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Single Table Satellites at the World Series.

A poker article by BETDIRECT POKER for Easy Play Games

As usual, the single table satellites here at the World Series are proving to be good value. A common mistake people make in these is to commit too many chips to a pot only to fold on a later street. It's very important to avoid doing this as much as you can in the single table format.

Let's have a look at a typical structure for a smaller satellite : 1000 chips, blinds start at 25-25, 15 minute levels. Many people will say that you can't win a lot of money in these. They will usually mention the dreaded c-word - crapshoot. This isn't true. However, you will find it difficult to do well in quick single table tournaments if you insist on trying to "play poker". By that I mean the standard sort of 3 big blind-continuation bet-fold to the reraise style that can work reasonably well on a slower clock. Unfortunately this tippy-tappy kind of play doesn't work well in the single tables at all. If you want to play poker on the turn, and even the flop in the later rounds, well, the Rio ballroom is pretty big and there are plenty of other games around in which you can do this. In a single table, you must try to avoid putting chips in and then folding without a showdown, or at least minimize the chips you lose in this way. You don't have enough chips to chase, or to call hoping for a big flop.

Single table satellites are all about utilising fold equity and semi-bluffing. Outright bluffing simply doesn't work enough to be profitable. You must try to either move all your chips in with outs if called, or keep it small until you hit your hand. Here are some tips for the early and middle stages of a single table :

Early stages (15-25 big blinds in your stack)

- Keep your pre-flop raises small. I'd rather have 2 or 3 callers than one, so I can simply put more chips in the pot if I like the flop and check-fold if I don't. You're more likely to be called by a worse hand on the flop than in a standard MTT, and the penalty for being outdrawn by a hand like 2 pair against an overpair, for example, is not as severe simply because the stacks are less deep.

- Don't call a raise with a hand that you can't be sure of even if the flop is good. KQ, AT, 88 - just let them go. If you flop top pair, most or all of your chips will be in the pot by the time you find out it's no good.

- When you flop a draw, try to either get all the chips in the middle on the flop or draw at it cheaply. You should usually check in early position, see what happens, and decide whether to move in or not if and when the action comes back to you.

- Don't overdo the continuation bets. When you miss the flop, just try to check it down unless you're heads up and fairly sure that you're in front.

- Don't bother trying to steal the blinds with no hand, it's not worth it.

Middle stages (8-15 big blinds)

- Putting a quarter of your stack in as a raise is just asking for someone to reraise you. It's a great spot for an opponent to semi-bluff you with a hand that might be 30-40% even if you call. Instead, look to move in first (with the moderate hands or in late position) or limp-reraise (with better hands in early/mid position). If you limp intending to reraise, no one bites, and you don't like the flop just let it go. Don't worry about being predictable ; even if anyone is paying attention they won't have time to exploit any knowledge. The blinds will soon become so high that you won't be making this play any more.

- Don't call an all-in with a moderate hand with players behind you. If a short stack moves in and you find KJ, 77 or the like in middle position, just let it go. Reraising all in is also an over-used play ; your raise will simply be returned to you unless someone finds a bigger hand. There's no particular benefit in knocking players out in a winner-take-all format. It will happen in time. In this kind of spot, there's no guarantee you're even ahead of the all in player anyway.

- Don't worry about the fact that the blinds are going to increase soon. Deal with that when it happens. If opportunities don't arrive in this zone, just wait until the blinds go up and you'll have plenty of chances to move in with a positive expectation.

That's all the examples I have time for right now, but the common theme is to avoid putting chips in and then folding. Use the semi-bluff, make sure you have the fold equity, not your opponent. There are exceptions but that's what they are - exceptions. In general, save your chips until you can commit them all, whether pre-flop or on the flop, with outs if you get called by a better hand. In a bigger single table with more starting chips, you might be able to play more poker in the first round or two, but as soon as you drop to 25 big blinds or less, the same points apply. Save your chips until you can use them to semi-bluff with two ways to win, and you can prosper in the single tables !