Sit-and-go tournaments are to this day one of the most popular formats of tournament poker. Thousands of such games are played at online poker sites every day all around the world thanks in part to how often they run and the fact it is possible to adopt an optimal sit-and-go strategy.

A sit and go tournament is a poker game between usually 6 to 10 players which takes between 20 and 60 minutes. They pay a fixed buy-in and get the same amount of poker chips. Whoever loses his chips is out of the tournament. The last 3 or 2 players at the table win the prize money. Sit and Go poker tournaments, commonly called SNGs, have become amazingly popular thanks to the growth of online poker. Their shorter format allow you to play tournament style poker without having to play for hours like in a full multi table tournament giving them the same time convenience of cash games.

What is Sit-and-Go Poker?

Those of you new to poker may be wondering what a sit-and-go (or SNG) is, so we’ll fill you in with all of the details. SNGs are tournaments that unlike multi-table tournaments do not have a specific start time. Instead the action begins whenever enough players register and there are no more seats in the tournament to fill.

The most common sit-and-go tournaments are either played heads-up (action begins when two players register), six-max (kicking off once six players buy-in), or nine- or ten-handed or “full ring” (these start when nine or ten players have entered). These SNGs are often called single-table tournament sit-and-go (or STT SNGs).

Another popular variant of SNG is a multi-table tournament sit-and-go (MTT SNG). Like their single-table cousins, MTT SNGs begin when all of the seats in the tournament are full, and they pay the same number of players each time they run.

Blind levels are either standard speed, turbo, or hyper-turbo, with each format requiring a slightly different SNG strategy. Here CardRunners instructor Collin Moshman talks through various strategy issues while playing several SNGs at once:

Why are Sit-and-Go Tournaments Popular?

As touched upon earlier, one of the reasons for the popularity of sit-and-go tournaments is the fact they run so frequently. Mathematical variance has a major influence over poker players’ bottom lines, and one way to negate it is to play more poker. As sit-and-go poker tournaments run all day and they are relatively simple to play several at once — especially once you’ve learned basic sit-and-go strategy — it is possible to play dozens of SNGs in a single session.

Another reason for players liking SNGs is how they make it easy to plan how long a session will last, as well as to manage how much they could win or lose during that session. Sit-and-go tournaments that are similar in size and have the same blind structure usually take the same amount of time to complete, give or take a few minutes, which allows for a more structured session than is usually possible with regular multi-table tournaments.

What is a Winning Sit-and-Go Tournament Strategy?

Although one of the great features of poker is that a player can choose almost any playing style and still win, there is a very structured sit-and-go strategy to adhere to if you want to win consistently. With the number of payout places and amounts being the same for every SNG of the same size, it is possible to make a mathematically correct play based on what is known as Independent Chip Modeling, or ICM, when the tournament reaches the bubble stage.

The most common sit-and-go strategy is to play tight during the early stages when the blinds are small, then increasing the aggression as the blinds increase and the stack sizes become shallower, often with an all-in bet once the effective stack is down to around 10 big blinds. The act of folding most hands and then moving all in — leaving little room for postflop play — is known as “push-botting.”

While this sit-and-go strategy is employed by many SNG regulars, there are some players who prefer to play a loose-aggressive style in the early stages in an attempt to build a large stack in time for when the bubble approaches. This SNG strategy can lead to more outright victories, but comes with its own risks and pitfalls.

Sit-and-Go Strategy: ICM on the Bubble

Independent Chip Modeling (ICM) is one area you need to learn in order to perfect your sit-and-go poker strategy. ICM allows a player to assess the risk-versus-reward in certain spots of a SNG, namely on the bubble and once everyone is in the money, by calculating a player’s overall equity in a tournament.

By performing ICM calculations, it is possible to conclude whether or not it is correct to make an all-in bet or to call an all-in bet. If the stack sizes are set in a certain way, it can be correct — in terms of equity --- to fold a hand as strong as to an opponent’s shove even if calling would usually see you add more chips to you stack.

By the same token, there are some situations where the correct sit-and-go strategy is to move all in with any two cards, regardless of how weak they are.

ICM calculations can be quite complex, so it is best to do some research and study before or after you play poker. The good news is that similar situations arise all of the time in SNGs, so it is worth committing some of the more common scenarios to memory. Here Tony Dunst explains a little further the importance of ICM considerations in tournament poker:

Practice Makes Perfect

When learning any skill, be it playing the violin or sit-and-go strategy, it is important to practice, practice, and practice some more. If you drive a car, cast your mind back to when you first started to learn how to drive and how you struggled to remember everything that you needed to do in order to drive down the road safely.

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Now consider the last time you drove — I am willing to bet you didn’t consciously think about changing gears, checking your mirrors, and other nuances associated with driving. That’s because those things have all become second nature to you.

Practice enough at the poker tables and you’ll soon have a winning sit-and-go strategy similarly committed to memory, and will be able to draw upon it without really thinking about it.

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Fri, May 24, 2:45pm by Mia Chapman

Last Updated Tue, Oct 8, 12:24am

Sit-n-go strategy in Texas holdem tournaments is dynamic. SnG events involve one single table full of competitors. It’s like you’ve joined in on the final table of a freezeout tournament. Crafting a strategy for this situation can be difficult, because players may not have played against any of these opponents before. Because you don’t have a book on these players’ habits, it’s natural to focus less on the competition and more on your strategy.

This can be a treacherous way to play poker, oblivious to your surroundings. In this article, I’m going to suggest you have an idea for your Texas hold’em strategy, but pay attention to what’s happening at the table and adapt your strategy to the changing conditions. A sit and go tournament is poker life in microcosm, so you should put all your poker skills to good use when playing these events.

How Turbo Events Work

The standard prize pool for a sit n go tournament is 50% for 1st place, 30% for 2nd place, and 20% for 3rd place. When deciding on a strategy, it’s best to determine what your overall outlook is going to be. Some gamblers try for 1st place, seeing it pays 2.5 times more than a third place finish. By this logic, you finish out of the money more, but you have more margin for error, if you push it. If you pay in 11% to the point each tournament, you need to win once every 4 to 5 events (though that’s hard to do). Assuming you’ll occasionally strive for 1st and end up 2nd or 3rd, a more realistic goal is to win once every 7 turbo events (or roughly 14% of the time) to be profitable. Again, that’s not easy, but good players should win more than 10% of the time. If you choose this grand strategy, aggression is your watchword.

If you prefer to place in the top three, then your strategies are going to be less aggressive. Many of your tactics will be based on survival. You’re hoping to make the cut. These players play tighter and hope to grind out wins here and there while opponents knock each other off. If you use this strategy, your aim is to finish in the top three every other sit’n go or, more realistically, every 2.5 turbo events.

Observe and Be Flexible

At the start of a Texas holdem sit and go event, observe your opponents early on. Take down a few notes and sketch a quick profile of these players. If you play at this site a lot, see if you already have a scouting report on any of these players. Use any available site stats to draw a profile on them. Get in your head which play aggressive, which play tight, and which are simple maniacs. Get a general idea of the makeup of your table. This allows you to be flexible with your strategy.

Caution in Early Hands

If you have several aggressive players at the table at once, it’s best to tighten up your hand selection. Let these people pick on another off. A couple will go out quickly and a couple of others will have a big chip stack. Take advantage of aggression if you have a top hand, but otherwise stay out of the way.

Aggression Early On

If you sense that most of the players are playing cautiously, it’s a better idea to play with some aggression. The quicker you sense that you can steal blinds, the better it is for your chip stack. If most or all opponents seem willing to get out of the way and survive, use this to build up a large chip stack.

Aggressive after the Flop

Whether you play tight or loose, be aggressive when you bet. Don’t simply call, because this makes you reactive. If you aren’t comfortable making a wager with the hand you hold, it’s usually best for you to fold. When you pump money into a marginal hand, you set yourself up for failure. Be bold and decisive once you get in the flop. Raise or get out of the way–don’t sit in the middle ground.

Middle Tournament Strategy

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Once a few players lose, it’s common for gamblers to become more conservative. When 4, 5, or 6 players remain in a SnG tournament, they can see themselves finishing in the money. They tend to play more selective and go into survival mode. This is when targeted aggression helps you steal the pot and maintain your chip stack. The blinds get bigger at this stage, so you’ll need to steal blinds to maintain what you have.

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This is especially true after the maniacs and aggressive players leave the field. Right after a couple of big all-ins, this is when players tend to become conservative. This is a perfect time to start stealing blinds, especially when you’re betting in position.

Playing Near the Bubble

The closer you get to the bubble of making money on the game, the more aggressive you should become. This plays into your opponents’ natural tendencies and gives you a chance to build up your stack as you approach an endgame situation.

Crucial Points

Every hand can be the most important hand of your tournament. Given the compact nature of sit & go tournaments, you could say that’s doubly so in this form of online poker. But each tournament has a few crucial points. One is the dividing time between “in the money” and busting out in 4th place, which is a waste of money and time. Other crucial phases are not as easily noticed.

One of the crux points of a turbo poker tournament is after a big kill-off. Imagine several of the aggressive players have a series of showdowns. Within a few hands, one or two go all-in and lose. These people are eliminated, while one of the aggressors has a massive chip stack now. In this situation, it’s natural for everyone at the table to take a deep breath.

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The players who weren’t aggressive become more cautious, as they a big new stack of chips along with the consequences of showing too much aggression. The person with the big stack might bull ahead, now that they have their big stack. If they decide to consolidate or switch strategies for a bit, they might become less active for a few hands. In many cases, this is a point in the tournament where a lull ensues. This could be a good time to steal the blinds on a hand or two.

Play the Circumstances

How you react should be determined by circumstances. If you have the big stack sitting behind you, it might not pay to bet into the pot. If you see the chip leader sit out of a hand and your turn comes, that might be a good time to push the others out of a pot or two.

Thus we come around full circle again to my original tip. Be adaptive to circumstances. Don’t have one rigid strategy. Shift gears when it appears you need to. Mixing things up helps throw your competition off and lets you use the reputation you’ve gained in the turbo event to good effect.

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