Poker tournaments have gained tremendous popularity over the last few years due to the stars that take part in them, huge prize pools offered, and TV coverage of the events. Now, both online and live tourneys commonly see thousands of people enter them so these players can take a shot at earning lots of money. Some tournaments even offer guaranteed prize pools worth millions of dollars!
But with these big prize pools also comes higher buy-in fees which can leave some people out of the action. That’s where Sit & Go poker tournaments come into play; they are usually one table tourneys which start as soon as there are enough people to fill the game. And even though these tournaments are smaller than most others, a person can still win plenty of money in Sit & Go’s if they use good strategy.
Cashing should be the first goal
Most people who enter Sit & Go’s run into trouble early on because they’re trying to gain a huge lead right away. This is a terrible strategy since one should only focus on cashing in the beginning. In a 10 person Sit & Go with a $10 + $1 buy-in, first place will earn $50, second will pocket $30, and third place will get $20. Places 4-10 will walk away with absolutely nothing so you obviously want to finish in the top 30%.
But if you’re going to get there, you need to play more conservative in the beginning and only play great hands early on. When some of the maniac players bust out of the tourney, then you can start to open up your play and build and chip advantage. However, the important thing is to avoid busting out in the early going.
Be more aggressive near the bubble
Going by the previously mentioned Sit & Go model, the bubble will be the point when there are 4 players left and only 3 of them will cash. Since one person isn’t going to get paid, everyone will be playing as tight as possible and folding quite a bit. This is your opportunity to try and gain an advantage by being more aggressive and stealing chips away from passive players.
Now, as stated before, your goal is still to make a cash. However, this deep into the tournament, you’ll have an idea of how everyone else plays and should be trying to take advantage of this fact. On the other hand, you also need to stay away from tight/aggressive players who are betting like they have the nuts so that you don’t bust out right before cashing.
Stay strong past the bubble
If you’ve made it into the top 3 then you have accomplished the goal of cashing. But just because you’re guaranteed to make some money doesn’t mean that it’s time to let up since first, second, and third place are still on the line. This is the point at which you’ll need to play just as aggressively as your opponents since they’re likely to open up their play past the bubble.
Most players here will be making huge raises and re-raises in order to steal blinds and force you to fold. Obviously you can’t be challenging these players while holding nothing, but you’re going to have to make raises and re-raises yourself to stay in the game. Also, keep in mind that only three players are in each hand so starting hand requirements will open up a lot.
Be super-aggressive in heads-up play
After securing one of the top two spots, the hands go by a lot quicker and play will be much more intense. This is where you have to be more aggressive than at any point in the Sit & Go since folding over and over will get you short-stacked very quickly. And just as in the previous stage, you’ll have to remember that it’s just you and the other player so hand requirements are more lenient.
The key in a Sit & Go heads-up situation is to keep putting the pressure on your opponent. Neither you nor your opponent is going to be getting the nuts very often so pocket pairs become golden at this point. Sometimes bets and raises will backfire on you, but you have to keep the big picture in mind when making them. As long as you win in the long run, don’t worry about a mistaken raise or two.
