Using and abusing pot-commitment
The typical Sit & Go format pays three players on a 50%/30%/20% basis, and as a result play around the bubble is absolutely crucial. There are some fascinating situations that arise relating to pot-commitment at this stage and we are going to conclude this series by looking at a few of them.
We have talked previously about push/fold strategies, and how you need a stack of at least five big blinds to have any form of fold equity, which is of course related to the pot odds that the big blind will be getting when you shove all-in. Shoving very wide with this stack size when the blinds are about to hit you is a good strategy. Moving all-in with any Ace, any King, any suited connectors or collection of Broadway cards can help you avoid ending up in an awkward situation in the big blind where you maybe have just three to four big blinds behind with a mediocre hand and aren’t sure whether you are pot-committed or not.
Bubble changes
Pot odds sometimes go out the window in favour of payout considerations when play is on the bubble. For example, if you are in the big blind with 1,800 chips and post 600 of them you would usually be pot-committed, but if there if a player with only 200 chips to your left you would have to fold most hands. The obvious reason is that this player is very likely to bubble in the next hand or two, guaranteeing you third place and putting you in the money.
You can also exploit this if you are the big stack, so in the same example it would probably be correct to shove literally any two cards against the player with 1,800 chips, even though in more normal situations it would be a bad play with your weaker hands as they’d be forced to call.
For this reason you can also have fold equity on the bubble with a stack as low as 3.5 big blinds if it’s enough to threaten most of a player’s stack when everyone is near even. Players should consider not bubbling to be more important than pot odds, so bear in mind which players understand this and/or are very tight and attack them. Remember that in Sit & Go’s pot-commitment is an important consideration, but must be balanced with other concepts at all times.