More on No Limit Texas Hold'em Sit and Goes

Let's continue with the subject of No-Limit Sit & Goes in this column and we'll return to Limit Hold'em in the next installment of Improving Performance. There is a powerful strategy in these Sit & Goes when approaching the money that I see many players ignore. It is simply to target the correct opponent when on the bubble. We all know not to try and tackle the chip leader unless we really have the nuts. However, if we are one of the chip leaders and the field is down to four, (the top 3 finishers make the money on a 50/30/20 percent basis) then who should you attack?

Let's imagine a scenario where out of the total of the starting $10,000 in chips among ten players, you have $3000. The leader has $5000 and the remaining two players have $1500 and $500 respectively. Many players attempt to knock out the low man to get down to three remaining players and qualify for the money. However, the player in fourth position with only $500 and facing escalating blinds, knows he's in trouble and is desperately looking to double up and will not need much of a hand to go all-in. He simply can't afford to wait too long. The player who is in third place with $1500 realizes the fourth place player's predicament and is the player you should be attacking. He realizes that as soon as the low man with only $500 gets knocked out, he will automatically back into the money. This knowledge should be used against him as he will not want to commit any of his chips without an absolute lock. Attack, attack and attack this player as he will virtually lay down 99% of his hands just waiting to get into the money. In contrast, the low man will call most any bet as he has no choice For the most part, unless you hold a monster, he will not be that much of an underdog and may well prevail in his forced stand. By the time you find yourself down to four remaining players, the blind structure is normally high enough to make these blatant steals from the third place chip stack quite profitable. You may well amass enough chips to strike fear in the heart of the chip leader.

So, here is our goal for this outing. If you find yourself in first or second place among the last four players then attack the second lowest stack vs. the lowest. The lowest stack will very often make a stand against a raise while the second lowest will be extremely cautious as he wants the lowest stack to exit first in order to make the money. Pretty basic...right? Well yeah, except I find it hard to believe how many players I see who just go into a shell at that point hoping Mr. Chip leader takes out both the short stacks. The problem with being passive and letting the chip leader do all the eliminating is that you'll find yourself at an enormous disadvantage chip wise when you get down to heads up play You should be amassing those easy chips so you'll have the ammo to fight for first place. Give this tactic a try and see if it improves your performance and therefore your bottom line. See you next "TIME".