Poker Game Review - Sit and Go Tournament

Beginning Stages of the Tournament

Depending on the type of tournament, players will have a general tendency either to play more aggressively in the early stages or very tight.

Re-buy tournaments, due to the fact that players can purchase more chips during re-buy periods, are played much more loosely and aggressively.

The cost of blinds towards the beginning of the tournament is fairly low, which allows players much more leeway when deciding which hands to play.

You will find a lot more people seeing the flop, so beware of people hitting unexpected hands. To combat this you can either bets aggressively with high pair hands pre flop to drive out the marginal hands or just be more ready to fold a good hand when you sense someone has caught something better.

Again, factoring your cost allowance versus aggressive playing is important for finding the proper balance somewhere in-between both.

Now, if you have a decent hand pre-flop such as an Ace-King, it's better to play a bit more conservatively. Firstly, this allows you to minimize your losses if the flop doesn't work out, and secondly, if you flat call and manage to hit it big after the flop, you enjoy the benefit of disguise. This is your best bet since you most likely won't be able to get other players to fold by raising them, especially if you're sitting in late position.

In general, pre-flop betting strategy should be slightly loose but relative to your stack for the chance of early chip accumulation, but post-flop strategy should be played tighter, particularly if you're not positive that you are ahead and will be wasting another bet that could've been saved. In these types of cases, save the bet and lose the pot rather than risk losing both.

Keep in mind that your main focus in the beginning stages of a tournament should be to keep a decent stack of chips so that you'll be in a secure position for the upcoming rounds.

Middle Stages of the Tournament

Towards the middle of the tournament, significant changes in the blinds need to be taken into account. Blinds will be raised and you'll be required to invest a larger chunk of your chip stack as the rounds continue. This affects your playing strategy because the general tendency here is to try to win the blind by raising immediately. In order to call, you will have to invest a significant amount of money, which is not a smart move to make if your hand is weak.

Smart players will fold immediately if they have nothing to go on. Remember that tournaments are a matter of survival, and if you're wasting your chips on weak hands at this stage, you probably won't last long.

To recap, your best bet if you're in early position is to aggressively make the first raise, but if another player makes the raise, play tight and fold immediately if you have a weak hand.

The Final Stage

In order to make it to the final round, you should shoot for winning the blinds at least once per round. If you succeed, you'll be in a position where the increasingly high blinds leave you in a critical position with your chips and requires skillful short-hand play. The best strategy at this stage is to take stock of where you stand with your chips and how close you are to the prize money according to the tournament's prize structure. If you have a decent amount of chips, your focus should be on eliminating the other players by playing aggressively. If not, play conservatively and call only if you have a strong hand. It's important at this stage to know realistically what's possible and to adjust your strategy to aim for that goal.

As people become short staked, try and isolate people looking for desperate all ins in these situations Ax hands becomes a very strong hand.