No-Limit Hold’em Sit & Go Basics
Sunday, August 5th, 2007I’ve been back to playing $20 NL Hold’em single table sit and go tournaments on PokerStars lately and have so far seen good results.
For a long time I put aside my NL Hold’em sit and go games in favor of playing mixed games. By taking a long break from Hold’em I found a new sense of excitement and rejuvenation for the game I once loved and played way too much.
My attitude and approach to NL Hold’em sit and go’s is a lot different than what it used to be. I was always ahead of the game in terms of making a profit, but I always knew I could do much better than just making a few bucks here and there.
My recent results are very good with an in-the-money win percentage over 60%. I’ve gone to the basics with my approach and gamble far less and have completely removed Tilt from my game.
I attribute my recent success to several key areas:
- Playing tight/aggressive until I get in to the money or if I have a lot of chips where I can bully the table when on or before the Bubble.
- Playing premium starting hands and avoiding playing the trouble hands. Even when playing tight you only need to win the occasional big pot to give yourself a chance at winning it all. In fact, I once made it in to the money by only winning one hand!
- Avoiding marginal situations where I can go bust. When I do gamble my tournament life then I would be coming in with the best of it. Know when to fold and leave your ego at the door. There are many small battles in a sit and go game, but the idea is to outsmart your opponents, play patiently and to win the war.
- I would rarely limp in unless I was in the blinds or if I was on the Button and I knew the Blinds wouldn’t raise. So for every qualifying starting hand I would raise an unopened pot, but would easily laydown to a re-raise if I wasn’t getting the right odds or I knew I was completely dominated.
- Removed Tilt from my sit and go games. Yes, I have completely removed going on Tilt. When I do lose a big pot I would forget the beat and move on, even if I only had a few chips left. That leads to another tip; a chip and a chair holds so true for NL games that you should never give up even when dead last in chips. A couple of my recent wins came from practically being out of chips to winning the tournaments outright.
- Play super aggressive when in the money. This is the time when I really change gears and try to control the table. I would raise much more, but I would still avoid marginal situations where I can go bust.
These tips may seem pretty obvious for a good sit and go player, but remember one thing; only 10% of all sit and go players actually make an overall profit!
I see far too many players play too many hands, play too many trouble starting hands, and gamble way too much in marginal situations. Doing those things will make you a losing player in the long run.
Now don’t get me wrong, I totally welcome players that play that way; it’s those players that help make a profit for the 10% of winning sit and go players!
Are you in the 90% losing side or 10% winning side of all sit and go players?
Off to play the Sunday Hundred Grand at PokerStars… only 19,200 player to beat!
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