Sit and Go beginner strategy

A Sit & Go tournament (SNG) is a variant of Texas Hold’em Poker which you will often see on TV. A prize pool is made up from all of the participants paying an equal entry fee to the tournament.

The goal in a SNG is to win all of the chips from all of the players. Whoever loses all their chips has to leave the tournament. The last 2 or 3 players win the prize money.

Do you know already what Texas Hold’em Poker is and how a Sit & Go Tournament works? If yes, then you can directly start with our strategy. If not, you can read this article to learn the rules.

How does this strategy work?

The right play in a Sit & Go depends on how much chips you have compared to the size of the blinds, the forced bets made by two players in every new round.

That’s why at the beginning of each game you compare your chip stack with the size of the big blind:

• You have a lot of chips means more than 12 big blinds
• You have few chips means 12 big blinds or less

The idea behind this strategy is to play only few, very strong cards when you have more than 12 big blinds. Money is only made when the blinds became high. That’s why with 12 big blinds or less you start playing a lot more cards. Then you attack your opponents to push them out of the tournament. This approach gives you a significant advantage against most players.

With more than 12 big blinds: How to play before the flop?

If your chip stack is bigger than 12 times the big blind, protecting your chips is more important than taking a risk. Not losing chips is more important than winning chips. Our poker experts came up with a table which tells you exactly what the best play is once you get dealt your two cards at the beginning of a new round.

Step 1: What cards do you hold?

First, check what cards you hold. The table our experts created uses common abbreviations based on the English card names...

		A		Ace
		K		King
		Q		Queen

		J		Jack
		T		Ten
		9		Nine

... one letter or number per card; so your two starting cards are represented by two letters...

		77		A pair of sevens
		JJ		A pair of jacks

		AT		An ace and a ten
		KQ		A king and a queen

Step 2: What is your position at the table?

Second, determine your "position" which is only a term for "how many players have to act after me?" All you have to do is counting, starting with the two players who paid the blinds:

Blinds The two players who paid a blind.

Late The two players on the right of the blinds.

Middle The three players on the right of the late position.

Early The three players on the right of the middle position.

If there are less than 10 players, not all positions are filled. You start by deducting the early position. For example, with 7 players there is no early position.

Step 3: What is your action?

Lastly, look at which action is recommended in the table below. Your cards determine the row, your position the column you should look at.

Chart 1: Before the flop with more than 12 big blinds

• Raise / Fold: If nobody raised before, you raise. Otherwise fold your cards. You also fold when somebody raises again after you.
• Raise / All-In: You always raise. If somebody raises before or after you, you raise again. Ideally you can get all your chips in (all-in) before the flop cards are dealt.
• Fold: You fold. The only exception is when you paid the big blind and have the option to check. Then of course you should check.

Tip: Always raise to around 3 times the big blind + 1 big blind for every player who called before you. If you are raising after somebody else’s raise, make it around 3 times his raise.

Download the handout including this chart as PDF (0.2MB)

Examples

Example 1 Hide example Show example

Your cards:

Your position: Middle

Situation: A player in early position raised.

Your action: You raise again. The entry for two aces (AA) in middle position says "Raise / All-in". This means: if another player raises again, you should try your best to get your opponent all-in already before the flop cards are dealt.

Example 2 Hide example Show example

Your cards:

Your position: Early

Situation: Everybody before you folded.

Your action: You fold. Don't get mislead by these relatively strong looking cards. In a Sit and Go tournament, a pair of tens (TT) in early position is not strong.

Example 3 Hide example Show example

Your cards:

Your position: Late

Situation: Two players in middle position called, but didn't raise.

Your action: You raise. The entry for king queen (KQ) in late position says "Raise / Fold". You raise once and fold if somebody behind you raises again. You also fold if somebody before you already did so. The two players who only called do not influence your action. For you it is only important whether other players raised or not.

With more than 12 Big Blinds: How to play after the flop?

If the game didn't finish already in the first betting round, there are up to 3 more betting rounds to come. Again our poker experts designed a chart which helps you with every decision:

Step1: What is your poker hand?

The best possible combination of your 2 cards and the 3 to 5 community cards which lie open on the table make your poker hand. There are two playable poker hand categories:

Poker hands in the category "Top pair or better"

Poker hand	You hold	Community cards	Description
Top pair			One of your cards makes a pair with the highest community card.
Overpair			Your cards are a pair which is higher than the highest community card.
Two pairs			Both your cards make a pair with a community card.
Monster	Any even better poker hand: 3 of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush. See rules of texas hold'em article

Poker hands in the category "Strong Draws"

Poker hand	You hold	Community cards	Description
Strong 2-card flush draw			Your cards are suited and two community cards match the suit.
Strong 1-card flush draw			You have an ace or king that matches the suit of 3 community cards.
Strong straight draw			Your cards and the community cards give you 4 cards in a row.

Step 2: What is the current betting round?

The columns of the table you should look at is determined by the current betting round:

• Flop: The 2nd betting round. There are 3 cards open on the table.
• Turn: The 3rd betting round. There are 4 cards open on the table.
• River: The 4th betting round. There are 5 cards open on the table.

Step 3: What is your action?

With the right row and column, look up your action:

Chart 2: After the flop with more than 12 big blinds

• Check / Fold: You invest no money. If possible you check. If somebody bets you fold.
• Bet / Raise:
  • If nobody has bet yet, you bet around 2/3 of the pot.
  • If somebody bets before you, raise 3 times his bet + the pot.
  • If there was a bet and a raise before you or a raise after you, bet all your chips (All-in)

Remember: If you get to the river with a strong draw and you have missed to complete your draw, you should give up and check and fold to any action.

Download the handout including this chart as PDF (0.2MB)

Examples

Examples 1 Hide example Show example

Your cards:

Flop:

Before the flop: You are in middle position. A player before you in early position called and you put in a raise. He called your raise while everybody else folded.

On the flop: The player before you checks.

Your action: You bet around 2/3 of the pot. With your overpair you hold a very strong poker hand. Try to get as many chips as possible from your opponent. If he raises you, you raise again. If he calls you, you bet again on the turn and on the river.

Examples 2 Hide example Show example

Your cards:

Flop:

Turn:

Before the flop: Same situation like in example 1. You are in middle position, raise and get called by one player in early position.

On the flop: The other player checks. With your overpair you bet around 2/3 of the pot. This time your opponent calls your bet and you both see the turn card.

On the turn: The player before you checks again.

Your action: You check as well. With the ace on the turn the situation changed. You no longer hold an overpair. There is no point in betting because the only cards your opponent will continue playing with now are those which are better than yours.

Example 3 Hide example Show example

Your cards:

Flop:

Before the flop: You paid the big blind. A player in early position and a player in middle position call but don't raise. You check and can see the flop cards for free.

On the flop: You are the first player to act.

Your action: You check and if one of the two other players bet you fold. You have a top pair but in this case it is not worth much. If you paid the big blind and could check before the flop, you only play overpairs or better. Check with your top pairs and fold them against any bet.

With 12 Big Blinds or less: How to play before the flop?

When the blinds increase and your chips stack goes below 12 big blinds, you now increase the aggression and play more hands. You will now only raise all your chips and go all-in or fold. 

Step 1: What is your position / your opponents position?

First, you again need to know a player position but this time it's not always your position. There is a big difference between situations where you are the first one who can make a move and situations where somebody already bet, raised or called.

• Everybody before you folded: Use your position
• Otherwise: Use the position of the player who called, bet, raised first

Step 2: How many big blinds do you have?

Second, you need to know exactly how many chips you have, measured in big blinds. For example, if the big blind makes 100 chips and you 1200 chips, you have 12 big blinds.

Step 3: Do you go all-in or fold?

With your position or the position of your opponent have a look at the tables below. They tell you which cards to go all-in with. Use the first table when everybody before you folded. Otherwise use the second table.

Chart 3: All-in chart when everybody folded before you

Chart 4: All-in chart when somebody called, bet, raised before you

The last three columns tell you which cards you should go all-in with. Each of the three columns stands for a different category of cards:

• Offsuit Cards: Your two cards are of different suits and not a pair.
• Suited Cards: Your two cards are of the same suits.
• Pair: Your two cards are a pair :).

To make things easier we also grouped similar cards. Two cards combinations with a "-" in between tell you: "Take those two combinations and everything in between."

• "AA-66" includes AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88 77, 66.
• "AK-AT" includes AK, AQ, AJ, AT.
• "KQ-KT" includes KQ, KJ, KT.

If your cards are listed in the last 3 columns, go all-in. If not, fold.

Download the handout including this chart as PDF (0.2MB)

Examples

Example 1 Close example Show example

Your cards:

Your position: Middle

Your chip stack: 7 big blinds

Situation: There are only 7 players left in the tournament. All players before your fold.

Your action: You go all-in. In this case you have to look at the first table which you use when everybody before you folded. The table tells you that with 9 to 6 big blinds in your chip stack you should go all-in with "QJ-Q8" as long as it is suited (both cards have the same suit). Your cards (Q9) fall into this group. In this situation you would go all-in with any queen if the second card is at least a 8 and of the same suit.

Example 2 Close example Show example

Your cards:

Your position: Late

Your chip stack: 12 big blinds

Situation: There are only 7 players left in the tournament. All players before your fold.

Your action: You go all-in. Again you have to look at the first table, this time in the last row for the "Late and Blinds" positions and chip stacks of "12-1" big blinds. Because your two cards have different suits you now have to look in the column "Offsuit Cards" whether your cards are listed there. They are. K5 is part of the group "KQ-K4", which means that in this situation you would go all-in with any king if your second card is at least a 4.

Example 3 Close example Show example

Your cards:

Your position: Blinds

Your chip stack: 5 big blinds

Situation: A player in late position goes all-in. Everybody else folds.

Your action: You go all-in. In this case you have to look at the second table which you use when another player already called or raised. You need to look into the very last row because you are in the "Blinds" position and have "6 or less" big blinds in your chip stack. Because your cards QJ are listed there in the column "Offsuit Cards" (your two cards have different suits) you go all-in.

With 12 big blinds or less: How to play after the flop?

The only situation you see a flop without being all-in is when you paid the big blind and checked before the flop. In this case you play "Bet / Raise" as you have learned before with top pair or better and any strong draw. You play "Check / Fold" with all other cards.

Advanced play: Everybody after you has less than 12 big blinds

It could be the case that you have more than 12 big blinds, but every player after you has less than 12 big blinds. Normally you would play as you have learned in the beginning of this article. But in this special situation it's even better to do the following:

• If nobody entered the game before you, use the All-in chart with the amount of blinds the biggest chip stack after you has.
• If somebody entered the game before you, and he and all the players after you have less than 12 big blinds, you use the Re-All-in table with the amount of blinds the player who entered before you has.

Bankroll Management

One last thing you should know is called bankroll management. You should think of an appropriate amount of money that you are willing to invest in poker. This is your bankroll.

In order to protect your investment and ensure that you have a long lasting and successful poker career, you shouldn't invest more than 1-2% of your bankroll in one SNG, which means that you need to have at least 50-100 buy-ins. Remember that this rule is not carved in stone, as the proper bankroll management strategy depends on numerous factors, like the buy-in level, tournament speed (regular/turbo/hyperturbo), number of participants or a payout structure.

A loose bankroll management allows you to move up quicker while having the risk that you have to move down earlier after a bad run. Contrary, with going on the safe side and having more buy-ins, you will move up slower but have less risk to move down in stakes. Ultimately it is your own decision.

Next steps

Now that you know how to play Sit & Go tournaments, you can check our Strategy section for the more advanced articles that will make you a better player.

All Sit and Go strategy articles