If You Can't Beat 'em...

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. Over the last few months I've been playing in the usual assortment of  live games and (mostly) turbo Sit and Go Tournaments on Party Poker. The SitNGos  have worked out pretty well for me so far. As for the live games: not so much. I'm still struggling to find a winning formula in these super loosey-goosey tournaments.

 

 Over the years I have had various strategies set out for these games, all of which were based on basic ABC tight and aggressive principles. None of these seemed to work. So I've been thinking a lot more about what sort of strategy might actually have some chance of winning at a donk-fest game.

   The thing about these games is, it's almost impossible to protect a good starting hand without committing a massive pile of chips. Everyone wants to see a flop, and everyone wants to chase any kind of draw. In short, although they are no-limit games, they play more like fixed-limit. The players are also very passive and it's not uncommon to be chased down by someone who has been check-calling while sitting on a monster like Queens or Kings. So, after a certain amount of thought I've come up with plan D, especially tailored for live pub and club tournaments.

   For a start, I've simplified the standard 'traffic light' system down to two zones. If I have 30 big blinds or more, that's the 'let's all see the flop' stage. Basically, I'm playing Queens, Kings and Aces very hard and fast. Everything else is a drawing hand. I'll limp in or call a min-raise with pocket pairs, Broadway cards, suited Aces and a couple of the higher suited connectors and see what develops on the flop. If I hit top 2 pair or better on the flop, I'll play it hard and fast. Anything less I'll play conservatively and with extreme caution. I'll chase draws if I have the correct pot odds. Otherwise, it's folding time.

   If I have fewer than 30 BBs (but still above the 10 BB 'push or fold' level), that's the 'tight is right' or  super-TAG stage. I'll only play TT or better and AT or better, in position and  always raising enough to isolate one player. At this stage I'm playing top pair or better hard and fast, and if I'm first to act with a good draw, I'm pushing all-in. Anything less and it's back to Mr Conservative. At all times if a bet I'm making amounts to 1/3 of my total stack, I'm just shoving.

   The third stage is the final table; the last 10 players. At this stage there are often a number of very short-stacked players, so things get a bit more tricky. Basically, if I have 20 BB or more, I'll be playing ABC late stage poker. So I'm picking on the small stacks, playing position, C-betting tight players, playing stack sizes. This is the style of play I like, but it's actually quite rare to have this stack size at this stage of the game. If I have fewer than 20 BB I'll revert to the super TAG game. If I have 10 BBs or less, it's push or fold.

   As for the hands I'll push all-in with at this final stage, I have been doing some research on this but haven't come up with any startling new conclusions. In recent times I seem never to be winning these confrontations, often finding that I'm dominated. But I just don't see any obvious way of avoiding this. I've done a little tinkering with my hand ranges for pushing, but it's one area that hasn't changed much since adopting Plan D.

   I put this plan into effect a few weeks ago for my weekly Friday night tournament. So far it hasn't yielded any significantly different results, but it's still early days. Only time will tell if it makes a difference to my results. I've been plugging away with my ABC poker strategies for years with indifferent results. It's definitely time to make some significant changes to my game and see where it leads. After all, I don't see how these changes can make things worse than they have been. Let the chips fall where they may.