Push/Fold in SNGs

The push/fold portion of sit and gos will occur as you
approach the money bubble, and also once you have passed the
money bubble. At this point, the blinds are big and the
chips are becoming increasingly valuable. The progressions you
should have in most instances are to always look to push and
then change what you’ll do as other players change what they
are doing.

If you see players who put their chips in to
the pot constantly, you’ll be more prone to call off against
them, and you don’t want to be that type of player. These
players will bust their stack pretty quickly and get picked off
a lot of the time without cashing in the sit and go. Picking
your spots of whether to push or fold in sit and gos is
important, because it determines the winners and the losers. If
you shove too often you will get called more often. If you don’t
shove often, you won’t have callers when you do have big
hands. The key is to find a balance between when to shove and
when to fold hands.

When to Push

Spots to push or shove in sit and gos are going to almost
always be from late position. If you are shoving weak hands from
early position, there’s a much better chance of someone calling
and you losing. When deciding to shove from the cutoff or
button, depending on the size of your stack, there are a bunch
of hands you can do it with. Most of the hands would be middle
suited connectors or better, suited weak aces, K10 or better,
QJ, the range can get wider depending on how passive or
aggressive your opponents have been.

If your opponents have been
very tight, then the range of hands can be almost any two cards
within reason. Certainly you’ll want to shove in with A10 or
better with hands like KQ or any pair. The range of hands you
can push with from late position will all be dependent on how
the blinds play.

The best situations to get in when deciding to push or fold
will be against an aggressive player who has put in a steal
raise from the button or cutoff. If a player is opening more
pots than they are folding, it should make your pushing ranging
greater. From the big or small blind you can collect bigger pots
by utilizing the three bet shove. The three bet shove will be a
great play in your arsenal later on in sit and gos. This play
will allow you to get value for a big hand or allow you to win a
decent sized pot without a showdown.

If you get value for a big
hand, this means that you have a hand like two kings and you want
your opponent to call the shove. Most of the time, if someone
puts in a raise, they’ll think about calling. Other times your
opponent will just muck their hand. Either way, if you have a
big hand, and you are facing a pre-flop raise, you are in good
shape. They’ll either call with worse or you’ll pick up a
decent sized pot with no risk.

When to Fold

When deciding to fold a hand you should look at how many
players are in the pot and how those players have been playing.
Also, you have to keep in mind their view of you at the table.
If you have been playing a lot of pots, sometimes it’s best to
fold hands instead of pushing in. More times than not if you are
the aggressor always, hand after hand, you should fold in tough
spots. Tough spots are what you want to avoid at all
costs. If you get stuck in a hand it could cost you a possible
win.

To make the progression from a push to a fold two things
have to happen. First, you have to realize that the players
around you will most likely call, and second, you have to look
at your hand and see if it’s good enough. If you realize that
players at the table are calling off with weaker hands you
should not push into them without bigger hands. You should look
to fold the marginal hands and wait for a better spot to push
in. Folding is something even the best players have trouble
with, but, it will save money in the long run and give you a
better chance of progressing through a sit and go.

Hands you should look to fold against a table with players
who call more times than not are up to you, and up for
interpretation. If you are in middle position sometimes you
should fold a small pocket pair, or a hand like A9, or KJ. Other
times you can push in. If you fold the marginal hands in middle
position, you’ll give yourself a better chance to win. If you
think about what hands will call you, and you don’t beat any of
them, then you should fold. Also, if you have over fifteen or so
big blinds you don’t need to gamble with hands like that yet,
and this should make your decision to fold easier.

In sit and gos you’ll almost never have more than thirty
big blinds later on in them, and the decisions to push or fold
will be magnified. Once you have less than ten big blinds you
should look to push a wider range because you’ll need chips,
but, if you are closer to the top of the chips stacks folding
marginal hands and waiting for premium hands is best. You’ll
want to fold more hands than you will shove with when it comes
down to it.

Picking spots and timing hands, when to push or
fold, is everything in sit and gos. Playing like a maniac and
shoving a wide range of hands will land you on the rail without
a win or a cash in the game. If you can maintain a balance and
only shove when you have to pick chips up you should do well.