KEVBO’s Sit ‘N’ Go (SNG) Strategy Guide

Overview

Texas Hold’em Sit ‘N’ Go tournaments are becoming increasingly popular and are a nice change of pace from the daily grind of playing ring games. For a skilled player, they can also be an exciting and profitable means in which to increase their bankrolls.

First, you are not going to become an expert SNG player overnight. Mastering SNG’s takes hundreds maybe even thousands of hours playing. If you are a solid limit ring game player, you should be able to become a winning SNG player as well, but to accomplish this, there are many adjustments you must make. The reason many players fail to become successful at multi-table and SNG tournaments is because they neglect to make the necessary strategic adjustments to their game.

The objective of this guide is to provide a basic set of strategies that will give even the novice SNG player the ability to cash in these tournaments a high percentage of the time. The following strategies are those used by winning SNG players including myself and have been battle tested and proven to be successful. It is by no means a complete guide as there is no way cover every possible situation one will encounter, but it does contain a simple yet solid set of guidelines that if followed will improve one’s overall success at SNG tournaments.

Where to Play

The best sites for SNG’s are, naturally, the big five, primarily because they are the easiest places to join a game. There is so much traffic on these sites that you normally don’t have to wait more than a couple of minutes to get into a game.

Party Poker / Empire Poker: They share player traffic (except in MTT’s) so I will list them together. SNG availability at these sites is tremendous and tables usually fill up in a matter of seconds. There are more types of games to choose from here as well. Games include hold’em, omaha, omaha/8, 7 card stud, 7 card stud/8. Many of these games offer limit, no-limit, and pot-limit tables. Party and Empire have recently added 3-table SNG’s for those who want to take a shot at a bigger payout. There tend to be many new and inexperienced players on these sites making the games here easier and more profitable than on the other sites.

Poker Stars: The tournament software is far superior to any other site on the net. There is also a wide selection of games and limits to chose from including short handed tables, 2-table SNG’s and turbo games where the blinds go up much quicker than in a standard tournament. In addition, Poker Stars offers heads-up (HU) matches where you can go up against one player or join a 4-player tournament where the two winners face off – winner takes all! The SNG’s here start out with 1500 chips so if you lose a bunch of chips early, you still have plenty of chips left and your not crippled as badly as you would be playing on a site that only starts you with 800 chips. The only drawback is that the players here have a tendency to be better than those on the other sites, but if you are patient and follow the strategy guide, then you should do well.

Paradise Poker: They have recently added SNG’s and offer most of the same games. Players here tend to be better than at Party but not as good as those found on Stars.

UltimateBet: The software is excellent and the mini-view feature makes it easy to play more than one table at a time. They currently only offer hold’em games and the players here are like those at Paradise, not great but not bad.

Getting Started

This SNG strategy guide is intended to aid beginning and intermediate players to become more successful (and profitable) at SNG play. It is by no means a complete guide, that would require me to write a book, but it is a general how-to guide that if followed should significantly improve your SNG winnings. This guide covers many of the most common situations that you will face but it would be impossible to cover everything. Your “feel” for your opponents plays a large part in your SNG success, but with this guide and a little practice, you will soon dominate the SNG’s.

First Stage (9-10 Players)

Think of strategy in the early rounds like this: “if tight is right, then tighter is righter”. The first few rounds of a Sit ‘N’ Go tournament are sometimes crazy to say the least. You will be amazed at how often you will see someone call an all-in with 83o or Q4s. Because of this, it is usually best to stay on the sidelines and let the maniacs take each other out. In fact, there will often be three to five people knocked out in the first one or two rounds and all the while you have avoided confrontation and still have most of your chips left. This will prove to be extremely important in the later rounds when the blinds increase and you still have plenty of ammunition left. Don’t be concerned with being behind at this point, just stick to the plan and you can worry about accumulating chips in the later rounds. The purpose here is to play tight and see the flop cheaply. This way, when the flop misses you, you can get away quickly and cheaply when you hit a big hand you stand a good chance of making a lot of chips by taking advantage of your opponents poor post-flop play. You can’t win the tournament in the first couple of rounds, but you can definitely lose or put yourself in poor chip position for the later rounds. Remember, the key here is to survive to the next rounds without losing too many of your chips and with a little good fortune, you will pick up some chips along the way.

From early position, you really only want to play premium hands. Raise (at least 6-8x the BB) with hands like AA, KK, QQ, AK and sometimes AQ. The reason for the big raise is because in the early stages, if you raise lets say 3x the BB, then you’re likely to get several callers due to the low blinds. A $45 bet won’t scare too many people off, but a bet of $120 will make others have to think twice and with hands like these you don’t want too many callers.

Be very careful when playing dangerous hands such as JJ, TT AJ. Too many people overplay these hands and go broke in the process. How you play these hands will depend a great deal on how the rest of the table is playing. If it has been raised in front of you then you most likely want to raise or fold. If you feel you have the best hand and can isolate your opponent, then raise. If there is any doubt you have the best hand or you think a re-raise is likely, then fold. If in doubt, then fold and wait to pick a better spot. Also, if you are first in and there is a good chance you will get re-raised, then you may want to consider limping with these types of hands. Doing this will allow you to see the flop as inexpensively as possible. It also allows you to dump the hand without giving away too many chips. If you are playing on an extremely loose/passive table, then you will also want to play all pairs from early position. You want to be relatively sure that there will be little or no raising behind you. If you hit your set, then you will have an excellent opportunity to break one or more of your opponents and drag in a lot of chips in the process.

If you hold AA or KK in early position and you are playing against opponents that are raising or calling about every hand, then you may want to consider a couple of other ways of playing these hands. You may want to limp with these hands if you are absolutely sure that it will be raised behind you. Then make a large re-raise, even go all-in when in this position. Doing this will cause your opponents to either fold, thus giving you those extra chips right there, or they will call giving you an excellent chance to double up. The other way to play these hands is by coming in for an exceptionally large raise. You will want to do this when you have a player at the table that you are sure will call the bet, again giving you an excellent opportunity to pick up a bunch of chips. It is important to note that when you are heavily invested preflop with AA or KK, you want to isolate one or maybe at the most two players. Remember, when you hold AA or KK you want to “Isolate and Annihilate”. Over betting with these hands would often be considered a mistake in other types of games and sometimes in SNG’s depending on the types of players you are up against. However, more often than not in the early rounds of an SNG you will have several poor players who will make the mistake of playing hands they shouldn’t and you need to take advantage of this opportunity. You will be amazed at how many players will call an all-in with 33 or Q9s.

From middle and late position, you can limp with a few more hands such as AT, KQ, and KJ. In many types of games you would come in for a raise with these hands in this position, but in the early rounds of an SNG, you want to play more conservatively. Besides, the blinds are so low that going after them right now isn’t worth the risk. The only exceptions being when you are absolutely certain that the remaining players will surrender the blinds or when one of the blinds has a short stack and you are able to take advantage of their weakness, otherwise only raise with premium hands. More advanced players may want to limp in middle to late position with suited connectors such as 98s or T8s. The purpose here is being able to get in cheap, hopefully land a huge flop and if not then to get away from the hand. One last important note and then we will move on. In the first round of an SNG, if you are in the small blind and it is only $5 to call, then call with ANY hand even if there are not any limpers. The reason is that implied odds make this a must call situation and every now and then you will get lucky on the flop and take a bunch of chips off an opponent.

Playing tight this way in the early rounds serves a couple of useful purposes. First, you will ensure your survival to the later rounds and that you will have plenty of chips. This is where you will need them the most. Second, your more observant opponents will notice your tight play and see you only make large bets with your big hands. This will come in extremely handy in the later rounds where you will switch gears to play more aggressively and thus making it easier to steal blinds and pots.

Lets look at a couple of common scenarios. Lets say you have JJ and the flop is T97. In many games you are in great shape here, but in the early rounds of an SNG, this could be a costly hand. Due to many weak players you will often be up against five or six other players in this situation even if the pot was raised pre-flop. Of course someone could have a set in this situation but you also have to be concerned with how many other players will call you down to the river after hitting one pair, a flush draw, a straight draw, etc. Many times in this situation, I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone holding T7s even after you made a solid pre-flop raise. There are many players that play ANY two suited cards. It’s worth noting as well that often times four or more players will call down to the river in this situation. Because you have such a vulnerable hand you want to be extremely careful. Even if you currently have the best hand, unless you thin out the field, then there is a good chance your hand will be outdrawn especially given the texture of the board. Weak players who have paired any part of the board or have any kind of draw will often call down to the river and if they pair their other hole card, or hit their straight or flush draw, then you could be in big trouble. You will also have players who will call down when holding 22 and hit a set on the river. In addition, players will call down with their straight and flush draws when they shouldn’t or by someone with AJ or KQ. With all of the outs here that can beat you, you will either want to make a solid raise to thin the field or get away from the hand all together. Many times when there are several weak players, you can make a large raise and get called by everybody. If you believe this is going to be the case, then you may want to get away from this hand. You will be amazed at how often you will see a player in front of you go all-in when in this situation and then get called by two or three other players. Then when the action is on you, what do you do? You fold every time, and often times even if you are holding AA. You likely do not have the best hand when facing this much action. I know its tough to lay down the big pair, but you may be better off picking a better spot. Don’t be guilty of getting knocked out early because you were unable to lay down an overpair. Remember, you want to avoid confrontation in the early rounds unless you have a monster hand such as a set in which to gain a lot of chips.

Now lets assume you hold JJ and the flop is J62. You now have a monster hand and one you want to use to its maximum potential. If you are up against one or two other players, you may consider slow playing to extract additional value out of this hand. By slow playing I don’t mean giving away free cards. Instead, make a moderate bet hoping for calls rather than a large bet that will blast everyone out of the pot. If your lucky, someone will play back at you and you will get paid off nicely! If the flop contains the potential for a straight and/or flush draw, then make the others pay a premium to see the next card. Price them out of the pot if needed. If you are up against several other loose players, then don’t fool around. Make a large bet or check-raise and make a very large raise. When up against several loose opponents, you want to make a large bet and if everyone folds you still pick up a decent pot, but in all likelihood, at least one player will call and you stand a good chance of breaking those opponents. Making a large bet with such a big hand will also pay big dividends in the later rounds when your opponents will be afraid to call you when you make an aggressive bet in the later rounds.

Second Stage (7-8 Players)

When the game gets to be 7 or 8 handed, depending on the type of players that are left, there may be some adjustments which need to be made. If there are still a few maniacs remaining, then continue to play tight. Raise only with premium hands and limp with marginal hands. In the event that the maniacs have been eliminated and play has tightened up, then you will want to begin taking advantage of certain situations. By now, you should have a good idea of what type of players you are up against. You should know who is aggressive and who is playing tight and will lay down marginal hands when you bet into or raise them. This is the time to open up your game and start using your tight table image to begin stealing blinds and pots when the opportunity presents itself. You still want to play relatively tight, but in the right situations, you want to start picking up some blinds and pots. The idea is to start picking on tight and short-stacked players that may be in survival mode.

Third Stage (5-6 Players)

At this point if you are one of the chip leaders, then you may want to preserve your chips, as you should have enough to make the money. If you are in a pot, then play aggressively, but don’t get caught in a big hand against another big stack unless you are very sure that you will win the pot. Otherwise it is not worth the risk. When you get involved in a pot with a smaller stack, they can’t hurt you too badly if you lose the hand. When you have a lot of chips, you need to balance your aggression with survival. There is no need to get mixed up in a bunch of big hands when you can limp your way to the money and then open up your game. If you only have an average amount of chips, then you will want to be much more aggressive and take more chances.

You should very rarely limp into a pot except sometimes when there are limpers in front of you. You really want to focus on tight and short-stacked players. Be especially aggressive with the short stacks, but don’t do anything too crazy. For example, if someone is in the big blind and so short stacked that they have no choice but to call your raise, then don’t’ take a chance of doubling them up by raising with a mediocre hand like 76 when most likely any hand they would have would be the favorite to win heads-up. Instead, either fold or if you are in the small blind just call and hope to pick up the pot after the flop.

From early position, be careful with hands like AT, KQ, and KJ. Whether or not to play these hands will depend on your chip stack and the type of players you have behind you. If you are a chip leader, then you may want to avoid these hands and conserve your chips. If you do play these hands then you should come in for a raise and use your chip stack to your advantage. If you are average or low in chips, then you will be more likely to play these hands. Avoid playing hands like KT, QT, and JT from early position. These hands can get you into big trouble. And you will often bleed off a lot of chips with them.

Fourth Stage (3-4 Players)

The objective at this stage is to make the money. Your play at this point is based almost entirely on the “gap concept”. If you are chip leader, don’t take a lot of unnecessary risks, but at the same time you need to play “Big Stack Poker”. You are the one player at the table no one wants to get involved with so use this to your advantage by making everyone else’s life miserable. You don’t want to press too hard because you will likely lose chips to the other players in the process. Instead, play aggressively when you can and hide when you can’t. Do not give any chips away. Calling a raise or bet is usually the wrong play. Come in raising with any hand that you play and fold everything else. Your goal here is to take down pots without seeing showdowns. If there are one or two short stacked players, then raise their blind every chance you get. In most situations you want to raise with any pair, Ax, any two cards that add up to twenty, and sometimes with Kx. It is very important to note that you want to “aim” for the short stacks with these raises and typically avoid any other players with medium to large stacks. Hopefully when you have to fold your hand, there will be another player at the table to place the pressure on the short stacks. When you are on the button or in the small blind with short stacks to your left, again you should either fold or raise. The quality of the other players will determine what kind of cards you need in order to raise, but you can usually raise with any pair, Ax, any two cards that add to twenty, and sometimes Kx. When you are the big blind and a short stack limps in or completes the blind, then you should raise with the same hands (as mentioned this depends on the type of player). If you are unsure, then see the flop and then try to pick up the pot.

Here is a common scenario: Lets say the blinds are $75/$150 and you have $5000 in chips. A short stack with $1100 in chips opens for a raise 2x the big blind ($300) and everyone folds to you. If you have any decent hand, then you probably want to raise. The small raise usually indicates weakness. If they had any real hand, then they would typically go all-in immediately in hopes of doubling their chips. The other player is taking a small stab at picking up the blinds, but if raised, they will likely fold in order to leave themselves $800 in chips. In a situation like this, I will typically raise at least $600 more and putting the other player to “the test”. They will have to choose between calling and possibly busting out of the tournament on the bubble or folding with $800 chips left and surviving to play a better hand. In addition, they may get lucky and have someone else bust out before they do. Most often this player will fold. Understandably, no one likes to bust out on the bubble after playing forty-five minutes or so to get to this point. At the very least, they would like to get third place and get back their buy-in. It is for this same reason that the second smallest stack at the table will often play ultra-tight. They will often fold to aggression in order to preserve their chips and not become the short stack. Their mentality is that they only have to survive longer than the short stack who could possibly get blinded out within a few hands. You must exploit this opportunity every chance that you get.

When you are a medium or small stack, survival is key. With that being said, you want to play very aggressively but only against those players that are medium and short stacked. First of all, avoid the big stacks whenever possible. When you are a small stack, try to isolate another smaller stack when you are in the hand. When your chips equal only 4 or 5 times the big blind, then you want to go all-in anytime you play a hand (the exception is when you can check in the big blind). Going all-in will tell your opponents that you are committed to your cards. You can’t be raised off of you hand. Many players are reluctant to call when another player has gone all-in because they realize that this player likely has a fairly good hand in order to go all-in and risk elimination. Also, if you checked in the big blind, see the flop and the small blind has checked to you, either check or go all-in. You do this for the same reasons we have just covered. Additionally, it is very important to attempt an all-in against a short or medium stack. To these players, calling your all-in is a huge decision. If they call your bet and lose, then they run the risk of being eliminated or crippled. On the other hand, a big stack can call without risking too much and will often take a shot at knocking a player out. It is also very important to note that you want to be the first player in the pot. Do not call an all-in unless you have a premium hand. A common mistake to avoid that many players make, is calling an all-in with a medium to small pair. You are probably coin flip at best. When you are first to enter the pot and go all-in it puts the other players on their heels. It is a well-known rule that you need a better hand to call with than you need to bet with.

Fifth Stage (2 Players)

We are now heads-up. If the blinds equal 10% or more of your chips, then you will want to go all-in with any decent hand, preferably a hand with high card strength. This way you will either induce a fold or likely be ahead in a drawing situation. Often times, you will be up against an opponent who will wait for a pair or two big cards before calling your all-in. In this case, keep the pressure on and you will likely steal the blinds 75% of the time. The whole time, keep in mind that their stack is becoming much less significant with every blind that you steal. This type of player will also tend to start folding more of the small blinds when you pressure them in this way. Very Important: if this has been going on for a few hands, then all of the sudden the other player limps in the small blind, then be very careful, they probably have a monster and are trying to trap you.

If the blinds equal 5% or less of your chips, then you should be less inclined to go all-in before the flop. You still want to play aggressively, but your poker skills will become more of a factor in this scenario. You typically want to raise most every time when in the small blind and rarely give any free cards. When the other player limps in the small blind, you usually want to raise unless you think that they are trying to lay a trap. Heads-up play really boils down to the “feel” that you have for your opponent. If you feel they are strong, then fold. If you feel that your opponent will fold to a big re-raise, then re-raise. At this point, you want to play the player, not so much the cards. For example, lets say you both see the flop and you opponent bets. You missed the flop completely, but believe that if you make a large raise, your opponent will fold. They may have bottom, medium, or even top pair with a marginal kicker, but if you believe that you can buy the pot, then do it. In this situation, your bet size is not determined so much by the size of the pot as it is your “feel” for you opponent and knowing what size bet it will take in order to get them to fold. These bets are usually based on the percentage of your opponent’s stack that you believe they would be reluctant to call.

In Conclusion

In an SNG, you need to adjust to the players at your table. In the beginning, you should be playing extremely tight and at the end you need to play very aggressively. In between, you need to figure out and take advantage of your opponents’ tendencies. By following this guide and with a little practice, you should be able to profit significantly when playing SNG’s.