Online Poker Sng Strategy
Besides being incredibly entertaining Sit and Go’s can be one the most profitable forms of online poker. Players with an ironclad Sit and Go-specific strategy – even without a pure poker skill advantage over the rest of the table – can regularly finish in the money and make an absolute killing. A top player might prefer for example to play $100 SNG’s with a ROI of 5% instead of playing $50 SNG’s with a ROI of 8% as this will result in more profit per hour. ROI, Time Elapsed and Tougher Games. Online poker has become much tougher in recent years. There are many reasons for this development. The single-table tournament (STT) is the most basic form of SNG. Created as a way for tournament players to play without the long time commitments necessary to play multi table tournaments, the STT has really found a niche in online poker. Since then, the single table SNG has evolved into multi table versions, seating as many as 180 players, but the basic single table SNG still remains the most popular. Single table SNG.
Nine-handed sit and gos are somewhat of a dying art, but they still run non-stop. While you won’t find 20 games filling up in a split second, you still need to know what you are doing if you want to be able to win. One of the reasons that single table SNGs have been dying out is because too many players realized that they are easy to beat.
With that in mind, you still can achieve profitability in full table sit and gos. The general strategy in these games is very simple to learn and apply. The most basic ABC play can often earn you a net gain, especially if you are playing in small or micro stakes games. The primary flaw with playing full ring sit and gos is that you will not be able to get volume in. Heads up games exchange high ROI for low volume, while full ring sit and gos have both low volume and low ROI.
You are going to be forced to play a ton of tables at once if you want to earn a respectable amount of money in the full ring games. Even if you get a lot of tables running, though, you are going to be facing a lot of other challenges. These are all warnings that should be adhered to if you want to play full ring sit and gos. Is there money to be made? Yes, absolutely, but it is going to be earned a little bit at a time. Don’t expect a windfall of cash or even super steady earnings in the full ring arena, whether you are playing cash games or sit and gos.
With all of the downfalls that accompany full ring sit and gos, you might think they aren’t worth your time and effort at all. The truth is, though, that many of the biggest winners in the world first started off with these very games. You can learn an awful lot about the basic dynamics of the game through a full ring setting.
There isn’t going to be a lot of fancy play, but there is no need for fancy play if you are working on developing a sound skill set. Full ring sit and gos are the perfect match for players who are either new to the game or for players who want to round out and perfect their skills. Full ring play is very passive by nature, so you won’t exactly be prepping for high stakes heads up cash games, but these tables can be a gateway to short handed games. When it comes to building a foundation for your poker career, full ring SNGs will be very useful.
Basic Strategy
The most basic strategies in full ring sit and gos will involve a few primary factors. First, be very selective with your pre flop hands. Don’t try to play any speculative hands that will need to hit the flop hard in order to win a big pot.
The problem with playing random suited connectors and similar hands is that you will be left in the dark whenever you brick. The value in suited hands largely comes from opportunities to make plays post flop. You just won’t have too many chances to c-bet or float your opponents in full ring games because the other players will be sitting around waiting for big hands. Focus on the hands that most easily improve themselves and you have won half the battle.
Extract Value
If you are playing stronger hands, and more importantly, making hands, you are on your way to profitability. The next step is to actually make money from the hands that you are hitting. There is no use in a full house if you are only able to earn a few big blinds. In single table sit and gos, extracting value is the key to success. Make big bets when you have strong hands, give up when you have weak hands, and practice c-betting and stealing pots in moderation.
Unless your SNG has already dwindled down to a few players, you will be able to make plenty of money with your big made hands. Fancy plays might pay off every once in awhile, but they will do a lot more harm than good in SNGs. If you had to sum up single table SNG strategy in a nutshell; don’t make anything more complicated than it needs to be.
Online Poker » Poker Strategy » Sit N Go Tournaments » Basic SNG Strategy
Sit n go's are a low risk, high reward type of game. You buy in for little in comparison to what you can potentially win which is due to the pay out structures being so top heavy. When you do cash, you will earn at least double your buy-in and can earn as much as 50 times you investment depending on the specific sit n go you're playing. This alone makes sit n go's a great way to build a poker bankroll.
Sit n go's are also rather easy to play. Although they are offered in different sizes and variations, you can still use the basic strategy that I have outlined below in order to build a solid foundation and at the very least become a breakeven player, if not a winning one. Just keep in mind that you may have to alter it slightly to accommodate for the size of the field you're in or whether you are playing a turbo or non-turbo game.
Sit n Go Basic Strategy
Independent Chip Model (ICM)
The first step to becoming successful in sit n go's is to have a simple understanding of what the independent chip model (ICM) is.
ICM is the amount of equity you have in the prize pool according to the number of players left in the tournament, how the chips are distributed and the payout structure.
In a vacuum, what this means is that the value of each chip is constantly changing as players bust out, the blinds increase and you get closer to the money. This is unlike a cash game where each chip is worth no more than its face value.
You won't really concern yourself too much with ICM throughout most of the tournament, although it really is the base for a majority of your decisions. The times that you will use it most is when you're on the bubble and have to make decisions that can affect whether you make it into the money or walk away empty handed.
For the purposes of this article, just be aware that each individual chip in a sit n go is not worth much early on, but increases in value as the tournament progresses.
Tight is Right
Most sit n go's will start off with blinds of 10/20 and give players 1,500 to 2,000 chips to start which is the equivalent of 75 to 100 big blinds. Because of this, a majority of players have the tendency to splash around early on while it's cheap in order to double or triple up. As the blinds rise and the game progresses, these players will start to tighten up in attempt to make the money. While this may look or sound reasonable, the strategy to open up early on because it's cheap and tighten up as the game progresses is completely backwards.
The biggest reason why this approach is backwards is due to the amount of equity you gain early on versus the amount you earn in the later stages. To refer to my summary of ICM above, the chips you might gain early on are not worth all that much which means you don't actually gain that much more equity in the tournament from doubling up. So you actually risk more (your equity in the sit n go) by trying to double up than what you stand to gain.
The best approach to any sit n go is the 'tight is right' mindset. In the earlier levels, say the first 3 or 4, you hand ranges should consist of only pocket pairs, AK and AQ. In the bigger sit n go's such as the 45, 90 or 180 mans, you might consider hands such as AJ, AT and KQ if you are more than likely able to play the hand against a fish and/or in position.
As the game progresses, much of the hands you choose to play will be determined by your stack size, the stack sizes of your opponents, table dynamics and whether you are near the money or not. Although this is all situation dependent, I'll try to cover it as best as possible throughout the rest of this article.
10 big blinds = Shove
As a general rule of thumb, any time you have less than 10 big blinds your options are limited to either open shoving or folding. The reason for this is that you do not have room to make a standard 3 or 4 big blind raise and fold if you miss the flop. This rule also applies if you have short stacks left to act seated to your left. If, for example, you have A7 suited on the button with 1,900 chips at 75/150 blinds and the small blind and big blind both have 900 chips, this would not be a raise, but it would be a shove. Although you have more than 10 big blinds, the players left to act do not. Another way to look at it is if you raise, they'll likely shove over you anyway which often times will give you odds to call. So, just make the situation easy and be the first to shove.
Now, with all of that being said, it's important to also realize that you won't be open shoving every time you have a somewhat decent hand and less than 10 big blinds. You're going to need to consider how wide your opponents left after you will call. Much of this will be based on their stack size. The closer they are to a medium (safe) stack, the much tighter they will likely be and the wider you can shove. If your opponents are on one extreme or the other (short or deep stack), then you need to expect that you'll be called lighter and you will need to tighten up your shoving range as a result. The whole idea with hand ranges is to put your opponents on a likely calling range and use that to determine what hands you can shove that are ahead of their calling range. There are tools to help you do this with my personal favorite being Sit n Go Wizard.
Fold equity will also play a role in what hands you decide to shove. The more likely your opponents are to fold, the more fold equity you have and the wider you can shove. The more likely they are to call, the less fold equity you have and the tighter you should shove. Also note that the shorter that you get, the less fold equity you have. As a rule of thumb, you should be shoving (and calling) your widest at 5 big blinds because anything less and you have lost most, if not all, of your fold equity.
Note: Look for spots to take advantage of your fold equity to increase your overall equity in the tournament. For example, if you are the big stack at the table and are on the bubble, you can literally shove almost any two cards because no one wants to be the player to bust on the bubble. Additionally, ICM dictates that you can only call shoves with premium hands (most times QQs+ only!) while on the bubble. This is a great time to use your stack, exploit everyone and whittle everyone down to ensure a 1st place finish.
AK is Not the Nuts
AK is definitely the best unmade hand in poker. You'll notice that I said 'unmade' hand.
Many players make the mistake of seeing AK and going 'OMG, I got to get my money in preflop.' The problem with this is that in most cases, you're in a situation where you are flipping (50/50) or worse. Again, in the early stages of a tournament, this is unnecessary and not worth the risk because your equity will not increase by much should you chip up.
In the first few levels of a sit n go, I will try to see a flop with ace king. If I'm the first to act, I'll come in for a standard 3 to 4 big blind raise. If there is a limper, I will generally raise to isolate the limper if it's almost guaranteed I'll be in position. I'll more than likely just call if I'm going to be out of position to avoid building a huge pot in a somewhat sticky situation.
Once I get to the 50/100 level, that's when I start to consider getting AK all in preflop. This is because by this time I only have 10 to 15 big blinds on average so my equity in the tournament is slowly diminishing and I'm almost to the point where I need to consider shoving anyway - so, this would be a good time to get my stack in with AK.
I use the same rule with all of my top aces as well as my smaller pairs. To summarize: I try to see flops cheap with hands that have tons of potential early on such as top pair, top kicker or sets, but don't stack off with them preflop. Only when it's getting late in the tournament and my stack is shrinking do I consider getting my money in before the flop with these types of hands.
Bubble Play
Sng Poker Meaning
Bubble play is going to be the most important aspect of sit n go's to master because this is where you make it into the money or bust empty handed. In a nutshell, you are going to want to be super tight when faced with a raise or shove but can shove wide when you're the first to enter a pot since your opponents will need to be tight themselves.
Online Poker Sng Strategy
To put this into perspective, if someone shoves on the bubble, there are times where calling with AK (and worse) or even QQ can be a mistake. If there is someone who is likely to bust out when the blinds go through them next, even calling with KK against someone who has you covered can arguably be a huge mistake in terms of ICM and your equity in the prize pool.
There are too many different bubble situations possible for me to give you a standard guide to playing on the bubble. What I can tell you though, is that when possible, you always want to be the one shoving on the bubble as opposed to the player who is calling. If you are faced with a decision to call a shove on the bubble, always err on the side of caution and call with only your top premium hands.
Summary of Basic Sit n Go Strategy
The thoughts outlined above are very basic and you may have to adjust depending on the game you're playing, the current progress of the sit and go and your opponents.
Online Poker Sit N Go Strategy
Overall, it's important to understand that you should be tight early on and loosen up as the game progresses. This means sticking to a tight hand range and avoiding sticky situations like playing marginal hands or flipping with hands like AK or smaller pocket pairs early on.