Sit 'n Go Strategy

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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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

If you want to learn a very aggressive approach to playing single table sit and go Holdem tourneys at the $100.+ plus buy-in level this is a good book. The author says he is successful with this method and I believe him. The downside is that his approach will likely be much less successful at the lower limits where raises get far less respect but some of what he teaches will apply to lower limit 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 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.

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.

I'll be honest right from the start:

I had lots of hesitation about reviewing this one.

I mean it helped me so much with Sit n' Go's that I am feared of what it would do if it was read from many more people. I would prefer not to face an opponent who read and understood its concepts.

OK, down to the bone of it: This book is not huge in content, which is good. Second, this book is not about how to learn playing poker, but it is about how to play Sit n' Go's. I mean cash games, Multi table and big live tournaments are so much different, that if you use some approach you developed on them you will fail. For example, try to play a Sit n' Go the "Harrington Way" and expect to be blinded out soon before you have any chance of making it into the money. Harrington has done a good job talking about Big tournaments and Sklansky, Brunson etc have also done great job in their fields. Believe me, I have bought and read all of them...

But this one is focused on one thing: How to beat the Sit n' Go tournaments. And it does a great job on this.

Its division into Low blind play / medium blind play / high blind play (although blurred at times, as it is on reality after all) is very effective.

Its examples and suggestions are all written in a very simple and understandable language.

The big plus in it is that it has examples with small variations that make it so much more useful! That means, it teaches you how to adjust your play in the conditions you have in front of you! That is (in my opinion) the most valuable concept of this book!

Want an example? Here is the first that I found in front of me, there are lots of them all around.

Example 2-19: with 50-100 blinds and 7 players, you have a stack of 1600 and hold a pair of 8's in the cut-off seat. How do you play?

Example 2-20: with 100-200 blinds and 7 players, you have a stack of 1600 and hold a pair of 8's in the cut-off seat. How do you play?

I won't give you the answer to it, you can always buy the book and see to it. But isn't it a surprise that there are different answers to it? And you will find such examples (with small/tiny changes that change your optimal play) in all places!

I won't write about anything you can read in other reviews. I will just say that (being a book lover) it was one of the rare times that I studied a book not page-by-page but word-by-word and one of the rare times I actually had a yello marker to mark all the interesting points in it! And believe me, I treat my books with such respect, that even the smallest mark on them annoyes me!

But this is not a simple book. This is a weapon, and for the growing field of poker players who love to play Sit n' Go tournaments, this one will be a revelation!

PS: If you do buy it and use it, email me and lets avoid each other in the tables. I play to win, and you won't make it easy on me...

PS2: the answers above are 1) (ex.2-19) raise to 300 chips and 2) (ex 2-20) raise all in. That's the easy part. The soul of it is in its why explanation... Go get the book and find out.

PS3: For the ones looking for deep concepts and theory, this is not a book for you. The writer doesn't want to go into much theory, Sklansky, Brunson, Harrington have covered these areas. For the beginner or intermediate ones playing online and trying to upgrade their game skills on Sit n' Go tournaments, what are you doing still reading this review? Go push the "Buy" button, you won't regret it!

PS4: Thanks, mr.Moshman, for a great book and your sharing of great ideas about the game.

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.

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.

I've read a few poker books and I play almost exclusively SNG games the exception being the recent addition of rush poker which I play a little bit of now and then. But for all practical purposes, I'm an SNG player.

What I like about this book is that there is quite a bit of solid advice. I've seen other reviewers mention that the majority of the book is examples with no theory behind it. I couldn't disagree more. In many of the examples, the book explores the scenarios for what would happen if you did something else. In many cases, the book lays out multiple ways to deal with a given situation. Most books don't dare do this, and basically give you hard and fast rules to live by. Unfortunately for them, holdem is a very dynamic game and there is no one-size fits all strategy for every situation. There are just too many factors to make hard and fast rules. This book does well at teaching one to be flexible, shift gears mid-game, and provide multiple outlets and theories for especially tough situations. Having said that, the book doesn't deal with every day, simple situations, which one should already be familiar with when picking up this book.

The vast majority of the book were things I already figured out through years of play. I have to say, I agree with much of it. I did pick up a bit of insight and learned a few angles that I hadn't considered before. Employing (albeit with big reservations) some of the tactics in this book had me win an SNG as a direct result, so the book paid for itself in one game.

So why 3 stars? I'd like to say 3.5 actually, but there are some things in this book that can get you into trouble, the author knows it, and then makes excuses for it.

Here's an example; we're told to push all-in in middle position against a pot sized reraise in UTG position with AKo when the blinds are low or the tourney is just starting off. Ok, well many players will both agree and disagree with this tactic. The problem however, is that this contradicts lessons in the book. For instance, up to that point we're told to avoid big pots early in the game unless we're certain that we're winning. Ok... furthermore, we're told to lay down pocket pairs up to and including QQ when facing a reraise early in the game. To me, this seems inconsistent at best. I'm supposed to fold a made hand early on, but push all in out of position. The reasoning the author gives? You're gonna love this...
Because he's assuming that you're up against a pocket pair, and because you're about 50% to win, this is a good move considering the blinds left in the pot when everyone folds. A 50% chance to win 1.5 blinds more than you bet, in a section of the book about low blind play. Then, we're told basically to expect defeat, move on, and just be happy that we made the right move.

But what really doesn't make sense is making an argument for a 50/50 hand where one 50% is somehow better than another. That would be akin to us flipping a coin for $10/pop, and you agreeing to play every time if you can pick tails. But if you have to pick heads, you'll never play? This doesn't make sense. 50/50 is a 50% chance regardless of whether you're the first 50 or the second 50. Even worse, any pocket pair is actually slightly higher than 50% to win against AKo. So really, if you wanted to pick one side to play, the advice should be reversed. Fold the AKo, push with the pocket pair. If you were say AKo against QQ, you're 43% to win. Not counting split pots, consider 43% vs. 50% x 1000 times in that situation and see that you're making a negative ROI move when compared to doing the exact opposite with the pocket pair, but whatever...

I don't know about you, but I don't push all in expecting to lose. I might bluff with an all in push, but only if I think I'm going to win with it.

Truth be told, the argument here in this example can go either way. BUT! The real problem here is that the play is inconsistent with the perspective the author tries to instill in the reader. So whether you agree with the example or not, the author tells us to do something that his theory contradicts. So you either disagree with the play, or his theory. Your choice.

Another example is that we're told to call on the button with A4s with four other players in the pot. Ok, if you like that move, why then are we told to fold AJ in the same position earlier? I agree with the author that AJ is often a second best hand and leads to trouble. But I don't understand how A4 isn't.

I could go on, but just bear this in mind; the advice here is mostly good. That which is questionable can be argued for either way. The complaint however is that the author provides examples contrary to his tactics and theories. This gives the work a high level of inconsistency and will confuse many players. The other problem with it is that going by this book, one won't have a clue what to do in situations where there aren't examples (at least, they won't have learned from here), and the previous samples have the tight and loose play contradicting one another.

Another case in point is that the author, Moshman, is a more successful author than he is poker player, which may lead some to believe that he's selling an idea rather than working it. Take a look at Johnny Chan, Hellmuth, Hansen, Bruson, Ivey... in all of these examples their poker careers far overshadow any media they've produced, but I suppose it's worth noting that one doesn't have to be well known to give solid advice. I know from experience that there are nearly bulletproof players earning a living from poker in high stakes that nobody has ever heard of, so I give Moshman a pass here.

In summary, the book is good enough to have me trying a few new things, and that's after 4 years of SNG play. I've just now started to break even, having learned by sitting at the table for the first 3 years alone, and no help. I'll be making a new database for poker tracker and see how things turn out.

Good luck out there!

And yes, I do recommend this book. It is better than most.

I am an intermediate level SNG poker player. I tend to break even to losing a little bit of money and I mostly play tournament's for recreation purposes and thought, man if there was only a really good SNG book out there maybe I could win a few more tables and increase my bankroll. Anyways I bought Colin Moshman's Sit n Go Strategy hoping it would improve my game. I got home and read almost the entire book thinking I was armed with the info to beat anyone. The book is broken down into three areas of play: low blind, mid level blind, and high blind. The basic strategy is to play tight up front and loose towards the end. On the bright side there is some decent theory in the book and lots of hand examples. Unfortunately this material seems outdated. As I observed many of the players on my 10 dollar buy in SNG table, they were already incorporating a lot of these basic strategies. I then thought that at the high blind area was where I would take them as most people play tight right before they placed in the money. To my dismay the players were all seemingly aggressive at this point stealing many blinds and I finished fourth just outside of the money. I played a few more tournaments and had similar luck. Sorry folks, but due to the increasing number of poker players and books out there, most likely they have read and know everything that you do and you better hope that luck is on your side as much as skill.

I'll keep this simple -- I had just started playing S&Gs (and had been playing MTTs for a bit longer) with mixed, break-even results.

I read this book; applied its principles, and am now a winning S&G & MTT player.

Because of this book.

Yes, I would have figured it out on my own, some day, eventually, and a lot more than $16 later.

Moshman is clear, organized, focused & articulate. His reasoning is rock-solid & mathematically justified. You can't go wrong with this book.

I read this book as a novice poker player and was immediately able to start applying the principles to the $1 SNGs I was playing. The criticisms that this book only applies to mid-to-high stakes, or that some of the strategies are wrong / ineffective / outdated, are simply not true. If you understand the theory (which is really quite straight forward) then you will just get more opportunities to apply it in the micro stake games (weathering the odd bad beat, but generally crushing the looser/clueless opposition).

There are certainly more advanced books out there, and I have no experience playing anything beyond the $5 games, but if you are starting out then getting your head around this book will definitely make you a solid winning player.

'Sit n Go Strategy' by Collin Moshman is a great reference for new and experienced SNG players alike who want to learn and/or improve their STT (Single Table Tournament) game. Collin separates content into early game strategy when blinds are low, mid-game when you have to start to turn up the heat and late game which is the true gem of the book. Also included is some thoughts on career SNG play and 70% of the content of this book is hand analysis. The writing is clear and concise, examples are realistic and the strategies outlined if followed truly will make any player better. My only issue with the book is that some of the suggestions on how to play hands have different 'solutions' to the same types of scenarios all throughout (eg. shoving or 70% shove or flat call). To the newbie player it might not be totally clear how to proceed in particular situations but this is really stretching it, trying to be a devil's advocate.

My play was pretty good already (it better have been for having played around 5 million hands online) but there were some concepts in this book that already I am seeing positive results from (such as shoving in situations where I might have not in the past as the goal of finishing #1 and not #3 is stressed over and overa again).

While not the bible quality of the Harrington books for MTTs, this book is a must buy for SNG players at any level (not just single tables)!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I found this book very informative. There were many points covered and some very complex formulas explained. The first time thru I was a little overwhelmed, but the more I played poker and re-read the book the more I started to understand some of the concepts that were explained.

While I didn't personally agree with some of the theories that were given in the book. I was able to see how they could used and was able to use that information to help me understand how or why an opponent might do the concepts explained.
Like I said informative but didn't mesh with my style of play.

Let me preface this review by saying that I've read about a dozen other books before this one, including Dan Harrington's tournament books, Phil Gordon's Green and Blue books, Brunson's Super System, and other classic poker books. I like 'em all, but if you're a fan of online sit 'n go tournaments like I am, then you'll find that this book just stands out above all the rest.

This book did exactly what it claimed - it changed me from being a break-even player to a winning player. It completely changed the way I was looking at SnGs.

Moshman's examples are written in the same format as Harrington's, which I enjoy. Rather than just telling you how to play, it gives you an opportunity to make a decision about what you would do in a given situation, and then the author explains what the correct decision is.

The book is broken down into low blind play, mid blind play, and high blind play. There's a fourth section entitled "Career Play," that deals with various things like bankroll size, strategies for multi-tabling, optimum times to play during the week, etc. I was suprised I could learn as much from "Career Play" as I did from the first three sections that dealt specifically how to play a SnG. Definitely worth checking that section out.

If at times I find myself struggling and feel like I need a refresher, this is the book I go to. It caters specifically SnG's, and does so in a very logical, detailed, and in depth manner. No tournament book out there even comes close to this one.

Bottom line: I was playing $1.10 SnG's before I read this, and now I'm very confidently playing $10 SnG's, and before long I'll be playing the more expensive SnG's.

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.

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.

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!

I've read about 10 poker books and this one has been by far the hardest to read.

Excellent book! Helps take your sit n go game to the next level. Describes the independent chip model theory much clearer than was available in "Kill Phil." Teaches through theory and describes every aspect of the game. A must-read for anyone serious about becoming a winning player.

This book is amazing. Collin is obviously one of the best at what he does AND can teach it to others very well. I've done decent in other forms of poker but wondered why I always struggled with SnG's, and why the same players were always winning. This book helped me realize the way I was approaching this form of poker was all wrong, and has forever corrected my many mistakes. I can proudly say that I can now make a living at poker due to what I've learned in this book as well as Moshman's awesome Heads-Up No Limit book.

I recommend this book to all players, beginner or expert.

Thanks Collin and I eagerly await your next release!

If you are just starting to play SNGs or can't figure out how to play you need to read this book. Even if you think you can beat small SNGs you should read this book. It covers all the necessary concepts and mathematical background you have to know if you're going to play SNGs. It teaches important things like stealing the blinds and protecting your equity. What's even more crucial it shows how to increase the aggression towards the end when the blinds are getting bigger and players are trying to sneak into the money. If you want to be successful in SNG you must read this book.

this is a good book for people looking for strategy playing sng's this has helped me abunch

This book has helped me plug a lot of leaks in my sng game. It is well written and easy to follow. The multiple examples after each strategy discussion help drive the points home. It starts with critical poker concepts and then it takes you through low, mid and high blind play strategy. There is a good section that reviews the differences between sng's and other poker games and discusses multi-tabling, buy-ins, bankroll, etc. It includes pushing tables and an odds chart that are useful for reference.

I highly recommend it for anyone who is playing sng's.

I would never recommmend this book to anyone I would be likely to play against. Anyone else, beg, buy or steal a copy. Then play some sng's, yo ho.

This book is awesome. Have very solid hands samples from poker playing and it is well written. I advise to anyone who want to become a good SNG player.

i bought also this book, it helped me in 1 table sit n go turneys. i didnt play much of this tournament, but when i played , i strictly use moshman strategy. i won my first 2 of 3 sit n go tounaments. maybe just lucky thought. i rather play Dond -double or nothing which is slightly different in tactics. this book is a good start point.[...]

good book, but I think it works very well on middle buy-in sit&go, from 20$ to 100$ (haven't experience on higher). On lower limit, many concepts don't apply due to looser player

My copy of "Sit 'n Go Strategy" looks like it was tied to the back of a train for a hundred miles. It is dog-eared, underlined, highlighted and tagged. I continue to find "nuggets" with each reading.
I believe that SnGs are one form of poker that can be learned from a book. The optimal strategies have been proven using computer analysis and those that know these strategies are consistently crushing the online SnGs every day. Collin Moshman is like that favorite teacher that somehow makes the material seem easy. He knows how to beat these games AND he can actually explain how.
This book is well organized, indexed and walks you through a SnG just like it is played. Collin starts out with low blind play, where the optimal strategy is to play a low percentage of hands. Don't you just love it when you see a few players get knocked out early in a SnG, risking their entire stacks on coin flips? It's like they are just handing you money. Collin explains why tight is right in the early stages. In the middle blind stages, Moshman shares how to exploit the remaining players, now that you know more about how they play. During the final high blind period, hyper-aggression is usually the rule. That's a very rough outline of the book, but Collin also takes it 10 layers deeper. The book is intended for Hold'em players at many levels: starting with those that know the basics of the game up to advanced players that are trying to improve their ROI (return on investment).
Collin teaches the SnG strategy with a mix of theory and explanations followed by practical hand examples. The numerous hand examples walk you through real situations that emphasize the best strategy to employ. I love the format for these examples. He sets up a hand situation, and then asks "what would you do?" I cover up the answer with my hand and spend some time thinking about it. I then read Collin's strategy and compare it to what I thought. After each street, he asks the same thing. This helps to cement my learning.
I have a lot of poker books in my library, but this one is sitting next to my computer.

Moshman's accomplishment with this book was not necessarily in being the first to discover the fundamental principles of SNGs, but in being the first to organize the disparate snatches of theory and advice from this or that poker forum thread into a logical, integrated whole. The clarity of Moshman's presentation paired with his obviously firm understanding of SNG theory and practice, as well as his own unique insights and formulations make this the definitive SNG book, one to which all future books on the game will owe a debt.

If you have any interest in short, no-limit hold'em tournaments (Sit 'n Gos), this is the book to get. If you are just starting out with poker, I'd first recommend reading a basic book on low-limit hold'em such as "Winning Low-Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones (also a must-have book in my opinion).

This is not a book that you will sit down and read in a day to get its full benefit. Throughout the book, Collin gives examples of hundreds of hands and how you should play them in the different stages of a SNG tournament. I find myself going over some of the examples twice to make sure I understand his logic. For instance, it was really hard for me at first to play aggressive in the high blind stage of a tournament, but doing so improved my game greatly.

I highly recommend this book to any Sit 'n Go player out there. I keep going back to it.

This book was recommended to me by a very successful SNG player when I was switching from cash games only to SNGs. I knew there would be an adjustment, but had no idea the number of differences. In fact, in many ways, SNG poker is almost a different game than cash game poker.

That's what this book does so well. It provides direction to adapt to SNGs and the changing dynamic of the game from low to high blind play. Favorite parts include the focus on adapting with the antes and the high blind play chapter.

As far as the number of hand examples, there are quite a few, but I think it's better to provide too many than too few. You can always skip if that isn't helpful for you. Very good book.

As the review title states, the information in this book is dated to about 2 years ago.

The Sit 'n Go has vastly evolved over these 2 years, and I would encourage anyone interested in advanced and up-to-date SNG play to check out "Kill Everyone" by Lee/Straub, and "Secrets of Sit 'n Go's" by none other than Cardrunners pro/superstar Phil Shaw (who dominates the online tables as Jackal69).

If you are only interested in low buyin tournaments, this will provide you a basic framework that will put you ahead of most people.

After getting through most of Collin's book, I began seeing much better results in my sit and go's. The book is written well - although there a quite a few typos - but at least the points made are interesting and useful.

very technical. additionally, it can be read more then once and you will learn more and more each time. some parts are quite boring

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

[[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!

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.