Sit and go strategy

In the beggining of a sit and go are you supposed to play tight, and wait until you start getting reads before you play more aggresive? When is it worth to stealing blinds in late position?

yes, play tight early, and gradually increase the aggressiveness.

i usually start stealing around when the antes kick in.

ok thanks

You should always play tight in the beginning because you don't know who's a donk and who's not. And the donks usually lose a little bit into the game. After the blinds have gone up to a decent amount, you can start stealing and aggressively taking pots if u have good reads on the other players.

to be honest that is the perfect style for sit and goes but i think you need to also be aware of ur table and adjust accordingly

For single table sit n goes I usually head up my stealing campaign with four players left. However, I work in a couple blind steals before that when the time is right.

The antes for a sitngo, that's not a turbo take quite a while to show up, so in general the blinds have to be worth something (e.g., 50/100, 75/150) for me to blind steal in late position.

I usually tend to steal blinds when the its at 100 200..50/100 is just not worth it to attempt to steal and get caught..That could hurt you as you get to the later tables..People could start to read you
Good Post
Ray

I always try for a blind steal in late position in the 2nd or 3rd blind level to see how the blinds react when it doesn't cost as much.

tight early (9 handed)
loose late (6 handed)

kinda simple. STT / SnG strategy is kinda straight forward

you just have to have a feel what what you think is the right time to make your play depending on how many people are in the tourney and whatch to see how they play some will push all the time those people just call when you have something decent cause chances are they dont have nothing

U have to play tight in the begging of the tourney then, when u have more chips u should be more loose, u can call with "shit" cards most of the time when u have position.

play it like a triangle, Tight at the top, looser and looser as people get eliminated. 9 people at your table, play tighter than usual, play your cards more than the people at this stage you wont have good reads until later in the game. once it gets down to around 6 people you can loosen up a little bit, play more hands like K10, Ax. Then heads up, everyone has there own style but i favor a super aggressive style preflop, but give it up somewhat easy if you miss on the flop. Ofcouse that totally depends on your opponent, and is not the right strategy sometimes heads up, but if done right, and selectively enough you will get a nice little chip lead early on in the match to soften the bad beat which may come later if you use this style.

I don't know that I use any fixed procedure.

If I know the competition is decent (like a CC non-freeroll tournament) I'll start taking shots at the blinds right from the beginning from the small blind, button or cutoff with a wide range of hands.

If the competition is weak or unknown, I'll tighten up considerably, from all positions because weak players don't understand position and will call with anything catching unlikey flops. They're more likely to do so early when the blinds are not high.

Against weak competition I wait until the blinds become more significant, like 80 or 100 assuming 1,500 starting chips. Even so, it depends on the reads on the players in the blinds and their stack sizes.

I am a FIRM believer in getting a read on people before you play agg let the morons get out of the way before you start jumping the gun. I have always said that it is crucial to choose your hands wisely in the beginning the blinds are never worth stealing until late in the tourney you have to play for an hour and a half before blinds even reach antes so the risk of loosing your money is not worth the size of the pot but everyone is different and different methods work for different people you just have to find yours

I like to see who's going to be the aggressor before I start making any moves. Maybe let the couple of donks, cause there always are some, knock it around a bit before mixing it up

The idea in STTs is not to try and build a large stack but to survive.

At a full table ,when the blinds are low, there are not that many hands worth risking your tournament "life."

Two good books for STTs.

1. "Online Ace" by Scott Fischman. (A very tight stategy.)
Pros. You will win. You can multitable easily.
Cons. Very boring.

2. "Sit and Go Stategy" by Collin Moshman. (Plays like a mini MTT.)
Pros. Much more interesting and will improve your overall skills.
Cons. More difficult to play than the first stategy.

You need to decide what your goal is ,to win money or to win money and enjoy playing.

As others have said play tight to begin with (9-6 players), then loosen up and begin to steal blinds etc. Not only will you have reads on most of your opponents, you will also create a tight table image which will help in the later stages.

Yeah, at start play tight, and when blinds are like 100/200, try steal blinds.. And just play ur High pairs & A k's A Q's etc.

Tight Aggressive is a solid strategy for most players to utilize. My question is how do you plan to adapt your game if seven or more of the players are using the same strategy you are? From the consensus shown here regarding "proper" SNG strategy, how do you plan to have an edge over the 6 other people implementing the same strategy? Frequently enough, I've been playing SNG's that will have 5 or 6 people with basically starting stacks when the big blind gets to 100+.

I think this shows that you can't approach a SNG just one particular way. In fact, whenever I try to approach a SNG without making adjustments (i.e., playing one particular way), that's when I bust out early. I've encountered situations like this quite often and I usually try to open up my play a bit more to make plays to pick up pots. This could go against some of the previous comments, but I think you've got to make some adjustments to keep on building your stack.

If your opponent's starting stacks are the same as they began after a few levels, I'd say they are playing too tightly preflop since you should be building your stacks, not keeping it the same size - you can try to take advantage of this tight preflop play by adjusting accordingly. I think you really have to feel out the table to see how people play when they are raised. (e.g., Do they fold to 2x, 3x, 4x bets preflop? Do they just call bets without any re-raises?)

This is wrong roy, you can play a LAG style but it requires great skill and maybe you have it ahh still tight is just as good. YOu just keep ti simple.

However, why make any adjustments? When as each player gets busted out your EQUITY OR THE VALUE OF UR CHIPS GOES UP.

So say you buy in for $10 and u play no hands and two guys go out. Your equity in the tournament will increase. So your chips will now be worth say $10.50. So tight is always right in SNGs. I've watched vids on stoxpoker and the pro's recomment you play 8/7 at the start. As a average number.

You just nit it up big time. It worked for me when i played them and i ain't very good. I only played about 100 mirco SNGs and i never even fully developed my 10bb less shoving ranges. Yet i still manged a decent ROI and how? by just folding hands all teh time ahahahha. That worked for mirco SNGs as the looser guys are basically giving you free money.

I'm not necessarily suggesting a LAG style of play. It does take a lot of skill to play this way, and I'm in no way that good. For me though, what's becoming increasingly important is getting a good feel for the table and then adjusting my play accordingly. Certainly on loose tables (the 10 player beginner SNGs at Bodog come to mind), my tendency is to play tight and then as players get knocked out, start to play more aggressively - I'm not arguing against that. But the sit tight strategy has backfired as well, especially if I'm not getting good hands and I'm playing a larger field (e.g., 10+ player SNG)

I hope my last post didn't make it sound like I was advocating that you change gears constantly or play LAG. My opinion was that we need to be able to adjust our play when we think its necessary to do so if our initial strategy isn't working out well after a period of time has passed.

BTW, I'm "ryo" not "roy"

I think it's good to switch gears, but only if you can afford it, meaning for sure, play tight in the beginning. If you get a nice stack, you can start to play looser, meaning low suited connectors. You can also fire bullets on people you think you can bluff, but if you do get caught, fold, and play tighter to recover, or if you do get a good hand, play it similarly so people think you're bluffing again.

You don't play loose late, you tighten up even more. But you're not trying to play much postflop poker unless you have a big stack. It's all push or fold.

I find play tight and push the big hands to build a stack .Then steal the blinds right about when theres one or two players left to go out before hitting the money. A lot of players are folding everything just to make it to the money

I guess it depends on the site and type of tournament but it's quite possible you could go through 2 or 3 levels without a premium hand and you're left with 10-15 BB. There have been several times I've gone out 4th with medium - high pocket pairs to the chip leaders A-rag. I've been experimenting with trying to use position and drawing hands to acquire chips even if I'm not catching cards.

This is my issue with these, too. I usually can manage to make it close to the money, but I find myself realizing I need cards to get past the bubble because I'm not good enough to consistently steal the chips.

(Or I can steal chips, but then I'll make a bonehead play and drop my stack back down to lowest or second-lowest and start nervously eyeing the blinds.)

I have a very structured S&G strategy that I've found extremely effective up to the $30 limits.

Basically I break a S&G into 3 phases:

1. The early stage
2. The bubble
3. The end game

EARLY STAGES

1. I over-raise with QQ, KK, and AA. With a 1,500 chip stack I raise to 250-300 with these hands. This eliminates my opponents implied odds, giving them only 5 or 6 to 1 odds. I know you're thinking that you will not get any action by raising so big: trust me, at these stakes people will call a raise that big with all sorts of hands.
2. I limp in, or call a raise that is less than 10% of my stack, with 22-JJ. Basically I am playing these hands for set value only. I actually prefer playing these hands against a raiser. Since I am only playing for set value I want my opponents hand to be very strong so i can stack him off after the flop.
3. I limp in with suited connectors 56-QK. I do not like calling a raise with these hands because suited connectors' good flops are draws, unlike pocket pairs that flop trips. Against a raise you will be faced with a larger bet on the flop, in limped pot the flop bet will be smaller, giving you the correct odds to chase your draw.

THE BUBBLE - When the blinds reach a point where winning them will increase your chip stack by more than 10% it's time to start amping up your aggression level. What allows this tactic to work is the fact that you have been playing very tightly (assuming you stick to my early play strategy) and therefore will have a very strong table image. You will usually be able to attack three blinds before your ultra-tight image is eroded in your opponents minds.


Generally the blinds will represent 10%+ of your stack at the 50/100 level (if you were fortunate enough to double through early on than it may be later). This is generally the point in the tournament (50/100, 75/150, and 100/200 blinds) where the bubble becomes a factor. Many players will tighten up considerably in an attempt to make the money, no one wants to finish in 4th place!


When you combine this with your tight image you can see just how powerful a strategy this becomes.


The second part of the strategy is; you raise all-in anytime your chip stack is 9BB or less, and make a standard raise when it is 10BB+. The reason for this is twofold: First the all-in raise is less likely to be called, and second, with only 9BB left a standard raise has you virtually pot committed to any re-raise, so you may a well take the initiative and move in yourself.
On the other hand if you have 10+BB left you can make a standard raise, and have the option of folding to a re-raise without crippling yourself.


END GAME - This is the time in the tournament where the most mistakes are made, for three reasons:

1. Most players are unaccustomed to playing 2 or 3 handed, and don't know their hands value.
2. The blinds are often at a point where your options are limited to push or fold.
3. It is very difficult to change gears from bubble strategy to end game strategy.

How you approach this stage of the tournament is very dependent on your chip stack, and your opponent(s). The best way to approach this stage is to avoid attacking a desperate player (short-stack), or a player with a substantial chip advantage. Instead, focus on the player with the most to lose.


When you have a commanding lead you want to apply pressure to your opponents, here is a couple of scenarios for this situation:

1. If they are both similarly short-stacked they will typically try to outlast each other for 2nd place prize money. this allows you to push almost every hand to take the blinds. In this scenario both players have a lot to lose.
2. If one opponent is short-stacked and the other has a medium stack you can apply pressure to the medium stack. This player is just waiting for the short-stack to be eliminated before tangling with the chip leader. In this scenario, the medium stack has the most to lose.

When you are short-stacked you will also have to play aggressively to try and double through. your best bet is to attack the medium stack. The chip leader is more likely to look you up (especially if he has a large lead), the medium stack player usually will not look you up without a hand, for fear you will switch places. Again, the medium stacked player has the most to lose.
If you are the medium stack you want to attack the chip leader. Losing to you will take a large enough amount of his stack that he will not call very often. Where the short-stack will be more desperate and willing to take chances. In this case the chip leader has the most to lose.

I did a 3 part series on this topic (I copy and pasted parts for this post) you can click the link in my sig to read the full articles

I agree with that strategy, howeverm the only problem is, if the whole table or majority of the table is using the same strategy then it is just going to turn into lucky coinflips as the blinds get to high. This can be the problem with turbos especially. In general that strategy is great, but after you get a feel for your table use your judgement. A great book on the subject is sit n go strategy. I did a review on my blog http://boltpoker.blogspot.com. Good luck at the tables!

I have never come across with multiple people employing that strategy. In fact, I have come across only a handful of people ever who use it.

A proper push/fold strategy is also important. The chapter on that subject in Collin Moshman's book has more than paid for itself.

Yes, you want to play Tight and aggressive (TAG). Just be patient, the cards will get to you. I usually try to steal after the 1st hour. With so many donks early in the game, you won't to steal anyway cuz they are going to call you.

If you sit and be patient you will figure out who is at the table with you. The amazing part is once you figure out their style, 99% of the players at the micro-level won't change gears. They are a one trick pony...I should know I used to be one of them.

However after reading Collin Moshman's book, that really opened up my eyes when to push and the level of aggressiveness you need to be at. My problem/leak is not the technique, it is in the execution of it. You really have to work on overcoming your survival instincts and play fearlessly. This is when courage starts playing a bigger factor in your game.

I managed to get a copy of Phil Shaw's book. It's a good read, too.