We usually put a great deal of focus into Tournament and Cash game Poker here at newonlinepoker.com however, today we are going to step into the world of Sit & Go’s.
These single table tournaments have been a staple part of the online poker world since the outset of online gaming and still remain as one of the most played formats of the game.
They are quick, fun and you can play a great deal of them if you are a grinder or learn how to play all types of tournament style poker if you are just learning, with early game and deep stacks to mid-game with ICM implications on the bubble kicking in to end game and heads up play… they are a great way to learn to play all forms of tournament poker.
So, in this post, we are going to run over some quick tips to help you on your path to playing these games.
Early game
We are going to want to play very conservative in the early rounds of our sit & go’s.
Why? Because when stacks are deep we don’t stand much from adding just a few hundred to our stack if we make a good hand with blinds at 10/20 with 1500 starting stack, we want to maintain a tight image and maintain our stack for when we have a monster holding later on and can gain a full double up.
Too many beginner players get involved in playing weaker holdings early and lose a third of their chips so that when they end up doubling up later with a better hand they then only have 2,000 chips instead of what could have been 3,000 if they had maintained their stack through the close spot in during the early game.
We are going to want to play hands like AJs+ AQo+ obviously but with our small pairs 22-99 we will want to just play to hit a set and look to play big pots, with hands like AQs AKo TT+ we can look to get aggressive, but if we hit a bad flop just look to play small ball poker and get to showdown when possible.
Pick your spots
We are going to want to have a mixed strategy in the mid-game when the blinds get worth stealing and when antes come into play is when we will want to get active.
Look to have a balanced raise call and raise fold strategy… mixing in some bluff hands with our value hands that we can call off all our chips with.
You will want to note the tightest players on the table and raise more often with your bluffs against their blinds.
Relax once you have a good stack
We are looking to get all the chips, but even when we have a big stack still look to pick your spots and progress through the mid-game section before the real ICM pressure spots.
Learn your ICM game
If you are not familiar with the term ICM, then I recommend registering for ICMizer, there are free tools and quizzes included with the software without having to purchase the full version. These are a great way of learning how to play with these Independent chip model implications in effect.
The Basics of ICM are:
If you are a big stack, look to put middling stacks in tough spots by pushing on them with a wide selection of hands
If you are a medium stack, make sure to be very selective in how you play your hands if there are one or more players with shorter stacks than you as getting in the money or moving up a pay jump is very valuable in sit n go’s.
If you are a short stack the ICM implications are at the lowest they will be so you will just want to use simple push fold tactics to try and double up in the best spots you can find.
Learn your Push Fold Heads up charts
Heads up play is a huge part of the Sit & Go format, with 50% of the prize pool going to first place, you will want to be making this top spot as much as possible, so having a good unexploitable heads up strategy is a must.
There are many resources and apps these days to be able to view which hands we want to push with and which hands we should be calling with when playing below 25BBs deep.
Learn these ranges!
This will make you a lot of money.
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