The Contrarian’s guide to Sit & Go strategy Part 1

The following strategies are specifically for single table, low limit Sit & Go tournaments. Trying to implement these strategies against a table full of competent opponents is a recipe for disaster. These are the strategies I have used to dominate low-limit Sit & Go tournaments over the years and make the fish pay for their terrible play.

The first strategies I will discuss are the most contrarian of all, dealing with the early stages of the S&G where the really bad players will show themselves (and usually be among the first few players eliminated) and where you can really take advantage of the major errors these players commit. In Part 2 will discuss the middle stages of Sit & Go tournaments leading up to the money-bubble. In Part 3 I will go over end-game strategies.

Levels 1 – 3

Level 1 in most Sit & Go tournaments usually sees players start with 1,500 chips with blinds at 10/20 -15/30 –I’ll use the 10/20 blind structure in this analysis. By level three the blinds have escalated to the point that calling raises, or raising, constitutes more than 10% of your stack (or very near to it). The following strategies are for Level 1 and for Level 2 if the numbers work out properly.

Raising

I’m not a fan of raising very many hands at these stages of a Sit & Go, simply because you can’t stand a re-raise and the play is usually fast and loose. Especially at an aggressive table, raising hands like AQ or 77 is generally going to cost you quite a bit for little gain, since these hands are going to be small winners, and in a S&G tournament you’re continuation bet is going to get re-raised more than in a cash-game. I much prefer limping and calling standard raises with these hands. You could raise to 60, get a caller or two, make a continuation bet of 100, and have to fold to a raise. Playing 77 this way has just cost you 10% of your stack, and most of the time you are simply going to pick up 75 chips when your c-bet works. There is little gain and a decent amount of risk with these hands early on in a S&G.

So how do I play hands like KK, and AA if I don’t make small raises? Simple, I raise All-in or limp re-raise All-in if the table is a bit more aggressive. It seems like you’ll never get a call, but trust me, PEOPLE WILL CALL with hands like AJ and 44. With hands like QQ or AK I like to limp re-raise All-in. So if nobody raises I see the flop super-cheap and can toss AK for a minimal investment, and if I hit my hand I usually get paid off nicely since nobody expects you to turn over AK or QQ.

The reason this works at these limits is because you don’t play the same people all that much, especially at larger sites, and the chances of them picking up on your early stages hand ranges are very slim without a lot of games together. This strange strategy also sets up your middle and end game strategies, and should leave your opponents very confused as to your skill level.

Calling Raises

Because the blinds are so small at this point in the tournament this means you can call raises with very good implied odds since these raises are going to be between 40-60 chips (the same reason I don’t like raising AA and KK a standard amount). In these instances I like to call with a lot of big suited Aces (ATs+), all pocket pairs, and when faced with smaller raises even some suited connectors and suited Broadway cards.

A general rule of thumb is that if calling a raise is costing you more than 5% or so of your stack than you shouldn’t be calling.

Re-raising

Re-raising is out of the question with all but your best hands early on unless you have a read on your opponent (and by best I mean QQ+ and AK). But the question is what should you re-raise to, considering a standard re-raise puts you in a sticky spot post-flop and often gives your opponent the right odds to set-mine against you.

The solution (the solution I have come up with anyway) is to grossly overbet when you re-raise, to the point where you are shoving any flop or just moving all-in pre-flop, which is fine because you are only going to do this with QQ+ and AK at this stage of the tournament.