Tip #5: Two approaches to beat Sit and Gos

There are two main approaches to win Sit ‘n Go Tournaments. You can either play aggressively and try to build a big stack early on, or you can sit back, avoiding most confrontations and wait until the blinds go up to make some moves. Both approaches can be used successfully if exerted properly. Now let’s take a closer look at them:

The passive approach

Players that use this approach argue that the blinds are very low at the beginning and it’s not worth to steal blinds or fight for pots. And that’s why you should just sit back, wait for good hands and becoming active when the blinds and pots are higher.

If you’re usually a tight player you’ll have great success with this approach. Just sit back the first three blind levels and wait for big hands like aces, kings, queens and ace king. If you get some of these hands play them aggressively and try to double up! If you can’t find some playable hands it’s not that bad.

After the first three levels when the blinds increase again you have to become active. You can’t play just premium hands but you have to play worse hands too. You have to attack the blinds and bluff in some spots. The reason why this will work often times is that you created a tight image and your opponents will believe you when you tell them that you have a strong hand.

The aggressive approach

This approach is interesting for players that get bored if they have to wait for good hands. Players that use an aggressive approach try to win big pots early on and build a big stack to bully their opponents.

But you must not play like a maniac! Play many but upgradable hands. K2 isn’t playable but 54 may be! Try a lot of small attempts to steal pots if you smell weakness. Abuse when in good position and limp in multi-way pots. But be cautious not to try to play wild and risk all of your chips with a weak hand! If you pay attention to that you’ll become a successful player with an aggressive approach.

Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. It depends on your prefered style and experience. And it also depends on the version of the sit’n go whether it’s standard, turbo, winner takes it all or a double or nothing sit’n go.

Tip #4: Comparing Turbo Versus Standard Speed

Since sit and go poker first became popular, the choice over whether to play turbo or standard blinds has been fiercely debated. This article will look at the pros and cons of the different formats – giving you the information you need to make the right (and most profitable) choice for you.

Firstly we need to establish what we mean by turbo blinds, as this is different at each poker site – and can often have a blurred boundary with ‘ultra turbo SNGs‘ or ‘super turbo SNG’ games. Turbo blinds typically last 5 minutes and result in games which continue for between 70 and 90 hands. Turbo games on Stars and Full Tilt fit into this category, which also includes the ‘speed’ games at Party Poker.

When comparing a 5 minute blind game with a 15 minute blind level game, there are two critical factors to take into account. Firstly the time or scope for your skill edge to establish itself. Secondly, the profits you can make from each blind structure in a set period of time.

Standard blinds give you the most time for your skill advantage over your opponents to show. This means that, everything else being equal, you should be able to win more money playing in a game with longer blind levels. Of course, the number of chips you have somewhat restricts your skill edge – however, giving ‘bad’ opponents more time will generally lead them to make more mistakes.

With turbo blinds the skill set required is different. Since you will reach the higher blind levels faster then a knowledge of push / fold poker will increase your returns, while the post-flop play of the early stages will be shorter. Opponents will make many mistakes at the bubble while the blinds are high – giving those players who have taken the time to learn mathematical models such as ICM a clear advantage.

All else being equal standard blinds should be more profitable on a per game basis. Yet we recommend that you look carefully at the turbo sit and goes instead. The reason is that, you can play so many more of these games per hour that you can make more money overall, even with a lower return per game.

For example, let us imagine that you play 4 games at once. In an ‘average’ hour this is 4 standard games or 8 turbo games. If your return for the each of the standard games is $3 and your return for the turbo games is $2 you could make and extra $4 per hour playing turbo games – and over many hours this kind of edge will make a big difference.

Finally, many sites have lower fees for the turbo sit and go tournaments when compared to the standard games – this can add a further boost to your profits. We recommend Poker Stars, where the fee is lower and the game selection the best anywhere online – use marketing code sitandgotips.com when you register to claim your 100% to $50 bonus!