A Comedy of Errors – Second Editon

Crushing SNGs By Exploiting Your Opponents Mistakes

Copyright SNG Planet

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Welcome to the new and expanded edition of the Sit and Go Planet strategy eBook ‘A Comedy Of
Errors’. In addition to updating much of the acclaimed 2007 content, this new version includes several
new sections, expanded examples and – where applicable – links to more detailed articles for those
wishing to follow up specific topics. The section on Tools has been removed; this information is now
highlighted within the bubble play and ICM sections instead.

We sincerely hope that every reader benefits from this publication. Your feedback and thoughts are
always welcome at: support@sngplanet.com
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Introduction:

The vast majority of the profit you will make from poker does not come from skillful ‘moves’ or
reading subtle tells, it comes from (often basic) mistakes made by your opponents. Fortunately there is
one area of poker where there are quite simply more opportunities to make mistakes than in many
others… lower buy-in online SNG Tournaments. This eBook begins by going through the various
stages of a 1-table Sit and Go tournament, highlighting the common errors made by your opponents at
each stage. We then move onto some key topics including ICM and Bankroll Management – those
players serious about profiting from poker over the long term should pay particular attention to these
areas.

With more than 200 poker sites all offering slight variations to their 1-table tournament offerings, we
have chosen the world’s most popular site, PokerStars, to standardize the chip-stack numbers and
references to blind structures. We actually recommend Poker Stars for newer players as both the choice
and traffic is huge compared to other sites -Marketing and Bonus code combination PSP3108 (sign-up)
/ STARS600 (deposit) will get your 100% to $600 bonus on first deposit. If you have not yet found out
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right now.

Of course, Stars is far from the only choice - you can find up to date SNG-specific reviews of many of
the leading poker sites in the ‘Rooms’ section of SNG Planet:

Click Here For SNG Room Reviews

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We suggest that you read all of the sections below before implementing ideas from any individual one
into your game. As you go through the topics the significance of how the strategy at each stage relates
to the others will become clear.
Contents:

The Early Stages: Why ‘Tight Is Right but Tighter Is Righter’

Middle Stages: Opening Up And Stealing Blinds

The Bubble: Why This Is The Most Important Part Of SNG Play

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In The Money: Now It Is Time To Go For 1st

Heads-Up Play: Unexploitable HU Strategy And When Not To Use It!

Independent Chip Model (ICM): Math Can Seriously Improve Your Results

Reading The Table And Individuals: When Betting Patterns Tell A Story

Common ‘Trap Hands’And How To Play Them

Bankroll Management: Why This Applies To Every One Of Us!

Added Sections In The Revised Edition:

SNG Satellites: Strategy Adjustments For 1-Table Satellites

Multi-Tabling: A Great Way To Improve Your Hourly Profits

Alternative SNGs: Double Or Nothing, Steps And More

Final Thoughts: What It Takes To Make It As A SNG Player

The Early Stages

You have sat down in a $10 SNG at PokerStars, the blinds are small compared to your 1500 chip stack
and the usual collection of novices have sat down with you. What should you be looking out for
during those first few blind levels?

This section starts with a summary of the most common errors your opponents will make in those
early stages, and then looks at how to effectively counter them.

Common Early Stage Errors:

 Playing Too Many Hands, Especially Out Of Position.

 Cold Calling Raises In Multi-Way Pots
 Post-Flop Play; Calling Too Much And Bluffing Too Much.
 Bet Size Errors, Pot Control And Pot Odds.

Early Error #1 - Playing Too Many Hands, Especially Out Of Position…

In an average SNG your opponents will be playing a lot of hands, some as many as 40% of all hands
dealt. This means that the flop will be seen by anywhere between 3 and 5 players on average. Their
logic is that it is cheap to see the flop and potentially hit a monster. While this can happen, the risks
taken do not equal the chips gained! Let us look at a couple of examples.

Example 1; You are first to act (under the gun) on the very first hand of a SNG, you are dealt ace-jack
off suit – not a terrible starting hand but not an especially good one even in later position. You decide
to raise 3 times the big blind to 60, everyone has 1500 chips to start…here is what happens.

- 3rd to act is Clive the Calling Station, he has K-10 of hearts and calls because they are ‘Suited’

- Fred the Fish in 5th Position has 44 and calls, the first 2 might be bluffing!
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- Aggressive Andy is 6th and calls with 78 suited; he read in a book that suited connectors are
good hands…

- The button has A6 off-suit but is getting 4/1 on his call and has position so calls too.

- The Big Blind has the mediocre Q9 off-suit, however he only has to put in 40 chips into a pot of
250 and he closes the betting so makes the call.

The question is - what flop do you want to see here? Even flops which contain an ace are dangerous for
you against 5 opponents any combination of other high cards, suited cards or an opponent spiking a
set could spell disaster. But this is only one reason why this hand is rarely good enough to raise under
the gun – you may face a re-raise from any of the remaining 8 players, and this will almost always
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force you to throw your hand away – or play an hand which may well be 2 best from out of position.
Example 2; Fred Fish has A7 off suit in middle position, there are 2 limps ahead and he also limps as
does the button, the Big Blind then raises to 60 (3* the Big Blind) and the limpers ahead call, the pot
odds (200 in the pot 40 to call = 5/1) are huge so Fred calls, button calls behind. The flop is 4-A-6 with
3 different suits… it is checked to Fred. The question is what to do?? Is his Ace good? Almost never -
Yet people play these Ace-Rag hands again and again!!

There are circumstances where it makes sense to speculate early, and we would urge any SNG Player
to take positive equity situations where there is limited risk involved. More on this below - Firstly let
us be clear about why playing too many hands early will lose you money in the long-term.

Key Concept: Fold Equity, the ability to get your opponents to fold their hands, is critical to SNG
success. Overplaying hands early can damage your ability to ‘steal’ pots in the vital middle and later
stages. Maintaining fold equity is thus a primary objective as you go through the early stages.

Against opponents who play too many hands and with the objective of maintaining fold equity, a very
effective counter strategy is ‘tight is right, tighter is righter’ here.

Premium hands, along with good position are the key. Speculative hands can be played in late
position, especially where there is no raise. Those hands which provide you immediate feedback on
the flop are preferred over potential drawing hands. For example with a pair of 5’s you will immediately
know whether you have flopped a set, while a suited connector may leave you ‘priced in’ to calling
subsequent bets with a strong draw.

Discipline is key, the early stages of SNG tournaments are not the place to be bluffing a missed draw
on the river, opponents will call you with some surprisingly weak holdings!

Starting Hand Selection In SNGs Depends On Many Factors: Check out our detailed article on the
subject via this link:

Click Here For The SNG Planet SNG Starting Hands Article

Early Stage Error #2 – Cold Calling Raises, Especially In Multi-Way Pots

This is a horrible play that you will see often in SNGs and is in the same group as error #1 above.
Someone raises 3 or 4 times the Big Blind and – boom – 4 people call. The question to ask here is

‘With what hands would it be correct to cold-call a raise in a multi-way pot?’ We go through some
candidates in the list below:

- Small / Medium Pairs Might Fit The Bill? If the raise is more than 10% of your (or biggest
stacked opponents) stack then this is a negative expectation play. Remember you not only
 need to make the set – but also to get all of someone’s chips too… this is not going to happen
every time. In fact the rule of thumb to use here is make sure you have 12-to-1 odds from at
least one opponent (do not count with 2 opponents stacks together as it is very rare indeed to
stack 2 people at once).

- What About The Ace Hands… AK / AQ / AJ / A10 Or Even Lower? Well you will hit the
flop 1 in 3 times with one card (assuming no-one is sharing your outs) but how do you know if
your hand is good? There could be a higher ace out there, 2 pairs, trips or a number of
draws… its going to cost you money to find out. Raising possibilities here at the higher end –
but cold calling is simply parting with chips for little or no information on the strength of your
opponent’s hands.

- Maybe Suited Connectors Or High Cards? Again dangerous – you simply can not expect to
make a profit on these calls enough times to make them worthwhile – say you flop a flush –
even the greenest novice is going to stop putting money into the pot with 3 suited cards on the
board!

- How About Premium Pairs Looking To Trap? No, these hands play the best (most
profitably) when against a smaller pair or A-K type hand all-in pre-flop. The extra reward you
might gain from seeing a multi-way flop is not balanced by the chances of someone
outdrawing you. Keep the risk / reward balance in your favor by raising and thinning the
field.

It comes down to maintaining your Fold Equity for the all important bubble once again. The strategy
to follow here is simple, do not over-call a raise in a multi-way pot – either fold that A-J off or re-raise
that pair of Queens strongly enough to take the pot or get heads up with a single opponent. With (for
example) 600 chips in the pot you should be trying to win it right away – too many people try and get
fancy hoping to extract more – don’t do it!!

Early Stage Error #3 – Post Flop Play: Calling And Bluffing Too Much

So we know that low level SNG players enter too many pots with too many hands without proper
regard for position… but what about after the flop? Well if Clive Calling station entered a pot with A7
Suited and the flop comes 2 6 A you can be sure of one thing – he is not folding!!

This creates many good opportunities and also some hazards, and also re-enforces the point that it is
correct to play tight early. If you are holding Ace-King here the solution is easy, value-bet, build the
pot and take the guys stack. But say you have a pair of Queens?

We suggest making a good size (at least 2/3rds of the pot) Continuation bet here, but if you are called
you must slow down with the hand, do not bet bigger on the turn hoping that someone will suddenly
decide their kicker is too low… its just not going to happen!!

An Ace on the flop in a low level SNG is the usually the end of your high pair – the one exception
being that you can sometimes call a ‘token’ river bet if the pot is especially large These ‘missed pairs’
hands are far easier to play when acting last after the flop, highlighting why position is a key factor in
poker games.

Now we can have a look at the reverse situation, someone raises pre flop with their Q10 suited and
misses… in a low level SNG you will see them bet and bet and bet to try and take a pot. One thing to
look out for is a bet of the same size on each street, might as well just type in the chat box ‘I missed
please give me the pot!!’, bets which double on each street are also worth looking out for, these usually
indicate a weak hand – but not one which has completely missed.

The general strategy in the early levels is do not bluff!! Too many people will call to the end with
nothing more than Ace high (or even less). The continuation bet is another matter – you should be
making a good size raise on the flop many times when you took the lead pre-flop and have been
called. However if you have a missed hand and are called you should usually shut down immediately.
Make sure you do not continuation bet into more than 2 people with a missed hand, there is just too
much danger that someone caught enough on the flop to call you down. For more on Continuation
Betting: Click Here for the SNGPlanet Article on Improving Your Continuation Bet Success Rate.
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Post flop play is too large a subject to cover in 10 eBooks, let alone one. Think of this as an extension of
the ‘preserve your chips, and thus fold equity’ strategy, if you are only playing premium hands in
good position you should not face too many tough post flop decisions. Some of the above concepts will
be expanded in the sections on ‘Trap hands’ and ‘Reading your opponents’ below.

Early Stage Error #4 – Bet Sizes, Pot Control And Pot Odds

This is where things get interesting… the errors made when betting are huge, and effective counter
strategies here can do equally huge amounts for your profits. Some betting ‘tells’ will be covered in the
‘Reading Opponents’ section – here we will look at the most common errors and how to effectively
counter them. Firstly the min-raise, whether first into a pot or min raising limpers this move is rarely
correct. As before we need to look at what kind of hand the min-raiser could have that would justify
such a move?

- A Premium Hand Such As AA / KK / QQ / AKs? Why min-raise here? Anyone who would
have limped is likely to call the 20 or 30 more chips. Anyone who has already limped is going
to call the extra too… now there are 5 people seeing a flop – your Aces still the best hand?
 Maybe, but premium hands are at their best when against a single opponent pre flop for a big
pot. Raise a good amount pre flop here, a min-raise is just asking for trouble.

- A Non-Premium Pair? No No No! The value in these hands comes from hitting a set and
taking someone’s whole stack. Why commit more chips than you have to pre-flop? After all
there are 3 more betting rounds if you do hit, it is simply a waste of chips and thus a waste of
your precious fold equity to min-raise pre flop here.

- High Cards (AQ / AJ / KQs etc)? Again no benefit of bloating the pot pre flop, the thing with
these hands is it is easy to lose a big pot if you get out flopped and any pot you win is likely to
be a small one. If you decide to play these hands (and we would recommend you do this
rarely!) you should be putting in a decent sized raise, narrowing the field to a single opponent
and then either taking down the pot on the flop or folding if you encounter significant
resistance.

- Suited Connectors? No again, your value is from flopping a hidden monster, this will not
happen very often so keep things as cheap as possible pre-flop.

If you see an opponent min-raising in a low level SNG you can be pretty sure they do not know what
they are doing – no hand really justifies this play. The counter strategy here is simple, find out what
your opponent is min-raising with and re-raise them at the appropriate moment. They will often fold
but if they choose to play a big pot with that pair of 6’s pre flop then we are happy to oblige… Pot
Control is the concept of adjusting your bet / raise sizes to create the right size of pot for your hand.
Obviously with a monster you want to create a large a pot as possible, most opponents will do this (see
‘Reading your opponents’ section for a note on slowplayers).

The error that your opponents make is usually in the other direction; they play a big pot, often out of
position, with an average hand. Going back to the example earlier of the guy with A7s – people will
raise and re-raise here! Now think about the hands this guys opponent could have, a better ace, trips, 2
pair etc etc – why build a pot with a medium strength hand? Your objective if you find yourself in this
situation should be to get to showdown as cheaply as possible.

A related concept is the bet after all the cards are out that has no chance of winning any money. Here is
an example, you have 10-10 and get to the river against a single opponent with the board reading 8 6 5
9 J the last 2 cards put a total of 3 spades on the board. You are in position and have been betting each
street your opponent checks to you on the river. Should you bet again? No! The reason is simple, you
will only ever be called by a better hand in this situation, if your opponent has a flush, straight, trips or
maybe even AJ he will call – or probably raise – if you have him beaten the strong likelihood is of a
fold. Learning to spot these situations will save you many chips over time and chips at the table soon
translate into $$$ in the bank!!
Finally for this section we will look at pot odds errors. The concept is this, if the odds you are getting
from the pot are better than the chances of your hand improving on the next card you should be
inclined to call. If the odds are worse than your chances of improving you should be inclined to fold.
Do not forget about implied odds here - the extra bets you might win on future betting rounds if you
do make your hand. For now we will look at common errors in early play.

- Chasing Draws Against The Odds . The amount of times people will call huge bets with 4
cards to a flush and one card to come is horrible!! Think about it, the flush will be made
approximately 1 in 4.5 times, if someone takes 2/1 odds on a 4.5/1 chance enough times then
they will go broke very quickly! Put another way for every time this opponent makes his flush
and doubles his stack he will lose his stack 3 times… can be frustrating when someone
outdraws you in this manner, learn to be happy about it – this is where your profits are
coming from!

- Giving Odds To Drawing Hands. Here is the reverse, there are 1000 chips in the pot on the
turn and 3 spades out, Frank Fish with his pair of jacks wants to extract more value from his
hand and bets 200… Now the opponent holding the ace of spades and queen of hearts has 13
outs, he will make a winning hand more than 1 in 4 times and is being offered 6/1 odds on
that possibility – over time his call will make chips even without the possibility of more bets
on the river. The counter strategy is clear, if you suspect an opponent has a draw you must bet
enough so they are making a mistake by calling, whether or not they call and hit this time their
call will lose money over time!

SNG Planet recommend PokerStars for any players serious about improving their SNG Game and
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The Middle Stages

The middle stages of SNG tournaments provide even more opportunity for an inexperienced opponent
to make mistakes. This stage can be described as when the blinds reach 7% to 12% of your stack, at
PokerStars this would be the 100/50 level.

Most mistakes made here are due to adjusting, or rather not adjusting, to the new circumstances of
fewer players and higher blinds. As you will see below there are 4 key aspects to middle stage play,
loosening your raising requirements, tightening your calling requirements, stealing blinds (which also
includes the lucrative re-steals) and finally stack size awareness.

We will look at the ‘raising’ and ‘calling’ strategy changes together, assume 6 or 7 players remain and
the blinds are now 100 with the average stack up to 1750. What does this mean for raising
requirements??

Well, we can start with pairs, at a full table there is a reasonable chance that one or more opponents
wake up with a pair, each player having a 1 in 17 chance of being dealt one.

At a full table your pair of 8’s in early position may be limped for set value*, be careful though you
would not want see a raise pre flop and then 2 over cards on the flop!

Let us take a 6 handed table instead, there is not a significant improvement in the chances of your 8’s
being the best hand. You need to reduce the requirements for raising a pot to account for the reduced
players, the chances are reasonable (though read dependant) that you will pick up the blinds with each
raise… when this is 10% or more of your stack then consider it a success however strong your holding!

* We would actually only recommend doing this with either deep stacks or at a particularly passive table.

The main strategy adjustment your opponents misunderstand in the middle stages is that the ‘gap’
concept has become more important. You need a bigger hand to call a raise than to raise yourself at all
stages of a sit and go tournament – as you go through the middle stages towards the bubble this
becomes increasingly important. There are two reasons for this, which clearly illustrate why you need
to be the raiser and not the caller!

Let us look at it from the perspective of taking the initiative. Fred fish raises in early position (short
handed = middle position at a full table) for 3* the BB or 300 chips, both of your stacks are equal at
1200 and you are in the BB with 88. You put Fred’s range as any Ace, Any Pair or any 2 cards 10 or
above and call the raise… seems reasonable at the time – you have around 50% equity against Fred’s
range. But hang on, assuming you do not hit trips on the flop what are you going to do next? Leading
out with a bet could work, but here is the rub – what hands that Fred calls with are you beating? Say
on a 2 over card flop? You could check and see what Fred does – but surely he continuation bets into
one opponent with his entire range – now what, you have to pay up to half of your remaining stack to
see if he fires again on the turn… no thanks!

The key to middle stage play is to be the raiser and not the caller. In fact you would not go far wrong
never cold calling a raise once the raise is 10% or more of your stack, if your hand is not good enough
to re-raise then why not throw it away instead? In the above example re-raising instead of calling puts
pressure straight back on your opponent - and you still have some good winning chances those times
you are called.

Another mid-game mistake that many players make concerns failure to understand that certain hands
change value as the blinds go up. Small pairs, suited connectors, and suited aces rely heavily on
implied odds to win the chips. They will not hit trips, flushes or straights very often - but the reward is
big when they do. Once the blinds get to 15% of your stack throw these cards away… the math no
longer works, here is an example.

You have 1700 chips on the button, BB= 100, someone from EP with the same stack raises to 300 and
you call with 66. The Blinds fold so the pot is now 750. Here is what happens if we replay 100 times.

14 times you hit the 6!

-10 of these (being generous here) you manage to get your opponents entire stack
-The other 4 times you take the pot as it is
86 times you miss and fold you your opponents continuation bet.

So the numbers looks like this:

10 * + 1850 = + 18500 (double up)

4 * + 450 = + 1800 (win current pot, excludes your call)
86 * - 300 = - 25800 (miss and fold)
(18500 + 1800) – (25800)/100 = Minus 55 Chips Each Time

Put it another way – each time you make this play you lose chips (and so equity), in terms of your long
term this is a disaster. Once again, depending on your opponent you might consider re-stealing with
these hands – however, being the caller quickly becomes unprofitable.

The Middle Stages – Effective Counter Strategies

So, the correct counter strategy in the middle stages is to loosen your raising requirements yet tighten
your calling requirements. This should allow you to take enough blinds to maintain a healthy stack
while not taking too many risks with your own chips.
Some opponents will play too tight as the blinds increase – look out for them and raise their blinds
with lesser hands, be prepared to fold to their re-raises though, when a tighty raises it is time to
quickly and quietly exit the hand and move on!

Everyone’s chips come from somewhere on a poker table. The average low level SNG player will not
take stack sizes into account when deciding their play. You should do this, particularly when it comes
to picking up blinds.

Try to avoid the big stacks – it is ‘cheap’ for them to call – and the small stacks, who might just take
King-high and make their final stand. The people to steal from are the medium stacks at the table; they
are comfortable enough not to need to take risks without good hands and will give up their blinds
more easily.

You also need to note your position relative to the other stacks. If the big stack acts directly after you
then stealing from others at the table will be more difficult. In this case you should consider reducing
the blind steal attempts and instead re-stealing from one of the medium stacks when you are in the
blinds. This has to have a balance – if you re-raise all in each time someone raises your blind you will
be called fairly soon, if you never defend your blind then it will be taken each round leaving you short-
stacked. The occasional re-steal will cure this problem.

Remember not to do this with hands that can be easily dominated – Ace-rag should rerely be used for
a re-steal and small pairs are also potentially dangerous here (the hands that might call you are often
overpairs or aces with medium kickers – other hands are more likely to be folded). High suited
connectors, mid-pairs (99+) and AJ+ are all good re-steal candidates.

Did you know that many of the seats in big live tournaments including the WSOP, EPT and WPT are
awarded via special 2-stage SNG tournaments known as ‘Double Shootouts’? Check our dedicated 2-
part strategy article at SNG Planet to find out how you could be sitting down with the pros in the next
big live poker event!

Click for Double Shootout Strategy – Part #1

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The Bubble

It has been calculated that up to 65% of a players profitability in SNG tournaments comes from Bubble
play. More than any other part of the game you need to be aware of your opponent’s errors and
capitalize on them.

The first error that many players make is to misunderstand the true nature of the payout structure…
most SNGs pay 50% for 1st, 30% for 2nd and 20% for 3rd. So at the bubble it makes sense to play for
1st right?? Actually No!!!

Look at those numbers again; the jump from 4th (0%) to 3rd (20%) is exactly the same size as the jump
from 2nd to 1st. This actually makes a huge difference to the optimum strategy – forget playing for 1st
and start to think of the bubble as the place to maximize your equity in the prize pool, to do this you
need to cash first and then think about going for the 1st place.

Making decisions based on prize pool equity rather than the intuitive ‘go for 1st’ strategy is almost
certainly the most profitable adjustment you can make when playing SNGs. Even those players who
are reluctant to use a mathematical approach themselves need to learn how this works – after all it will
help you understand how many of your opponents are thinking and playing… a huge advantage in
any poker game.

The section on ICM (The independent chip model) below will look into maximizing your equity in the
prize pool in more detail and will also show exactly why you must fold many hands at the bubble even
when you are fairly sure you are ahead of your opponents range. ICM will add $$$ to your bankroll,
but first lets understand some common bubble errors and how to exploit them!!

Common Errors Made At The SNG Bubble:

 Failing To Understand Why ‘Post Flop Poker’ Is Over

 Playing Too Tight, Yet Calling Too Loose
 Failure To Account For Stack Sizes.

Bubble Error #1 – No More Post Flop Poker

In order to play poker over several betting rounds, you need to have enough chips to make later
betting decisions meaningful. By the time we reach the bubble of most SNG tournaments, the average
stack is only 10 times the big blind – making decisions after the flop very simple indeed.

For example, if you raise 3 times the big blind with a 10 big blind stack you will be ‘priced in’ to calling
any re-raise by the pot odds with almost any hand you raised with.
Here is an example with some basic numbers to clarify the logic of why you can not ‘play poker’ when
short-stacked.

- You (2000 chips) Raise to 600

- The Big Blind (also with 2000 chips after posting his blind) Pushes All-in, the pot now 2900
- You are now faced with calling 1400 to win 2900, with more than 2-to-1 pot-odds you only
need to win more than 33% of the time to show a profit.
- Any legitimate raising hand is more than a 2-to-1 favorite over the range of hands that an
average big-blind might have pushed all in with….

Instead of raising when short-stacked you should tend to push all-in with any hand that you choose to
play. This maximizes your chances of winning the hand without a showdown – a great result. Once
antes kick-in this is even more important, the initial pot will represent a decent proportion of your
stack at this point.

While inexperienced players might look at the bubble as a ‘crapshoot’ the math behind correct push /
fold strategy is actually pretty advanced. What is more a key component of success at this stage
involves accurately assigning ranges to your opponents in terms of what hands they would push or
call pushes with. Players who are serious about making a success of their SNGs can invest in
calculators which analyze your hand histories – showing you where bubble play can be improved.
SNG Planet recommend a tool called ‘SNG Wiz’ for this – this tool is used between games and will
quickly turn you into a bubble play expert, a sure fire way to boost your profits.

Click Here To Read Our Assessment Of Why We Think SNG Wiz Is The Best ICM Calculator.
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Bubble Error #2 – Playing Too Tight, Yet Calling Too Loose

This error may appear to be a contradiction; however we can assure you it is not. You will have your
blinds stolen by competent (and otherwise!) opponents at the bubble of SNG tournaments many times.
You will need to get used to the fact that your calling requirements are tight, however tempted you
may be to play back with a reasonable holding. This is because the ‘equity’ risked is

not balanced by the chips gained by winning the hand. Calling too loose at the bubble has the effect of
spewing this equity to players who are not in the hand – this concept is also explained in the ICM
Section below.

There are times when even if you ‘know’ your opponent is pushing 2 random cards, you should still
fold all but the best holdings. Every situation is different in terms of opponent tendencies, chip stacks,
blinds and cards held – however you will need to be in a better position than simply having a ‘better
hand’ than the raiser to play profitably.
Players who know this will push all-in frequently at the bubble, forcing the decision onto their
opponents. Our suggestion is, rather than calling these players down loose, you loosen up your ranges
for pushing all-in yourself. This gives you the inherent advantage that the risk / reward ratio does not
stack up, and will cause opponents to fold a wide range of hands.

One of the central concepts in Push / Fold poker is that every range of hands an opponent might call
with has a ‘optimum’ range of hands that can be pushed with. For example if an opponent will call
with 20% of hands (a very loose range at the bubble of a SNG) then you can sometimes push with the
top 35% when the blinds are XX or YY (we have deliberately not specified the blinds – since the
numbers will change due to stack sizes of all players involved). A Calculator such as SNG Wiz will
show you how these all-important equilibrium ranges work.

For More On Bubble Play Check Out The Detailed Section In The SNG Section Of SNG Planet.
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Bubble Error #3 – Failure To Account For Stack Sizes.

One of the worst errors you will see at the bubble of a SNG tournament is that one player gets
involved in a big pot with a big stacked opponent when a 3rd player is about to be blinded out. For
example, a player UTG folds with 400 chips as does the button with 1600 chips, the blinds are 200 / 400
ante 25 and the big stack pushes all-in for 7000 chips into your 3000 stack… you look down and see
Ace-Jack. This is a very easy fold – in terms of equity in the prize pool you are risking approximately
30% to win an extra 8% to 10%, while folding would see the micro stack all-in next hand – make sure
you do not make this mistake, ever!

Other common stack size issue at the bubble is raising with the intention of folding when your stack is
too small to justify this, at less than 10 times the blind you should usually push all-in with any hand
deemed playable. Limping or making small raises is also mathematically unsound in many situations.
This can encourage players with medium strength holdings who may have folded to a larger raise to
push all-in over the top, forcing you to fold or face an unwelcome coin-flip. On the other hand making
these same small raises with premium hands will quickly become readable, leading to opponents
coming over the top of your ‘standard’ raises.

Poker Stars VIP Club is renowned as the best of any online poker room. With a ‘points store’
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In The Money Play

Many players spend time and effort to study the bubble extensively, making sure that they make the
optimum plays which maximize profits. Yet the period after the bubble bursts – when the paying
places are decided, often goes untouched.

There are of course many similarities with bubble play. With shallow stacks compared to the blinds
and antes the default play is usually push / fold poker. However, with the lowest payout guaranteed
the hand values become closer than when playing at the bubble.

A common phenomenon is that opponents who were playing tight in order to survive the bubble will
suddenly become maniacs – pushing and calling with a huge range of hands in a desperate bid to
accumulate chips. You can loosen your calling requirements against such opponents; however your
fold equity (even for a big stack) is proportionally lower, meaning that those ‘any-2 card’ pushes may
not be as profitable.

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Heads-Up Play

Ok, now just you and 1 opponent with equal stacks of 5000, the blinds are 600 / 300 and you are first to
act… what percent of hands should you be pushing here? The next hand, your opponent pushes all in,
you have K9 off suit… is this a call??

The answer, as always in poker, is that it depends!! Really this depends on your perception of your
opponents ranges, however if you can not put your opponent on a range, feel there is a danger of
being ‘outplayed’ or simply wish to reduce variance by employing a mechanical strategy then you can
revert to what is known as ‘Equilibrium Heads – Up Strategy’.

Here is how it works, if you know you opponents likely pushing range heads up then you can counter
this with a perfectly matched (mathematically speaking) calling range. But your opponent knows that
you will do this and so adjusts his pushing range to exploit this – gaining an edge!

Not to be outsmarted you adjust again based on the fact that you know your opponent has changed….
And on and on and on! Eventually we reach an equilibrium range for both people – where neither has
an edge over the other, this is known as the Nash Equilibrium. Pushing and calling in line with this
range will make your play mathematically Unexploitable.

That is there is no change your opponent can make to his ranges that will give him a mathematical
edge… sounds good! However look at it this way, if your opponent is too tight (or too loose) this
might not be the optimum strategy; by playing Unexploitable poker yourself you are giving up the
opportunity to exploit your opponents mistakes.

Here is an example of the Nash Equilibrium hand pushing and calling ranges based on even stacks of
5000 chips and blinds at 600/300.

SB Push Range – 65% of all hands, that’s 86 off suit and better!
BB Calling Range – 10 8 off suit and better!

A widely used methodology which provides a simple way of using an equilibrium strategy based on
assigning points to cards and adjusting for stack sizes is known as the SAGE poker system. This breaks
the process down into a small and easy to memorize table. This, along with a more detailed
explanation, can be found in a dedicated article over at SNG Planet. Remember to make adjustments
for overly-tight opponents when heads-up (by raising more often), as this common mistake is very
easy to exploit.

Read The SAGE Poker System Article On SNG Planet Now.

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An Introduction To ICM

ICM stands for the Independent Chip Model, it is used to assign a dollar value to your chip shack in a
tournament situation, and then to work out if a certain push or call has a positive or negative ‘expected
value’ based on the stack sizes, prize structure and estimated ranges opponents will push or call your
pushes with. If you see the term +ev or +$ev this is where it originated.

Understanding ICM is the single biggest factor in improving bubble play. Once you understand the
dynamics of equity in the prize pool you will have a big edge on the average opponent when it comes
to pushing and folding correctly. Even if you (for whatever reasons) choose to follow a different
strategy, taking the time to understand ICM will allow you understand the plays that many of your
opponents are making – and thus have a better insight into the cards they may hold.

Let us look at an example;

4 players left with even stacks of 2500, blinds 300/150 and a standard payout of 50% / 30% / 20% with
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nothing for 4 . You are in the Big Blind, someone ahead of you pushes all in… somehow you know he
has A-Q, you pick up 10-10 and are thus a favorite to win the hand – with the overlay of the blinds,
should you make the call??

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! To understand why not we need to look at this situation in terms of

equity (ignoring the blinds and using a $100 total prize pool for now to keep things clear).

Chips $ Equity Chips Win $ Equity Chips Lose $ Equity

2500 (you) $25 5000 $38.33 0 $0
2500 (raiser) $25 0 $0 5000 $38.33
2500 $25 2500 $30.83 2500 $30.83
2500 $25 2500 $30.83 2500 $30.83

Here is the key point; the chips you gain from this ‘coin flip’ at the bubble do not increase your equity
in the prize pool enough to justify the risk. The math is clear, by winning you increase your equity by
$13.33, and by losing you decrease your equity by $25! It should be clear that to justify this call as
profitable at the bubble you need to be sure you are more than a 66.6% favorite to win the hand. In this
case you are only a 57% favorite and will lose money every time you make this call.

The math is very similar when your opponent’s cards are unknown but you have an estimate of the
range of hands which they might push all-in with. For example you hold A-J suited in the same
situation and an opponent pushes. You estimate that his range is 77+ A10o+ and KQ, should you call?
Certainly not – here you are actually an underdog to your opponent’s entire range of hands, having
just 45.5% equity in the pot and still needing 67% to break even equity-wise.

These numbers can seem confusing at first – which is why we recommend the free 30 day trial of SNG
Wiz. This allows you to play around with bubble scenarios offline which will allow you to make better
bubble decisions. In fact, if you do not make at least the cost of this tool in extra profit during the free
30 days we would be very surprised. Click here to visit the SNG Wiz Website and find out how to start
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the 30 day free trial.

If you look at the table we used above you might notice an interesting phenomenon. When we made
the call with the 10-10 we lost some equity (real hard cash!). However, whoever won the ‘coin flip’
only gained an extra $13.66, while risking $25. So the question becomes:

What Happened To The Rest Of The Equity?

It gets divided among the players who are not in the hand… they are now sure of 20% as the bubble
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has burst and still have chances to reach 1 and 2 too – our ‘loose’ call would ‘spew’ the prize pool
equity worth $11.33 to the rest of the table – that is almost $6 each just for folding!

Next we can look at the same example, but with a mini-stack at the table, someone who is already out
of the hand and has just 500 chips. The other stacks are equal. Now your equity in the prize pool is
higher to start with but you have proportionally more to lose, you could be risking 32% of equity in
this example in order to win another 10%... now you need to be around 75% favorite to win the hand
before you can even consider calling – and there is only one hand that fits this description – aces!

We can not stress enough that learning correct bubble play with ICM is vital to profitable SNG play. If
you see articles or forum posts dismissing this model then just imagine that those people are refusing
to try and understand the plays that their opponents are making. Whether or not you become an
‘ICM expert’, understanding your opponents is a necessary component of any winning poker strategy.

Finally a word of warning, many of the people you are playing against, particularly at the lowest
levels, will not understand ICM. They will make calls at the bubble which are – when looked at
mathematically – absolutely horrible!

Your task as a winning player is to identify those people who will call too light and adjust your
pushing range accordingly. Remember, as any ICM calculator will clearly show, every calling range
has an optimal range that you can push with and vice versa. To summarize:

Aggression + ICM + Reads = Profitable Bubble Play!!

Reads: Individual Players And The Table

Reading players could be a whole book on its own, here we will concentrate on the main categories
found in low limit SNGs and look at how to adjust our strategy to exploit their errors. Players can be
categorized along 3 different ‘axis’, Loose vs Tight, Passive vs Aggressive and Tricky vs
Straightforward.

We are far more likely to find loose / passive players in the early stages of SNGs, these are the
opponents who think any Ace and 2 suited cards etc is worth calling a raise with. Sure, sometimes they
get lucky but most of the time they do not – resulting in a lack of Fold Equity later in the game and
thus crashing out before the money. Since most players will be loose you can adjust by playing tight
early on, preserving chips for when you can really use them.

Tight players are also easy to spot. In the early stages they will play hardly any hands. What you need
to do is keep an eye on these players when the blinds move up, unless they open their range to adjust
to the smaller field their play becomes very exploitable, try to steal their blinds more often than others
(not every time mind!). What you will often find with many of these tight players is once they do raise
with a hand they can not fold it, for example pushing all in on an Ace high flop with QQ, look for this
tendency and use it to your advantage.

Aggression is considered a good thing in poker, play your hands positively and you win more pots.
That’s fine until you become predictable, look out for players who are raising a lot of hands – if you
have a premium hand or hit the flop hard let them dictate the betting. They will continuation bet so
often it is not worth leading out with a bet on many occasions. If your opponent is overly aggressive let
them fire the ‘second barrel’ on the turn (assuming not too many draws on the flop) and then check-
raise them, as long as these opponents think they have a chance of winning the pot they will keep
firing!!

Passive players like to call instead of bet; they limp into pots and call bets afterwards with bottom pair.
Passive players can be weak (will fold to your bets) or the ‘calling station’ type who will call bets all
the way to the river with their 66 even though there is an Ace on the flop. Look out for these types,
never try to bluff a calling station, if you do hit a hand against one (again assuming no obvious draws
on flop) bet in stages on each street – you are more likely to get their stack without scaring them off
with an all in re-raise.

Tricky vs Straight-forward is something to take note of. Watch what players are doing when they have
a monster hand and take a note of it. Will they check and call your bet on the flop with trips, waiting to
check-raise the turn? Or will they lead out with a bet? Will they bet smaller with Aces hoping for a re-
raise or do they raise their standard amount??
The trick here is to watch the betting patterns, a player who always checks his monsters suddenly over-
bets the pot on the flop – and you have a decent hand, its an easy call right… someone who always
limps AA / KK / QQ pre flop puts in a standard raise, great for reads – you can now rule out those
hands from their range for this hand.

When watching individuals look for predictable behaviors, will someone always raise when folded to
when their stack is large? Will they usually call a raise from their big blind and then fold to a bet after
the flop when they miss? Will an opponent always minimum bet with a monster hand regardless of
position? Will someone always call a bet after the flop but usually fold to a turn bet?

Watching the table together is another aspect of getting reads. There is some crossover between the
two areas. For the whole table try to assess the overall looseness late in the game. As the bubble
approaches the fact that your opponents may get all in against each other is very important – it means
that you can tighten your pushing range and make the money by default more often. Conversely a
tight / aggressive table at the bubble dictates that you should also play aggressive poker, you need to
stay ahead of the blinds here.

Another aspect of looking at the table together is to establish what bets are being called and which
ones induce folds. For example you might notice that a 3*BB bet gets called by 4 or 5 players but a 4*BB
bet is usually only called by 1 or 2. This will allow you to adjust your own bet sizes based on what kind
of hand you are holding. For example a small pair relying on set value needs lots of opponents on the
flop, while an Ace King does better against one opponent as you have a greater chance of winning the
pot with a bet after the flop even when you miss.

For More On Betting Patterns:

Click Here To Visit The SNG Planet Article On 5 Signs Your Opponent May Hold A Weak Hand.
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Common Trap Hands

This section will look at specific hands that typical opponents make errors with, and suggest how to
capitalize on those errors. Poker is not an exact science – there is never any right / wrong way to play a
hand. Instead we will look at major areas of bad play and suggest some possible courses of action.

AA

There are 2 common errors your opponents will make with aces. Firstly slowplaying them… limping
aces is quite simply a horrific play! In a low level SNG people will limp behind with almost anything,
high cards, suited connectors, small pairs – you name it. Limping aces is likely to result in seeing a flop
with 5 or more opponents – you are more or less giving them a free shot to outdraw you. For every
time you see someone limp aces and cleverly trap an opponent with a lesser hand you will see them
out flopped twice –resulting in the player with the aces losing their stack!

Aces play best against a single opponent with a high pair, make sure you raise them pre-flop and get
heads up. The only exception is at a hugely aggressive table, where every hand is raised and re-raised
per flop. Limping here might give you the opportunity to re-raise all in pre flop, if this is against a
single opponent all the better. Watch for opponents who always limp aces – when they do raise pre flop
you can rule out this hand and play against them accordingly.

The other common mistake with aces is the inability to let them go after the flop. If you have 2 black
aces and by the turn the board reads comes 6789 all hearts and you are re-raised all in your aces are no
good and must be folded! People who cling on when obviously beaten are spewing chips.

KK

Again 2 errors, we will start with the slowplay which is even more horrible than with Aces. The
problem with this is that so many players will limp in with ace-rag hands and small pairs. You will
seriously devalue your hand by slowplaying Kings – don’t do it!!

The next error is the inability to let them go when an Ace flops. Low limit SNG players play Ace-rag so
often that the chances your kings are good with an ace on the flop are 50/50 at best. You need to find
out where you stand quickly – a strong continuation bet or re-raise will give you the information you
need. If you encounter resistance then quietly give up the hand, checking behind to try to see a cheap
or free showdown or fold to a big bet. Conserve those chips for later in the game when your fold
equity is the most important factor.
AK

Ace King is a strong hand and should be raised pre flop when first to act or with limpers ahead. The
biggest SNG error is calling bets when the hand misses the flop in the early game. On its own this is
just ace-high and usually not good in a showdown. The real value in AK is two fold – it can not be
easily dominated (only by AA and KK) and the ability to see all 5 cards, combined with fold equity,
make this a great hand for raising late in the game.

Do not call with AK for all of your chips on the bubble unless you have a very specific read on you
opponent. Remember that being 50/50 or even 60/40 to win a hand is a bad result at the bubble – you
are giving away your equity to others who are not in the hand. Raising at the bubble is a different
matter, most of the time you win the pot immediately and when you do not the winning chances make
up for this.

Ace-Rag

We already covered this in the early game section, people overplay their ace-rag hands all the time…
in the early game these hands are worse than junk and should be folded! The chances of making the
2nd best hand are simply too high, particularly in a multi-way pot. Take notes of opponents who play
them and value bet your medium-high pairs on a non-ace flop, it will make you money in the long run.

Be careful with these at the bubble too… yes you have an ace if called but the problem with a small
kicker is you will usually be a 30% / 70% underdog when called. Beaten either by a bigger ace or a pair
higher than your kicker. Calling with Ace-rag at the bubble is a horrible mistake, make a note of
opponents who do this and adjust your pushing range accordingly.

Medium Pairs

Pairs 10-10 to QQ are strong hands when played correctly. Most of the errors opponents make with
them involve not being able to get away from them early in the game, and not taking the initiative in a
hand later (calling rather than raising). Early in the game these pairs play far better when there are
fewer opponents. You should raise enough to cut down the field. If you do this and a single over-card
comes on the flop you can be reasonably sure that your hand is still good. If you have 3 or more
opponents when holding 10-10 and a Queen flops then your chances are much reduced.

The big errors are; Calling raises in pre-flop multi-way pots without sufficient implied-odds, calling
raises after the flop in multi-way pots when over-cards come (especially aces) and not re-raising with
these late in the game, particularly against loose opponents when you have enough chips to put
pressure back onto the other player.
At the bubble fold equity is king – fold equity + a strong hand is a great situation, re-raise with that
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pair of jacks, enough to make your opponent aware that calling will risk elimination in 4 … people
who flat call raises instead are asking for trouble after the flop whenever over-cards come.

Small Pairs And Suited Connectors

Playing small pairs for set value early is a positive expectation play from late position – as long as you
are fairly certain it will be cheap to see the flop. Later in the game you will see people call raises for
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1/5 or more of their stack with baby pairs. This is an error as even when you hit a set and get lucky
enough to take someone’s stack it will not make up for the times you miss and have to fold after the
flop.

Suited Connectors are more difficult, since these hands not only rely on no re-raise pre-flop to ensure
the correct implied-odds – they need very specific flops to profitably continue. We suggest that folding
the lower suited connectors early is fine while gaining experience in post flop play and situations. If
you do choose to play these hands then only the strongest draws should be pursued on the flop,
preferably with the benefit of position on your opponents.

For more on Small Pair And Suited Connector hands see the article below: Click Here For SNG Planet
Article On Implied Odds In Tournament Poker.
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Suited Cards

Early in a SNG you will see opponents playing any 2 suited cards for a raise. Think of this play
mathematically, they will make a flush by the river 6% of the time. Sure occasionally they get lucky
and hit 2 pair or trips… however most of the time these hands either miss completely or end up
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making very expensive 2 best hands. Make a note of these ‘any 2 suited’ players, each time they make
the play they are losing chips. Combine this with reads on them to make sure you value bet their chips
right into your stack!!!
Why Bankroll Management Applies To YOU?!

For reasons impossible to fathom, 90%+ of online poker players firmly believe that Bankroll
Management is a topic which does not apply to them. The fact of the matter is that even very skilled
players go on downswings, and without some bankroll management they would go broke. If you hear
someone saying that they are ‘skilled but unlucky’ at poker, what they are really saying is that they do
not fully understand the variance inherent in the game.

Specific guidelines for SNG tournament buy-ins depend on your playing style and other personal
criteria. For example, a multi-tabling ‘pro-grinder’ has different bankroll needs than a recreational
player who likes to profit from 1 or 2 tables at a time. Whether you play a loose-aggressive style also
affects the number of buy-ins required. In the hands of a skilled player this style can bring greater
profits – however it will be more volatile, requiring a larger starting bank.

Our recommendations for specific buy-in amounts range from 30 through to 100 – for more on
Bankroll Management you can see several detailed articles in the SNGs section of SNG Planet. Visit
The Main SNG Section, Bankroll Management The 4th Section Down In The List Of Articles.
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Bankroll Management And Bonuses:

A quick note on sites which offer bonuses and how this can help get your SNG Bankroll off to a flying
start. Our opinion is that bonuses should be a secondary consideration when choosing a site for your
SNG games. However, bonuses can help you to move up levels faster and this build an exponentially
larger bankroll over time.

Be cautious of the very large ‘headline bonuses’ offered by some smaller rooms. These can be so slow
to clear that you may never even get through them in time. Sticking to established poker sites with
some of the faster clearing bonuses is a safe and profitable way to boost your bankroll.

Here are some of the best bonus offers from the largest poker sites – we recommend the fast clearing
$600 at Poker Stars and then using the profits gained while clearing this to move on to some of the
larger amounts – bonus snowballing!

Sign Up Bonus Sign Up Code General Review SNG Review

Full Tilt Poker
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100% up to $600 SNGPLANET Full Tilt Review
H Full Tilt SNGs
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Poker Stars
H 100% up to $600 PSP3108 PokerStars Review
H PokerStars SNGs
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Titan Poker*
H 100% up to $500 SNGPLANET Titan Review
H Titan SNGs
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Carbon Poker
H 200% up to $600 SNGPLANET Carbon Review
H Carbon SNGs
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Bodog Poker
H 110% up to $550 No Code Req Bodog Review
H Bodog SNGs
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*Titan is unfortunately not available to US players at the time of writing.

For up to date information on offers available at these and all of the leading poker sites, check out the
Rooms and Bonuses section at SNG Planet.

Click Here For SNG Specific Reviews, Bonus Info And The Latest Promotions At SNG Planet.
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SNG Satellite Strategy

1-table satellites are a popular way to qualify for the bigger buy-in online tournaments and for live
events around the globe. These come in various formats and pay between 1 and 3 places depending on
the site.

This article gives an overview of the key strategy adjustments required for Satellite play. For those
interested in this profitable form of poker there is a section dedicated to this subject at SNG Planet via
the link below.

Click Here To Visit The SNG Planet Satellite Strategy Section

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Note: This article was first published at SNG Planet.

Most online poker sites offer Sit N Go Satellites, often to their larger buy-in Multi Table tournaments.
These have a range of buy-in prices and usually have just the single paid place. This article will cover
your approach to SNG Satellites and look at how late game strategy differs from a standard SNG.

The first thing to note is a small paradox. Your opposition in these events are less likely to understand
‘good’ Sit N Go strategy… the paradox is that this may actually benefit them!

Let me explain, while sound SNG play involves staying tight early to maintain your Fold Equity for
the bubble, single table satellite structure actually means you are in more danger if you get ‘left
behind’ chip-wise for the late game. Pushing late in a normal SNG relies on the fact that prize pool
equity is bigger than chip equity – meaning you need a far better hand to call than to push. In a Sit N
Go Satellite paying one place chip equity is equal to dollar equity… meaning that as long as you feel
you have an edge vs your opponents pushing range then a call is profitable. This in turn means that
your opponent’s seemingly ‘bad’ calls are often correct, mathematically speaking.

Having said that, the gap concept (needing a better hand to call a raise than to open raise with) still
holds true. The key to single table satellites is to assess your opponents and work out who shows no
fear and who will not commit all of their chips in case they bust out early.

The adjustments can be summarized as the following.

Satellite SNG Strategy - The Early Levels:

Suited connectors, small pairs and suited aces become more playable than in a normal SNG… the need
to accumulate chips becomes more important than maintaining Fold Equity. Implied odds are higher
due to the fact that, on average, your opponents will be less skilled than in the equivalent SNG. Use the
early levels to watch opponents closely, who overplays ace-rag? Who will go to showdown with weak
holdings and who will fold after opening a pot?

Satellite SNG Strategy - The Middle Levels:

Start raising and re-raising weak players here (those who have shown that they are able to fold). You
need to maintain the chip accumulating strategy. Having said that make sure you do not pot-commit
yourself against weak players by raising too big a portion of your stack without solid values.

Open pushing can be effective with stacks of less than 10 Big Blinds – be aware of opponents stack
sizes here (very small or very large stacks in particular). Use the reads gained from the early game –
people who over-play ace-rag are more likely to call your push with such a holding!

Satellite SNG Strategy - The Late Game / Bubble:

We already mentioned that chip equity and prize pool equity are equal when only one slot is paid.
This simplifies the calculations for profitable pushes in the late game. Give your opponent a range (for
example 20%), count the blinds and chances if called then push!

For example you have KQ and an opponent who will call with 20%, the blinds total 600. If you push
then you win 600 80% of the time and have 50% against your opponents calling range. The numbers
for 100 attempts assuming 3000 chip stacks after posting look like this.

80 Times you win 600 chips = 48000

10 Times you win 3600 chips = 36000

10 Times you lose 3000 chips. = 30000

(48000+36000-30000)/100 = 5400 chips

You have a large positive expectation against this opponent. Remember that calling ranges are lighter.
If we were dealing with a standard SNG bubble your opponent would need 70% vs your range to call –
here he only needs to be slightly ahead.

Many Poker Rooms offer Single Table SNG Satellites, try out some of the recommended rooms below.

For US Players

Full Tilt Poker – Full Tilt use a ‘Tournament Token’ Scheme for qualification into their higher by in
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MTTs. The huge number of Satellites available make this a great choice. Use Bonus / Referral Code
SNGPLANET for 100% to $600 sign-up Bonus.
Poker Stars is the number one online poker room and quite simply stands head and shoulders above
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the rest when it comes to both SNGs and Satellites – Use Marketing / Bonus code combo PSP3108 /
STARS600 and find out just why this is for yourself!

For Non-US Players

Titan Poker – With a reputation for some of the weakest opposition on the net Titan have a good range
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of Satellites into their larger nightly MTTs and into special events (EPT qualifiers for example). If you
have not checked out Titan yet then why not??!?! Bonus Code SNGPLANET will get you the full 100%
up to $6000 Bonus, plus $20 in free cash direct to your account.
Multi-Tabling SNG Tournaments

The reality of SNG play is that making a large hourly profit focusing on only one table at a time is
difficult. Even with a good ROI (return on investment) your expected return is low compared to cash
games and multi-table tournaments. For this reason many SNG specialists play 4, 8, 12 or even 16
tables simultaneously… this section covers the basics of why and how – then gives you links to further
information.

Firstly we need to look at the question of how adding tables affects the ability to observe opponents
and thus exploit their errors – after all, that is the whole point of this eBook!

Here is the bottom line: Adding tables will decrease your ROI, yet it will almost certainly improve
your hourly profits.

The math is actually simple, adding each table decreases your ROI by a small amount, however you
still make a profit on each game – so as long as the total is greater than the previous score you are right
to add more.

For example… A $10 SNG Player fairly new to the game might have the following scores (assume each
set takes 1 hour for simplicity).

1 table = 20% ROI or $2 per hour

2 tables = 15% ROI or $3 per hour
4 tables = 12% ROI or $4.80 per hour
8 tables = 10% ROI or $8 per hour
12 tables = 8% ROI or $9.60c per hour

Multi-Tabling: The Practicalities

Once we have established the extra profit that can be gained from multi-tabling we need to note a few
of the ‘how to’ steps and other important information for those players wishing to go down this path.

Your Site: Only the top 5 or so online poker sites will allow you to do this due to the traffic volumes
available. The best of all for multi-tabling is once again Poker Stars. This is due to a combination of
very smooth software and the big traffic volumes.

Your Bankroll: There is an inverse relationship between your ROI and the bankroll required to avoid
going broke. We recommend that multi-tablers go for the largest 100 buy-in bankroll level.

Your Computer Setup: A 20 inch+ monitor (or even 2) and decent graphics card is desirable, it is
possible to do this on a laptop for sure… but comfortable? If you are multi-tabling the $30+ levels you
might want to secure a backup internet connection too… losing connection while 16-tabling the $33s
could be a very expensive experience.

Next you will need to decide between playing in ‘sets’ (starting them all at the same time) or
‘continual’ - starting a new tournament as soon as each one ends or you bust. You will also need to
decide both how fast you add tables as you learn, and whether to have these ‘tiled’ (all visible on
screen) or cascaded (on top of each other, coming to the front when action is required).

We will finish this section with an important thought. When you are relatively new to poker the
thought of multi-tabling can seem a little crazy, after all keeping track of all those opponents must be
impossible. With the right setup and approach this can be quickly learned – you’ll be following 9
tables, taking notes on your opponents and playing post flop in no time at all!

For detailed information on multi-tabling SNGs follow the link below to the SNG Planet 2-part article
on this subject.

Click Here To See SNG Planet’s ‘How To Multi-Table SNGs Part #1’
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Alternative SNG Tournaments Online

This eBook has really concerned the standard 9 or 10 player SNGs, however there are many other
variations and some novel games available online. The advantage of these is that many of them attract
the first-timers and inexperienced opponents – making them profitable for players who have
understood the concepts outlined in a Comedy Of Errors. Instead of writing in detail about each one
we have summarized and provided a link to the relevant article on SNG Planet – if you would like to
see any other games included in this list then your thoughts / comments are welcome at
support@sngplanet.com
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Double or Nothing SNGs: These are available at Poker Stars and feature 10 player games in which 5
of the field double their buy-in and the other half get nothing. The strategy is actually similar to a one-
table satellite, with opponents almost giving away their money by making basic errors. Our 2 article
series on these concluded that the Double or Nothing SNGs are simply fantastic bankroll builders.

Click To See ‘Double or Nothing SNGs – Part #1’ At SNG Planet

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Steps SNG Tournaments: These games were originally made famous by Party Poker and have since
been introduced into both PokerRoom and Poker Stars. The idea is that by coming in the top 2 of a
lower buy-in SNG, you win an entry to the next level – cumulating in some big prizes for the ‘Step 6’
games. Party offer these for cash, with a $3 entry and $2000 top prize. Poker Stars offer them as
satellites to the major offline tournaments around the world, however it is possible to ‘exit’ with your
$215 step 4 ticket and use this for any of the larger buy-in tournaments such as the Sunday Million.

Click Here To See ‘Party Poker Steps Strategy – Part #1’ and here for ‘Poker Stars Steps Re-Arranged’
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SNG Planet Blog Post

Ultra / Super Turbo SNGs: Super-fast blinds and possibly super-small stacks make these games fast,
furious and fun – the question is whether they can be profitable? Here we have to look at whether your
opponents have time to make mistakes which could distribute profit to the rest of the table. Calling
with junk, over-calling raises with ace-rag and such like are all candidates. Yes the profit is there, but
with the caveat of requiring you to withstand some serious variance.

Click Here To See The SNG Planet Guide To Ultra-Turbo SNGs

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Heads-Up SNGs: 2 Player poker games will benefit your hand reading skills and post flop play
immeasurably – since you will be involved in so many hands. These are also profitable due to many
opponents failing to adjust to position and the relative changes in hand values.

Click Here For The SNG Planet Intro To Profitable Heads-Up Poker Matches
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Comedy Of Errors – Final Thoughts

We hope that you enjoyed and will benefit from the latest version of ‘A Comedy Of Errors’. We would
like to leave you with these final thoughts.

Many of your opponents look at poker strategy as a ‘recipe book’ type of goal, wanting to be told how
much to raise, with what hand in which position to ‘guarantee’ a profit. While ‘moves’ are important,
this thinking will only take you so far. Understanding what to look for in your opponents, and
working out how to adjust your play to best profit from their mistakes is a far better framework. This
solid foundation of poker thinking can be built upon and will move with you as far up the levels as
you have the time and inclination to travel.

Investing in your poker career goes beyond your current bankroll. Time taken to understand concepts
such as ICM and SAGE will repay you many times over. Once again, even if you do not wish to use
these ideas yourself then it is important to understand the thought processes of opponents. Investing
just $99 in a state-of-the-art software tool such as SNG Wiz will repay itself many times over.
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Finally, make sure that you have the best choice of games, the biggest traffic and a VIP club that is
renowned as the very best anywhere by getting an account at Poker Stars today – once you find out
what makes this the world’s most popular site for yourself you will not want to play anywhere else!
Use marketing code PSP3108 on sign-up and Bonus Code STARS600 on deposit to claim your 100% to
$600 free bonus.