No-Limit Texas Hold'Em Strategy for Online Sit and Go's

Growing up, I had no exposure to the world of poker tournaments. My limited exposure to poker was (aside from reading rules from Hoyle and playing dummy hands by myself) my father's repeated and unsuccessful attempts in cash games. I only thought poker was a dark, back room kind of game. Well, I got a serious re-education of the game in university.

We did play a Tuesday cash game, but the real fun was on our Wednesday evenings. Our group played in a variety of what's now referred to as a Sit and Go tournament. In retrospect, the game we played was a quasi-H.O.R.S.E dealer's choice variation, but the buy ins and payouts, along with incremental blind structure was consistent. Since those early days, I have always favoured the tournament game over the ring game.

So enter the online Sit and Go (or Sit n Go, or several other spelling variations). I think the Sit and Go tournament really fulfills two purposes. First, it provides a fun tournament game which requires a small time investment over a regular tournament. Second, as one who has played both cash games and tournament games, there is definitely a difference in the types of hands and bets one will make between the two varieties, and Sit and Go's, in my experience, do provide a good reference to build skills applicable to MTT's (multi-table tournaments).

As I play most consistently on Full Tilt Poker, I will keep my examples confined within a normal, 9 handed Texas Hold'em Sit and Go. When all players have paid and the table starts, each player starts with 1,500 in chips, and the initial level of the blinds is 15/30. Blinds are raised each six minutes. Last person standing with all the chips is the winner, and the top three finishers receive a payout.

As such, it's moot to note that the Sit and Go is much more a game of survival than it is just winning chips. Chip value, stack size, opponent reads, blind increases will all tend to factor into your decision. In the early stages of a Sit and Go, I do tend to be very tight. I find in a good percentage of Sit and Go's, I find there are a few hyper-aggressive players who go all in very early. Even with strong hands I avoid these early all-in affairs. I've folded pocket tens, jacks, AQ and AK early on against these massively aggressive pushes. And I really look at it this way:

Even if you win the race, you may end up with around 3,000 chips. In the short term you could very well hold onto being chip leader. But as you progress to the later stages of the Sit and Go, you can very well find that 3,000 is average at best in terms of stack size, and is it really worth it to risk your tournament early in the game just for what could end up being an average sized stack? What I tend to do is play premium hands and some moderate strength hands, bearing in mind fold equity, and build up my stack until the table becomes about 5-6 handed.

I find it is in these stages the game becomes afoot. As the table becomes short-handed, the playing odds of hands pre-flop changes, making more hands playable. Now though I do tend to play more hands and a little looser, I don't make any committed stabs without a premium or traditional strong hand. Earlier I talked about being average stacked, and I do find in the majority of situations, I am. With 5 players I could be sitting with about 2,800 in chips, and the blinds are 200/400.

Keep in mind that making standard (2 to 3 times the big blind) raises pre-flop, it becomes very easy to commit close to half your stack on a good hand with an average chip stack. As such, a little aggression and luck are in order to make it past the bubble and get paid out. And this is where my 'tight is right' philosophy early in the game pays off. What I've done, asides from setting up my stack for the middle stages, is given myself a table image. Tight player, only plays premium hands. As such, the power of the bluff comes into play here. It becomes easy to buy the blinds from both the button and the small blind with a triple ante raise. I find this an effective tool as if you end up drawing dead for a number of pots, you definitely have a shot of getting your blinds back and not being blinded to the rail before the bubble bursts. I would like to add on that I do try to maintain the tight image, and do bluff sparingly.

To make it to the money, I find in most tournaments I'm in, does require a bit of risk. At some point, you will probably have to risk a great deal of your stack (or go all-in) in order to gain advantage or knock out an opponent. Knowing this and being able to read and play your opponents will guide you to the right situations to make these big calls. This is the point where chance plays a big factor in the game, but good knowledge of the odds and good play of the opponent (you should always play your opponent first) will see you in the money enough to turn a long term profit. Many of the pros do advocate a simple philosophy. 10% return on investment. Remember Sit and Go's are a long term prospect, not a quick cash grab.

Once in the money, I tend to find that 'all bets are off'. No pun intended. I get very aggressive and bet on a great deal more hands. By this point the goal is to win, and being conservative or incredibly tight can find you blinded all the way to the rail. This doesn't mean aggressive with reckless abandon, but aggressive tempered with some reason. By this point there are no guarantees, but I do find from experience at these stages, the conservative players tend not to win against the stronger, more aggressive players. By the time it's heads up it really becomes kill or be killed.

Now bear in mind that 10% return on investment. It's not only a good poker practice, but a good business practice. In progressing to professional poker, where poker is the primary source of income, we really do have to treat it as a business. We will go through bad losing streaks (I just came off of one where I lost half my bankroll on tilt). But poker is a long term business. Track your progress. If you dedicate yourself to learning, improving, and playing smart, you too will find your rate of return at 10% or better.

See you at the tables online...