Types of Players at Low Limits

So because you're visiting this blog it's pretty likely that you know the basics of sit n' go poker tournaments. I just want to say a few things about the types of players you'll play against at the low-medium stakes, and some obvious online poker tells that can help you make a good read on your opponent.

In smaller buy-in sng's ($1-$5) there are plenty of elephants and monkeys (reread the post on player profiling about Hellmuth's Creature Guide). There is definitely going to be a lot of limping, particularly with weak-medium strength hands. I always say that a poker player should play the opposite of how the rest of the table is playing, so if you're table is limping a lot, tighten up a bit and let go of those medium strength hands. Hands like 57s in MP, and A2o on the button with a couple limpers should be tossed into the muck. Protect your chips in these situations, your PFR should be really close or equal to your VPIP.

The opposite goes for tight tables. If players are playing tight and not defending their blinds, this is a great time to loosen up your play and try to steal some blinds and take advantage your opponents. This is especially important when the blinds start getting high and your getting down to the money. A few key blind steals late can mean the difference between coming in first and busting in fifth.

For the sng's at $10 and $20 there will be a few less elephants/monkeys and likely a lion or two. It's pretty easy to spot these players if you have Hold Em Manager or Poker Tracker 3. Their VPIP will between 15 and 20, and their PFR between 12 and 17. If you don't have HEM or PT3 just look for the player at the table who comes raising into every pot and doesn't have much variance in stack size from his original stack.

Hope this gives you a little bit of an idea about what kinds of players you can expect to encounter and how to play against them.

cheers boys,

kyle