In my last article, I talked about my strategy of playing very tight in the early stages of a sit-and-go tournament. That same strategy will quickly get you broke in the middle and end stages. Simply stated, it is time to get busy and take some chances as the blinds increase and the number of players in the tournament decrease.

Five players remaining:

With just two spots to the money, this is a great time to get aggressive. In my experience, there are usually five players left in the tournament at around the $80/$160 level of blinds. The average stack at this level is $2,700.

•If I am below five or six big blinds at this level ($800-$1,000 in chips) I will play very aggressively and just take a shot at stealing the blinds or doubling up. I find that most players are waiting for players to bust out and are unwilling to commit $800 to the pot to do so. I particularly look to steal the blinds from players with average stacks -- they can afford to fold and are unlikely to want to commit a large number of chips to the pot.
•If I am a big stack ($4,000-plus) at this point, there will be at least one or two small stacks. But I realize that the small stacks are still capable of inflicting some damage. Even a loss of $800 at this point in the tournament can bring me from big stack back to average. I'm looking to steal from the average stacks and get the money in with the best hand against the small stacks. If there is another big stack at the table, all the rest of the players remaining will have small stacks -- I am very careful not to get into a situation where I can get squeezed and frozen out of the pot (see my previous article on the "Fish and Chip Sandwich" play).

Four players remaining:

One spot left to the money, most players in the sit-and-go will play far too tight for the blinds. Instead of raising three times the big blind, I find that a minimum raise will often get the job done -- any raise is enough to get the remaining players to fold. I am very careful here about playing a hand from the small blind if the big blind is a short stack -- this is often a way to get caught in the chip sandwich. The real key to a four-handed game is to make sure that if you put chips into the pot, you'll get to see the flop if you don't have the best hand or you'll get all-in before the flop with the best hand. One of the worst things that can happen to you in a four-handed game is having to fold the hand after raising the pot -- with the big blind often at $200, a preflop raise of three times the big blind ($600) will always be nearly one-fifth of your stack.

The bubble bursts:

After the bubble has burst and the sit-and-go is reduced to three players, it is time to get very aggressive -- the shorter the stack, the more aggressive you have to be. Remember, if you have the shortest stack, you're expected to go out in third place. Give yourself a fighting chance to win by taking a stand early and often.

Try to be the player that makes the last move. If you're the last player to put chips into the pot, you have some "folding equity" -- your opponent has a chance to fold an inferior hand. With that in mind, consider making a "stop-and-go" play with 6-8 big blinds:

•The player on the button raises to three times the big blind.
•You just call.
•No matter what the flop is, you move all-in for the rest of your chips.

Remember, your opponent is pot committed if you raise all-in before the flop and you will not be making the last move -- your opponent is definitely going to call. By waiting for the flop, there is a good chance that you can get your opponent to incorrectly fold. Your opponent, playing any two unpaired hole cards, will only flop a pair or better about 32.4 percent of the time. If your opponent misses the flop, there is a good chance you can take down the pot with the automatic post-flop all-in. If they don't miss the flop, you were unlikely to win the pot anyway.

Heads-up:

If you get to heads-up, realize that the blinds will nearly always be quite significant and that both players will have an average of about 15 big blinds. Heads-up is tough, and with the blinds so big, it is even tougher. I recommend playing almost every single hand you're dealt when you're on the button -- raise 2½ times the big blind with about 65 percent of the hands, limp and just complete the blind 30 percent of the time, and fold 5 percent of the time. When limping, make sure that for every three times you limp with a bad hand you're willing to fold to a raise, you limp with a good hand you're willing to move all-in with before the flop.

Conclusion:

All in all, sit-and-go tourneys are a great way to practice the skills necessary to win a big poker tournament. It is a mini-tournament that very closely simulates all the stages of a bigger, longer, uncut tournament. When I'm playing at Full Tilt Poker, I know that my practice will pay off not only for my charity (I donate all my online winnings to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation), but also in better results in the big tournaments.