Online Sit and Go poker is becoming more and more popular. There are some players that specialize playing in Sit and Go tournaments. Most players will play in Sit and Go's as an additional option to other game choices. The important thing to realize is that Sit and Go poker strategies are much different than the more traditional poker games you may be used to playing.
Depending on the number of players in the tournament, the payouts differ. For example, in a nine player tournament, First place pays out approximately 50% of the buy in, second place pays out approximately 30%, and third place pays out approximately 20%. In multi-table tournaments, it is more difficult to finish in the money. For example, in a 90 player Sit and Go tournament, you typically need to finish in the top 9 to win any money. Your chances of winning money are much lower playing in the multi-table tournaments than the single table ones. Of course, if you do play in the multi-table tournaments and finish in the money, or perhaps win, the payout is obviously much higher.
The main question is do you play to win the tournament or do you play to finish in the money? If you want to do well in these tournaments, and do well consistently, then your first goal has to be to finish in the money. After you accomplish that goal you can then focus on winning the tournament. That is where the strategy differs from playing in regular poker games.
Anytime you enter a Sit and Go tournament you pay the house a rake. A rake is an amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer. This is the cardroom's income. If the buy-in for the tournament is $24+$2, $2 represents the rake and is not part of the prize money. The rake is higher playing in Sit and Go's than it is playing in regular poker. That shouldn't keep you from playing though. You'll find Sit and Go's to be a lot fun and they're a good way to build your bankroll. Single table games generally last around an hour, unless you're eliminated early. Multi-table games can last 2-3 hours.
Sit and Go poker strategy depends on the player. There are two schools of thought here. The first is to play aggressively early in the tournament. This includes large raises, going all-in, and taking a lot of risks to build up your own chip stack by bullying other players at the table. The players that play this way figure if they're going to lose, they may as well lose early and move on. They also figure they have a good chance of building up their chip stack because not too many players will probably risk calling them unless they have a very strong hand. Sometimes you will get more than one maniac at the table and each one will go all-in on the first hand. That's actually good for you because it's one less player you have to compete with to get in the money. The second school of thought is to play tight, and only play premium hands early. This includes letting other players knock each other out of the tournament while you just hang around. You wouldn't even bother playing mediocre hands early.
So which strategy is correct? To be fair, you can win using either strategy. Remember, your first goal has to be to finish in the money. After you accomplish that goal you can then focus on winning the tournament. Can you accomplish that by consistently playing aggressively early in the tournament? The answer to that question is no. You may have an occasional win, but you won't profit in the long run because you'll be exiting too many tournaments early. Playing tight early is the strategy employed by most of the very good Sit and Go players.
So early on, you'll want to play tight and conservative since the blinds will still be low. You can attack with premium hands, but pick your spots carefully and let your opponents make mistakes so the field gradually shrinks. At this point in the game the blinds are low and not worth trying to steal. Play smart and try to double your chip stack early in the tournament. Your chance of finishing in the money is good unless you suffer a bad beat or make a bad decision. An example of a early bad decision would be going all-in pre-flop with pocket 10's. There are too many cards that could beat you by the time you get to the river. Calling a bet, or a raise, is sensible with the pocket 10's, but going all-in is just plain reckless.
Keep in mind that each game is different. If you find yourself in a game where all of the players are tight, then it might be a good time for you to use your tight table image and try to steal a pot or two early on. Learn to play your opponents like any other poker game. Recognize the difference between weak, loose, tight, aggressive, and maniac players. Learn when to trap aggressive players. If you pay attention to the game, and take notes on you're opponents (almost all of the sites allow you to keep notes on players), you will benefit later in the game by making the correct play. Learn from your opponents tendencies since many of them will become predictable. The better players won't be and you need to be able to recognize the good players from the weak ones.
Early in the game you won't be playing too many hands. As the game progresses, and the blinds go up, your strategy needs to change. You can't continue to sit back and be a spectator. As the blinds increase you'll need to win some pots. If you don't you will soon find yourself in trouble with a low stack.
Once the blinds reach 50-100 you do need to become more aggressive. I don't mean reckless, just more aggressive. You'll play more hands, especially in later positions, and won't rely on only premium hands to play. Trying to steal blinds is a good tactic from late position unless the pot has been raised or there are several callers. Don't slowplay A-A, go ahead and bet or raise with it. Be cautious with pocket kings. An ace on the flop could be disastrous if you already decided to go all-in. The same could be said for any pocket pair except pocket aces.
Here is a strategy to use regarding pocket pairs if the flop gives you a set. Use the hand to trap an opponent, especially if it's a smaller pocket pair. If an opponent has a strong pair they will likely call any bet or raise you make and you should be able to win a large pot.
At this point of the game, you'll be using a combination of the two strategies mentioned above--conservative (not too tight) and aggressive. You want to mix it up so you don't become too predictable to your opponents. Of course the cards you receive will determine a lot of what you can or cannot do. The game will change and you will need to change with it.
Even though you are changing up your strategy a bit, you don't want to lose sight of your objective. That is to finish in the money and after you accomplish that to focus on winning the tournament.
In the later stages of the tournament, your strategy doesn't change all that much until you are in the money. As soon as you are in the money, you should play to win.
At this point of the tournament the blinds are getting very high in relation to the average stack size. Even though you are in the money, you don't want to confront other big stacks with a marginal hand. Bluffing is O.K., but you still have to play smart. You wouldn't bluff your entire stack when you have no chance of winning. Don't settle for third place when you still have a shot at winning. Pick your spots to play aggressive, mix it up, and keep your opponents off balance. If you play passive at this point you won't win the tournament.
Sit and Go poker tournaments are a lot of fun. I hope this article was helpful.
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