S&G Strategy
If you’ve played any online poker in the past then you know that sit and go tournaments are very popular and usually over half of the room’s players are competing in these tournaments. The most common sit and go tournament you can play is a nine player sit and go tournament where the first three places win money. This means you have a 1/3 chance of winning money and it’s an excellent way to build your bankroll if you’re patient and consistent. Also most casino have sit and gos aswell
When a sit and go tournament is beginning with nine players a lot of the time a couple of the players will try pushing the table around. There will usually be a couple all-in bets within the first 10-20 minutes of the online poker tournament and unless you have a monster hand you’ll want to avoid these all-ins. A lot of the time second best will win so unless you have a huge pocket pair pre-flop don’t make the call. Try to see some flops so that you can make your hand before having to commit all of your chips in the tournament.
Once the initial buzz of betting is done and the tournament is done to 6-7 player’s the action will usually tend to slow up a bit. If you’ve been playing tight up to this point then you should be able to get away with a couple small bluffs and steal a couple small pots. It’s a good time to do this after the second level so that the blinds are worth stealing. Don’t do this often at this stage though because eventually you’ll run into a monster and lose your bet.
If you haven’t been able to double up yet in the tournament and you’re sitting with about what you started with chip wise then you’re going to want to keep playing tight. If you’re winning the tournament then you should play looser and try to steal blinds as players are less likely to call the chip leader until there are only three players.
The goal is to make it into the top three positions before getting to crazy with your betting because you need to consistently finish in the top three if you want to build your bankroll. Of course when you have a big hand you should be trying to double up, but don’t play to many marginal hands and don’t pay people off when you know you are losing the hand.
Chip management is really important in sit and go tournaments. I’ve often seen players who we’re in first place with five players left be eliminated in fourth or fifth due to not managing there stack properly. There is no point calling an 800 chip all-in with a marginal hand when you’re winning because if you lose and double up your opponent they’ll be right next to you in chip count.
Always try and play tight or like a rock in small sit and go tournaments and only play your big hands when you need too. All you need to do in order to have a chance at coming in the top three is win one big pot with a nice hand. If you double up once then you should be good to come in the top three as long as you don’t waste your chips on marginal hands.
