Strategies for Low Stakes SNG

One of the most popular online poker games, sit and go tournaments, or commonly referred to simply as SNGs, are games for all skill levels, offering buy-ins from as little as $0.11c all the way up to $5,000. The game usually lasts an hour or less, and grinders often play multiple screens.

SNGs are known for having lower variance than tournaments, mainly due to the smaller number of players. Playing only tournaments is not the best way to build a bankroll, but SNGs can be an excellent way to do so.

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First rounds of SNG

Blinds are usually a small portion of your stack in the early levels of play. Many beginning players make the mistake of not protecting their big hands like AA and KK preflop by raising small, which allows them to get called by speculative hands. You should try to get as many chips into the pot as you can while you have the best hand (which is likely). If you find yourself beaten, don't get discouraged. Throw away your hand because there's still plenty of poker to be played!

With low blinds you can play more speculative hands like suited connectors in position, after all this will cost a small part of your stack and can bring big profits when you hit two pair or a strong draw on the flop. Many players make small bets on the flop with top pair to keep their opponent in the pot. Take advantage of this to try to hit a straight or flush.

When you have hands like AA, KK, QQ, AK, etc. the key to success is to play them correctly. With big pairs you want to be raising 3~4x the big blinds. An ideal situation is to isolate your opponent who can have top pair and you will be a 7 out of 10 favorite against him with your overpair. The level of play of the people who usually play in these tournaments is not very strong and they will often get bogged down with top pair and you can take all their chips. Be careful not to bet too small and let your opponents chase their draws and break your hand. On the other hand, if you don't hit flops with hands like AQ, AJ and AK it's not a problem, just fold and look for a better opportunity. You want to take advantage of situations that allow you to do this.

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Median SNG levels

When the blinds go up, your hand selection should change a bit. Suited connectors are no longer as good, due to the blinds and stacks ratio. You should now narrow your range and play more premium hands and pairs with 77+ raised. With the blinds getting higher, you will want to steal uncontested pots, and this will do your stack a lot of good.

If you are above average, you can expect to be dealt premium hands (or put pressure on your opponents if you are already at a higher level of play). If you are not very well stacked, you will have to play a few hands to build up your stack. Remember that you do not need a pair of aces to go all-in preflop. At this stage of the game, it is not a mistake to go all-in with any pair above TT+ or even AK and/or AQ. These are strong hands and will usually be favorites if your opponent calls. Additionally, you will gain a good amount of chips the several times your opponent folds the hand.

Let's say you're on the button with pocket TT. The blinds are 100/200 and you have 900 chips. There are six players left. A player in middle position opens to 400. If you just call, it's hard to play a flop because any J will scare him. If you go all-in, your opponent might consider folding hands like Ax, KQ, and small pairs, which puts you in a good spot. If you get called, you're still a slight favorite against hands like AK and AQ. The "dead money" in the blinds will make you even more of a favorite when you look at the pot odds. The only hands you really don't want to run into in this situation are JJ, QQ, KK, and AA.

Final stages of SNG

Now the blinds are really high relative to the average stack size of the players. You should never enter pots with marginal hands. Be very careful when engaging with players with big stacks, as they can knock you out of the tournament. You don't want to be the bubble when there is a player with half the chips you have. If you are already in the money, you should play to win. Since 1st place usually pays up to 2.5x more than 3rd place, it is okay to take some risks to try to get the top spot on the podium. Trust your instincts and pass some bluffs, you will need to do this to win.

When the game is very short-handed, it can be effective to check-raise all-in with top pair or even middle pair if you believe you have the best hand. This type of trap works best at these levels of play. This is the stage of the game where you want to win as many pots as you can. A hand like A8 is a strong hand for a 3-handed game, but it is difficult to play post-flop since you will only hit the A on about 18% of the flops. So it is better to go for aggression pre-flop, since you will often get called by weaker hands like KQ, KJ, etc. People want to take risks when they know they are already in the money.

If you follow these lines of thought, you will certainly be able to build a healthy bankroll playing SNGs, and, over time, enter the world of MTT tournaments.

Article translated and adapted from: Low Stakes SNG Tournament Strategy