Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sit and Go Strategy - Discipline


Sit n Go’s are one of the most popular forms of poker tournament online. The tournament format is a one-table game with usually nine or ten players in the game and it starts as soon as the table is full.
Prize money is the total buy-ins from all the players and usually the top three places are paid out in the ratio 50%/30%/20%. So for example if it’s a $5+$0.50 tournament with ten players, the total prize fund is $50 split $25 for first place, $15 for second and $10 for third. The $0.50 is the fee to the poker room from each player.
Sit n Go’s represent a terrific opportunity for the savvy poker player to make a good regular income. Each tournament lasts between half an hour and an hour so it’s possible to play quite a few games in a day and if you follow this basic strategy you will certainly win a lot more money than you lose.
In each Sit n go the ten players sitting at the table will typically be made up as follows:
Between 1 to 3 TOTAL novices, these are the players who have seen some poker on TV and think it looks easy so they are having a go. They are in for a rude awakening!
Between 6 and 8 POOR players, Depending on the time of day they might be drunk, or they are just simply not very good at the game.
Between 0 and 2 GOOD players, there might not be any good players; there are rarely more than two at this level. That means that there is almost always a very good chance that you are going to finish in the top three and in the money, just by following these simple rules.
The way to win consistently at Sit n Go’s is, above all, to be disciplined. Once you know what to do, stick to the plan and don’t be tempted by table conditions to have a go. The name of the game is survival. Your ONLY job is to get into the last three and leave with more money than you started with. Nothing else matters so your philosophy must be based on limiting your risk as much as possible.
You must only play premium hands. That’s pairs, suited connectors, AK, AQ and sometimes AJ and A10 suited but only if in late position in an un-raised table. It’s not much to go on and you will be tempted to play A8 or K10 etc, but don’t. There are just too many hands you can lose to and you’ll be playing against players who will call ANYTHING and will get lucky far too often for your liking.
When you hit a good hand; bet it don’t call, make your bet large enough to scare off anyone hoping to get lucky with their J7. You will take most pots by doing this, but if you get a call you will be well placed as you will probably have the best starting hand.
If you get a big re-raise against you and you don’t have AA or KK, fold.
By adopting this simple but very effective game plan you will find yourself in the money more often than not at the Sit n Go’s.

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