Starting Strong – Strategies for the Early Stages of Sit and Go Poker

The interesting thing about Sit and Go (SnG) is that it has a distinct beginning, a middle and an end. Each phase comes with a particular “feel” as well as a different set of strategies for winning. This time around, we take a look at the early stage of the (SnG) poker game.

Choosing One’s Battles

Yes, discretion is oftentimes the better part of valor. If you will notice, certain SnG players have the tendency to go all in early on in the game and wager all their available chips on their hand. If that is the case, it is highly advisable that you sit back and allow these “all in maniacs” to boot each other out of the game. Every time a player is KOd, it raises your chances of winning the money, so feel free to hold back a little when the need arises.

On Playing and Folding

Remember, the objective here is to survive until the middle and late stages of the SnG game. The general strategy of holding back prevails here. It is highly recommended that you slow down and let calmness reign. If you have a marginal hand, don’t limp in.

On the other hand, in the event that you get a strong hand on the preflop, consider playing it aggressively. To avoid having this kind of hand cracked by multiple players calling, do a raise of five to six times the amount on the big blind. Even if someone calls, it’ll likely be a heads up, and it’ll still be more advantageous to you than if majority of your opponents call.

Remember that strategic folding is generally the way to go in the early part of the game.

The Lure of the Big Stack

Have you ever felt insecure upon seeing everyone else building up their stacks of chips while you seem to be the only one folding? Then here’s a word of advice for you. You don’t really need to do the same thing, at least early on in the game. Resist the temptation to join the bandwagon as you still have two more SnG stages to play through. In fact, the middle and the late stages are the critical times for building up your stacks. Set yourself free from the pressure of playing your hand just for the sake of accumulating chips and reserve the heavy artillery for the battles to come.