cardriverx
Legend
Silver Level
This will not be as in depth as KC's Rush Strategy --> https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-poker-59/kcs-rush-strategy-180313/ as I believe his strategy lays out the basic plays in this tournament.
The difference between the 135-Man SNGs and the On-Demand ones are small, but there are some important differences:
1. More Runners (300-400) - This creates a larger prize pool, which I think is good. Usually first is 25% of the prize pool.
2. More Players ITM. Usually the bubble stars at 36 players (sometimes 27, sometimes 45). This creates more room between the money bubble and the FT bubble than the 135-man tourneys (which only had 15 players money). Allows for different play at money bubble, in between the money bubble and the FT bubble, and the FT bubble.
3. Late-Registration - With many runners entering at Levels 3-5, they are willing to get in, shove, and either double-up or go out.
Now I will create different strategies for different parts of the game.
Early Stages (During Late-Registration) (Levels 1-5) - As KC said, you play these stages like a normal tournament. Playing only top hands, and I would also limp small pairs.
But as I said before there are a lot of players just trying to get a quick double up. Even with blinds 15/30, I would advise to possibly 3-bet shove with hands like QQ+, AK.
Full Tilt - $4+0.40 $4 + $0.40 Rush On Demand (#220616563) - Blinds: 15/30 No Limit Hold'em (9 players)
Full Tilt Hand Converter Tool from CardsChat.com
SB: t1,730
BB: t1,985
UTG: t1,910
MP: t1,895
MP+1: t2,060
MP+2: t1,925
LP: t1,715
CO: t2,000
BTN Hero: t1,955
Pre-flop: (t45) Hero is BTN and dealt
3 folds, MP+2 raises t90, 2 folds, Hero raises t1,955 (All-in), 2 folds, MP+2 calls t1,835 (All-in)
Flop: (t3,925) (2 players)
Turn: (t3,925) (2 players)
River: (t3,925) (2 players)
Final Pot: t3,925
Showdown:
Hero shows
MP+2 shows
Outcome: Hero wins t3,895
The players will pay you off, you will not lose much value. Players are willing to call with hands like 99, AJ, KQ.
Middle Stages (After Late Registration, Before the Bubble)
Now shoving pre-flop with your monsters is not the greatest move, as you will try to extract more value for hands like that.
As KC said, the blinds will get to 80/160 by Round 8, and it's time to start stealing the blinds from positions like SB, BTN, and CO (even possibly HJ). Do not really rely on what your HUD says (unless you have hands from other games with someone), as you still don't have that much hands on someone, but do realize when one defends with junk, or what one 3-bets with.
I like to C-bet a ton of flops in position, but be ready to fold to aggression.
In these games, the blinds raise very fast, 3 minutes for the first 11 stages, 4 minutes until the final stages, which are 5 minutes. This makes it extremely important for one to steal the blinds in build their stack in this middle period.
Bubble Play
This is when stealing is most important and you can steal against ShortStacks here as most are not looking to double up until the bubble bursts. 3-betting in the BB is also a good play as long as you have a good size stack.
If your stack is short, than try to shove to steal the blinds
If your stack is average, you can steal the blinds with a 2.5x raise
If your stack is above average, you can steal the blinds and 3-bet defend your BB.
Post-Bubble Play (19 or more players left)
The Bubble just burst. Time to slooooow down. Hopefully you accumilated enough chips to be able to tighten up for a little and let the supershortstacks bust out. Since the tables do go shorthanded at 28 people, stealing from SB, BTN, and CO becomes more profitable as you will have more chances to do so.
Pre-Final Table Play (10-18 Players Left)
The blinds are very high by now, which makes stealing paramount. There can be anywhere from 6 to 4 players at your table now meaning that you must be aggressive here and raise with a wide range of hands to steal the blinds.
Yes, this means that you will get some Final Table bubbles, but going into the Final Table I always like to have 75K-100K in chips, and you don't get this much without stealing the blinds, re-stealing from the blinds, and overall playing aggressive. Without it you may make the Final Table, but you would not have enough chips to be able to reasonably make the Final 3.
Final Table Play
Congrats, it's the final table. Hopefully you have at least 50K in chips here. With a shortstack here you are obviously looking to shove with any OK hands, but you can be a little more patient as play is now 9-handed.
With an average or above average stack you also can slow down a bit and watch the table, make some notes.
Stealing is very hard to do (but not impossible), especially against small stacks who want to just try to double up. I think you can wait for a good hand here and try to coercise an all-in when you have a better hand.
At the Final Table, most of it is left to the cards, which is why you need to make chips in that Pre-Final Table area.
The difference between the 135-Man SNGs and the On-Demand ones are small, but there are some important differences:
1. More Runners (300-400) - This creates a larger prize pool, which I think is good. Usually first is 25% of the prize pool.
2. More Players ITM. Usually the bubble stars at 36 players (sometimes 27, sometimes 45). This creates more room between the money bubble and the FT bubble than the 135-man tourneys (which only had 15 players money). Allows for different play at money bubble, in between the money bubble and the FT bubble, and the FT bubble.
3. Late-Registration - With many runners entering at Levels 3-5, they are willing to get in, shove, and either double-up or go out.
Now I will create different strategies for different parts of the game.
Early Stages (During Late-Registration) (Levels 1-5) - As KC said, you play these stages like a normal tournament. Playing only top hands, and I would also limp small pairs.
But as I said before there are a lot of players just trying to get a quick double up. Even with blinds 15/30, I would advise to possibly 3-bet shove with hands like QQ+, AK.
Full Tilt - $4+0.40 $4 + $0.40 Rush On Demand (#220616563) - Blinds: 15/30 No Limit Hold'em (9 players)
Full Tilt Hand Converter Tool from CardsChat.com
SB: t1,730
BB: t1,985
UTG: t1,910
MP: t1,895
MP+1: t2,060
MP+2: t1,925
LP: t1,715
CO: t2,000
BTN Hero: t1,955
Pre-flop: (t45) Hero is BTN and dealt
3 folds, MP+2 raises t90, 2 folds, Hero raises t1,955 (All-in), 2 folds, MP+2 calls t1,835 (All-in)
Flop: (t3,925)
(2 players)Turn: (t3,925)
(2 players)River: (t3,925)
(2 players)Final Pot: t3,925
Showdown:
Hero shows
MP+2 shows
Outcome: Hero wins t3,895
The players will pay you off, you will not lose much value. Players are willing to call with hands like 99, AJ, KQ.
Middle Stages (After Late Registration, Before the Bubble)
Now shoving pre-flop with your monsters is not the greatest move, as you will try to extract more value for hands like that.
As KC said, the blinds will get to 80/160 by Round 8, and it's time to start stealing the blinds from positions like SB, BTN, and CO (even possibly HJ). Do not really rely on what your HUD says (unless you have hands from other games with someone), as you still don't have that much hands on someone, but do realize when one defends with junk, or what one 3-bets with.
I like to C-bet a ton of flops in position, but be ready to fold to aggression.
In these games, the blinds raise very fast, 3 minutes for the first 11 stages, 4 minutes until the final stages, which are 5 minutes. This makes it extremely important for one to steal the blinds in build their stack in this middle period.
Bubble Play
This is when stealing is most important and you can steal against ShortStacks here as most are not looking to double up until the bubble bursts. 3-betting in the BB is also a good play as long as you have a good size stack.
If your stack is short, than try to shove to steal the blinds
If your stack is average, you can steal the blinds with a 2.5x raise
If your stack is above average, you can steal the blinds and 3-bet defend your BB.
Post-Bubble Play (19 or more players left)
The Bubble just burst. Time to slooooow down. Hopefully you accumilated enough chips to be able to tighten up for a little and let the supershortstacks bust out. Since the tables do go shorthanded at 28 people, stealing from SB, BTN, and CO becomes more profitable as you will have more chances to do so.
Pre-Final Table Play (10-18 Players Left)
The blinds are very high by now, which makes stealing paramount. There can be anywhere from 6 to 4 players at your table now meaning that you must be aggressive here and raise with a wide range of hands to steal the blinds.
Yes, this means that you will get some Final Table bubbles, but going into the Final Table I always like to have 75K-100K in chips, and you don't get this much without stealing the blinds, re-stealing from the blinds, and overall playing aggressive. Without it you may make the Final Table, but you would not have enough chips to be able to reasonably make the Final 3.
Final Table Play
Congrats, it's the final table. Hopefully you have at least 50K in chips here. With a shortstack here you are obviously looking to shove with any OK hands, but you can be a little more patient as play is now 9-handed.
With an average or above average stack you also can slow down a bit and watch the table, make some notes.
Stealing is very hard to do (but not impossible), especially against small stacks who want to just try to double up. I think you can wait for a good hand here and try to coercise an all-in when you have a better hand.
At the Final Table, most of it is left to the cards, which is why you need to make chips in that Pre-Final Table area.
