SIT & GO STRATEGY

Sit & Go’s are one of the great things that online poker has introduced to all us poker players. They are, in fact, one table tournaments (there are also Sit & Go’s which consist of two or even three tables) where every player starts with an equal amount of chips and the blinds increase after a specific amount of time (usually ten minutes or so) until one player has all the chips. There is a great variety of Sit & Go’s in every poker site, like PokerStars.com, PokerRoom.com and PartyPoker.com, and they can really become a very good way for a skilled player to win a lot of money using a specific strategy.

Early stages (first 2-3 levels)

Now, I am a strong supporter of the idea that says that no specific strategy or style of play is the way to win in poker because I believe that every strategy has its pros and cons and there is no hard-and-fast rule on how to play poker correctly. However, throughout my years of experience in online poker I have never seen anyone playing very loose during the early stages of a Sit & Go and actually be a consistent winner. This is one of these few occasions where tight play is necessary, especially in low or medium limit tournaments. That’s because everybody else at your table will already be playing loose because the blinds are so small in relation to the stacks.

The problem with this, though, is that this way, they jeopardize a big percentage, if not all, of their arsenal during a stage in which they don’t have any reason to do so. Small blinds usually mean small pots and while it might be useful to win some early pots it certainly is nowhere near as helpful as doubling your stack up during the later stages of the tournament. So in this stage, I will only play quality hands like AA, KK, QQ and AK and usually raise quite strongly with them before the flop because I don’t want many people in the pot. I will avoid playing AJ or A-10, especially in early position and hands like AQ, 10-10 and JJ should be played very cautiously. I don’t want to go broke early because the later stages, when the blinds will have been raised significantly and several players will definitely have been eliminated, are much more important.

Middle stages (levels 4-6)

By the time you reach the middle stages of the tournament, usually 2-3 players will have been eliminated. At this moment the most important thing is your stack size. If your stack size is bigger than 10 times the amount of the big blind your strategy should not be altered much, although with less players at the table hands like AQ, 10-10 and JJ should now be played more aggressively.

If your stack is less than 8-10 times the big blind then you are in all-in mode. Your goal at this moment should be to find a good spot to push your stack in and try to double up. You want be able to steal the blinds with pot-sized raises and you will certainly not be able to preserve any significant amount of chips by folding to a reraise. What you must realize is that moving all-in while you still have fold equity – and you won’t have much of that if your stack drops down to 3-4 times the amount of the big blind – is very important because winning those blinds without a fight will add a very healthy percentage to your stack size (usually almost 20%).

So, with a stack like that, you should be willing to move all-in with a great variety of hands, especially if you are first to act in middle to late position in an attempt to double up and get back in contention for the win.

Late stages

When you get down to four players and three of them get paid, many people would think that this is the time to slow down and wait until one more player gets eliminated and safely get into the money. However, if your goal is to win every single Sit & Go you play, you won’t follow this principle but instead you will realize that this is actually the time to play super-aggressive poker.

If you are lucky enough to possess the most chips on the table, you can start raising or moving all-in every time against the average stacks that are waiting for the smallest stack to get eliminated because they will provide no resistance and you will be able to get a humongous chip lead which will help you win the tournament. This is the reason for which you should also refrain from attacking the small stack - you actually want him in the game because when everybody gets into the money, they will loosen up feeling more comfortable than before and removing that important edge from you. If, on the other hand, you are the small stack and everybody is trying to get rid of you then go after them! You won’t win anything by being patient and being the first raiser in the pot is of huge importance because you still have fold equity. Play to win. Even though this will result in a lot of 4th place finishes, it will also get you many first places as well and you should be able to win more money this way.

Good luck at the tables! For more info and articles visit pokernostra