Low limit online players are looking for games that give them a profitable edge while not eating up a huge chunk of their bankroll.
Small rebuy tourneys are full of SLAG donks, but they can be critically damaging to a fledgling bankroll if they go awry. Most of the small tourneys on sites such as Poker Stars have massive fields, and the rewards for a few hours of play can be quite paltry, while smaller sites like Sky Poker have fields a fraction of the size but lower scores for your wins; I just slogged through three hours of 3.3 buy in stud to pick up a grand total of twenty bucks profit; I make more pumping gas. What’s a low limit player to do to become profitable? Why not look into the 3.4 turbo sit n go’s on Poker Stars? The one table variety are chock full of the same SLAG players from the rebuys, but now, their mistakes are magnified many times by the blind system and are ripe for exploiting. Generally, I 4-6 table these tourneys, and have made considerable profit in doing so.
What strategies are needed to become a profitable turbo sng player? A few basics:
*Very early (Level 1-2) don’t be afraid to just shove preflop with AA-JJ, AK and even AQs. The range that the majority of these players will call with varies generally between AA-66, AK-A10, suited Ax, even KQ and KJs. With minimal time to accumulate chips, plays with big hands are actually a little less encouraged. Just get your money in preflop and you’ll do well in the long run.
*Blinds don’t become worth stealing until Level 4 (50/100) and therefore should be left alone until then. Keep an eye on stack sizes when attempting steals; if six players are left and the BB is 6th with 850 chips, many players at this level will be happy to dump their stack in with K7s or 109s, so make sure your steal has some value heads up if the stack you’re stealing against is short.
*Be aggressive to a point once you get four handed! You’ll generally get to this point at Level 6 (100/200) and the 300 in blinds is 20% of your starting stack. Don’t think that because this is a short, cheap tournament that people don’t care about the bubble; blinds are easily pilfered at this point. Make sure your stealing hands have some value if your try to steal from the cutoff; hands like K2o or Q4s gain value over Ax simply because short stacks are much more willing to put their stack in with dry aces than dry k’s or q’s.
*Once you make the money, blinds have likely reached Level 8, (200/400, ante 25) and with 675 in the pot every hand, stealing becomes much more crucial. Still, try to have semblance of a hand when you make your steals; you’re going to have to your stack in sometimes with weak holdings, so make sure you at least have some value if you’re forced to gamble.
That’s all you really need to know to put a small bankroll to use; using this information, you have more than enough knowledge to keep a bankroll alive infinitely at lower limits.