I think it’s valuable to listen to different perspectives about poker so I sometimes publish other players’ advice.  Here, Freddie Johnson gives his advice on how to profit from Sit n Go Poker.  He makes a very good point when he talks about the difference between being aggressive and being reckless.  I refer to this as “selective aggression”  I hope you enjoy this Sit n Go Poker article.

While no limit texas holdem may dominate in the coverage of the poker world today, thanks to the televised World Series of Poker, there are
a lot of different poker games you can play. In fact, there are a lot of different versions of texas holdem poker, including sit n go poker.  So what is sit n go poker? And how does play differ from “regular” texas holdem? And most importantly, how do you play sit n go so you can make more cash?

No limit texas holdem tournamnet play and no limit texas holdem sit n go are both no limit texas holdem poker games. But NL Holdem tournaments and NL Holdem Sit n Go games are two entirely different animals. And this means your poker game plan has to be different in sit n go if you want to be successful and cash.

No limit sit n go’s are very different from cash games and a much shorter verion of multi-table no limit tourneys. The blinds shoot up fast (every 10 to 20 hands or so) and before you know it make up a big part of your stack. To stay in a sit n go game, you have to get more aggressive as the blinds increase.

Of course, a key to winning texas holdem sit n go games is to be more aggressive as the blinds go up, NOT to be more reckless as the blinds increase. Having a plan is the difference between aggressive and reckless and most likely will be the difference between cashing and not cashing.

In sit n go games, you don’t want to be aggressive initially. Only play premium hands for the first few blind increases. This will keep you from losing chips you’ll neeed later when the blinds go up. You don’t want to find yourself short stacked early or you might as well call it a night.

Playing only premium hands initially may also have an added benefit. Later in the sit n go game, when you’re being more aggressive, your opponents may be more likely to fold against you because they’ll think you have a top hand.

When’s a good time to kick it up in your texas holdem sit n go game? If you’re in late position and it’s folded around to you and the blinds and antes will increase your stack by more than 20%, go all-in. Most times you won’t get called.

Eventually, as the blind increase, it will become a stealing war as everyone has to get aggressive because the blinds are so big relative to their stacks. This is where you need to pick your spots and become aggressive. You’ll find yourself taking bad beats a lot but that’s the nature of sit in go no limit texas holdem. When people get more aggressive with wacky hands, the cards won’t always fall your way.

Remember, keeping your chips early will allow you to be more selective in being aggressive later, giving you better odds of coming out on top in no limit texas holdem sit n go play.