The sit n go form of poker can be seen like a mini tournament, it often just involves one table. It’s a popular form of Texas hold’em, presumably because the game is varied and doesn’t last as long as a tournament. A good thing with sit n go is that you cannot lose more money than the entry fee.
Stealing blinds
Except this, the big difference between cash game and sit n go is the progressive blind levels. You must know how to adjust your play depending on the blind level. When the blinds have been raised several times the blinds themselves begin to be “a pot” worth winning.
If you play too carefully and never try to steal blinds you will be a victim for more aggressive players. “Stealing blind” means that you do a raise against the player with the big blind and eventually the player with the small blind. There is better and worse moments to do this. The ideal situation is when all players before you have fold their hands and you have the button. The card strength that are needed for this manoeuvre is relative, it’s like always a mix of factors.
Shortstacked
In a sit n go you cannot, like in a cash game, refill your stack. Therefore you must learn how to play with stacks of different sizes.
When are you shortstacked? If you start with lets say 1 000 chips you become shortstacked when you have around 300 chips left. When this situation occurs it’s no time for desperation and especially not giving up. Playing shortstacked is just another art to master. Like always you should play in a way that gives you the most profit in the long run. Keep your patience but take the chances you get – in this situation you cannot afford luxury, but it’s even worse to sell yourself too cheaply.
To be more concrete, you should be prepared to go all in but remember that it’s not necessary all times. If you are being forced to go all in strive to do it against one player, if you don’t have a starting hand that likely can beat two (this actually depends of how shortstacked you are – in a crises you will sometimes hope to meet two players all in if you have good chances), and therefore in a late position. Otherwise try to limp in cheap in late positions.
Play against stack
Consequently you should adjust your playing to the opponents stacks. It’s more comfortable to play someone with a smaller stack than yours. And remember that a shortstacked player has fewer margins so it’s less expected he’s trying to bluff you.
A common mistake players do when a shortstacked player goes all in pre flop is calling with mediocre cards. In this way the player in crises can be let back into the game. If you don’t have enough strong cards let the shortstacked player have some blinds and he will still be in trouble afterwards.
And when you play against a big stack it can sometimes be a good idea to slow play because he may try to bluff you and that makes you win a pot bigger.
The most common mistake
The biggest lack of understanding of sit n go poker is shown by the high frequency of all in situations early in the game. All in is actually a weapon best used to steal blinds – when it’s time to do so – not to contest other player’s hands.
Cause when an al in is called it’s too much luck involved. And a good poker player doesn’t want the luck to get involved in that degree. Get yourself away from the single coin situation. Let’s think about it. If you put in all your 1 000 chips when calling an inferior player with 1 000 chips and you get a 60% against 40% chance, have you made a good move?
I don’t think so. Come on, you can beat a bad player with lesser risk taking. Do it then – with solid and sophisticated poker.
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