Perhaps you have noticed, but it just did not register, that sometimes your opponents in a sit n go hold'em tournament will do exactly what you want without any apparent, manipulative action on your part. Chances are that they have followed your lead without you knowing.
There are probably plenty of opportunities, and more with conscious planning, for leading our opponents.
Here are a few examples of this concept in action:
1. Training the small blind to fold.
When you are in the big blind, and the blinds have become meaningful, you are always hoping that the small blind will simply surrender his blind. Often, the small blind will follow your lead, if you are also folding your small blind. That is, if he sees you to be a smart, tight, aggressive player.
But, the first time he does complete his small blind, whack him with a huge (or all-in) raise. That will usually slow him down for awhile.
2. Loosening up the table.
In a sit n go, sometimes it will serve your purposes for the table to loosen up before it would normally. That is, to loosen up before the blinds reach around, say, 10% of the starting stack size. Which is when most of the players will have broadened their starting hand requirements.
So, just start your pushing earlier. Your opponents will usually follow your lead.
3. Limping to build a big pot.
Try limping from under-the-gun to build that huge, cheap-to-enter pot. Works almost every time. This is because anyone playing from UTG has the appearance of strength.
Consequently, your opponents, who cannot resist the pot odds being offered, will also limp because they do not want to risk the implied threat of your re-raise.
4. Establishing the table normal size bet.
Sometimes a table will fall into a pattern of standard size amounts for bets, raises, and continuation bets. A mild pattern of betting may suit your purposes when, for example, you are card dead. You can reinforce this behavior by following the standard, and by punishing any transgressors.
Later on, being the first to break the standard can be very profitable. Because you will have introduced a momentary element of surprise, distraction, and perhaps, confusion.
5. Inducing thoughtful play.
Here is the scenario: your opponent has bet, and you want to steal the pot. If you re-raise all-in, the correct play for your opponent would be to fold. You want your opponent to think and fold, rather than react and call. So, try waiting until your time has almost run out before pushing.
This delay suggests that you thought long and carefully before acting, and so should your opponent.
These few tips are provided to help illustrated a greater concept. That is, that there are times during a tournament when an opponent, or perhaps even the entire table, is following our lead.
Our job is to recognize those moments of influence. As it is then that we may be able to manipulate outcomes to our advantage.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Read my Article Review of this article, Five Tips For Training Your Sit 'n' Go Opponents.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2009 R. Steve McCollum
__________________________________________________________________________________
Comments