First stages of a sit and go tournament

Online poker seems to be a haven for all the ultra-aggressive players the world over.
When you play poker online at nearly any limit – although, admittedly moreso in the lower limit cash games – you’ll find that players play extremely quickly, extremely aggressively, and, for the most part, extremely stupidly.
In this article, Poker Rakeback Online will explain a strategy for the first stage of a sit and go tournament.

Sit and Go games, as they’re called, seem to especially lend themselves well to these super-aggressive players.
With their rapidly increasing blind levels, countless opportunities for blind stealing, and the importance of gaining and preserving an early chip lead, Sit n Go’s almost provoke a necessity for aggressive play.
For these reasons, you’ll find a multitude of aggressive players playing and winning at these types of tournaments.

As we all know, however, every sit and go poker strategy has its flaws, and even the best strategy can be taken down with proper counteraction techniques.
The question then arises: How do you survive the brutal, aggressive first stages of a Sit n Go tournament?

The first stages of a Sit and Go tournament are all about survival.
Within the first rounds, you’ll find that players tend to play even more aggressively than normal, trying to acquire a big chip lead to begin with so they can sit back in the middle and later stages.
For this reason, you’ll find a lot of big bets, and a lot of all-ins being thrown around carelessly. You want to stay out of contact with the aggressive tendencies of these players; the last thing you want is to be knocked out in the early stage of a tournament through a lucky catch on the river by your opponent.

When many players jump into a sit and go, they get a little overzealous.
Because sit n gos are designed to give you fast action, many players tend to toss aside their usual strategy in a poker game – they play too many hands in too many bad positions, they take more risks, sometimes putting half or more of their stack on the line on sub par hands, and, in general, they play more aggressively than they would otherwise.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
The law applied to Newton’s theory of gravity, and can apply to sit and go poker strategy in every interpretation of the law’s meaning.
The perfect way to combat an aggressive player is to take the aggressive factor out of the equation; stick to your premium hands, play tight, and stay out of as many pots as possible.

Your goal in the beginning stages of a sit and go should be to keep the pots small.
You don’t want to be throwing a lot of chips around with a lot of other players.
Stay aggressive in late positions to keep pressure on other players, but know when it’s time for you to back down and give up a pot.

You should also be wary of slowplaying any type of monster hands when playing Sit and Go games.
With aggressive players, slowplaying can often prove itself more dangerous in the long run. These players are more likely to jump into a cheap pot with junk.
Don’t give these players to opportunity to outdraw you.
Especially with your top drawing hands, you want to raise a substantial amount pre-flop.
You don’t want too many callers, as you don’t want to be beaten out by an even luckier draw. When playing with the top starting hands, play them aggressively, and try to limit the number of callers as much as possible.
Keep your opponents in small numbers, and you’re chances of being beaten out by a mathematically unfavorable hand diminish greatly.

Sit n Go games can be a great bankroll builder if you know how to play them effectively. With our general sit and go strategy for beginners article, you are on to a good start.
The early stages of these tournaments are all about staying alive to fight another round.
Amidst all of the other action around the table, don’t be put off if you notice other players’ stacks growing more rapidly than yours.
Your superior strategy should take over in the middle and late stages of these tournaments, taking the early chip leads right back from the ultra-aggressive players.
So, for the beginning stages, lay low for awhile.
Avoid unnecessary chips loses from busted hands and eliminate your poker bluffing strategy altogether.
Play smart, fundamental poker with our Sit and Go Tips, and you’ll see yourself through to the next stages, where you can implement all of your other strategies and soon you will be mastering sit and go tournaments. Next you need to learn the middle stages of a sit and go tournament.

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