Playing Out of Position in Sit N Go Tournaments

Sit N Go’s provide a very unique situation in terms of tournament poker. For the most part everything in a Sit N Go takes place in about an hour or so, even quicker for a Turbo SNG. One thing you will notice is that you need to be well versed in how to handle a lot of situations. Because of the volatile nature of Sit N Go’s you must be able to deal with being in bad situations a lot. Sit N Go’s don’t really favor any one player and sometimes you’ll find your self in crappy situations all the time. One of the more common situations is being out of position. This article will address how to best handle situations where you are out of position and help you make the most of them.

Who are you up against?

If you find yourself out of position and with a lot of money on the line, or the potential to have a lot of money on the line, you have to seriously consider what players are remaining or who is contesting for the pot. Playing out of position against good or great players is very difficult and you should rarely, if ever, do it. The point then here is that you need to quickly try and identify your opponent’s style so you know how to handle them when you run into tough situations. Here are a few quick pointers:

· If you have a lot of chips and you find yourself out of position against what you perceive to be just a fair or poor player, then it is okay to take a chance and attempt to outplay them. Essentially eliminate position as a factor by making them put their chips at risk. I’ve found the starting chip structure at a new site called Aced is perfect for playing big stack poker.
· If you find yourself against a good player, or a hand that you are less than fond of, then this is clearly a bad situation and you again can eliminate position as a factor by simply folding the hand!
· Playing out of position with excellent hands is much easier to manage. The main considerations are as to how you can extract the most money from your opponents while taking the disadvantages of position into account. Check and raise is a viable strategy but don’t overdo it. Another alternative is an obvious over bet that a savvy opponent will respond to.

Starting hand selection is gravely important

When you are out of position it is critical that you enter the pot with only the best hands. Obviously late in the tournament you will need to be less selective and play more hands to win, but you need to keep all things relative. In early position or out of position, even though you are playing more hands late in the tournament, the speculative hands you play out of position should be less speculative than the hands you play in late position. For example, it would be okay to come in for a raise in late position with QT suited however if you were out of position, you would want to consider a stronger hand such as KQ suited. Remember, these are late tournament examples. In the beginning of a Sit N Go, its okay to generally play tight and especially tight when out of position.

The main thing to remember when playing out of position in a Sit N Go is how can you either minimize your losses or maximize your gains. Usually playing out of position can be fairly clear-cut in Sit N Go tournaments but you ultimately have to remember one thing. Unless you are playing against complete nincompoops you usually will be at a disadvantage when out of position and either your chips or cards are going to have to make up for the difference!

Try the great Sit N Go structure they offer at Aced, I’ve really enjoyed playing there for the last few weeks.

Barry Greenstein puts on a clinic for PokerStars players

This past Sunday at PokerStars, poker professional Barry Greenstein hosted a Masterclass Eight Game Poker tournament. The event required 60,000 Frequent Player Points (FPP’s) and boasted not only a $6,000 prize pool but also the chance to play and learn from one of the games greatest players.

Eight Game Poker is made up of 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha Eight or Better, Razz, Limit Seven Card Stud, Limit Stud Eight or Better, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha. At this time, PokerStars is the only online poker site that hosts this particular game.

Players in the event as well as spectators had the chance to view Barry’s hole cards at times and hear his thoughts on why he played (or didn’t play) certain hands. Each participant also got a signed copy of Barry’s book, “Ace on the River“. If you’ve ever seen Barry bust out of a tournament you’ve seen him sign a copy and hand it to the person who was fortunate enough to have beaten him.

On November 30th, PokerStars is going to host a replay of the match and provide input from Barry on not only his play but the actions of the entrants as well. It’s truly a once a lifetime opportunity to hear someone like Barry comment on such a wide array of poker variants.

Barry Greenstein is considered one of the top cash game players in the world as well as one of the most generous when it comes to charity. Every major tournament cash by Barry is donated the charity of his choice, which has earned him the nickname of “The Robin Hood of Poker“. He’s cashed a total of 37 times in various World Series of Poker events and is one of the top ranked HORSE players of all time.

Aced Poker Site Review

Launched in 2008, Aced is a poker site that was designed from day one by poker players, for poker players. The management team there has had experience at several other rooms and made the collective decision to make Aced unique.

Here’s a quick overview of the Aced Poker experience and what you can expect when playing there:

Deposit Bonus and Perks: Sign up for Aced using this special TurboSNG link and get a 200% deposit bonus up to $1,000.

Cashier: Aced accepts Visa and Mastercard deposits, Click2Pay, PIC-Club, Neteller, Entropay, Fonelinx, ECO, Wire Deposits, and ewallet express.

Sit N Go Action:There’s a wide range of juicy SNG action at Aced. The average wait time to fill a table at the lower to middle limit buy-ins is only about 120 seconds and the players tend to be weak-aggressive. Since Merge offers a casino, many of the Sit N Go players come from a winning streak at the tables and tend to lose a fair amount at the single table tournaments.

Tournament Action:Aced offers a deep selection of tournaments that send players to the World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, the Aussie Millions, and more.

Cash Game Action:Players are across the board here but the major concentration of fish are at the middle limit Hold’em tables.

Games Offered: Aced has the most diverse selection of any poker site I’ve seen…

• Texas Hold ‘Em- Everyones favorite community poker game
• H.O.R.S.E - The exciting mixed game where multiple poker variants are played at set intervals
• Omaha - Another community game similar to Hold’em
• Stud Poker _ We offer Caribbean, 5 Card, 7 Card, and Razz variants
• Draw Poker - The classic poker game, trade your cards in to improve your hand
• Euchre - Using American based rules, try your hand at our newest side game with and against fellow live players as you play to win
• Blackjack - This casino classic is undoubtedly one of the most popular casino games in the world, with millions of hands being dealt every day for enthusiastic players
• Roulette - In the simplest tradition of gaming, we provide players with a spin of the roulette wheel to bring their session into full swing
• Caribbean Stud - In a dealer vs. player scenario, several stages of ante and main bets are made, after which players use their five cards to obtain a poker hand which can beat the dealer
• Backgammon - Rolling the dice and making strong moves has never felt more natural
• Video Poker - With Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, and Deuces Wild, players have the full Video Poker experience in their own homes

Loyalty/VIP Program: Aced has a program called “Outs” that rewards members based on the amount of cash game play or tournaments entered. From special cash bonuses to personal concierge service, if you play enough at Aced, they will definitely take care of you.

Software:Aced is a member of the Merge Gaming Network and is powered by the Merge software. The game play is very smooth and offers many unique features such as “expose one card” and “rabbit hunt”. These features are things you could do in a live game but aren’t offered on sites such as Poker Stars or Full Tilt.

Customer Support: If you’re logged into the poker client you can use the Live Chat feature to speak to a rep. Otherwise you can use the support form on the website or send an email and expect a reply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

PLAYERS SIGNING UP FOR ACED POKER VIA TURBOSNG WILL RECEIVE A 200% DEPOSIT BONUS UP TO $1,000

WPT China Season I Hits the Airwaves

In a very short 16 months after the Beijing based subsidiary of World Poker Tour Enterprises was created, the WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour has begun broadcasting on television airwaves, becoming the first nationally televised government sanctioned poker competition in China. Adding to an already impressive roster of accomplishments, WPT China recently launched both internet and mobile platforms featuring games, signed its first consumer product sponsor and launched its second season of the tour.

The China Leisure Sports Administrative Center (CLSAC) selected WPTE in July of 2007 to be the exclusive commercial marketing partner to build the first national Traktor Poker Tour in China. It has become a joint effort between WPTE and CLSAC to focus on growing and marketing one of China’s most popular poker games, Traktor poker. Traktor Poker as it is known in the United States and better known in China as Tua La Ji, is a folk game and is closer in play to bridge or hearts and isn’t a game of skill which paved the way to the World Poker Tour to be able to work with Chinese authorities to bring the game to the world’s largest market.

“The estimates are that this game is probably known to or played by half of the entire nation of 1.3 billion people,” WPTE CEO Steve Lipscomb says. “The numbers are mind-boggling.”

The first of nine programming hours from the WPT Traktor Poker Tour Season I Grand Finals aired earlier this month on Nanjing Entertainment Television in on of the largest and wealthiest provinces, the Jiangsu province and will also broadcast across many other provinces in China. WPT China is marketing in show its recently launched internet and mobile platforms which offer games and community features, motivating viewers to play for a chance to win a seat into the Season II Grand Finals.

Win Tickets to Super Bowl XLIII with Absolute Poker

Super Bowl XLIII kicks off on February 1, 2009 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida and Absolute Poker wants to send you there in style! Absolute Poker is giving away FIVE PAIRS of tickets to the big game not to mention kicking in $1,550 towards your accommodations and expenses.

All you need to do is make some good smaller plays to get yourself set up for the Wild Card Main Event at 8:00pm ET on Sunday, January 18, where five pairs of tickets will be won.

First Down: Daily satellites start on November 17 with buy ins ranging from as little as 77 CREDS or $7+$.70

Second Down: Every Sunday, you have a chance to win your way to the end zone for just $50+$5

Third Down: Are you feeling lucky now? Book your seat and be prepared to battle it out at the main event for just $500+$30

If you play your cards right you can land yourself in the end zone and win Absolute Poker’s Wild Card special, taking you all the way to the sunshine state and Super Bowl XLIII!

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