Sit And Go Poker Tournaments

USAPlayers.com Online Poker Poker Strategy Sit N Go Poker Tournaments

Sit And Go Poker Tournaments strategy is all about how I would approach online single table tournaments. These are often referred to as sit and go tournaments. Players have the option of playing Online Sit And Go Poker Tournaments that have as little as two players to others that have 180 players. The most commonly played sit and gos have 9 players all playing at the same table with the top three finishers getting paid. I will break up the sit and gos into three segments - the beginning levels, the middle levels, and the ending levels.

In the beginning of these 9 person Sit and Go Tournaments, players generally start with 1500 chips. The blinds start out very small, usually at 10/20. Many players make the mistake of playing way too many hands during the early stages of sit and gos. They feel that since they have plenty of chips, they can afford to toss chips around early since the blinds are so small. This is the wrong attitude to have, as it is much more beneficial to play conservative or tight in the first few blind levels. It is best to try to see a cheap flop with any pocket pairs or medium to high suited connectors, especially if there are multiple players in the pot. If someone has already raised the pot it may be best to comfortably fold the hand and preserve chips as they are more valuable as the blinds get bigger. It is typically a good idea to raise to three times the big blind, give or take a few, with a pocket pairs of 9's or better or with AQ suited or better. Any smaller pairs such as A10 and AJ should be limped behind other limpers or simply folded if nobody limps to the bet. The idea try to only see flops if other players have created a way to see a cheap, multi-way flop.

Most players give away entirely too many chips at the early levels of Single Table Poker Tournaments and do not have enough chips for the important levels as the tournament progresses. If a QQ, KK, or AA is drawn in the pocket, try to raise an amount that could force out other hands. A solid amount, such as three times the blind plus one more for every player that limped into the pot, should suffice. If the pocket ends up as an AA in the big blind, and 6 other people have already limped in, it would be apt to raise by 8 times the blind to try to protect the hand. If a KK or AA is picked up and someone has already raised with others calling his raise, you could theoretically push all in and hope that they call with a weaker hand. With JJ, QQ, or AK, vary the play and sometimes go all in while other times seeing the flop and trying to disguise the hand. This is typically how you should play the early game, which should effectively be the first three levels on blinds.

The middle levels of a typical sit and go, at USA Poker sites begins when the big blind reaches 100. This is when limping into pots should not occur as much, with the standard raise 2 to 3 times the big blind, shoving all in, or folding all together. Way too many players dwindle their stacks down at this stage by giving away 100 chips at a time trying to see flops. For example, say the pocket is AK suited and you hold the first position. If a raise pushes to 250, a subsequent player may read this as weakness since it is such a small raise and may re-raise with A10, AQ, or worse. Raising a pair of nines, all higher pocket pairs, plus AQ and AK from any position is not a bad idea. In late position, the range should open up more as there are less people to contend with.

The key at the middle stages of a Sit N Go Poker Tournaments is to protect your fold equity. This means you have to make sure you have enough chips left in your stack to make your opponent fold. A good way to do this is to routinely go all in on the big blind when it folds to you in the small blind at these middle stages. If you have 1000 chips left after posting the small blind of 50 and the big blind has 1300 chips with his or her 100 big blind already out there, then going all in here with almost every hand could be viable. The reason being is that he or she will need a strong enough hand to call the all in since your stack represents so much of your opponent's stack. He or she will not get a strong enough hand often enough to make this call, making it an easy way to abscond with the oppositions chips. By doing this you could maintain your chip stack position and preserve enough chips to handle the increasing blind levels. So if you do not get any playable hands during these levels you could go all in stealing the big blind with almost all of your hands when folded to you in the small blind which will let you stay in the game with enough chips with which you could fight. I consider these middle levels of a sit and go to be until the big blind reaches 400 which starts the ending levels.

By the time the blinds reach 200/400 the tournament will usually be down to anywhere from 6 to maybe only 2 or 3 players. You could very well have picked up some big hands that created a big stack already, but if not there is the hope that you have at least won enough chips at the middle levels to give you a fighting chance in the late game. The reason it is important to play tight poker at the early stages of the sit and go is because now that the blinds are so big that this is when the real money is made.

You should be willing to going all in at this point to steal the blinds with a wide array of hands especially when you hold the small blind. If two players both have say, 2500 chips or so, you could go all in on the small blind every single time as the big blind again will need a strong hand that he or she is unlikely to get to make the call. If there are only 1400 chips remaining, and you are the first to act in either first or second position, you may want to go all in on all but the worst of hands, hoping the opposition will not have a good enough hand to call. One thing you could do is, instead of going all in, raise to 1200, obviously committing this hand to the pot. Sometimes this will look stronger to an opponent and you will want to do it with both weak and strong hands. The key at this point is since the blinds are so big you want to be winning the blinds as much as possible as they are so valuable to steal now.

Once heads up, in Sit And Go Online Poker Tournaments, again you might want to shove all in on a lot of the hands as the blinds will be large at this point compared to our stacks. Don't be afraid to throw your chips around once you reach the ending levels. You will have built up an image as a tight player at the beginning stages of the sit and go and can now use that to your advantage with your opponents respecting your bet more. Never give up even if you get short stacked as there is always a chance for you to come back and win these. Using these general ideas will help you when playing online single table tournaments and the more of them you play the better feel you will have for what other ideas you should implement into your strategy.