----------------------------------- ojisplayin 03.02.2011, 19:18 FEB 2011 Poker Knowledge Contest Closed! Winner Announced! ----------------------------------- EARLY AND MIDDLE STAGE STRATEGY OF A "SIT AND GO" Single-table no-limit hold'em tournaments (also known as "sit and go" tournaments or SNGs) are incredibly popular. The strategy for this article focuses on tournaments that are ten-handed, with the payout structure of 50% to first place, 30% to second place, and 20% to third place. If you are playing in a winner-take-all single table tournament, you will probably need to play a much more aggressive strategy than the one advocated in this article. At the beginning of the tournament, you should be more willing to see a flop. You can often limp in with speculative hands, such as 3 3. Obviously, raise when you hold very strong hands like Q Q, but limp to see a lot of flops if you can with hands like J 10 suited. For the lower buy-in tournaments, there are a lot of bad players that will quickly lose their money in the first few rounds. If you happen to hit a really strong hand, there is a decent chance someone will pay you off with a lot of their stack. As the early stages progress, you should still attempt to see quite a few flops. However, if the pot is frequently raised, you will need to play tighter preflop. Once the middle stages of the tournament begin (when the big blind is around 10% of a player's starting stack), you need to start focusing more on stealing the blinds. Except for a few circumstances, you should almost always raise if you are the first to enter the pot (no one else has called or raised the big blind yet). A typical raise is 3 to 4 big blinds. One example of a situation where it may just be better to limp in is if you hold AA in early position and want to induce someone else to raise after you. Then, you can reraise him all-in when the action gets back to you. In the middle stages of the tournament and later, the "gap" concept comes into play more. There is a "gap" between the (lower) hand strength that is needed to open a pot and the (higher) hand strength that is needed to call someone who raised. This implies that blind stealing is effective. You should be more willing to enter a pot if no one else has already called or raised the pot. If someone has already entered the pot, they likely have a strong hand. Thus, stealing the blinds is much more difficult, and it is much more likely your hand will be challenged. So when someone else has already entered the pot, you need to be more selective with your hands. $30 Prize + PC Points for good thinking. Everyone please POST to be entered in a random draw for $30. TERMS FOR WINNING A CASH PRIZE 1- Everyone making a post is entered into this contest. All members that enter will be placed in a drawing where the winner will receive a $30 Prize. 2- 3,000 pc-points will be deducted when prize is paid. If you do not have 3,000 pc-points to redeem for a cash prize, you will be credited 3,000 pc points to redeem on your next contest win. 3- You will need to advise us which payment method you would like us to use to pay you. To do this, please go to the red section above and click on "My Payment Method" and follow the instructions. You only need to do this once (unless you later wish or need to change your payment method option). If you have any questions, please send OrangeCrush or Crushadmin a private message. :) Good Luck. Happy Gaming Always! YOUR POKER CRUSH STAFF :) ----------------------------------- petie55 03.02.2011, 22:58 ----------------------------------- Count me in! ----------------------------------- crzynana2001 04.02.2011, 00:22 ----------------------------------- count me in too please ----------------------------------- slotmom 04.02.2011, 00:23 ----------------------------------- count me in all so ----------------------------------- win4maw 04.02.2011, 03:06 ----------------------------------- Count me in too I don't have the slightest Idea what you are talking about lol win4maw ----------------------------------- kaykyl 04.02.2011, 14:30 ----------------------------------- count me in please ----------------------------------- catty78 06.02.2011, 14:22 ----------------------------------- count me in please ----------------------------------- valeria 07.02.2011, 22:36 ----------------------------------- I love sit n' go's. They play fast and are a lot of fun :) ----------------------------------- Gijan74 09.02.2011, 15:19 ----------------------------------- I´m here.. ----------------------------------- broxi 09.02.2011, 16:14 ----------------------------------- ty for the useful info as always patti ----------------------------------- anneandalan 12.02.2011, 14:53 ----------------------------------- Count me in please. I have noticed that if I am patient these tournaments really work for me. My problem is that when I have a hand like AA that gets beat by someone's K8 I get all mad and start playing like an idiot. If I could just keep that in mind while playing!! LOL I will come back and read this the next time it happens!! ----------------------------------- cocakolakid 14.02.2011, 05:23 ----------------------------------- Thanks for the strategy. ----------------------------------- gjr1961 20.02.2011, 19:14 ----------------------------------- Count me in please. Ty for te info Patti......I have soooo much to learn and you have really helped out! :D ----------------------------------- tduterte 27.02.2011, 12:42 ----------------------------------- I'm in. TY ----------------------------------- shirlsplay 01.03.2011, 21:40 ----------------------------------- count me in please. the sit'n go tournaments sounds like fun,i'll have to give one a try.thank you ----------------------------------- ojisplayin 03.03.2011, 04:03 ----------------------------------- TY CRUSHERS- BUT, THESE ARE NEVER MY DOING. I ONLY COPY WHAT BOWERCRUSH (ARCHIE) POSTS- EDIT IN TERMS, PUT IT UP FOR YOU! SO THANKS GOES TO HIM- ALL HIS ALONE TY ARCHIE- ALWAYS GREAT INFO & KILLER TIPS!! :wink: NOW, ON TO THE BEST STUFF- WINNERS!! BIG WOOHOOO!! WTG ANNELOVESALAN- 1,000 PC POINTS FOR GREAT THINKING!! HUGE WOOTWOOT!! WTG CRZYNANA2001- THE WINNER OF $30 CASH!! AWESOME!! YAHOOOOOOO!! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LADIES!! *Psst... The pm from Archie to me about the winner is below- LMAO!! I put all the names under my kilt and had Sarah reach in for one.Took her a long time but finally hauled out Crzynana2001 for a $30 prize.LMAOOOO!!! Thanks Archie ----------------------------------- broxi 03.03.2011, 07:36 ----------------------------------- wtg donna enjoy your win and wtg anne, lol maybe i read it wrong patti but if i was archie i wouldnt be boasting that sarah took so long to find anything under his kilt lmaoooooo ----------------------------------- gjr1961 03.03.2011, 19:50 ----------------------------------- Congrtulations Donna!! WTG Anne!! :D ----------------------------------- valeria 04.03.2011, 09:26 ----------------------------------- WTG U 2!! ----------------------------------- crzynana2001 05.03.2011, 15:30 ----------------------------------- TYVM all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTG ANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----------------------------------- slotmom 17.03.2011, 10:54 ----------------------------------- WTG Winners