A Sit and Go, or SnG, is a single table poker tournament that does not begin at a specific time, but rather when all the seats are filled—thus you Sit at the table and wait, and when the last player buys in, you Go. This type of poker tournament is at first glance the same kind as a Multi Table Tournament (MTT), but because of a few important differences requires different strategy to win.

Types of SnGs
There are a few different kinds of Sit and Go games, based on number of players and how fast the blinds are raised. A typical SnG is a ten handed game (or nine, depending on what your poker room considers a “full” table) but short handed (six player) and heads up (two player) tables are quite common. A standard SnG has normal blind raises (again, based on your poker room) but Turbo or Super Turbo games are available, where blinds can go up every five, three or even one minute. Each type requires you to adjust your strategy slightly to win.

Overall strategy for a SnG is much the same as a MTT- you want to avoid making big mistakes and loosing too many chips early in the event, you want to allow other players to bust out before you as they make mistakes, and you want to pick up chips you don’t deserve by stealing the blinds and the like. Here is where strategy is different:

Turbo Games
Strategy here is basically the same, but you won’t have as long to play tight and quite—then again, you shouldn’t have as long to wait while other players bust out. Play tight and quite in the beginning, but be ready to make a big move before the blinds cripple you. Super Turbo is the same thing, just faster.

Short Handed
In a short handed game you have fewer opponents to bust to win, but fewer places pay out, so you really need to win the whole thing to make your time profitable. Conservative play still holds sway in a short handed game, but you may be required to risk more to double up in order to get heads up at the end.

Heads Up
Here is where conservative play hurts more than it helps. You don’t want to throw caution out the window, but heads up play is much more of a balancing act between catching your opponent bluffing and dodging his attempts to catch you. With only one other player the odds go down that he has your hand dominated pre flop, so you can loosen up quite a bit.

In the end SnG games can be very satisfying for the sake of just playing poker; with fewer opponents, a game is much easier to “win” than a MTT, but the payouts will be much smaller as well. Play tight and conservative in most cases, but be ready to move and shift gears much sooner than in a MTT.