Sit’n’go Software

As the online poker revolution continues apace, so does the emergence of high-tech tools and toys to help increase your win rate. And the good news is that most of them are as cheap as chips! When it comes to helpful software, the format of poker best serviced is sit-and-gos, where maths and hand ranges are a big factor in winning (and losing). It could be argued that the majority of your profits in SNGs will come from knowing how to play correctly on and around the bubble. That is, how to make and respond to unexploitable shoves in the late game when stack sizes dictate that you only have two moves – to shove all-in or fold. Therefore, it’s no surprise that of the myriad sit-and-go software tools available most are designed to help you calculate ‘correct’ pushing and folding ranges in a variety of spots. So connect with your inner geek and read on…

1 ICM SPREADSHEETS

Independent chip modelling (ICM) forms the basis of correct sit-and-go strategy and is a method of calculating the real-money value of tournament chips at any given stage of a sit-and-go based on the payout structure, number of players left and the individual chipstacks.

Key features It will help you understand what to do in specific situations where cEV (the number of tournament chips you can win or lose) is very different from the $EV (the amount of real money you can win or lose).
All you need to do with a simple spreadsheet like this is type in the chipstacks and payouts and play about with them to see how the chip and real-money values differ in important situations.

Use when away from the tables to work out how your equity will change if you make that big call on the bubble or double-up early.

www.chillin411.com (among others)

POKERPLAYER VERDICT

ICM is a simple tool you can use away from the table to analyse common decisions until they become second nature. After that, SNGs should be a cinch.

2 SIT AND GO END GAME TOOLS (POKERPLAYER TOP CHOICE)

SNGEGT is an ICM-based program that can consider situations and tell you whether pushing or folding (or calling or folding) is more profitable.

Key features SNGEGT takes the calculations made by a basic ICM spreadsheet as well as considering hand ranges and pot odds, and enables you to analyse situations with little effort on your part.

It’s particularly effective as a training tool, as even if you’re not sure about hand ranges you can simply move the slider up and down to find the point at which a certain play is break-even, and decide what to do based on that.

SNGEGT is so effective that the controversial ‘live play’ version has been banned by PokerStars.

You can download a basic version for free, so there’s no excuse not to get crunching hand ranges right now.
www.sngegt.com

POKERPLAYER VERDICT

We love messing around with hand ranges in SNGEGT, and it’s a great way of learning what factors you need to call or push in some common spots.

3 HEADS-UP TRAINER

Heads-Up Trainer does exactly what it says on the tin – it helps you improve your heads-up game at the end of an SNG. It comes with the SNGEGT package.

Key features Heads-Up Trainer simulates playing heads-up with high blinds against an opponent who is aware of optimal strategy, where your only options are to shove or fold.

Combined with use of the jam-or-fold tables originally published by Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman in The Mathematics of Poker – which give maximum push-or-call values for all hands – this program will quickly help you learn an aggressive endgame strategy that opponents will be unable to exploit.

HUT should see you decimating your opponents by moving all-in with a wide range, while they lose chips waiting for ‘good’ hands. The Heads-Up Trainer should be unexploitable, and once you learn the appropriate strategies, so should you!
www.sngegt.com

POKERPLAYER VERDICT

This nifty heads-up training program is so addictive that if you use it at work you’ll have to uninstall it as you won’t get any work done. An excellent SNG tool.

4 SITNGO WIZARD

SitNGo Wizard is a similar program to Sit And Go End Game Tools and has most of the same features, but enables you to make more dynamic ICM-based calculations.

Key features The interface is slightly more complex than SNGEGT and it has a few more options. SitNGo Wizard is able to calculate situations involving multiple all-ins, or what to do when there is a raise in front of you – in fact, almost any situation where there are two or fewer all-ins in front of you.

SitNGo Wizard includes a future play simulator, which helps you make decisions in spots where ICM might be unreliable, such as how to play correctly when under the gun with a short stack, or when the blinds are very high on the bubble.

You can download the software for free on the website, with unrestricted use for 30 days.
www.sngwiz.com

POKERPLAYER VERDICT

An excellent resource that any serious sit-and-go player would benefit from. And there’s a free, unrestricted trial on the website, so give it a go.

5 SHARKSCOPE

SharkScope is a data-mining site that collects and collates information on sit-and-go tournaments to provide visitors and subscribers with detailed profiles of their opponents.

Key features The site provides data on things like total games played, average buy-in, average ROI%, total profit/loss and so on. The service can be very useful when looking for softer tables or trying to size up opponents.

SharkScope is also useful for checking out your own results. A package where you get 150 searches a day (plenty) costs $11.99 a month. You can break down results to your heart’s content using filters such as number of entrants, days of the week and turbo or regular.

Players should note that PokerStars has recently banned the use of SharkScope while its client is open, so you will need to use a different site if you want to look in detail at opponents while playing.
www.sharkscope.com

POKERPLAYER VERDICT

SharkScope is an invaluable database of sit-and-go results, best used to find out whether you’re sitting at a table of fish or sharks before you start a game.