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Several people have been after me to write down my thoughts on SnG (sit & go) tournaments. I do not claim to be an expert at one and two table tournaments; however I have enjoyed a great deal of success playing them. To clarify, my style of writing and teaching generally takes the form of me relaying my personal experiences, what follows is a strategy and system I use that works for me. I have a proven winning track record, however you should take my advice and strategies.......(along with anyone else’s) and try to understand the underlying principles and integrate them into a style all your own. Simply emulating or copying this style of play may or may not work for you. Now that I have sufficiently lowered your expectations lets begin.

What is a SnG? Generally speaking a SnG is a small unscheduled tournament that begins once all the seats at the table(s) are filled. There are several different formats, that vary from site to site, but the most common variety is the single table Sng. There are also two and three tables SnGs, which differ slightly in the payout and table dynamics…but overall the strategy for multi-table SnGs is similar to single table SnGs.

Why play SnGs? I feel that SnG tournaments off an exceptional value and learning potential for tournament players. Generally, you get to play a whole lot of poker for a relatively small investment particularly at the lower limits. When I started playing poker online I did not feel comfortable sitting down at a $.50/$1 blinds NL table. I did want to play NLHE and was not aware of the micro limit games offer by Poker Stars at the time. I decided for a $6 investment I could try my hand at NL and have the opportunity to play a good bit of poker without risking a significant portion of my bankroll. If you sit down at a $25 or $50 NL table, you can potentially lose a “lot” of money very quickly. However if you make a mistake in a SnG tournament you can only lose the $5+1 buy-in. There are a huge variety of stakes you can play in SnGs, but the beginning player usually starts at the smallest limits which are $5. SnG tournaments offer a great learning opportunity because you often get to try your hand at short handed or even heads up play. Where in regular MTT play it could be a very long time before you make a final table and it would be difficult to hone final table skills when you rarely make a final table. SnGs are mini tournaments with regular blind increases so you are forced to play, blind steal and manage risk - skills that are not so prevalent in a normal ring game where the blinds do not increase.

Right now you are probably saying; “yes Dave, we know this already….we already play SnGs and want some advanced techniques for becoming more successful players.”
Please bear with me; I have seen so many basic questions posted on FTR and on the IRC regarding SnGs that I wanted to write a comprehensive guide which covers everything from beginning play to advanced strategies.

Section 1

Soupie, a tournament player who I admire said; at the beginning of a tournament, ”Tight is Right” This bit of wisdom applies to MTT tournaments as well as SnGs. I realize that many people like to “limp” a wide variety of hands early in a SnG when the blinds are very low. I used to follow a similar strategy, but over time have come to realize that limping, hoping to catch lucky is not very effective use of chips. Occasionally you will flop a great hand that is well hidden and you will get paid off, if not double up. However, most of the time you will have simply wasted chips as the best case, or gotten caught up in a hand you should have never been involved in the first place. How many times have you limped with some suited two gappers only to flop bottom two pair? Initially that looks like a strong hidden hand, but when top pair bets out, you re-raise all in and the board goes runner-runner and pairs up by the river and you lose everything. Or top pair catches their kicker for the same result. Limping hands out of position and falling in love with a flop is a recipe for disaster. Some people may claim limping hands early is giving them valuable information about their opponents and how they play. I would say if you are observant you can gain just as much information about how they play and invest no money. Let the other people at the table waste chips or “donate” for the information, this benefits you in two ways. You get free information about how and what your opponents will play - in what position….and it will potentially cripple one of the players making them either desperate or a non factor as they will camp for big cards and wait to push all in, thus easy to avoid.

I am not saying don’t limp hands at all, but be mindful of what position you are in and what level the blinds are. I can’t count the number of times when I have seen someone bet $400 into a $40-60 pot because they caught a piece of something they should not have been playing to begin with. Is it really worth risking ¼ or potentially more of your stack to win a $60 pot? Play middle suited connectors, and low pocket pairs for a limp from middle to late position and be ready to let go if you come up against significant resistance. The beauty of 8-9s vs. K-To is that it is so easy to let go and you are not likely to get wrapped up in a hand ”you can’t get away from”
Do not worry about folding your small blind 4 times in a row…table image is worthless at this point (full or nearly full table when blinds are $10-$30) people are still settling in, the wild people are trying to build a stack early and the inexperienced are just playing the cards they are dealt….they are not noticing or caring about what you are doing at this point.

When you do get a premium hand in the early stages of a SnG, do not be afraid to play….and play it aggressively. Be sure you make a sizable PFR (pre-flop raise). When the blinds are 10-20 or 15-30 a “standard” 3x BB raise will not get it done. Your sitting there in middle position with A-A and you raise it to $40……low and behold…everyone and their brother comes in right behind you. Now you have five people seeing the flop and your holding 1 pair looking at a sizeable pot worth drawing at….chances are, in this situation your aces are getting cracked. If I catch a premium hand in when the blinds are low I generally like to raise 5-6x BB….make it somewhere around 100-150 to go. This will get their attention and limit the number of people seeing a flop. At this point winning the blinds is much better than getting outdrawn and losing your whole stack. Often there is someone who is going to call you regardless of your raise and you can then take those aces to them heads-up and do some damage.



Section 1 Summary

• Tight is right
• Do not donate or waste chips
• Do not limp hands out of position
• Let other people pay for information
• Be observant
• Do not fall in love with your hand
• Do not unnecessarily risk chips to win a small pot
• Raise big with premium hands in the early stages

Well there it is…..the first section. I suppose the most difficult part of writing is getting started. My plan is to write as many sections as it takes to relay the things I find important….for as long as people find it useful. Generally I want to cover:
Basic strategy, picking a SnG (1 or 2 table), moving up levels (bankroll management), advanced strategy, short handed play, short stack play and heads up play. So this has the potential to become quite long and involved. If you have specific topics you would like me to cover or discuss, please feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading -Dave

To be continued…………