Always the bridesmaid?

Always the bridesmaid?

Wednesday, 11 March 2009

Dear Tom,


I’ve been doing well playing online sit-n-gos and regularly getting in the top three, or, to be more specific, the top two.

You see, my heads up play seems to suck dramatically. Is there any general advice you can give for the heads up sit-n-go player?


Oggy,
Birmingham


Dear Oggy,


Are you starting the heads-up contest on fair terms? For the next thirty SNGs you play, make a note of the chip stacks when you get heads up to find your average heads-up stack. If it’s 50% of the chips in play, then you’re probably right – your HU play is missing something. But if you are arriving with a third of the chips, on average you can only expect to win half as many comps as you place second. And you may not want to change anything – getting HU with more chips may make you more likely to bust out third, or even fourth. Remember the players who face you down at the HU stage with more chips are not necessarily winning players.


However, assuming a chip deficit is not the reason for your missing victories, I suggest you season your game with SAGE. This is a push/fold system for all situations where you or your opponent have seven BB or fewer, which will cover most of a SNG endgame. It won’t allow you to win more than your fair share of HU contests, but it will ensure that you win no less, since it’s mathematically unexploitable. It’s easy to learn and free on the web.


Yours
Dr Tom



Tags: Tom Sambrook, Strategy,