Poker Articles

I’m sitting at a $2.25 18 Man sit and go on Full Tilt Poker. It’s the first hand. UTG calls for 20, UTG + 1 calls for 20, a player in mid-position calls as does the cut off. The small blind raises and makes it 140. UTG folds, all other limpers call. The pot is now 610 chips. The flop comes 2-7-J rainbow. The small blind bets out with 400 chips. All players fold until the action gets to the player on the cut off who calls with no hesitation. The turn comes another J. The small blind shoves, the cut off instacalls!! It’s a showdown!! The small blind flips over his AJ and is delighted and mildly horrified to see the cut off flip over T8. The river comes a 9, completing the J-high straight for the cut off. The small blind proceeds to berate the other player in the chatbox for what seems like forever, calling him every name under the sun (Donkey! Fish! How could you call that raise? blah, blah, blah). At the conclusion of the game I search for Mr Potty Mouth on Sharkscope and discover that his average buy-in is much higher than the $2.25 fee to play this particular game.

This is a scenario I have seen played out so many times I have lost count. There is in the end, nothing wrong with how the small blind played here; with one major and notable exception. This is a micro stake SNG!! There is a fine art to playing them and our small blind did not make the necessary adjustments to be successful.

I need to say that if you have no interest in micro stakes poker then this article is probably not for you. Most of what I will say is based on my experience in the $2.25 18 Man SNGs on Full Tilt. A lot of that experience can be translated to other SNGs and MTTs as well. I have been fortunate enough to win micro 180 and 90 man SNGs as well using the same type of play I will discuss here. I think ‘fortunate’ is a reasonable enough word to use there. If you have played many of those you will know exactly what I mean!!

Let me say from the outset that I am no poker shark. I am a student of Jennifear’s though, so hopefully I have learned something from her. What I can say, is that I have played nearly 1,000 of the 18 mans I mentioned above. I must admit I rarely play them any more as I have moved onto higher stakes but I still occasionally load up a set just for fun. I can hear the statisticians already grinding their teeth "That’s way to small of a sample size to determine your true ROI!" That may be true, but I can say that the sample is definitely long enough to get a feel for a game and work out how to play them well. I can also say that in those games I had some horrific downswings and lovely upswings so I did see the best of both worlds.

I did manage to get myself on the Sharkscope leaderboard a few times in the "any game 2-3 table $2 and under category" and when I did that I was normally in the top 2-3 players from Full Tilt. My ROI has floated between 12 and 18% which is not too bad especially when you consider that these games are raked at 12.5%. So as I said, I’m no shark. Can you learn something about micros from what I have to say? Maybe.


Early Game

The early game for me is up until the big blind hits 50 chips. At this stage, I take a few limps with baby pairs, suited connectors, A2-5 suited, AT, AJ, any two broadways. I watch the table carefully here and if it is active I only take these limps in latish position. It pays to be cautious here about when you make these limps. It is definitely –EV to be limping with these hands if you are going to be raised almost every time. Now there is plenty of argument to raise with hands like AT, AJ, TT, 99 with limpers already in the pot. With the big blind at 30 chips if you raise these hands you will often get 4 or 5 callers (or sometimes more), so I’m happy to take a limp and re-evaluate after the flop. I hate the idea of raising with AT, seeing a flop and being in a seven way pot. You have no idea the range of hands you could be up against in a micro.

In the example I cited at the start of the article our small blind still would have lost the pot but he wouldn’t have busted out if he had adjusted to micro play. He would have had a smallish pot to play with instead of one that needed shoving into. It has to be said though, that I still raise my premium starting hands (AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ) here; especially if I have position. Another strategy with those big hands (especially the top end pairs) at this stage is to shove. More often than not you will get a call and the vast majority of times you will have them crushed pre-flop. Remember that many of your opponents will think that 22 is a monster.

Middle Game

The middle game for me almost reverts to ‘normal’ SNG play. The blinds are now at 50 and the standard ‘3 x BB plus one for each limper’ raise seems to start working in getting limpers to fold and taking down good size pots. So it’s ABC poker time. I make no other adjustments to a regular SNG strategy here.

Late Game / Bubble

The time to start shoving your stack is around 10-14 big blinds. What you need to be careful of though, is the tendency of other players at your table. Many players are genuinely happy to call off their whole stack with a suited Q. Take a note of who they are. You will also notice that the big stacks may call you very light, so just be careful with what you shove and where.

When you get to the bubble, exercise caution again. If one of those situations arise where there are five people left in an 18 man (with top four spots paying) and the baby stack folds, don’t assume safely you can shove very light. Why? Because the normal logic of bubble play may not apply for the players you have shoved on. I have seriously had someone write in the chatbox ‘Wow money for 4th, I didn’t know that!!’ Often on the bubble I actually hang back a little bit if the others are being highly active and betting into each other.

Once in the money I don’t really change my play. I find good spots, shove into unopened pots with good cards, noting the tendencies of my opponents and adjusting my range accordingly.

Heads Up

Heads up time is where there is a major adjustment you can make to increase your micro profitability. Open up your range!! The average player you clash with heads up in a micro is playing way, way too tight. They are waiting for a good pair or other premium starting hands to get into the pot. If I even get a sniff off this tight tendency I am shoving almost any J or better. If they are being ultra passive it’s any two cards baby!! Remember too that by the time you get to heads up in a micro you should both be in push / fold mode.

There are a few other things to consider in micros that will improve your game:

Pot Odds

Many players will have no concept of pot odds. You may be betting large enough post-flop to make sure that anyone on a draw is making an incorrect pot odds call. That normally doesn’t work!! If I suspect someone is on a draw, I try to build the pot and hope they don’t hit because in the end it doesn’t matter what you throw into the pot, they are sitting there thinking ‘One more club, just one more club’. This will pay out for you in the end more often than it doesn’t.

Aces

Another consideration is the way aces are played in micros. A lot of players simply cannot fold them preflop. This is why if you raise with KK, get two callers and then see a flop with an ace, you are probably in trouble. You can also get in trouble here if you have an ace yourself. Imagine you raise preflop with AK, flop comes A-6-4, you bet at the pot and your opponent shoves. Did he call your big raise with A6 or A4? Yep, he sure did!

Good Players

You also need to remember that there are some very good players on micro tables. You should spot them, and make player notes. A Sharkscope check at the conclusion of a game is a good way to find out who is a good player and who is not. If you end up in two way pots or heads up with these players, the adjustments I have described in this article are out the window!!

So in summary, the major adjustments you need to make to be successful at micros are:

• When the blinds are low, limp into the pot and only raise premium hands.
• Beware when shoving a low stack and on the bubble because the normal bubble play tendencies and ‘rules’ may not apply.
• Open up your range in heads up play.
• Remember that pot odds may not figure into your opponents play.
• Play flops with an ace carefully.
• Beware the good players.

There is one more thing you can do to enhance your micro experience. Don’t berate the other players. At micro level many of the people at your tables are genuine recreational players who think that putting a couple of bucks on a poker game is the same as putting it into a slot machine or buying a lottery ticket. There is one player in particular I’ll mention. Not by name though. He hails from Europe and when I searched him on Sharkscope he had played 600 games at an ROI of -89%; a statistic often thrown at him in the chatbox. He’s a nice guy. He wishes everyone good luck at the start. He says good game when he busts out. He laughs out loud when he calls your shove with Q7 suited and misses completely. He gets abused over and over and over again. But you know what? I like having him at my table. I don’t want to scare him away. If I wake up with AA and he is on my left, I might just have a shove hoping he is looking at a Q high hand. So be nice huh?

thearthurdog