Karlson-Sklansky?

[sandycove]

After eight months of study and a few thousand hands experience at a multitude of games and places and limits, I’ve settled into $55 single-table sit and go tournaments.

As a general rule of thumb, I’ve referred to (a slightly modified version of) the October 2004 Sklansky/Malmuth hand rankings. My understanding is that these were developed primarily for medium-stakes limit games. Perhaps Mr. Sklansky’s forthcoming no-limit book will revisit this issue in a fresh context.

I have just recently been looking at SnG Power Tools and have encountered the Karlson-Sklansky hand rankings. They differ substantially from the rankings that have guided my play to date. Searches on the subject are not illuminating.

With the understanding that any rankings are simply guidelines and just one piece of a complex puzzle, and that these notions are even more relative in a volatile tournament environment, is there any consensus out there on the issue? Is the value of Karlson-Sklansky limited to late-game, push/call, head’s up situations? Or is it a better building block for overall single-table tournament play?

Cheers…

[Jman28]

Good question sandy, and welcome to the forum. I predict you will do well if you continue to think about the game like you seem to be.

The K&S rankings are primarily for HU push/fold calcs. The numbers are exact in regards to that situation. However, they give you a fair idea of relative hand strength in late game play, when it's still push fold time, but not just HU. However, use SNGPT to perfect these situations/

In early and midgame situations, I don't think the K&S chart is very helpful. Read and post on this board and you will get a much better grasp of hand strength at every level.

Good luck.

[bubinga]

OK! If in early and midgame situations, K-S chart is not very helpful, then what hand ranking list would be good to use?

[tigerite]

You'd be better off throwing hand ranking lists away and instead playing your opponents in the early levels.

[recondite7]

[ QUOTE ]
OK! If in early and midgame situations, K-S chart is not very helpful, then what hand ranking list would be good to use?

[/ QUOTE ]

AK & AQ good
PP's are good
AJ KQ and high suited connectors are ok if played with caution

All else is crap

[Shillx]

The K/S ranking is how good a hand is in a cash game HU situation where the small blind turns his hand up for the big blind to see. They simply tell you how much a hand is worth when the big blind will call all-in with all better hands (as he should when your hand is face up). Hands are valued in # of small blinds (not counting the money already in the blinds).

The weird thing about K/S is that it does a very poor job of ranking what is was designed for (pushing hands). It gives far too much weight to big cards. If you move in with something like 76s (a good pushing hand) it will assume that the opponent will call with hands like 86o and T6s. The end result is that it doesn't give enough value to said hands. Likewise it will assume that your opponents folds hands like KQs when you push with A2o (a poorer pushing hand) and thus it will overvalue crappy big-little combinations.

KS is not a useless list though. Oddly enough it actually does a very good job of ranking calling hands.