Sit-n-Gos: A different type of poker
Not all poker is the same. For example, it’s obvious that Hold’em and Omaha vary in how you approach them, as they are different games. What may not be obvious, however, is that when you are playing a game like NL Hold’em, the structure should help in determining your gameplan, as it plays a big part in how a particular tournament plays out. Take NFL football and rugby for example. At quick glance, it looks like the teams could both be playing the same game, but as you look closer, it becomes apparent that you couldn’t successfully have the same gameplan for both activities — this is similar to comparing NL tourneys to NL sit-n-gos.
NL Hold’em sit-n-gos are a different type of poker altogether; they are very different to NL cash games, and are a much abbreviated version of NL Hold’em multi-table tournaments. In a sit-n-go, blinds usually increase after about 10 or 20 hands, and it doesn’t take long for the blinds to reach a level where they make up substantial part of your stack. Being more aggressive as the blinds continue to increase is the crucial element to playing sit-n-gos.
Let me give you some tips to get yourself in a good position to be aggressive when the time is right. First, you need to get into the habit of waiting for premium hands for the first few blind levels. While you’re waiting, avoid speculating, because that results in lost chips. These chips will be much better used later when the blinds are higher. While we are playing very tight these first few rounds, we are building up a very solid image and will get more respect when we do start to make our moves.
So when do we kick it up a notch? Well, as a mathematical rule of thumb, anytime you are in late position or in the small blind and it is folded around to you, if the amount of blinds and antes will increase your stack by at least 20%, you should go all-in. Most of the time, you will not get called, and if you do, you will still be able to suck-out for a big pot. However, the amount of chips you get when your opponent folds, or calls and you win, will outweigh the chips you will lose when you get called and lose.
The blinds will continue to increase and it will inevitably come down to a stealing war between four or five players. In this part of the game, picking spots and feeling weaknesses are very important and are the aspects that you need to work on. You will also take some bad beats at this stage, mainly because players will be aggressive with random cards and the results will not always fall your way.
Keep picking good spots when the blinds are high, while avoiding wasting chips early, and you will continue to put yourself in a great position to profit from these mini-tournaments.
Brett “gank” Jungblut Gank is the CEO of ProPokerSchool.com, where he teaches all varieties of poker through screen recordings and comments on his online play.
