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Short, Medium and Large Stack Play

This section will look at how to play short, medium and large stacks in the stages leading to the money positions and how the game will change when you get there.

Short Stack Play

As described earlier, a tournament has a beginning, middle and an end. However, the middle of a sit & go is shorter than in a big event, and even if you don't make a very good start and end up short stacked, your chances of getting into third or even second place are still considerable. Because of this, if the early stages are less than fruitful, you need to make sure you hold on to a decent portion of your starting chips - at least two-thirds - to use in the middle stage of the game, where you will be going for the ‘squeeze out’. This is where four or five players remain and the blinds are high enough to be worth stealing with all-ins. Other players will need much better hands than in a cash game to call you, as long as you're in a position to threaten their stack and put them in danger of missing out on the pot.

As a result, much tighter play is recommended in the early stages. However, it may be worth playing some speculative hands, such as small pairs or suited connectors, in the hope of grabbing a very big pot. If you get out in front, you can then start to open up your game to pile pressure on short-stacked opponents.

If you don't get in front, you can tighten up and still go into the squeeze out with the chance of either building back up, or doubling through into a better position than the one you started with.
Once you get into the squeeze out, a lot depends on how fast the blinds increase. On a slow structure, the last four can to and fro for a long time until someone makes a fatal mistake or two big hands go head to head. But if the blinds go sky-high quickly, players will be forced to go all-in and call with a lot less. Be flexible.

For example, on a slow structure, you're a lot less likely to be bothered about being anted away with a short stack than falling out of contention compared with your opponents. You should wait for an opportunity to get involved, deciding when to go all-in according to the state of your chip stack to that of the next lowest player.

Try not to fall more than 50 per cent behind them and attack them at every available opportunity to try and steal third position – aggressive play will put them under pressure. On a fast structure, it may just come down to a matter of counting how many hands you can survive until the blinds finish off your stack, and looking for the best hand and situation to go all-in. Either way, though, you must stay up with the pace in order to pose a threat and have a chance of success.

Medium and big-stack play

Assuming that you've played well in the early stages, won a few good pots and find yourself in the middle stages with an average stack for the last four or five players, sadly your work is still far from done, as you can easily leave empty handed. However, on a more positive note, you're not in any immediate danger unless you get short or do something slightly self-destructive.
At this stage, you should be taking a mental note of what other players have in front of them - the big stacks might try to bully and the shorter ones may attempt to double or steal the blinds. If everyone has the same, there's likely to be a fine balance that no one wants to disturb for fear of becoming the target for everyone else.

When there are different-sized stacks, if there's only one short stack between you and the money, you should try to stay out of harm's way - unless an unmissable hand comes along - until something changes one way or another. However, if the stacks are evenly matched, you need to look for ways to maintain your chips or get ahead without risking a disaster, as any all-in actually benefits the by-standing players.

However, as risking an exit at this stage is such a disaster for a player, if you get a really big stack – say half the chips in play - you can start to use it by playing very aggressively. Frequently raise the blinds of other short and medium-stacked players, re-raise them all-in when there's another, shorter stack still to go from the last four and they have enough chips to pass, or bluff a lot after the flop.

You shouldn't risk a lot more chips with a marginal hand if another player is showing commitment, but this phase of the game effectively offers a chance to win by building up a big lead and trying to hold on to the top spot. Even if you do lose an all-in, you’ll have probably be able to pay for it with all the small pots you've stolen. What's more, other players will know you're out to get them.

The last three:

The blinds will probably be quite high at this stage and the players should loosen up considerably, happy to be out of a squeeze out. Abig stack doesn’t necessarily mean you can bully other players here, as in this stage it’s all about short or medium stacks trying to gamble up.
The smallest change in pay by position will be from third to second, so it's worth taking on the bigger stacks as soon as you can to try and get in contention for first position.

If you have fewer than ten big blinds and find a decent hand, you might as well go all-in, as you have nothing to lose. Also, if you're the big stack with any kind of decent hand, you might as well force the player with the short stack to commit.

Trading up:

Sit & go tournaments are usually finished within an hour, making them a good way to improve your strategy and provide regular profit when you master them. Start with the cheap games where you will find lots of loose and aggressive gameplay. As you improve, you can trade up to the $50 or $100 tournaments. But be careful - once you go beyond the $100 level, you are up against the professionals.