SAGE - Sit And Go Endgame System

Introduction

In this article

• HU situations with very high blinds
• The Power Index
• When to push or call all-ins
  

SAGE (Sit And Go Endgame System) is a system which was developed for the situations with two players and very high blinds, and is therefore mostly used in SNG-tournaments.

Many players are not able to adjust to the situation where the blinds are very large in proportion to the size of the stacks, which really reduces the advantage of a player which he might have had when playing under normal circumstances. By using SAGE, you can boost your own advantage against these players by around 5% to 40%.

The system itself is very simple and easy to learn. This article sets guidelines as to when you can use SAGE, and how you proceed when you are using this system.

What is SAGE?

The SAGE-system is based on a so-called equilibrium-strategy. Such a strategy pictures a strategic balance (equilibrium) in which the player cannot deviate from his procedure to one side without reducing his own chance of winning.

Studies have shown, that the usage of an equilibrium-strategy nearly makes a heads-up-game with small stacks a cointoss, because first and foremost it is avoided that players with great experience outplay you.

SAGE was created by an analysis of all 169 starting hands and their strength in a heads-up. It only differs fractionally from the actual mathematical optimum, which in comparison to SAGE cannot be calculated during a game.

SAGE offers the approaching optimal strategy when you should move all-in from the small blind or respectively call an all-in from the big blind, everything in a neat and small table.

When can you apply SAGE?

Three criterias have to be true so that the SAGE-system can be used:

• It is a heads-up game meaning there is only one more player except from you.
• The blinds are very large in comparison to the sizes of the stacks. The shortstack, the smallest stack on the table, should only have 10 big blinds at max. The difference between the stacks is not important in this case. The only thing that counts is the shortstack because he determines how many chips you can play for.
• The small blind is playing push or fold, this means that he either folds or moves all-in before seeing the flop. However, if he only calls the big blind or raises to a small amount, SAGE cannot be used.

How do I apply SAGE?

Starting point of the strategy is the so-called Power Index (PI), which represents the strength of your own hand.

Calculation of the Power Index PI

• The value of the card represents the power number.
  
  • 8 = 8
  • 9 = 9
  • T = 10
  • J = 11
  • Q = 12
  • K = 13
  • A = 15
• You multiply the power number of your highest card by two.
• You add the power number of your other hole card.
• If your starting hand is a pair, a so-called pocket-pair, you add 22 to the result.
• If your starting hand is suited, you add 2 to the result.
• The result of this calculation is the Power Index of the hand.

Examples:

Power number ace = 15
Power number 7 = 7
Power number of the highest card (ace) *2 = 15 * 2 = 30
+ Power number of the smaller card (7) = 30+7 = 37
Power Index = 37

Power number 4 = 4
Power number 2 = 2
Power number of the highest card (4) *2 = 4 * 2 = 8
+ Power Number of the smaller card (2) = 8+2 = 10
+ 2, because the cards are suited = 10+2 = 12
Power Index = 12

Power number ten = 10
PowernNumber ten = 10
Power number of the highest card (ten) *2 = 10 * 2 = 20
+ Power number of the smaller card (ten) = 20+10 = 30
+ 22, because the cards make up a pair = 30+22 = 52
Power Index = 52

Application of the Power Index

It is now important that we calculate a second value R. R is simply the number of big blinds the shortstack has left, after subtracting the already paid blinds.

R = Size of the shortstack / Size of the big blind

By means of the following table, your starting hand and the size of the shortstack you can figure out which action is best. The action which you carry out, conforms to two simple rules:

• If your PI is larger or equal to the value in the second column, you move all-in straight away as the small blind.
• If your PI is larger or equal to the value in the third column, you call an all-in from your opponent as the big blind.

Examples

Blinds: 600/1200

	Player 1	Player 2
Position	Small Blind	Big Blind
Stack	3400	14800
Cards
Power Index	Power number K = 13 * 2 = 26 + Power number 7 = 33 Power Index = 33	Power number 2 = 2 * 2 =4 + Power number 2 = 6 + 22, since pair = 28 Power Index = 28
R	3400/1200 = 3, as the smaller stack is 3400

The entry in the table for player 1 with an R of 3 is 22, which means that he should move all-in with a Power Index of 22 or higher. His Power Index is 33, it is higher than 22 and he therefore moves all-in.

The entry in the table for player 2 with an R of 3 is 24. The R is 3 as well because for calculating the value of R you only use the smaller stack. If his Power Index is higher or equal to the this value, he can call an all-in of player 1. His Power Index is 28 in this case and he therefore calls the all-in from his opponent.

Blinds: 300/600

	Player 1	Player 2
Position	Small Blind	Big Blind
Stack	3400	14800
Cards
Power Index	Power number K = 13 * 2 = 26 + Power number 7 = 33 Power Index = 33	Power number 2 = 2 * 2 =4 + Power number 2 = 6 + 22, since pair = 28 Power Index = 28
R	3400/600 = 6

This situation is the same as the example above, but the blinds are now half the size increasing R from 3 to 6.

The entry in the table for player 1 is now 25 meaning he should move all in with a Power Index of 25 or higher. His Power Index is 33 which is larger than 25 meaning he therefore moves all-in.

The entry in the table for player 2 with an R of 6 is now 29. If his Power Index is higher or equal to this value, he can call an all-in of player 1. However, his Power Index is only 28 in this case, which is obviously lower than 29 and he therefore can't call and has to fold.

Conclusion

Paying a little attention to SAGE and the table presented in this article should make it clear that there are many players who are too conservative when the blinds are high and that you can increase your advantage against these players by using the introduced SAGE-system.

Nevertheless you should always pay attention to the fact that SAGE can only applied under very specific circumstances. SAGE is only applied in heads-up situations where one of the two players has 10 big blinds or less left and you have to decide whether you should call an all-in in the big blind or move all-in from the small blind yourself.