Basic Strategy
Spin & Go strategy will be easier to pick up if you have some experience
playing short-handed, either in 🧾 cash games or in the late stages of tournaments. Due to
the short levels and players starting with as few 🧾 as 25 big blinds (BBs), having a
concrete strategy will help you play optimally when a lot of your opponents 🧾 may just be
trying Spin & Go’s out for the first time.
By following some of the key points below,
you 🧾 should be able to develop an edge over your opponents despite the shallow starting
stacks.
Building a Stack Early
A common mistake 🧾 inexperienced players make in this
format is waiting for a good hand and not taking the initiative in the first 🧾 few
levels. Remember, you only have 25BBs and the blinds are increasing at turbos speeds;
if you wait too long 🧾 for a good hand you might only have a few big blinds remaining in
your stack when it comes. This 🧾 doesn’t mean you should be opening 100% of your range,
but controlled aggression is definitely optimal, especially from the button 🧾 and small
blind.
It’s important that you try and find out as much information as possible during
the early stages, such 🧾 as:
Are players not defending their blinds properly?
Are all of
your button raises getting through?
Are your opponents playing too passively?
Do your
🧾 opponents seem like weaker opposition?
Once you have a feel for your opponents, you’ll
be able to gauge how aggressive you 🧾 can be and adjust your opening/shoving ranges
around that.
Calling Becomes Shoving (from the Small Blind)
Due to the shallow stacks,
calling 🧾 an open raise becomes a lot less profitable in this format. You’ll be playing
25BBs effective poker in the first 🧾 level and even then, you should only really have a
calling range from the big blind.
The problem with calling raises 🧾 out of the small
blind is that you’ll be out of position every time and you’ll struggle to realize the
🧾 full equity of your hand when post-flop. Therefore, a lot more hands are added to your
3-bet jamming range, which 🧾 is going to be so much more profitable than calling.
The
table below shows a typical 3-bet jamming range from the 🧾 small blind in the early
stages when stacks are around 20BBs deep.
For 20BBs Effective
+EV Open Jam
AA AKs AQs
AJs ATs 🧾 A9s A8s A7s A6s A5s A4s A3s A2s AKo KK KQs KJs KTs K9s K8s K7s K6s K5s K4s K3s
🧾 K2s AQo KQo QQ QJs QTs Q9s Q8s Q7s Q6s Q5s Q4s Q3s Q2s AJo KJo QJo JJ JTs J9s 🧾 J8s J7s
J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s ATo KTo QTo JTo TT T9s T8s T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s 🧾 A9o K9o Q9o J9o
T9o 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s 93s 92s A8o K8o Q8o J8o T8o 98o 88 🧾 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s
A7o K7o Q7o J7o T7o 97o 87o 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s A6o 🧾 K6o Q6o J6o T6o 96o 86o 76o 66
65s 64s 63s 62s A5o K5o Q5o J5o T5o 95o 85o 75o 🧾 65o 55 54s 53s 52s A4o K4o Q4o J4o T4o
94o 84o 74o 64o 54o 44 43s 42s A3o K3o 🧾 Q3o J3o T3o 93o 83o 73o 63o 53o 43o 33 32s A2o
K2o Q2o J2o T2o 92o 82o 72o 62o 🧾 52o 42o 32o 22
This specific range can be adjusted
depending on the opponent opening from the button. If the player 🧾 has been relatively
tight, or extremely aggressive, you can adjust the range accordingly.
In addition, this
range can also be applied 🧾 to the big blind, but considering you have already invested
1BB into the pot, the majority of the time you’ll 🧾 be getting the right price to call
with most of your range, even off a short stack.
Raise-Sizing
Preserving your stack at
🧾 all times is something that will go a long way in Spin & Go’s. So, When opening from
the button 🧾 a minimum raise (‘min-raise’) is often ideal, as you don’t have anything
invested in the pot, so risking the least 🧾 amount of your stack is going to be much more
profitable.
As for opening from the small blind, considering you already 🧾 have half a
big blind invested you have more incentive to fight for the pot and try to take down
🧾 the hand. Therefore, upping your sizing to around 2.5x BBs is fine from this position
as you’re increasing fold equity 🧾 and giving the big blind less incentive to call.
A
common mistake people make from the small blind is min-raising, as 🧾 you give your
opponent a great price to call and they then have the advantage of position. Also, the
shorter 🧾 your stack, the more you’ll start to open-shove from the small blind and
raise-sizing won’t be an issue.
Button and Small 🧾 Blind – Jamming Ranges
After the first
few levels of a Spin & Go, more often than not you’ll find yourself 🧾 playing a ‘push or
fold’ strategy with fewer than 11 BBs. You’ll no longer have the stack to play
post-flop 🧾 poker and 3-bet/folding becomes a less favorable option as well.
If you’re
struggling to build a +EV jamming range from the 🧾 button or small blind, the following
charts will give you an idea of what your range should look like.
Note that 🧾 as your
stack becomes even shorter you can add a few more hands into your jamming range, but
using this 🧾 table is a good way to build your range and gain some experience by using a
set strategy.
11BBs: Button Range
+EV 🧾 Open Jam
AA AKs AQs AJs ATs A9s A8s A7s A6s A5s
A4s A3s A2s AKo KK KQs KJs KTs K9s 🧾 K8s K7s K6s K5s K4s K3s K2s AQo KQо QQ QJs QTs Q9s
Q8s Q7s Q6s Q5s Q4s Q3s Q2s 🧾 AJo KJo QJo JJ JTs J9s J8s J7s J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s ATo KTo
QTo JTo TT T9s T8s 🧾 T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s A9o K9o Q9o J9o T9o 99 98s 97s 96s 95s 94s
93s 92s A8o 🧾 K8o Q8o J8o T8o 98o 88 87s 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s A7o K7o Q7o J7o T7o 97o 87o
77 🧾 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s A6o K6o Q6o J6o T6o 96o 86o 76o 66 65s 64s 63s 62s A5o K5o 🧾 Q5o
J5o T5o 95o 85o 75o 65o 55 54s 53s 52s A4o K4o Q4o J4o T4o 94o 84o 74o 64o 🧾 54o 44 43s
42s A3o K3o Q3o J3o T3o 93o 83o 73o 63o 53o 43o 33 32s A2o K2o Q2o 🧾 J2o T2o 92o 82o 72o
62o 52o 42o 32o 22
11BBs: Small Blind Range
+EV Open Jam
AA AKs AQs AJs ATs A9s 🧾 A8s A7s
A6s A5s A4s A3s A2s AKo KK KQs KJs KTs K9s K8s K7s K6s K5s K4s K3s K2s 🧾 AQo KQо QQ QJs
QTs Q9s Q8s Q7s Q6s Q5s Q4s Q3s Q2s AJo KJo QJo JJ JTs J9s J8s 🧾 J7s J6s J5s J4s J3s J2s
ATo KTo QTo JTo TT T9s T8s T7s T6s T5s T4s T3s T2s A9o 🧾 K9o Q9o J9o T9o 99 98s 97s 96s
95s 94s 93s 92s A8o K8o Q8o J8o T8o 98o 88 87s 🧾 86s 85s 84s 83s 82s A7o K7o Q7o J7o T7o
97o 87o 77 76s 75s 74s 73s 72s A6o K6o 🧾 Q6o J6o T6o 96o 86o 76o 66 65s 64s 63s 62s A5o
K5o Q5o J5o T5o 95o 85o 75o 65o 🧾 55 54s 53s 52s A4o K4o Q4o J4o T4o 94o 84o 74o 64o 54o
44 43s 42s A3o K3o Q3o 🧾 J3o T3o 93o 83o 73o 63o 53o 43o 33 32s A2o K2o Q2o J2o T2o 92o
82o 72o 62o 52o 🧾 42o 32o 22
As you can see, your small blind jamming range becomes a lot
wider as you only have to 🧾 get one player to fold. Similar to the button, the shorter
you are the wider you can open-jam. Additionally, if 🧾 the player in the big blind seems
like an extremely tight player, you can widen your jamming range as they 🧾 won’t be
calling with the correct range.
Once you’ve started getting a feel for your opponents,
you can adjust your ranges 🧾 accordingly and start to build a strategy of your own.
