We all know that the huge poker tournaments that are shown on TV get all the fame and glory along with those lucky enough to do well in them.  However, the average player’s best shot at coming out with a positive tournament bankroll normally doesn’t lie within the huge tournaments.  It instead lies with online sit & go tournaments and the strategy utilized in them.

We’re not just talking about any sit & go poker tournaments though.  We’re instead talking about the smaller stakes sit & go tourneys that have buy-ins around $10.  And the best place to begin talking about the strategy for them is in the early rounds.

These small stakes tournaments have very small blinds in the beginning and one should be looking to stay in early hands with middle range cards like suited connectors in case they hit on the flop.  After all, with a very small percentage of the chip stack being bet out, it’s worth it to try to win some pots here and there.

One thing early on in small stakes sit & go's that you won’t normally see in higher stakes ones is people going to the river no matter what if they hold top pair.  If you have a monster hand at the flop or turn, you can often sucker low stakes players in by slow-playing these hands.  The quality of players here is usually not up to par with pricier sit & go's. 

Getting into the middle rounds, your starting hand requirements will need to change a bit because the cost of seeing the flop changes here too.  If a person’s stack looks good at this stage, they can play a little tighter and wait for others to bust.  However, if one needs to raise their stack to compete, going all-in pre-flop with hands just outside the premium range such as 10-10 or K-Q is a must. 

Now this differs from high stakes poker strategy because players need to be a little more conservative with more money on the line since sitting back and letting others bust can still yield a profit.  However, in small stakes sit & go tournaments, players are going to want to go for the win to earn a decent hourly rate.  And going all-in pre-flop with decent hands will allow one to steal blinds and bets from others.

Everything changes in the late stages of a sit & go as the blinds have gotten much higher.  One can’t sit idly by and be eaten up by blinds but they also can’t call with low-valued hands.  However, middle range cards can survive more often in these three or four-handed situations and one should bet out pre-flop with cards like 10-10 and A-9.  Second and third is an option but first place is definitely the goal.