJ.
Medium hands: All remaining pairs and combinations of high cards.
Speculative hands: High card + medium card; connected medium cards
Marginal hands: A + low card suited; face card + low card suited
Futile hands: All other hands.

Your hand is KT. This is a medium hand.
Your hand is J8. This is a speculative hand.
Your hand is J4. This is a low hand.
Your hand is 73. This is a futile hand.

Bubble

In poker jargon the bubble refers to the phase in a tournament where the next player to be eliminated finishes outside the money and all the remaining players finish in the money. In a standard SitnGo tournament where the top 3 players get paid, the bubble takes place when there are 4 players remaining in the tournament. Although the traditional “bubble” does not necessarily have anything to do with the late phase of the tournament we have still chosen to incorporate it into the late phase because the blinds tends to be very high when the bubble takes place. Furthermore, the bubble has little if any impact on the earlier phases which are best played as prescribed. The fact that our scenario allows for more than 4 remaining players can be over looked for players are quickly eliminated in the late phase and it is more important to distinguish between in the money and outside the money than between different degrees of outside the money. At least in so far as the late phase of a single table SitnGo tournament. In short, we are using the bubble term more loosely than tradition prescribes but by doing so we attain a simpler and more stringent structure to the poker school.

To show you how to act on the bubble we have assembled a chart. A chart can never cover player reading, which plays a big part in the late phase, and therefore we have outlined a quite defensive course of action which may not always be appropriate. It depends on what kind of opponents you are facing. Nevertheless, the chart is a better guidance than no guidance at all and it will be a great help to a player with no prior experience.

The starting hand categories you can play on the bubble depend on the absolute state of your stack:

With a rich stack you only play strong and medium hands.
With a middle stack you play strong, medium and speculative hands.
With a poor stack you play strong, medium, speculative and low hands.
With a dying stack you play all hands.

The position you can play each hand category from depends on the relative state of your stack and the actions of the other players. On the bubble your stack can be in three relative states:

Uncontested: Your stack is at least three times the size of the biggest opposing stack remaining in the hand.
Contested: Your stack is bigger than the biggest opposing stack remaining in the hand but less than three times its size.

Pressured: Your stack is equal to or smaller than the biggest opposing stack remaining in the hand.

Please observe that you must include the paid blinds when comparing relative stack sizes as outlined above.

You are sitting on the button. You have 8 BB. The SB has 7.5 BB left in his stack and 0.5 BB already paid, leaving him with 8 BB. The BB has 12 BB left in his stack and 1 BB already paid, leaving him with 13 BB.

Now we will proceed to the chart which may not always be appropriate to use but it should give you a good sense of direction. There are two general rules that apply to all stacks and we will keep them separate in order to not repeat ourselves needlessly in the charts:

►If you have a strong hand you always go all-in no matter what.
►You always fold to raises unless you have a strong hand or a poor/dying stack.
►If your stack is dying (1.5 BB or less) you always go all-in no matter what.

The principle we are trying to convey in the chart above is that the more chips you have, the tighter you should play on the bubble. If you are not eliminated on the bubble it means that you are in the money and you don’t want to take more chances than necessary to get there. If you happen to have a lot of chips relative to the other players you also have the margins to take a loss. If everyone else must play loose to survive whereas you have the luxury of choice, then you are in the ideal situation. However, just because you can play loose does not mean that you should. You must still adapt to what the others are doing and what table position you are in.

You are in the late phase. There are four players, including you, remaining in the tournament so you are on the bubble. Your starting hand is Ac-5h. This is a low hand. Your stack is 10 BB. The state of your stack is rich. When you are rich you only play strong and medium hands.

Your correct action: Fold

You are in the late phase. There are five players, including you, remaining in the tournament so you are on the bubble. Your starting hand is Ks-Jh. This is a medium hand. Your stack is 11 BB. The player with the most chips is the BB who has 14 BB (including the blind he has already paid). This means that you are rich and matched. You are the first to act on the pre-flop so your position is middle position. The actions before you that apply when you are first to act is “everybody folds”.

Your correct action: Fold.

You are in the late phase. There are four players, including you, remaining in the tournament so you are on the bubble. Your starting hand is 7s-7d. This is a speculative hand. Your stack is 9 BB. You are on the button. SB has 8 BB (including the blind he paid), BB has 6 BB (including the blind he paid) and player on the CO has 4 BB. The state of your stack is middle contested. The player to your right, the CO, folds before you.

Your correct action: All-In

You are in the late phase. There are four players, including you, remaining in the tournament so you are on the bubble. Your starting hand is 9h-Td. This is a speculative hand. Your stack is 4 BB. The state of your stack is poor. To your right you have the player on the button which means you are the SB. There has been a raise before you. The player who raised went all-in with 6 BB. This means that you are pressured.

Your correct action: Fold.

In The Money

In a standard Sit N Go tournament you are in the money when there are only 3 players remaining in the tournament. Although this state of affairs does not necessarily have anything to do with the late phase of a tournament we have still chosen to incorporate it into the late phase because the blinds tend to be very high when you are in the money. Furthermore, the state of being in the money has little if any impact on the earlier phases which are best played as prescribed.

When you are in the money you must revamp the risk/reward thinking that has kept you alive so far. If you lose ALL your chips you will still get a share of the prize pool and if you win a few chips from another player’s stack it won’t make any difference at all. You can only make a difference by eliminating another player entirely. This means that loose aggressive play is the only way to go and the more chips you have, relative to the other players, the looser you CAN and SHOULD play.

When you are in the money your stack can be in three basic relative states:

Chip leader: This is when you have more chips than either of the two opponents still remaining in the tournament.
Middle-man: This is when you have less chips than the chips leader or an amount equal to one or both of the two opponents still remaining in the tournament.
Underdog: This is when you have less chips than both of the two opponents still remaining in the tournament.

Now we will proceed to the chart which may not always be appropriate to use but it should give you a good sense of direction.

General rule 1: If you have a strong hand you go all-in no matter what.
General rule 2: If your stack is dying (1.5 BB or less) you go all-in no matter what.

What we are trying to convey is that having a lot of chips relative to the other players allows you to play a larger range of hands. Being on the button also allows you to play a larger range of hands and likewise if everyone have acted passively before you. The thing is that you need a better hand to call a raise than what you need to raise yourself. If you go all-in before the others they may fold after you, especially if you have more chips than them because then you can take a loss while they can’t. If somebody else goes all-in before you, on the other hand, then you must win the showdown to win the hand. Your odds of winning are a lot better when nobody has raised before you. Don’t forget that only all-in or fold are viable options. Making a minimum raise or limping in rather than going all-in is the sign of an amateur. Slow playing does not pay off when you have two opponents remaining in the tournament.

You are the chip leader uncontested. You are on the button. Your hand is Kh-5c. This is a low hand.

Your correct action: All-In.

You are the underdog. You are on the button. Your hand is 7h-8h. This is a speculative hand.

Your correct action: Fold.

You are the middle-man and your position is BB. Your hand is Ts-Td. This is a strong hand. General rule #1 applies.

Your correct action: All-In.

Heads-up

There are only two players remaining in the tournament; you and your opponent. This is the final stage of the tournament where the winner is decided. The heads-up game is considered the most complex form of poker because mathematics can no longer serve as your primary guiding light. Reading and bluffing are the keys to winning the heads-up game. The heads-up game does not necessarily have anything to do with the late phase of a tournament but we have still chosen to incorporate it into the late phase because the blind tend to be very high when there are only two players remaining in a tournament. Furthermore, even if you have a lot of chips when you enter the heads-up game you must still play loose as to not let your opponent steal all the blinds. Moreover, if you play tight you become extremely predictable and your opponent will rarely take you up on your bet.

In the heads-up game the player on the button pays the SB and the other player pays the BB.

Button: The first position

To act first is an advantage because you have less invested in the pot and you can apply pressure. They key to winning is to keep your opponent guessing. He must never know what you are up to. In order to pull this off with more than 50% success you need to understand the basic mathematics of the heads-up game which can be summed up as follows:

If you have a strong hand you have an average chance of roughly 80% to win the showdown.
If you have a medium hand you have an average chance of roughly 70% to win the showdown.
If you have a speculative hand you have an average chance of roughly 60% to win the showdown.
If you have a marginal hand you have an average chance of roughly 50% to win the showdown.

In the heads-up game your stack can be in two basic relative states:

Chip leader: This is when you have more chips than your opponent.
Pressured: This is when you have an equal amount or fewer chips than your opponent.

In the charts below we presume that your opponent is an average poker player with a straight forward playing style.

General rule #1: If you have a strong hand you go all-in no matter what.
General rule #2: If your stack is dying (1.5 BB or less) you go all-in no matter what.

You have 12 BB. Your opponent has 3 BB. This makes you the uncontested chip leader. You are the BB. Your hand is 9h-Ts. This is a speculative hand. Your opponent goes all-in before you.

Your correct action: All-in.

You have 7 BB. Your opponent has 10 BB. This makes your stack pressured and intermediate. You are on the button. Your hand is Jh-3d. This is a low hand.

Your correct action: Fold.