Fundamental understanding of mathematically correct shortstack play is absolutely vital to HU SNGs in general. On my A-game, I figure I have a massive edge on just about any player at my stakes. But what happens when I happen to be on my B-game, or my C-game? I regularly joke that I don't ever play my A-game because my B-game is good enough. Suffice to say, it's all I can muster when I'm on 8 tables. How is it that my B-game achieves double-digit ROIs?
Learn the Sklansky-Chubokov rankings
Every hand has a Sklansky-Chubokov number. Refer to the Appendix in NLHE: Theory and Practice by Sklansky/Miller or this website: http://www2.decf.berkeley.edu/~chubukov/rankings.html. These rankings are the mathematical solution to the question: "Suppose I am in the SB and I turn my cards face up. What is the maximum number of small blinds I can have in my stack and still go all in, assuming my opponent will call/fold with perfect accuracy from this point forward." The S-C rankings are the bottom-line push/fold system. If you are 16BB deep and have A2o but are not confident playing it for a raise or a limp, given the S-C ranking you know it is absolutely profitable to go all in. One must never assume that the S-C rankings are the most-profitable line, but it pays to have an intimate understanding of just how powerful Ace-rag hands are when shoving preflop. Better believe it, I can turn A2o face up and profitably shove all in preflop with 20BB.
Forget the Nash Equilibrum and SAGE charts
They will only serve to mislead you. If you want to know why, pick up a game theory book and learn everything you can about what a Nash equilibrium represents. From Wikipedia, the following factors have to be in place to prefer to use Nash pushbotting:
- The players all will do their utmost to maximize their expected payoff as described by the game.
- The players are flawless in execution.
- The players have sufficient intelligence to deduce the solution.
- The players know the planned equilibrium strategy of all of the other players.
- The players believe that a deviation in their own strategy will not cause deviations by any other players.
- There is common knowledge that all players meet these conditions, including this one. So, not only must each player know the other players meet the conditions, but also they must know that they all know that they meet them, and know that they know that they know that they meet them, and so on.
In poker, we are dealing with imperfect opponents. This means we always prefer an exploitive strategy to an optimal one. Instead of memorizing the Nash charts, get a copy of Sit N Go Wizard or SNG Power Tools and assume your opponents will call your all-ins between 15% and 30% of the time. If I am pushing 100% of my hands, my opponent should call much looser than 30% of his, but you'd be hard pressed to find a HU opponent who happily stacks off with hands like Q3 or J8s. Since he is not playing optimally, he is exploitable. Memorize or intuitively learn how short the stacks have to be to push 100% of your small blind hands, assuming the BB calls his best 30%.
Figure out how to exploit button raisers with flop check-shoves or 3-bet shoves
I don't want to go into this, because Moshman gave a perfect elaboration of the accurate strategy in his HUNL book, and I would basically be restating what he wrote. You should all have his book, and if you are unsure of how to play against button raisers, get out your calculator and learn how to do the math. You need to know these variables: The percent of hands the button raises / The percent of hands the button calls an all-in / Your expected value when he calls and your expected value when he folds. You'll find that shoving a lot of weak hands like T8 or 67s is a great way to mindlessly play 20-30bb stacks against certain players.
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