Online No-Limit Texas Hold'em Poker for Beginners - Part 9

End Game

If you've played correctly, played good hands, and not taken any bad beats, you WILL get down to the END GAME. The end game in an SNG is a totally different game.

I consider the end game, in an SNG, any time you are down to 4 or 5 players and the BB is 100 or higher. There are very specific rules to play by in the "short-handed" game, and I am going to tell you how to play, so that you can win, more often than not.

Steal the Blinds!

Once it gets down to a short-handed game, and the blinds are 50/100, it is time to watch what you play, but more importantly, steal the blinds on a consistent basis.

First off, you will need a decent hand. What's decent? With 5 or less players playing, the hands usually aren't going to be very good. Now granted, you have the same odds of a 72os as AA coming out as you do in a full ring. But, there are only 5 or less people seeing hands, not 10, so effectively, the odds are cut in half.

There are less hands out there is what I'm trying to say. So, a decent hand usually has at least one high card in it, A or K. At least. If you are suited, that's even better. If you get a pair, or a top 42 or 24 hand, even that much better. What you want to do, now that you have a decent hand, is steal the blinds.

The key to success at this point of the game is to build a bit of consistency. Do everything quickly. Press the buttons as fast as you can with no deliberation. That is the key. Usually, I will not try to steal the blinds in a 5-person game unless I have a pretty good hand, or I am on the button, or one guy over and nobody previous has called or raised.

The end game, and the battle for the blinds, is psychological more than actual card playing. In the end game, 2 people, the SB and the BB, put money in without seeing their hands. They may have KK or AK or AA, but more often than not, they have 83 os, 10 6os, or Q5. These are not good hands. These are folding hands.

You would most likely fold them at any other time during the game. You may play them when the blinds are 15, but at 100+? Think of how many crappy hands you fold, and also think of how many crappy hands you play because the blinds are small and nobody raised. During an entire game, there are a ton of hands like that.

Now, all of a sudden, you are putting 100 chips in, which may be a large % of your stack, on a hand you wouldn't play for 30. Plus, with 10 people in, 25 cards are theoretically going to be dealt if it goes to the river. That's almost half the deck. In 5-man, it's 15 cards. In 3-man, it's 11 cards. 11 out of 52. That is not many.

Could you still pull a top 10 hand? Of course. If you do, you have to assume you are way ahead. In 4-man, there are only 8 cards dealt pre-flop. If you are dealt AA, KK, QQ, or AK, the odds aren't good that you'll be going up against anything worth playing. So it is a moot point if you get one of these premier hands. There is a way to play them, but I will show you how to play "decent" hands first.

Decent hands in the end game are usually anything with an ace or king involved. Two high cards are preferable, suited, even better, and any medium to high pair is a killer hand.

The way I play the end game, all you need is one of these decent hands. I am going to analyze this in a 4-person game. With 5 people in, be very careful. With 5 people in, there are still going to be good hands out there. If you figure, in a 10-person game, there is, on average, 2 good hands per deal, and they are supposed to showdown; in a 5-person game, there is one good hand.

This is all theoretical, but you will notice it to be true the more you play. Once the action gets down to 4 people, there is usually LESS than one good hand, so if you DO get a good hand, you have to feel you are in the lead.

In the 4-person game, there are 2 players that do not have to put money in each hand. If you are in the blinds, you most likely have a bad hand. You did not want to bet the hand you have, but the order of the game forces you to. So, when someone who is NOT in the blinds bets, don't you have to assume he has a better hand than your terrible 82os?

He VOLUNTEERED to play this hand. You were FORCED into it. This is the thinking in the end game. Pay the blinds, steal the blinds back, get ahead.

When you are out of the blinds, and have a decent hand, RAISE at least twice the blind. If you aren't so sure about your decent hand, then raise 3 or 4 times the blind. At 100, if you only raise to 200, more often than not, the BB will call.

You DON'T want that!

You want them to fold, collect your 150 chips and move on. You are most likely playing, say, K7 os. This is not a good hand. Granted, the BB may have 83os still, but the 100-chip raise is affordable to see the flop, and make you question the weakness of his hand. Maybe he did catch something.

If you are UTG, and raise, more often than not, the guy on the button will fold. Why would he want to get into a match with you, unless he has something decent, when it's a free hand for him and you've already raised?

By raising, you are in essence saying, "I have something decent, and it's going to cost you twice the blind to find out if you can beat it." So the button folds. Also, the SB folds, as he's on the button next hand, and he actually has to spend 3x the amount to see the flop as he's currently invested. So, more often than not, barring someone actually having a good hand, it will be you against the BB.

Defense: The correct defense for this action is not just calling. If you are in the big blind, and someone is starting to raise over you, as I've described, if you have a "decent" hand, go all-in. Prepare for a call, just in case the raiser finally has something good.

I play this way all the time, and I just hate running into the all-in guy. You have to look at your K 3 os and say, "Do I really want this to be my last hand?" More often than not, I fold it down.

If you run into an all-in guy, you have to be wary from now on. You don't know if he's one of those guys until the second time he does it. The first time, maybe he actually had something. The second time, you know it's some sort of bluff, and you can expect it to continue.

If he gives you the all-in EVERY time you try to raise over the top, pre-flop, you can just start calling to the big blind with a decent hand. The next time you get a GOOD hand, you raise over the top. Say, AA, KK, QQ, or AK. You know the good hands.

He gives you the knee-jerk all-in, and you call is ignorant ass. After I take all his chips, or double up my stack, I usually throw a taunt in, such as, "Oops." Hopefully, this will tilt them, and someone else will knock them out. Because, rest assured, the next time you raise over the top, and they go all-in, they will have a pretty good hand. So you had better too.

Most of the time, these jerks are just taking exception to your raise and bluffing back. But if you only call the BB, they won't raise at all. Which brings us to our second phase.

End Game Phase 2

So, the BB didn't fold, and he didn't go all-in. But, he did call you, and now you have to play. Flop comes, nothing.

What do you do?

BET FAST!!! If he checks to you, press the BET 100 or BET 200 button as fast as you can. ALWAYS as FAST AS YOU CAN! Why? To show no hesitation. YOU RAISED over the top. YOU saw the flop and RAISED AGAIN! What does this knucklehead sitting in the BB not understand? His 10 4 os just isn't going to be good enough.

You raise REGARDLESS of what is up there. If you actually catch something, it's the same thing. REPETITION! If you follow the same actions EVERY TIME, they can't possibly know what you actually have.

You want him to fold.

You actually only wanted him to give you his blind money, but now, you will take the raise money too. More often than not, the BB went in with a crap hand, he sees the flop, gets no help, and the raise is already sitting there waiting for him to act. He will fold.

Sometimes, these jokers actually call. Now you are into the turn card. He checks. Look at your hand. Is it still good? Are there many over cards? If you still have a good hand, or possibly the best hand out there, BET FAST AGAIN!

He may have had 3 cards that went together, then the turn card comes, he knows he's not going to get his straight, and he'll fold. Or, he was hoping to make his flush. But he just may call. And it's off to the river you go.

If the river doesn't complete an obvious straight or an obvious flush, you most likely have won. If he checks, don't bother putting more chips in. He may have been setting a trap. Just call, and if you win, fine, if he was indeed setting a trap, preparing for the check-raise, he kind of looks silly for not betting the river card.

Now, don't forget, ALWAYS BET THE FLOP. ALWAYS BET IT QUICKLY! No matter what you have. If he calls, he may have something, and you may be able to just check it in with the nothing that you have. Don't keep throwing money at it. If you have nothing and he starts raising, don't keep up the charade. Just fold. Take the loss. There will be better hands and more blinds to steal.

Defense: Again, the proper defense for the flop-raiser is the all-in. Or, if you do your fast flop-raise, and really have nothing, and the guy check-raises you, fold. Play a different hand.

To play the defense properly from the blinds, you check, he raises, you go all-in, and he folds. You'd better have something though. It's a LOT safer to do this defense pre-flop, because with 5 cards coming, anything can happen. With only 2 more cards coming, you know your odds of making the winning hand already. As does he.

If the same guy does the check all-in raise a couple of times, you know it's a bluff. So, pick your spot. If the flop doesn't actually give you much, just check, and check FAST. If he raises, fold. If you have trips, say, make sure you do the exact same raise with the exact same SPEED.

Hope that he goes all-in, call his ass, and give him the "Oops."

Better, if he was doing another bluff, and has absolutely NOTHING, say a Q4 os that hadn't paired the board, you just have to berate him. Something like, "I usually go all-in with that too." Or, "Nice hand. You do realize that Q and 4 aren't connected right?"

I don't mean to condone being an ass, but if someone is using this defense and gets caught playing nothing cards, they deserve the ass-chewing. Also, any way you can help them tilt, the better. Just expect BIG raises from them from now on. They will be trying to put you out. Just be ready with another good hand.

I cannot put enough emphasis on the SPEED of doing these actions. You have to do the same thing over and over. Once you beat one of these guys, and they actually see what you had, they will be more inclined to fold pre-flop.

So, once you have them in your pocket, it may get tempting to just raise regardless of what you have. Start raising with 45os and such. Don't do it. Let them see you fold a hand every so often.

Granted, it is a crap hand because you would raise if it's decent, but they don't know that. The more crap hands you fold, the more they will think that you are only raising with good hands. Which is somewhat true.

You want them to think you have a good hand, or good enough, every time. You CAN'T do this, unfortunately, against the all-in maniac raiser. If you see the maniac raiser raise a couple times or more, you know he can't always be doing it with decent hands. So, you have to pick your spots.

This may mean you will be folding a lot more hands, including the blinds. That stinks, but what are you going to do? Call his all-in with 94os and HOPE he has worse cards? If he doesn't, are you ready to be done with the game? Bide your time. Double-up. Berate. This is especially true in the 4-man game.