Sit N Go’s are the perfect practice arena for final table play. Unlike ring games and live cash games, when a player is eliminated, there isn’t one waiting to fill the emptied seat. Adapting to an ever diminishing number of players is a skill that definitely needs to be mastered for the aspiring player.
When a player gets eliminated from the table, it effectively means two things for those still seated, the blinds will come around quicker, and your paying more for each hand. Think of it this way, if there are 4 players left and the blinds are at 50 /100, your paying approx 37 in blinds each hand, or 150 every 4 hands.
If a player is eliminated then your now playing 150 every 3 hands, or 50 a hand. As a result you are forced to gamble more to counter the ever increasing blinds.
Chip stack and blind size should influence your hand selection strategy and hence how loose your play is. So naturally as a table progresses, blinds climb higher and players get eliminated, it is going to become necessary to loosen up your playing style and gamble more. Further more when there are 9 players seated at a table, there is likely to be 2 rather good hands amongst them, either AK or high pockets ect, however as there are only 3-4 players left, the chance of someone having such a good hand is diminished greatly and hence you can play a lot more aggressive with mid range cards such as pocket 8’s
The final argument for the tighter earlier, looser later strategy is the pay out structure. Most Sit n Gos and final tables will pay out the largest percentage to the top 3. Hence you should aim for 3rd. Once you have made the money, it is a lot easier to gamble up for 1st. You’ve already turned a profit, so change from the tighter strategy and gamble to make more.
