Sit 'n Go Strategy

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• #12 in Best Poker Books

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This is an amazing poker book.

After you read the theory part each chapter where Colin describes how to play in different situations and why, you get to see actual hands and the reasoning behind each play. This book and the Harrington on Hold Em books are my favorite because of how many detailed hand examples they give.

For example, Colin describes "SNG Equity," and it's a good description, but I learn better through concrete examples. I was very happy he went right on to a hand:
Two guys go all-in against each other in the 1st hand of a Sit N Go with 2 2 versus Ace-King suited, and Colin explains how both these guys are losing money and how everyone else is gaining SNG Equity in the long run.

After reading it I understood the idea of equity (even the term in general) so much better than before.

I was also very surprised how aggressive you should be during high blinds ... Not just when you have under 10 blinds, but during the bubble, and Very Important, before you get blinded down to nothing. He says how it's better to push all-in with trash than not be able to steal pots in the future, then explains why and gives examples. It doesn't matter even when you're getting constant bad hands so long as you make your move at the right time.

I finished the book in two days and immediately put another $250 in my PStars account. I am now very confident I will be profiting from SNG's and highly recommend this book to any player.

I have mixed emotions about this book, because if every poker player were to read it, online Sit `n Go tournaments would become much more difficult to beat. It is appropriate for SNGs with an entry fee of $10 through medium stakes, although many advanced, higher stake players will probably benefit from reading this book. Many of the topics presented are too advanced for the beginning player, who should first gain some tournament experience, and an understanding of basic concepts before purchasing this book.

Sit `N Go Strategy is one of the best poker manuscripts ever published, and a major contribution to poker, as there has been relatively little literature on SNG tournament strategy. It is a well written, fairly comprehensive guide to playing low and medium buy in, one table tournaments. Sit 'n Go Strategy is logically divided into sections on Low Blind Play, Medium Blind Play, and High Blind Play, as well as a chapter, titled Sit `N Go Career Play which covers some additional concepts.

For low blind play the author teaches a very tight aggressive style of play, although he acknowledges, that other playing styles can also be successful, if the players are skilled at post flop play. In the medium blind section, Mr. Moshman also advocates tight aggressive play. However, he demonstrates how an extremely aggressive play can be the optimum strategy when the blinds increase, and table conditions are right.

Part Three, High Blind Play is an outstanding section, and is the highlight of the book. A systematic analysis of table conditions, individual player styles, stack sizes, blind sizes, payouts, and chip values, and how they effect optimum strategy is provided. A wealth of valuable information is provided for the intermediate player, and advanced players should also benefit from reading this section. Concepts such as steals, resteals, stop `n go, and continuation bets are well explained and the concepts are reinforced by a large number of hand examples provided to reinforce the learning of each concept.

This is not just another poker book. Many readers will be surprised at the strategies Mr. Moshman teaches for mid blind and high blind play. It is a very interesting and informative book for the online player who wants to improve his play at one table Sit `N Go tournaments. This book may be as valuable for the SNG player as The Harrington No Limit Series is to the Multi-table tournament player.

I really like how the book is geared toward online SNG play. There are so many players just doing it for fun, and Moshman goes into detail on exploiting such weak players. He discusses how to use software to monitor multiple tables, how/when to force a play as short stack, and coming over top of HBLs (weak recreational players who treat the blinds as an ante and limp even into high blinds).

Preliminary concepts such as pot odds, expectation versus equity, etc. are also treated in full for newer players. I rate the section on manual reading very highly, and the discussion of buy-in differences and bankroll decisions are likewise very useful for many forms of poker, live or online.

Highly recommended.

I was very disappointed with this book. I liked Moshman's treatment of equity in sit-and-go's at the beginning of the book, but after that the book is basically nothing but examples. That worked for "Harrington on Hold 'em Volume III," but Harrington's third book had two volumes of theoretical behind it. Moshman's book has virtually no theory.

And his examples were, I felt, dubious. For example, in one early example he says to raise three times the big blind (for a raise of 150) with AKo in late position. So far, so good. But then he says if you have three limpers ahead of you to raise to 175. Huh? If someone's going to call a bet of 150 (early in a tournament with a BB of 50), am I supposed to think they won't call 175?

(In "Winning Low Limit Hold 'em," Lee Jones recommends raising in similar situations to a multiple of the big blind equal to 3 plus the number of limpers. So, for the above example of Moshman's, Jones would be recommending that you raise to 300. That makes far more sense to me as a way to thin the field. And if one's goal isn't to thin the field with AKo, why is Moshman recommending raising with it in the first place? If you want to see a cheap flop and hope to trap people by hitting a monster, why wouldn't Moshman just recommend limping along with everyone else? Regardless, if I'm playing AKo pre-flop behind three limpers, I'm sticking in a big raise to thin the field and clarify my position -- unless I'm intentionally just trying to mix up my play.)

In my opinion, if you're looking to improve your tournament results, just buy Dan Harrington's three-volume set and go carefully through it. Harrington isn't dealing specifically with sit-and-go's, but I believe his books will teach you far more than Moshman's. And Harrington won't give you any dubious advice. Also, Lee Jones's excellent "Winning Low Limit Hold 'em" now has a 3rd edition with a chapter devoted to No Limit Hold 'em as well as sit-and-go's. I think Jones's book is far superior to Moshman's, even though the first parts of Jones deals with limit hold 'em. Much of Jones's limit stuff carries over nicely to no limit play, and the extra chapter he's added to his third edition outclasses anything you'll find in Moshman.

If you don't read this book and want to play sit n go's you will lose money unless you are an experienced well rounded player.
The author describes an excelent strategy to make money playing (online) sit n go's. With tracking software you will without a doubt gain profitable information on players and their betting tendencies. However, the plays described in this book are correct when you are playing people who understand the game. As such, this book will help you TREMENDOUSLY if you are playing 10$ or higher games. At lower levels players are just too inexperienced to recognize your play and inevitably you will lose huge pots because those monkeys keep drawing out on you by making that idiot straight or a two pair with K6o when all they had on the flop was a measly pair of sixes. That being said, I'm not complaining or telling bad beat stories. In the long run correct play is winning play. Realize however who you are playing against and adapt your plays accordingly, rather than doing what the book dictates.

I have been a winner at SNGs from $6 to $60 over thousands of games. I was able to breeze through the hand examples and thought processes and finished the book in a hour at the bookstore. Nevertheless, this book is totally awesome.

SNGs are a relatively simple form of poker, but the concepts required to succeed are completely different from any other form of NL Hold'em. This book is written by a reputable and consistent winner. It covers everything from SNG theory, calculating tournament equity, and proper aggressive strategy.

For sit'n go strategy this book is the absolute nuts. I'd hate it if everyone read this book, but I'm recommending it because the author deserves the $$$ for closing the chapter on Sit'n Go strategy.

Its a ok book. But offers nothing new on sng strategy.
play tight early, open up later...there...saved you $20.

I agree with the first reviewer: really good poker books need lots of examples. It doesn't matter how good the rest of the writing is ... I want lots of specific examples and lots of actual hands, and this book is bursting with them.

Doyle's chapter on no-limit in Super System 2 has solid advice, e.g., but there just aren't enough hands and details for me to feel confident implementing a lot of it into my game. Well that isn't a problem with this book.

Favorite chapters of mine in Sit & Go Strategy are primarily the high-blind stuff

(Lower blind chapters are good too, but we all know S&Gs are decided at high blinds):

Bubble Play (and the awesome ICM-justified queens fold to an all-in there)

Heads Up

Ante Adjusting (I hadn't realized how important antes were in S&Gs...)

Fund. Theory of High Blind Play - best part of the book

My only criticism is a fair number of small typos (even the back cover...), but that's well worth navigating to get this ultra-solid info on a game with huge profit potential.

This book is a concise reference and workbook on SNG strategy. If you are a regular player, most of the concepts in this book will be familiar to you. Key points in the book include distinguishing equity from chip expectation, the independent chip model, tight play early, aggressive play during high blind play, and the gap concept (not explicitly named but talked about). One nice part about this book is an entire chapter dedicated to passive plays that are correct in special situations.

I cannot give this book 5 stars however, because there are a few typos like where chip stacks are given in text as if you were in the small blind when you are shown in the picture to be in the big blind. I also didn't like the fact that going from one example to another, there might be a subtle difference in say the hand you were dealt, and that lead to a drastically different conclusion. The truth of the matter is that small changes in the calling/opening ranges of opponents, and small changes in stack sizes can drastically change whether it is right to push or fold in a high blind situation (which is why I recommend SNG wizard, the software). Also, even though the book argued for a differentiation of chip expectation and tournament equity, sometimes a certain play was advocated for on a purely CEV argument.

Things became much more clear with the use of sit-n-go wizard (computer software). SNG Strategy by Collin Moshman gives the ideas in words so that us humans can better understand what SNG Wizard does. There are no steadfast rules that hold for every situation. Every hand in a SNG is fairly complex and there are many parameters needed as input (to determine the most profitable-- or highest equity play). Relative chip stacks, pay structure, blinds, required edge, calling/folding ranges all factor into the mathematical equity equation. Of course in real poker play you will not be making complex equity calculations. You will be putting to use concepts to develop instincts on when it is right to push, fold, raise, reraise all-in, etc. Moshman gives you these concepts. SNG wizard will help you develop your instincts via 'quiz mode' where you can cycle through 1000s of hands.

Another minor issue I had with the book was was the overuse of the terms loose-tight, aggressive-passive. These terms are very standard, but still vague. Loose can be loose calling or loose limping. Passive can be passive calling or passive folding. Much more useful in push-fold situations are the calling and opening ranges you can put your opponents on. Saying an opponent will call with all but 30% of the worst hands is much more specific than labeling him loose (which could mean he likes to limp or he likes to call).

By labeling opponents simply as loose, tight, passive, aggressive, a lot is lost in terms of deeper poker thought, in my opinion. During high blind play where most decisions are push or fold (or during mid-blind play when the decisions are raise, reraise, call or fold), more precise thinking is required than typing players as tight-aggressives or loose aggressives. Better would be to consider image, tilt, the possibility of impatince or fatigue, antagonism between two players, deceitfulness, adjustments players make to position, adjustments players make to you or your image-- all these things-- in piecing together opening, reraising, folding, and calling ranges (to raises and reraises). The more we know about a player's range, the more we can eke out equity from making the correct pre-flop play. Your own image, and card history (maybe you pushed the last 3-4 hands)are critical factors that are completely neglected in the book.

If I recommend this book, it is for intermediate to advanced players, and together with SNG Wizard. In my experience, most who play as a living already understand everything in this book.

Nothing really new, complicated or original. A very solid book exploring strategy for sit n go tournaments. It will absolutely improve your sit n go results. Basically, it will improve your timing on when to put your tournament life on the line and shove all in.

The beginning of the book is quite elementary, however his insight into the latter stages of SNG play, especially chip equity and applying pressure when short-handed is very helpful. It's well written so even people who don't have math degrees from MIT can understand it. Overall it's one of the more helpful books I've read.

This book "assumes" you know how to play poker. It takes that general knowledge and applies it to Sit 'n Go Tournaments. To be specific... ONE table Sit 'n Go Tournaments. Nice that the author does NOT try to teach about every different tournament type. The discussions of such things as chip equity, the Independent Chip Model, and high-blind play are absolutly excellent. My one & only criticism is that there really needs to be more discussion on some of the software tools available. SnG Power Tools and SitNGO Wizard get only a mention. I don't recall Poker-ACE HUD, another valuable tool, being mentioned at all. Never-the-less, still worth 5 stars.

Sit 'n Go Strategy takes the poker advice-from the best of other sources- and applies it to the sit 'n go. (Actually, I'm convinced that the author has been spying on me for the last couple of years and has turned his notes on me into a book. I'm thinking that I'm due some royalties...)

The author does a good job of explaining what tactics and strategy to use in early, middle, and late stages of a sit 'n go tournament. Every section starts with the author explaining the appropriate tactics and then he follows up with questions. The format is very similar to Harringtons' tournament books. (One of my few criticsims is that more questions/examples would have been helpful.)

The author also does a fair job of explaining the reasoning behind his theory. When a play differs from regular poker, or even normal tourney, play, the author explains. This should be quite helpful for those who are new to poker.

So, in short the book is useful, but it's not earth-shattering. Most of the tactics can be ascertained from reading other books and applying the principals to the sit'n go format. However, this book shortens that process and does a good job of it.

Great book, I play lots of Sit Gos in the computer, and all I had found before was small articles on basic strategy. The author does a thorough analysis of all the different strategies at the different stages.
Great job.

This is one of the best poker books I have ever read . I had been playing poker and SNG's for about a year and was very frustrated with my results and then I came accross SNG Strategy .This book gave me a very concrete idea of how to play every phase of the SNG game low blind , mid blind and most importantly the high blind and bubble play. This instruction was followed up with easy to follow hand examples . The ideas presented in SNG stategy are understandable and could quickly be applied to my game .I credit this book into turning me into a winning player and would consider it a must read for any poker player.

Collin Moshman has struck the gold in untapping the SNG book market, with a book that is both easy to read and clear and with enough wisdom to make you a profitable SNG player at almost any level. Read and reread this book and cherish it!

If I had to advice one poker book only, my choice would be this one. It's explanation of the play with different blind sizes is fantastic. It's very useful also for cash players because they can understand the importance of the stack size (deep cash play is somewhat similar to small blind tournament play). I strongly advice this book

This is an excellent book on the 1-table SNG format. After describing the theory of play in each of a wide variety of situations (small, medium, and high blinds; short- and big-stacked; cards in hand; etc.), Moshman provides several hand "quizzes" that examine how to play specific hands. This is an EXCELLENT feature missing from most poker books--even most of the good ones.

One minor beef: I'd like to see some expansion into multi-table SNG's, which somehow ride the line between the 1-tables discussed here (and in several other books) and full-on tournament play.

This is a great book for SNG strategy if you are new to the concept.

But one could save themselves a lot of trouble by breaking it down to these three points:
1) there is going to be some variance in your wins, so make sure you have a large enough bankroll for the level you are playing (what "large enough" means varies by the player's skill and playing style)
2) play very tight early in the game, loosen up and be more aggressive later in the game
3) use SNG Wizard to review all of your games to learn where there are non-intuitive spots to get your money in when the blinds are high

Note that while this book is about NLHE, the basic concept will apply to nearly any SNG strategy, keeping in mind that for limit and PL games, it is slightly harder as your bet sizing is not always going to be much of a threat, therefore your fold equity does not count for much, which much of this strategy is built around.

Otherwise, this is essentially the mathematical model for beating the games.

I personally I have had less success (or perhaps just way more variance) in the turbo games, but crush the regular ones. The better you are, your skill is going to come from you making fewer mistakes, and you exploiting your opponents mistakes - that means in a turbo, there is going to be less time for your opponents to make mistake and so in theory the variance should be higher.

This book has become my favorite out of the dozens of poker books that I own. Before reading this book I was a marginal to losing player at on-line poker. Since reading this book, I have become a consistent winner at low and medium stakes SNG's. I honestly can't say that about any other poker book I have read.

Once you have read and understand the material in the low-blind, mid-blind and high blind sections it becomes an invaluable reference for constantly tuning your game. The organizational structure of the book makes it easy to quickly find a situation that you might want to review after an on-line session.

This book paid for itself within 24 hours of reading it. If you are serious about playing SNG's, but haven't been getting the results you desire, then this book is a must read.

I thought this was a great book on how to play in a SNG. So many books on tournament play are about big tournaments. This book just covers one table SNG play. Cash games and big tournaments are not the same game and cannot be played the same way. I like the way this book takes you threw a SNG from 9 players to heads-up. And talks about the raising blinds. This is not a fast reed book. The book is not that big, it's just that you need to take your time when reading this book and put yourself into each hand to understand how to play SNGs. Use like a user manual and go back to it and look up how to play from places like the bubble or when short stacked. Get this book, you need it. On second thought, don't get this book if you're thinking about playing in a SNG against me.

Overall I thought it was an excellent book (most 2+2 books are). I would have liked to have seen more on turbo, six handed, and playing multiple sngs at one time.

[[ASIN:1880685396 Sit 'n Go Strategy]This book will pay for itself if you plan to play Sit 'n Go games. The math theory stuff was a little over the top for me, but overall this is an excellent book giving you what you need to know to survive getting busted out. The end-game info could be beefed up. This book already paid for itself for me. I highly recommend it even if you only play in home game tourneys. Good luck!