Early Sit and Go Strategies by Phil Gordon

Great article by the poker pro, Phil Gordon on sit and go poker tournaments. I like playing sit and go's because they are quick compared to the full tournaments. It's also a good way to practice your online tournament strategy.

One of the best ways to practice this bedeviling game is to play "sit-and-go" single-table tournaments on the Internet. I play many of these things a week, at many different stakes, on Full Tilt Poker every week. Playing an S&G tournament will give you final table experience -- to win, you'll have to perform well in full table situations and constantly adjust your strategy and tactics as the play becomes increasingly shorthanded. In my mind, there is no better training tool available for the serious student of the game.

At Full Tilt Poker, the sit-and-go tournaments have a generous structure: nine-handed play, six-minute levels (about 15 hands per level). Three players are "paid" with about 50 percent of the prize money being awarded for first place, 30 percent for second place, and 20 percent for third place. All players start with 1,500 in tournament chips.

Early level thoughts and play:
15/30 Level: I play very, very tight during the first level while I'm getting a feel for the table. At the lower limits (100 buy-in and below) there are always a few players at the table that are maniacal. I try to stay out of the way of these guys unless I get a big hand. I'm not scared to put the chips in the pot with pocket aces, kings, queens or ace-king, but I'm not looking to commit a large part of my stack before the flop without one of these premium hands. I'm looking for betting patterns here that I can exploit at critical stages of the tournament -- I'm particularly looking for players that play a very loose, aggressive game from late position. I note these players and plan to take advantage of them later. It will not surprise me to see one player eliminated at this level, but one or two players eliminated early will not change my strategy of tight play.

20/40 Level: Again, I play very tight. It will be rare that I'll have to post more than three total sets of blinds by the end of this level -- if I fold every single hand in the 15/30 and 20/40 level, I'll still have, on average, about 1,350 in chips at the end of this level. In my experience, the average number of players remaining at the end of this level is about eight: tight is still right.

25/50 Level: I have a tight image now, and I'm ready to make my first move. If a loose player "limps" into the pot in middle or late position, I'm willing to raise and try to win the pot from superior position. I'm willing to try to steal the blinds from late position as well. Remember, I've been playing absurdly tight for the first two levels, so my raises will get some respect.

30/60 Level: This is a very, very small increase in blinds from the previous level. Much of the strategy from the 25/50 level still applies. I am very careful here to not raise the blinds of short-stacked opponents without a premium hand. Short stacks here will be about 350-500. If I raise a player with that stack and they move in, I'm 100 percent committed to calling them because I'll almost always be getting the correct odds to do so. However, having a sub-premium hand in this spot is a recipe for becoming a short stack. I'll take a shot at stealing the blinds if it presents itself.

40/80 Level: By this time, there are usually seven players left in the tournament. I'm going to loosen up my starting hand requirements just a bit, but I'm still going to be very selective preflop from early position. Remember, this is an extremely small increase in blinds from the previous level. I no longer consider limping a valid strategy preflop. If I'm ever going to play a hand and I'm the first to voluntarily commit chips to the pot, I'm raising.

50/100 Level: Usually, there are five or six players left in the tournament at this level. That puts the average chip stack at around 2,600 or so. Players are not feeling the "squeeze" unless they have about 1,000 in chips or fewer. But I still have to loosen up a bit because the blinds are coming around very quickly. "Sitting out" for the entire level will be catastrophic to the stack -- I'll lose at least three sets of blinds for a combined 450 loss should I get too tight here. I try to pick up at least one blind steal during this level. If there are still seven or eight players left in the tournament, realize that big conflicts are coming -- a raise and a reraise virtually force the players all-in.

Phil Gordon is a World Poker Tour champion, host of Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," and plays online exclusively at FullTiltPoker. Phil Gordon's educational poker DVD, "Final Table Poker", is available at ExpertInsight.net and his new "Little Green Book" is available now.