Sit and Go Poker Strategy
October 7, 2008
A Sit and Go (or SNG) is a single table poker tournament which starts when enough players join the game. SNG tournaments are extremely popular online as they are one of the best ways to build your bankroll and win entries to major poker tournaments. In 2003 and 2004, both WSOP winners earned their entrance through satellite tournaments at PokerStars. Other rooms like Titan Poker also offer nice SNG tournaments such as the Jackpot Sit and Gos. This article will teach you the basics of Sit and Go strategy by exploring the different stages of a single table tournament.
Early Stages
At the early stages of a SNG tournament when the blinds are small and the stacks are deep, you should play tight and solid poker. Tight play is better at the beginning because at middle stages and bubble play, the dynamic known as ‘fold equity’ comes into play. When the blinds increase, having the ability to force your opponents to fold is essential, so it’s very important to keep enough chips for the later stages. You should generally limp in with nothing less than small or medium pairs and bet strongly if the flop gives you a good set. Also, you should not slow play premium hands because other players will try to outplay you. Play tight, catch the fish when they call you with their weak hands and bet your premium hands aggressively.
Middle Stages
At the middle stages when the blinds increase and the number of players starts to drop, there will be lots of blind stealing, raises and re-raises. The remaining players should now consider you as a tight player and they will respect your bets, so it’s time to change gears and play more aggressively. There should be one or two small stacks below you, so put pressure on them to force them to fold. However, don’t play like a maniac against the short stacks. Try to bust them out, but only with your best hands. You should of course avoid confronting the bigger stacks unless you have a premium starting hand, but you should have enough chips to make strong bets both preflop and on the flop to get your opponents to fold and win a hand without a showdown.
At the early stages, you gave an image of a tight player who folds under pressure and gives away blinds without a fight. Now you can trap your opponents by playing two big cards or strong pairs even more aggressively but avoid drawing hands unless you can limp in as the small or big blind.
If you took bad beats during the early stages and you are short stacked, you should play more loosely against the smaller stacks and not hesitate to shove your chips with any decent hand. You will need some luck to get back into the game, but if you keep folding you’re not pushing your luck so play your hands aggressively.
In The Money
In a SNG tournament, there are usually 3 paying places, so when your reach this stage, you can relax a bit because you should have at least doubled the buy-in amount. When you sense weakness in your opponents’ game, you should be extremely aggressive. Just raise or fold. Put the pressure on limpers with strong raises unless you think they are slow playing premium hands. If you are the chip leader or close second, do not let the third player keep his big blinds. If he’s your typical SNG player, he will probably avoid confrontation and wait for a huge hand, hoping that the two top stacks fight each other and allow him to finish second by default.
When you get heads up, play loose aggressive and raise like there was no tomorrow. Don’t hesitate to go all in with any big pair, King or Ace and raise with a Queen high or Jack high. Trap your opponent with your premium hands and you should be set for a huge payday.
Evaluation
To sum it up, while you will still run into variance from time to time and endure your share of bad beats, this basic Sit and Go strategy should help you regularly finish in the paying places and make a good profit.
