How to play in low multiplier spins

Lottery SNGs attract bad players but is there real value in players giving up when they are forced to play a low multiplier game?

I once heard a professional Spin & Go player say that most of his EV came from the low multiplier games, not the massive once-a-year type jackpots. His reasoning was that in the x2 games his opponents simply gave up.

I’ve been playing quite a lot of HexaPro games recently and can confirm that this seems to be the case. I’ve always value bet very thinly in these games because it is remarkable what gets called. It wasn’t that uncommon that I would shove a hand like K9s, get called by both players and still win the pot without improving.

I used to think that this was because Lottery SNGs attracted new players, bad players and gamblers, and I think all of that is still true. I now realise that it is also what that professional player commented on, that the players had given up trying. They probably knew that they were making a terrible call but they wanted to move onto the next game.

Players give up early in low multiplier spins

To some players, the actual game they are playing is the spin of the wheel to discover what multiplier you get, the poker is an inconvenience afterwards.

This is even more stark in HexaPro games on Unibet where the lowest multiplier is x1.5 rather than x2. This is why, on average, you will get in more multipliers of x3 or greater on Unibet than any other site. It sucks playing a x1.5 but it is the sacrifice you make for more games where you can triple your buy-in or more. It would not surprise me to see a site try out a x1 multiplier game where you just breakeven if you win, if that means you will get in more big multipliers.

I’ve noticed the player pool is softer at Unibet than, for example, PokerStars. There are less regulars in these games and the weak players seem worse, but it is probably actually this low multiplier disappointment in effect too. I’m not sure the value you get in these games makes playing to win 50% of your buy-in back profitable in a vacuum, but you do have to win these games to stay afloat in the period between x3 or better games.

Discipline when others are bored

I really think that you can get away with an unbalanced strategy of no bluffing, value betting thinly and overbetting your big hands. If you don’t recognise regs at your table you can quite safely assume that half the time one of the players is going to bust on the first hand.

At all the sites most of these games are much faster structured because everyone wants to get it over with and move onto the next one. It goes without saying, therefore, that you need to study your short stack push ranges and never pass up a small edge in them.

The real key to low multiplier games is discipline. Treat them as seriously as you would the big multiplier games and get your ranges down perfectly. Boredom is what stops recreational players being profitable in low multiplier games, so instead of being bored, be boring and take them seriously.

Do you think x2 multiplier games are softer than the bigger games? Let us know in the comments: