Poker Sit and Go Report: The Real Odds of Short Handed ITM or CTM Play
So your full table sit and go tournament has gotten down to a few players. You have done well enough that you are either close to the money (CTM) sitting 4th, or there are 2 or 3 of you left and all of you are in the money (ITM). Given the probable variation of stack sizes at this stage combined with escalating blind pressure, your hole cards need to be analyzed differently.
As a short stack in a short handed situation, aggression is key to moving up. You have nothing to lose otherwise, but would you rather take a stand playing J6os or 67s? Surprisingly, some hands that are an easy throw away at most other times in the game are definitely an all-in situation when short handed play is considered.
No matter if you are a big, medium or short stack you will be faced with many all in decisions as your sit and go moves into 5th gear. So lets take a look at some common match ups, but before that it is important to know here that heads up is the only way to go, as you dont want two other players drawing against you. This is especially critical if you are holding a low or medium pair. Its so much more probable that one of your opponents will hit an over card and send you packing.
Ok its big slick time. AKos vs TT, JJ or QQ is about a 13-10 underdog. Very few players will lay down AK preflop during shorthanded play. Against lower pairs however, AK is a slightly stronger holding such as 6-5 underdog to pocket 55, and is virtually even against pocket 22.
But what about more challenging hole cards like connectors? Well AKos vs JTs is only a 7-5 favorite, while vs 45s you stand the exact same underdog odds as the JTs! So dont be so quick to toss low suited connectors! Unsuited middle connectors may not stack up as well against AKs as it is a 9-5 favorite over 87os.
What you really want to avoid in a short handed situation here is being dominated. Dominated hands tend to resemble like one of the following: AJ, KJ, QJ, QT, JT, AX, and KX. This is why I always give more consideration to connectors and pairs, as the probability of me being dominated is significantly lower. I am always relived to see my cards are live when both players flip over.
