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Lead out or check-raise in SNGs?

Playing out of position in Sit & Gos is problematic, but by embracing leading

and check-raising at the right times you can seize control

By Phil Shawon Tuesday 21 Sep 2010 10:00

7Recommend

Dealer is grabbing the button

For those who say that Sit & Gos are formulaic and lack creativity, itstime to take another look at the value of leading and check-raising in

vital spots

Playing out of position in no-limit holdem is never easy, and it is especially

difficulty in Sit & Gos where you have a limited stack and have to think about

ICM factors. Because of this you have to consider all the weapons at your

disposal, and that includes leading and check-raising as well as the routine

lines of check-folding or check-calling. These moves can be very powerful inthe right spots, but they are often misapplied. We will therefore consider them

in more detail and cover some specific situations in which each might be the

best play.


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Check-aiing

Check-raising is a powerful tool out of position as it gives you momentum in

the hand and the chance to win a pot with a bluff or semi-bluff. But in Sit &Gos you want to be careful about when you apply it, as putting a big portion of

your stack in and folding later in the hand is a costly play. For this reason,

check-raising works best when the blinds are high enough that you can simply

go all-in, and when you are against only one opponent.

For example, if you have a stack of 15 big blinds and an opponent opens with

a wide range in late position to 2.5BB, you can often call in the big blind with

hands that flop well, such as suited Broadway cards and Aces, and thencheck-raise his continuation bet all-in when you hit. If you are in the big blind

the pot on the flop will be 5.5BB and your opponent will usually bet 3-4BB,

taking it to around 9BB. That leaves you with 12.5BB to check-raise all-in with.

This is about the perfect stack size for such a play, as now your opponent

must call 9BB to win 21.5, meaning he is getting only slightly better than 2-to-1

and so will have to fold many hands. Even with 20BB it still works fine, as he in

now calling 14BB to win 26.5BB for slightly worse than 2-to-1. Because it is a

Sit & Go format (which makes calling preflop preferable to reraising all-in and

risking a marginal all-in), you do not want to check-raise too lightly, and should

look for mostly solid flops where you have made a flush draw, top pair (or

better) or a good straight draw before doing so.

Of course, check-raising is viable in other circumstances too, but the deeper

your stack and the more opponents youre facing the stronger the hand you

will need. In the early game you should usually opt to play most draws more

passively out of position rather than check-raising, as you will create a big pot

and risk being shoved on by a very strong hand. Thats a horrible situation,

since you will often get cheap or free cards and other players will usually call

too lightly should you actually hit. Therefore you should be weighted more

towards two-pair hands or better or very strong drawing hands with 15 or

more outs that you are happy to get all-in with regardless.

Leading o of poiion


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Shae

Leading is a more complex subject, since it is hard to balance with other plays

in any form of poker and particularly in Sit & Gos given the limitations of stack

size and ICM. When you are very shallow-stacked, leading often takes the

form of a stop-and-go play or a bet designed to commit you to the pot when

check-raising might not be possible. For example, say a player min-raises and

you defend in the big blind with 8BB and a suited Ace or Broadway hand.

Leading if you hit some kind of draw or weaker hand will now be optimal asyour opponent may pot-commit himself if you check, although you will need to

balance your play here to avoid being too predictable. Similarly, if you are very

short-stacked with any semi-playable hand you may just call a raise and go all-

in on a flop where you have overcards, a pair or any draw, or think your

opponent may be able to fold.

When playing deeper-stacked and/or against multiple opponents leading

becomes more complex, but it is still very useful in some situations where youwant to continue and check-calling is not very attractive. For example, if the pot

is limped and called in the small blind and the small blind checks the flop, you

might bet out with a lot of hands that you would be happy to win with there and

then, like draws or weaker pairs, or good pairs with weak kickers (though note

that you must also bet strong hands for balance). Similarly, if there is a raise

preflop and the small blind checks, leading out can be useful when you are

unsure where you stand, since the initial raiser will have to contend not only

with your bet but the threat of the player behind him.

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Shae

Relaed link

1. The basics of reading a poker hand

2. Aces rock

3. A simple blueprint for MTT success

4. The new Sit & Go landscape

5. Folding our wa to (some of) the mone

6. The big paoff

1. Control Commission

2. Eighteen plus

3. Gamecare certification4. Gambling Therap

5. ICRA

6. Gaming Associates

7. Gambleaware

Please gamble responsibl. For more information and advice visit

www.gambleaware.co.uk

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Gambling Commission


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