Playing Negative EV Hands

I received a question from one of the SitNGoTraining.com lesson readers. She asked:

In the EV chart you are referring to, there are also negative numbers. Does this mean that I should never play those hands?

That is a great question. Starting hands with negative EV scores are hands that the typical player has historically lost money playing. As a general rule, during a sit 'n go single table tournament, you should avoid playing these hands.

However, as I will cover in the advanced studies, there are times when you should play hands regardless of their EV. In these situations you are playing the player and not your cards. For example, if you observe that when you are on the button the big blind and small blind always fold to a raise unless they have a premium hand, if you are first to open, you should raise with almost any two cards. They will fold enough times to make this move profitable for you.

To sumarize, unless you have a read on your opponents that would otherwise support changing the basic strategy, in a single table sit and go just throw negative EV hands into the muck.