Poker Stars Steps Strategy + Overview
Your Guide To The Pokerstars PCA Steps SNGs
Poker Stars Steps Sit N Goes Could Turn $7.50 Into A $12k Caribbean Adventure Package!
Details Right Here
Important Update Late 2009: Steps have gone from good to great at Pokerstars and have spread to other sites too (notably the Ongame and Cereus Networks). With the games well established and an 'exit point' at step 4 for $215 tournaments we believe that Pokerstars Steps are the best out there... however due to the growth in these games we have put together some great new articles including: Best Site For Steps SNGs and How To Make Your Own Steps At Full Tilt Poker for readers to enjoy. We will keep this article updates, but remember you can read 'WSOP' 'EPT' or many other events in place of the PCA!!
 Poker Stars have introduced a brand new way of qualifying for the ‘PokerStars Caribbean Adventure 2008’ via steps SNG tournaments. This article shows how these work and suggests some of the important strategy adjustments required for the end-game play. The dates for the PCA are Jan 5th to 10th 2008 – it takes place in the luxurious Atlantis Resort and Casino, last years winner Ryan Daut took home a cool $1.5 million making this EPT event one of the biggest around.
PokerStars Steps Sit And Go Overview
 There are 6 ‘steps’ to go through to win your seat. While you can buy-in directly at any stage many players start at step 1 with a $7.50 (or 500 FPP) entry fee. The first two finishers in each step get a ticket to the next level, while the lower places get ‘try again’ entries into the lower steps.
Once you are on the Poker Stars Steps SNG ladder you can not jump off! That is to say that ‘tickets’ are not redeemable for cash or for T$ / W$ until step 4 - this $215 entry can now be used for any $215 online tournament including satellites, and the infamous 'Sunday Million'. If you choose to enter a step 4 then you are committed to winning that big buy-in seat at Step 6!
Packages vary in price, with the higher ones around $12,000, and the smaller deals at $3,500 this influences how many people get paid at Step 6. For the World Series qualifiers in 2009 the Step 6 qualifiers were offered in both 1 table and 2-table format.
PokerStars Steps Sit And Go Strategy – Early Stages
The lower steps have their fair share of inexperienced opponents. Here the best strategy is to stay tight early, play hands with high implied-odds value (small pairs / suited connectors) and to follow the bluff less but value bet more line that works best against inexperienced opposition.
The blind levels are 15 minutes for regular games which should leave plenty of room for post-flop play. Turbo SNG Steps are also available, a great choice for players who understand the strategy behind the push / fold game - though you may need to adjust for 'very wide' calling ranges, particularly at the lower levels.
PokerStars Steps Sit And Go Strategy – Bubble Play
The bubble in Steps SNGs creates some interesting situations. Depending on which step you are playing in, as many as 6 of the 9 places will be awarded some kind of prize – though this will often be less than the initial buy-in (move down a step / try again).
Since many of the people playing these steps will not be the SNG specialists who understand dollar equity models (ICM) you will need to adjust your shove / call ranges in two different ways.
- Firstly to account for the different prize structure
- Secondly to account for the potentially loose calling ranges of opponents
The prize structure paying the top 2 equally means that you do not need all the chips on the table. The presence of one or more short stacks thus has a bigger effect on your bubble play than in a ‘normal’ SNG tournament. Avoid playing big pots with the other large stacks here and keep the pressure up on the small stacks by stealing their blinds regularly.
For more information on bubble play check out our comprehensive Sit N Go Strategy section which includes articles on SNG Calling Ranges and An Introduction to ICM.
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