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Crush online Sit and Goes using Poker Tells and Scouting
Poker prop article posted August 9th, 2006I've always enjoyed playing sit and go (SNG) and smaller multi-table tournaments (MTTs) on medium sized online poker rooms. The reason I prefer the medium size rooms is they tend to have a lot of regulars the same way the large rooms do. The regular poker players at the medium sized online poker rooms are much easier to spot because you get a chance to play with them often. The reason I enjoy playing with the same players often is because I'm very observant and have a great memory. It's easy for me to recall previous hands and remember what a certain opponent is capable of.
I'll apologize to serious players before I make the next reference, because we've finally moved past the times of hearing quotes from the poker movie Rounders on an hourly basis; however this is the only way I can think of that makes a relative reference.
Remember the pivotal moment in the final heads up match in Rounders, Mike looks up and notices Teddy eating the cookie? Remember the look on Mike's face and his hesitation and then his ability to lay down top 2 pair on the flop in a heads up no-limit (NL) match. While this scene was exaggerated (do $25K NL poker players often have such obvious poker tells?) and we don't get to see our opponents' use of the cookies in their hand while playing online the way Matt Damon acted in that particular scene was classic. It is very possible to know almost exactly what your player has after discovering tells. Yes, this can be done online, and it can be done with remarkable accuracy.
I can remember the first time I had this epiphany so clearly I even remember the opponent's username. I was dealt deuce deuce (22) on the big-blind (BB). A mid-position raiser made it 4 bets and when the small-blind (SB) called, I decided to call as well, with the hope of hitting a set and winning a massive pot. The flop was J97 and the original raiser bet about 2/3 of what was in the pot and the SB folded. As I was about to fold all of a sudden I recalled the last time I played with this person I noticed they raise 4X with AK and raise 3X almost every other hand they play. I also recalled them betting 2/3 of the pot on another occasion and when another player made a healthy raise they folded. I processed this all in a few seconds and decided to put in a healthy raise (again, previous to this information I would of folded here for sure). This player took a while then typed "AK" and folded.
It's in my nature to question everything when I make a new discovery... I questioned myself - "was this a lucky guess?". I decided to focus in on this player and sure enough I picked up that this player had a ton of "trends." They had certain hands they played the same way each and every time.
I was so intrigued that I began to pick new players to study. I would study them so well and when I got to the point that I understood their plays better than they did themselves I would move on to another player. I kept noting mentally more and more information, as I picked up unique trends (ones I previously hadn't recognized) I would start watching the players I previously studied to see if they had any of these same trends.
At medium sites a lot of the same players play SNG tournaments day-in and day-out; if you're a regular its not uncommon to sit at a nine player SNG and to have previous experience playing six to seven of the other eight players at the table. Knowing these players better than they knew themselves was the secret to the massive success I was having. I knew when to fold, when to raise, when to make a bet larger than they were capable of calling, how to induce a bluff; I was fuzzy - I often knew how to get some more information.
Let me now share with you exactly how you can play with the very same information.
The most common trend that I've been able to pick up on is regarding the size of a continuation bet.
The majority of pre flop raisers will put a continuation bet in on the flop of approximately 2/3 the size of the pot when they miss the flop, ex: they have pocket 9's and the flop comes up K 10 2, or they have AK and the flop comes up with a 9 as high card.
This is a very easy poker tell to pick up on, but before using it determine how you will play the rest of the hand. You must understand that poker tells are only one of the many tools available to poker players; this information should be taken into account with a variety of other information and not be used solely to determine your play.
I'm not suggesting you go all-in every time someone bets 2/3 of the pot as a continuation bet in a tournament - blindly doing so will quickly leave you broke. What I do suggest is note taking - either mentally, in notepad (or an equivalent program on either Linux or Macintosh OS) or a poker site's player notes system on what players who open pots pre-flop for a raise actually do on the flop. Get to know the players play book and note things like:
- Uses slow leads
- Checks big hands
- Bets 2/3 continuation on missed flops, etc
The first thing I would start with is noting a poker player's post-flop play - as having an edge in this area will give you the biggest overall edge against that player.
If you play with the same group of poker players regularly (which is common on most medium sized sites) these poker tells will start to add up and give you a huge advantage over your opponents.
Once you've determined trends and developed a good understanding of the other player's post-flop play book, start taking notes on their starting hand ranges and look for any variations in there pre-flop raises. Ex: I know quite a few players who make this 2/3 continuation bet on missed flops and will always limp with pocket pairs from 22 to 99, raise 4X with pocket pairs from TT to QQ and 3X with AA, KK and 5X with AK. While these players play a fairly solid game I'm sure they don't have the slightest clue that a few observant, professionally minded players at their table "have their number" to the point that they might as well be dealt cards faced up.
The next thing to start noting is what this player is capable of! Ex: I've been able to put a player on AK and I'll raise them big with 6, 4 on a 3 7 9 flop and have them move back all-in on me. I've seen it numerous times and also enough where I've had no choice but to call being deeply priced into the hand. Be sure you know who is "bluffable;" some players are not willing to be bluffed and will decide to commit all their chips blindly. Also, keep in mind to update your notes often.
At one site I used to play at three years ago, I see that the world's biggest fish who was dead money to almost all of our $50 SNGs is now the top tournament player on the site cashing big in MTTs and dominating the $200 SNGs regularly. I got a chance to talk with this player recently and found out he had cashed for $14,000 at PokerStars and faced the fact that he was a losing player who got lucky to get his money back and decided to start taking poker seriously committing himself to learn all he could. Of course, the notes I had on him before are just about useless now.
While most of the notes I took on players were done mentally to start, later I began saving hand histories. Each time I spotted something that I believed might be a trend I would make a note and then query a bunch of hands I played against that player before and see if the data backed up my suspicion. Tools such as PokerTracker can aid in doing this.
To this day, I spend at least a few hours per week (if not more) reviewing hand histories. Reviewing these hand histories allow me to:
- Find my own mistakes
- Look for my own potential tells and trends, and
- Spot mistakes my opponents are making
I research these mistakes against other hands to see how often I've made them or how often my opponent is making them.
Anyway, to many readers this information might seem elementary but hopefully it helps some who reads it. If you decide not to use this information then at least it's been brought to your conscious level. Keep in mind, if you play the same way all the time, there are certain players who are able to play you just like you had your cards turned over on the table. The most successful tournament players are those who "mix it up" and are able to take down pots with any 2 cards, and fold when they're not going to be able to pick up pot.
If you're not going to be one of the players with the privilege of knowing what your opponents are holding, at the very least, make the decision not to be one of the players who allows your opponents to often know your own holdings.
Until next time - good luck at the tables, Jim
The above poker prop article was posted on August 9th, 2006. If you have questions about Mad Poker Props or poker propping please contact us.