An Online Sit 'n' Go - Part II

In my last column, we starting discussing an online Sit 'n' Go tournament I played. I had entered a $100 buy-in 10-player limit hold'em event, with the winner receiving $500, second $300, and third $200. When the column ended, our table was down to five players, and the blinds had just become $50-$100. I had $1,260, and was third after stacks of $2,855 in seat No. 1 (S1) and $2,710 in S3. S10 had $885, and S8 was very short with $290.

Five Players: I have the 8 7 in the big blind. S8 (still the short stack) raises, and S10 calls. I call. Even though I do not like drawing hands after the first couple of rounds of a tournament, I cannot fold for one bet here. I can always get off my hand if it looks like it will be expensive to play to the river, but with one opponent almost all in, I can certainly control the number of bets each round. The flop of 7 7 6 provides a very pleasant surprise. I check, as I "know" the short stack will throw his last chips in. This is usually a bad error, as people should try to hang on to their last chips rather than throw them in at the first opportunity. Not having read my advice, he does put his last $90 in, of course, and I get to check-raise S10, making it $190. The turn produces the even more delightful 8, so I now have my second full house of the day. I bet, and get a call, making a side pot. The 5 on the river puts a possible straight flush on the board, but I am not going to play scared, so I bet, and S10 raises. I three-bet, and he caps it. I have to go all in to call this, so I do, and my full house wins over his pocket nines. I now have the chip lead for the first time, with $2,860, and we are down to four players.

Four Players: With this few players in the game, my thinking now shifts more toward shorthanded play. When I get the A J in the small blind and S1 raises, I reraise to get rid of the big blind and, hopefully, take control of the hand. Shorthanded, he needs very little for his raise, and there is a very good chance I have the best hand. Half of this plan works, as the big blind does fold, but S1 now caps the betting. I pretty much miss the flop of Q 3 2, but I check and call, hoping either I can make something on the turn or my call on the flop will look threatening to my opponent, who might check behind me on the turn if he has been bluffing. The 6 turn card does me no good, and S1 bets in response to my check. I still may have the best hand, but I cannot continue. My chip lead lasted one hand and I am now third. S10 is the short stack with $425 left after he folded the big blind.

On the button, I am dealt the A 4. S3 raises, and I fold. I do not like bad aces in general, and I still have time to wait for a better hand. Many players three-bet here, protecting the button and hoping to win the pot. They fail to consider that A-4 is unlikely to be a big favorite over any hand that can raise, and may be a huge underdog. It is hard to play if you miss the flop and not that easy if you actually hit a pair. The flop does come with an ace, but it is too late. I can only wonder.

I fold the next hand, but then get the A 2 in the big blind. The short stack, S10, raises and the small blind calls. Although I do not like the hand, I call here for much the same reasons I called with the 8-7 suited. With the short stack going all in, I cannot be raised out of the hand. The flop brings another ace: A 8 8. We check to the raiser, who goes all in. I am planning to check-raise, but the small blind beats me to it. I am facing two bets, but do not think I can lay my hand down yet in a shorthanded situation, so I raise, as well. I will have position over the small blind after S10 goes all in. That part works, as he does go all in, and S3, the small blind, calls. This gives us a $1,125 main pot, and a $450 side pot between S3 and me. On the turn, the 6, S3 bets out. I consider my options. Assuming S3 understands some tournament strategy, the bet must be with a hand that can beat mine. Normally, we would both check the hand down, and try to eliminate S10. That would guarantee that we all made the money. So, the bet must be a big hand. I fold, conceding the little side pot to S3. Amazingly, after the J on the river, S3 shows down the 4 3. What could he be thinking? First, he check-raises the flop with a hand that cannot win anything, then bets the turn with a draw. Does he not realize that if I fold and he misses, S10 will win the main pot with any hand he has? Doesn't he want to eliminate players?

In fact, S10 holds pocket queens, so I would have beat him had S3 not bet (or if I had called). S10 therefore survives, and we are still fourhanded. I remind myself that S3 might make another terrible play – and I need to look for it.

I am now with the pack at $1,860. I get another good hand, pocket tens in the small blind. Not surprisingly, S3 raises from the button after S1 folds. I three-bet with my pair, S3 caps it, and we are now heads up. The flop is unfavorable, Q 7 3, and S3 bets out when I check. After S3's performance on the last hand, I am inclined to call him all the way. He seems intent on using his chip lead to push me around, and I am not going to get pushed. I hope the turn is also a small card. It is, the 2. I check and call again, hoping I am in fact getting him to bluff off his chips to me instead of calling with only two outs. The river is terrible, the K, but I am committed to checking and calling, hoping to pick off a bluff. He shows pocket nines, so my tens win. He was not bluffing, exactly, but he certainly overplayed his hand. With this win, I take over the chip lead by a tiny amount. I only hope I can keep the lead longer than the one hand I held it last time.

I hold the button and the lead. When S3 folds (chastened?), I raise with the Q 9, which is a pretty good hand under the circumstances. S1, the big blind, calls. I flop a flush draw when the A 5 3 come down. I bet after S1 checks, hoping to win it right away, but S1 calls. The K on the turn does not make me happy, and I check behind S1. I am taking the free card, intent on not bluffing off my chips the way I just saw S3 do. S1 checks again when the 10 comes on the river, and I check again, with what has become the nut no pair. Surely, though, he must have a pair to have called the flop. No. I am spending almost this whole tournament in shock, and S1 shows down the J 4. He called the flop with a gutshot wheel draw, which is a bad play under almost any circumstances, but an awful play here.

I fold the next hand, and win a walk on the next. In the small blind, I get pocket sixes. S1 raises, I reraise, and S1 caps, with the other two folding. He is now almost all in, and on the Q 9 4 flop, I bet to make sure he goes all in. A harmless 3 and 7 fall, and I win the pot with my sixes. S1 had decided to commit his whole stack to J-10 suited. While I am overly fond of this hand myself, S1 could have decided to see the flop for one or two bets. Instead, he practically forced himself all in by going four bets preflop, leaving himself with less than a bet remaining. J-10 suited is not a hand that rates to win a showdown unimproved, making it a poor choice for a last ditch all-in hand, especially when he has enough chips to see several more hands.

In the final installment of this series, we will look at the last series of hands, as we get down to threehanded and heads-up play.

Editor's note: Barry Tanenbaum welcomes your questions and comments. He also offers private poker lessons and consultations.