Once you’ve made it to the late stages of a PLO8 Sit & Go, your play will depend very strongly on the size of your stack. Like any Sit & Go, the bubble and endgame are where you should be looking to punish the opposition if you are the big stack and pick good spots to make your stand if you are a medium to short stack. Let’s have a look at the sort of hands should you be going to war with.
If you find yourself with a medium or short stack on the bubble you are ideally looking for a hand that plays well both ways, with draws to both a good high and low hand. However, because there is often no qualifying low, you should lean towards hands with a good chance of making a monster high so you can scoop and chip up. The low is more like an insurance policy, as 30% of the time there won’t be one anyway. Any Ace – especially if it’s suited – gives you a card that works for both the high and the low and you shouldn’t be afraid to commit yourself preflop, especially if you think you can get others to fold.
Going for gold
If you are the big stack as the bubble approaches you should be taking shots at the short stacks with a wide variety of hands – especially if you find two low cards and two high. At worst you will be a 60% dog and you only have to hit once to eliminate the opposition. You are the one who should be doing the raising though – don’t call off your chips. Don’t go playing draws for all your chips unless you have your opponent well covered. You should however be playing your redraws very aggressively, especially if you think you are already ahead. For instance, if you have the high locked up then jam the pot and make your opponents pay to hit their draws. You should also be looking to take down pots preflop with well-timed three-bets and large position raises. If you lose a couple of large pots when the blinds are high then you may have tighten back up again and look for those hands that can go both ways
Endgame
Even in PLO8 position is still key, and you should be playing your button aggressively even after the bubble bursts. Force opponents to play big pots out of position and ramp up that pressure. If you are second in chips you’re in a tricky predicament and should only be playing back at the big stack if you have a) a premium hand, and/or b) decent fold equity. As the short stack you have little to lose and need to get your chips in before you fade away.
Read part II