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Sit-N-Go Strategy for Full Tilt Poker

This is a Great Online Poker Strategy guide, because it is very
short and it works. This is a way to earn a small living playing
poker online without risking much.
First of all, this strategy only works with online poker rooms that
have nine people per table, not ten. The best one that I know of is
Full Tilt Poker. Also, Poker Stars has tables of 9 players. There
are other online poker rooms with nine per table, but I dont know
which ones.
I love the Full Tilt site because it has the best stuff to get with your
player points, including custom jerseys (just like the pros wear on
TV). Also you get your deposit bonus money in 10% increments;
unlike Party Poker where you have to earn it all or nothing by
playing a certain number of real money hands by a set deadline.
You can try this out first with play money to prove the strategy
without any risk. When you do decide on depositing real money,
Full Tilt will match your first deposit (up to $600).
This strategy works best on the $5 and the $10 Sit-N-Go (SNGs)
single table tournaments. The reason why is because the players
are mostly beginners and not the best players. Matter of fact, if
you follow my strategy on $5 or $10 SNG tourneys then you will
come in the money at least 75% of the time, for sure.
Why is having 9 people at the table so important? Because the key
to this strategy is patience and waiting for other players to knock
each other out. I will teach you how to slide into the money
without playing hardly any hands. With both 9 and 10 man
tournaments, the top 3 places pay. So, the top 33% pay with 9
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players and only 30% pay with 10 players. I know it doesnt look
like much of a difference, but it is one less person you have to beat.
Of course this make the prize money slightly lower, but this
strategy is about making easy money, not big money.
Why not play in the 6 people SNGs? Because there are too many
cheaters online that prey on the 6 person tables. These are either a
group of friends all playing at the same table, while at the same
time they are talking to each other on the phone or chatting on
MSN Messenger; telling each other what cards that have and
colluding in other ways like building pots.
Or maybe its one guy with 4 CPUs, a router and an IP Blocker
playing under 4 different accounts. Both of these are done
everyday; more often then you want to know. Not to mention the
players using add-on software, like odds calculators that actually
tell the player if they should bet or fold. The most popular one
would have to be Texas Calculatem.
But dont worry too much about cheaters when you are playing
low limit poker; Im sure the cheaters have bigger fish to fry!
The prize money break down is the same for a 10 man SNG and 9
man SNG. First place takes 50% of the total prize money. Second
place takes 30%, and Third place takes the remaining 20%.
The plan here is to come in any one of the top 3 spots so you
always get a paycheck and dont lose any money. I can almost
guarantee that you will come in the money (top 3 places) almost
every time if you follow the rules outlined below. You will come
in 2nd and 3rd much more than 1st because we are NOT playing to
win the tournament, we are playing to get a paycheck and not lose
any money.
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Also, let me warn you: Do NOT try this strategy on Multi table
tournaments (MTTs). MTTs are all about aggressive play and big
draws.
Aggressive play is the secret to No Limit Poker in General, but not
this sure thing type of strategy. And this strategy is for No Limit
SNGs only, because we are depending on other poor players to
dump off their chips and go All-in way too much. Sit-N-Gos are
good practice for final tables of MTT, but the strategy is much
different. You see, if you make a final table in a MTT, then you
are already in the money; you have a paycheck. Now, you just
want to play to win, because the prize money from 9th to 1 first is a
huge gap. At a MTT, you need to take a few more risks as opposed
to SNGs where you should take the more conservative road.
When you have a real tough decision to make about folding or
going all in you should lean towards all-in for MTT, and lean
towards folding for SNGs.
The Plan:
Early in the tourney: Hardly play ANY hands at all for the first 3
levels of the game. If you get dealt a huge starting hand like AA,
KK, QQ, or AK then throw in a nice pre-flop raise about 4 times
the blind. I Call these Level 1 Starting Hands. You want to take
this pot down before the flop to eliminate any chance of being out
drawn and suffering a bad beat.
Doyle Brunson once said (about pocket Aces): You can either win
a small pot or lose a big one. Your raise should take down the pot
right there or at least narrow down the competition to only one or
two other players seeing the flop. This is good, because the
strong starting hands play best against fewer players.
Its hands like suited connectors that are best against many callers.
You see, starting hand charts are good info, and you should know
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how each of the possible 169 hands ranks against each other (I am
only counting 169 hands because I am ignoring suits, except when
both cards are the same suit).
However, new evidence has come to light recently. A group of
college students used a computer to run over 5 billion test hands of
Texas Hold em to find out what hands truly win the most. They
found that it is not so cut and dry as ranking the hands from #1
(AA) to number 169 (2,7 off suit). Some hands performed better
depending on the number of players in the hand. Playing high
cards and pocket pairs only did well when it was heads-up or 2-3
other players. Playing smaller connected and suited cards do better
when playing against 5-8 players. There is another eBook that
goes into more depth about this. You can find it on the same
webpage where you found this book: [Link]
If you get Level 2 starting hand (JJ, 1010, 99, 88, 77, Ax(suited),
KJ, KQ, AQ): With these hands you want to see a flop, but only if
its cheap. These hands can get you in a lot of trouble, so proceed
with caution. Dont call with these hands if there are a couple
players re-raising pre-flop. You really dont want to get involved
in a big pot against big slick (AK) when you are holding KQ, KJ,
or AQ. You will end up flopping top pair and then you wont be
able to get away from the hand, and you will get beat because of
your smaller kicker.
When it comes to No Limit tournament poker, you are better off
with small suited connectors than something like A-10. The
reason why is that if you hit a flop with suited connectors, you will
have a monster hand and will get paid off if someone is holding an
overpair or even top pair. If you hit a flop with A-10, then you
could be in a lot of trouble if you hit top pair and someone else has
an Ace with a better kicker.
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Now, if you completely miss a flop with your suited connectors,
then it is very easy for you to get away from the hand. But it can
be hard to get away from that A-10.
Level 3 Hands: (Small Pocket Pairs and suited connectors):
These hands can be great if you hit a lucky flop, but that happens
less often than you think. You can limp in with these hands early
in the tournament while the blinds are still small. But if someone
raises before it gets to you then just fold. Later on in the
tournament when you near the bubble (the money line) these
hands are useless. Only play them when you are on one of the
blinds, or if you have a huge chip lead. You will very rarely have
a big chip lead using this strategy though. The overall plan is to
slide into the money.
As a matter of fact, you will find that you are often in one of the
bottom spots most of the game; that is just fine. Even though you
might be in last place, it doesnt mean that you will be the next
player eliminated. Remember we are playing low limit poker here
with stupid players. Trust me, they will drop like flies. Just keep
your head down and before you know it you look up and there will
only be 4-5 players left. You can make it to the final five without
ever playing a hand!
Final four:
Now that you have made it to the final four you are going to see
the game completely changes its dynamic. All of a sudden
everybody becomes very tight; and so should you. The worst
possible result of a tournament is coming in one spot before the
money. I would rather be the first person bumped out than come in
forth. So, keep up the tight play and only play Level 1 and 2
hands.
Even if you think some big stack is stealing your blinds and
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pushing you around. Let Him. Be very conservative with your
chips now, you must hold on until one more person is eliminated.
What if the blinds are going up and Im short stacked?
This can happen using my strategy, but fear not, the games not
over yet. If your stack gets down to only 5-6 times the big blind,
then its time to make a move. Once you are at this point you cant
afford to wait for Level 1 hands anymore. If you dont do
something then you will be blinded out. If you are dealt any Ace
or any pocket pair, then go All-in. I call this going into survival
mode. I might even start survival mode when I have 7-10 times
the Big Blind left. Dont forget the blinds will be going up again
soon.
Now, if there is a raise before its your turn to act, then you might
want to pick a better spot to go all-in with a hand like 33 or A/rag.
Ace/rag is a great hand for heads-up shootouts, but not when
someone raises pre-flop; it is way too likely that your are up
against another ace with a better kicker and that makes you a huge
dog (4 to 1).
When you push in your short stack, three things can happen:
1) Everybody folds and you collect the blinds and antes. This is
good because it buys you another round to catch a good hand.
Everybody folding is the most common result, because more often
than not the other player has nothing. And unless the other player
has something decent; they just CANT call an all-in bet.
Remember, we are on the bubble here and nobody wants to be the
next on out.
2) If your stack is quite small, then there is a good chance that
someone with a big stack might call you with a mediocre hand like
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a suited Queen or a J-10. They might even call with worse than
that, like a 6-7 off-suit, just because for them to call might only be
a small percentage of their stack with a chance to knock you out.
Even if they lose the hand, they will still be a chip leader. This is
also good because more often than not nothing comes on the flop.
If you and the other player both miss the board then you will win
because you have a made hand. (Ace high or a pair).
Having an Ace or a pocket pair is HUGE when it come to a
shootout with only one other player.
3) You get very unlucky with your timing and your opponent has a
Level 1 hand. When this happens, you are pretty much screwed,
unless you out draw him. You will most likely be about a 4-1 dog
if he has an Ace with a better kicker or a higher pocket pair.
The Final 3 Players:
Once you are in the final three, you have made the money!
Anything more is just gravy. At this point you can now change up
your game. You dont need to be such a tight ass now. Get crazy,
throw some money in the pot, go All-in. You will find that people
will actually fold to you quite a bit now because you have earned a
reputation of only playing the best starting hands and everybody
expects you to be tight. Have no fear now, because if you are
eliminated now you will still earn money and that is your goal.
Coming in third is just fine! Of course, once youve made the final
3, it only takes two to three nice hands to win the whole thing, no
matter how small your stack is.
Yes there is much more money for 1st place than 3rd, but be happy
with any place that pays. Its the smart economical way to play.
Usually the players that do win first a lot also place outside of the
money a lot. You are much better off to come in 2nd or 3rd almost
every time.
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Try out this strategy on Full Tilt at $5 buy in until you have
mastered the flow of this plan. Once you are placing 7-8 out of
10 times you are ready to move up to the $10 buy ins. You can
play for less then $5 at Full Tilt, but its not worth your time for
the small amount of money to be won. When you have mastered
this strategy at the $10 level you will have your self a pretty easy
stay at home job that pays about $15 an hour US on average. Its
not tons of money, but its better than a real job and you only get
better and better at online poker as you keep building up your
experience. Its tax free money too.
Here is what kind of money to expect:
$10+ $1 buy in Sit-N-Go:
1st pays: $45
2nd pays: $27
3rd pays: 18
Now you must subtract $11 from that because of your $10
investment, plus the $1 entry fee for the house. So your profit is:
1st - $34
2nd -$16
3rd - $9
Now, each one of these SNG tourneys will take 45-70 minutes.
They usually last about an hour and rarely go over. You will find
that you can play one per hour and have a little break in between to
rest you brain. If you follow my plan you will mostly come in 2nd
or 3
rd
. You will occasionally catch a bad break and not place in
the top 3 (about 2-3 out of 10). This happens in no limit poker,
there are still bad beats. And of course you will win 1
st
about 1 or
2 out of 10. So you will average out somewhere in between 2nd
and 3rd place, which would pay you about $12.50 hour. I know its
not tons of money, but its better money than being a sandwich
artist at [Link] you can work in your pajamas. You can
also double that to $25 an hour if you play 2 sit n gos at the same
time. Make sure you master 1 table before you play 2 at once.
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The key thing to remember is you are also building your poker
experience.
Of course, if you play the $5 games, then your hourly wage will be
half. But it wont take long before youre ready for the $10
games. You can also use this strategy with higher limit games, but
do realize that as the limits go up, the skill level and IQ of the
players go up. You wont find so many guys making stupid all-in
moves as much as you do at the low limit tables.
Never forget there is no substitute for playing good poker. Always
try to make the best decisions. But, when in doubt, lean towards
the more conservative play. Fold when in doubt. Remember the
plan: Play tight and slide into the money. Dont worry about
winning the whole thing until AFTER youve made the money.
Also, if you really want to play Sit-N-Go tournaments for a living
like I do, then you must try this program:
Its called Sit and Go Shark and its a program that runs beside
your game when you are playing Sit-N-Go tournaments. It is
programmed to know virtually every possible situation you can get
into playing in a single table tournament. It tells you exactly what
to do to win. With this program running I place in 8 out of 10 Sit-
N-Go tournaments, consistently. This program is free if you sign
up at one of their affiliate poker rooms, or you can buy it directly
from them for $79.95 US. Its worth every penny. I make most of
my income playing Sit-N-Gos. Just click on the link above to be
taken directly to their webpage.
Some more General Tips for Sit and Gos
-Dont bet more than you need to. If 300 chips will get your
point across, then dont bet 1000 in case you are getting
trapped.
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-Dont ever fall in love with a hand. Show some discipline and
learn how to lay down hands. Better safe than sorry.
Remember, you cant re-buy into a S-N-G like a cash game.
-Dont bluff with more than 3 players in the hand.
Low limit players are hard to bluff, so dont do it too much,
pick your spots. Mostly bluff when stealing blinds. If someone
comes over the top; get out!
-Low limit (poor) players are really easy to trap, so when you
flop a monster in early position; check it and let some idiot
try and bluff the pot by over betting it. Then you raise the
minimum and he will either go all-in to re-bluff you and scare
you out or he will call you because he feels pot committed.
Speaking of pot committed, I dont fully believe it. If youre
quite sure that youre beat in a hand, then just fold. There is
no point throwing good money away after bad. Same for pot odds,
dont depend on them too much during Sit-N-Gos.
Dont call off too many chips on draws. If someone makes a
huge bet on the flop and you have an open ended strait draw
or 4 to a flush, you really should just let it go, unless you
have the chips to spend. Wait to put your money in when you
already have a made hand.
-If youre going to take a stab at a pot to try and steal it, then do
it on the flop, not the turn or river. If Im in a pot with only 1-
3 players and everybody limps in and then the flop comes off
with big scare cards; like A-K-3. Then I will throw a small bet
out there (about 2X the minimum bet). This usually works,
because if someone had an Ace or King with a decent kicker,
they would have raised a bit pre flop as a value bet. You keep this
bet pretty small because you want it to look like you want a call.
And if you do get raised on your bluff you didnt risk to much, and
can just fold. Another good flop to try and steal a pot with is
something like: 7-8-9. Most players will fold to your bet even if
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they have top pair because its just too scary that you might have
flopped a strait.
-Be Patient! You might get a little bored using my system, and
want to play some bad hands. Have some discipline, and play
smart, all the time. If you have a short attention span, like
most people in this day and age, then multi-task. I personally
have two monitors on my computer, so I can watch movies or
TV with one and play poker on the other. Or, I play two
SNGs at a time to double my hourly wage.
-Raising pre-flop should only be done to narrow down the
field. You do this with big hands so you dont let someone
suck out (out draw you) with a bad hand.
-Do most of your betting and gambling on the flop, not before.
After the flop you have a good idea of what direction the
hand is going. Pre-flop you know nothing. Two black Aces in
the hole are useless if the board flops 3 connected hearts.
-Its a good idea to steal the blinds once in a while when the
timing is right. For example: If everyone folds to you and
you are on the button, then you should raise 3-4 times the
blind no matter what you have (once in a while). But if you only
raise 2 times
the blind, then the blinds will call you with almost anything.
This wont help you much because this gives you no
information about your opponents hands. If you raise 3-4
times the blind and are called, then at least you have some
information that your opponent has a pretty big hand.
Almost always bet the flop if you pre-flop raise. This almost
always takes down the pot right there. And if you are raised
then you know where you stand and can get out of the hand
without losing too many chips.
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You wouldn't get away with playing this soft in a live
tournament because in real life, players will sooner or later
pick up on the fact that you only play monster starting hands.
But online, players just don't pay attention that well and there
is such a turnover of players.
This strategy also works really good at No Limit ring games
(cash games). If you only play monster hands, you will do
well. When it comes to cash games; play loose/aggressive at a tight
table and play tight at a loose table.
Glossary:
All in: When a player wagers every single chip he has at once. If a
player goes All-in and loses that hand then the players tournament
is over. This is only done often in No Limit poker.
Board: The five community cards in the middle of the table.
Blinded Out: When the blinds get higher in comparison to the size
of your chip stack. This is when you need to make a move and just
push all-in with the first Ace or Pocket Pair.
Bubble: Placing on the bubble is when you place just before the
money. Being the Bubble Boy means that you came in the very
spot before the money. (In S-N-Gs that would be 4th place)
Dog: Short for Underdog.
Kicker: (also called sidecard) This is your second card. So if you
and another player both showdown with top pair, then whosever
kicker is higher will win the pot.
MTT: Multi Table Tournaments. These tournaments are typically
40-1000 people.
Pot-Committed:When you have so many chips invested into a pot
that you feel obliged to make a call to protect your investment.
Rag: A Bad card that mathematically usually wont amount to
anything unless you get a miracle flop.
Shootout:When all the chips are in pre-flop. The players cards are
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usually turned up before any of the board cards are run. This is
where the power of your starting hand is very important, but
anything can happen.
S-N-G: Sit and Go. S-N-G refers to any online poker tournament
with only 1 or 2 tables. Unlike scheduled tournaments, S-N-Gs
start up every time there are enough people to play. Typically 9-45
Tourney: Short for tournament.
I hope enjoyed my strategy guide, it really does work. Building up
a little extra on-line bank roll is nice so you can afford to enter
some of those MTTs, and go for the big money.
Look for other guides by me coming out very soon, exclusively at
[Link]
Cheers,
Primo V.
Questions? Comments?
[Link]