Sit-N-Go Strategy

May 23, 2005

One of the most popular recent developments in online poker is a sit-n-gotournament. Predominately played nine or ten-handed, they are usually completedin less than an hour and are available in most popular games like no-limit andlimit holdem, Omaha/8 and 7 Card Stud. The payouts are generally 50% for first, 30% for second and 20% for third. The blinds elevate at a fairly fast rate, usually every ten hands or every ten minutes depending on the room you areplaying at. If you would like to start playing sit-n-go's or would just like toimprove your game, here are a few tips.

Becausethe blinds rise so quickly, many players take unnecessary chances early in the tournament. This is the single largest mistake I see in sit-n-go's. Unlikelarge multi table tournaments where it is necessary to amass a large stack ofchips to win, in a sit-n-go it is much more important to survive until themaniacs are gone. I have played two different strategies while playing sit-n-go's, and I have won using both. However, one of them is much more successful overall than the other. I am of one of two mindsets when I sit downat the table. The first is impatient and I want to either double-up quickly orbust out. Of course if you haven't already guessed, this is the lesser successful of the two strategies. When you enter a tournament this way, you endup butting heads with all of the other maniacs and you reduce the game to acoin flip mentality.

The best strategy I have found is to be very tight and conservative with everything but your best hands early in the tournament, and very aggressive late in the tournament. There is no need to be concerned about the size of your stack until you get down to around half what you started with. If you start with 1,000, start looking for opportunities to double up if you fall to 500. When you arefortunate enough to land a premium hand like Aces or Kings, by all means jump into the fray. You will probably find at least one maniac willing to put their money in with an inferior hand. Spend the time early in the tournament studying your opponents. Pay attention to how many hands they are playing and see which ones can and can't be bluffed. You will often be able to use this information to your advantage later in the tournament.

Once you have survived down to the final four or five players, or even better in the money, you need to change gears quickly to become very aggressive. If youropponents have been paying attention, which is not always the case, you will beable to steal a few pots as they will give you credit for a good hand becauseyou haven't been playing many. If you find yourself short-stacked at thispoint, you only have one play, move all-in pre-flop.

Though this is not a complete guide to sit-n-go dominance, if you are able to remaintight early and quickly switch to aggressive play late, you will find your game immediately improved.

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