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ONLINE POKER: Improving Your Sit n’ Go Play

Sit n’ Go poker or Single Table Tournaments (STT) are very popular. It is a relatively new form of poker, coming about somewhere during the infancy of online poker, and much is still being learned about the correct way to approach STT‘s. In this article I will explain a number of concepts that many players are unfamiliar with. These topics will include the starting hands, the different stages of the tournament, Independent Chip Model, the bubble, and adjusting to the pay structure of the tournament. Many of the plays suggested will be counter-intuitive and you may find that you are currently approaching the game very differently than how I suggest. Nothing is set in stone in poker and there are often different ways to approach the same situations, although this is less true in STT than any other form of poker. The fact is that there is almost always a “correct” way to play a hand in a STT, especially in the later stages. This is not true nearly as often in other forms of poker. STT’s are in essence a string of equations adding up to one big equation. In this article I’ll show you how to solve this equation and improve your STT results.

The Stages of a STT

Early Stage

Early on in a STT you want to be playing tighter than in you would in just about any other poker situation. There just is no good reason to play many hands at all. The goal is to double up with almost no risk, and if that fails then to preserve your stack. Preservation is the most important thing, as those chips that you save can have a lot of value later on. Low risk-high reward is the name of the day.

There are only two hands I am willing to lose all of my chips with pre-flop in the early stages of a STT. If I do not have AA or KK then I do not want to jeopardize many chips. Sure I’m going to play QQ or JJ but I am going to make a modest raise and am very willing to get away from them depending on how the action goes. The only other hands I am willing to play are AK, A Qs, and other pairs. All pairs lower than JJ I will just limp in with and try to flop a set. Even if I flop an over pair with a hand like 99 I am going to proceed very cautiously and not lose a lot of chips if it is second best. If I limp in with a medium or small pair then I am looking to flop a set and if I don’t flop a set I am very unlikely to put another chip into the pot.

The reason I am willing to even call with small pairs is because it is very hard for me to lose many chips with them. If I am raised pre-flop I will usually simply fold, although there are times when I would call a small raise. If I flop a set I will usually be willing to play a big pot and if I get broke with a set then I can live with that. If I don’t flop a set small pairs are among the easiest hands to get away from. Contrast that to a hand like suited connectors. These are the sort of hands I never play outside of the blinds in the early stages of a STT. You are just too likely to flop a draw that will put you in a high risk-high reward situation, exactly the sort of situation I want to avoid early on. Essentially the whole ball game early on is to conserve chips and look for low risk spots to increase your chips. If you decided to fold your small pairs there would be absolutely nothing wrong with that, I just prefer to play them in un-raised pots.

The Middle Stage

You know that you have reached the middle stage of a STT, and that it is time to change your strategy when you have around 10-12 big blinds left. At this point every play you make will be for all of your chips. There is no more limping in and seeing flops, unless you are in one of the blinds. Situations begin to become more important than cards.

What you want to avoid at this stage of the STT is knowingly racing for all of your chips. You do not want to be calling a lot of all-ins (or smaller raises for that matter) with anything less than monster hands. Do not confuse this with an overall tight strategy. This is the stage of the tournament when you are going to start opening up your game. When it is folded to you in late position you are going to be moving in a lot. If you have 10 or fewer big blinds left, every raise should be an all in. This will apply the maximum pressure on your opponents. The goal here is to increase your stack without having to turn your cards over.

The Bubble

When there are 4 players left you will have reached the bubble as 3 players are generally paid. The bubble is the most important part of the tournament and there are many mistakes made during this stage of the tournament. There are a lot of variables that will affect optimal play during this stage of the tournament including your stack size, your opponents stack size, as well as how your opponents are playing. If you have the largest stack then now is the time to attack the medium size stacks unmercifully. They will not want to be eliminated on the bubble and allow a short stack to slip into a money spot. How extremely short the short stack is will dictate just how out of line you can get in these situations. If there is a very short stack 4 handed and he folds under the gun and it is your action on the button with the biggest remaining stack you should move in every hand regardless of your cards. This is an extreme situation but it illustrates the concept and why the medium stacks in the blinds will almost never be able to call.

Single Table Tournaments - part II