Sit-and-Go Strategy - The Power Of Position

I don't think many of us fully understand how important position is during a sitngo. It is "the" most important factor throughout the game , especially when the game reaches the late stages and everyone is fighting for the money. 

Understanding the power of position and how to use it effectively  is a very important part of sitngo strategy.  There are a lot of players who say "I had position on you". And they dont even know what it means. You must understand position, to become a successful sitngo player. PERIOD.


There are 3 different points of position you will have.They are Early, Middle, and Late position. Understanding positition is crucial at the beginning stages of a sitngo. (see post on sitngo strategy). Using position wisely at the beginning will save you valuable chips, and also earn you chips that you need to make it thru to the final stages.


Early Position

Being in early position is a very dangerous part of the game for most sitngo players. If you are one of the first 3 of the nine players to act then you are in "EARLY POSITION". Because you are one of the first to act then that puts you in a spot where you have no idea what kind of hands everyone else at the table has or (what your betting into).Making bets at the beginning stages of a sitngo is a very dangerous and usually costly thing. Many players make bets from early position, only to be called and re-raised and since they have no clue where they are at in the hand then, they are forced to fold, and therefore valuable chips are wasted. An even worse situation occurs when they call the reraise and end up all in by the end of the hand with cards that should have been folded.


Middle Position

Players 4-6 to the left of the dealer in a 9 player sitngo are  in "Middle Position". From the middle position you can pick up some information on how strong your hand is, compared to early position, but there are still a few players left after you to act. Being in middle position is better than early, but you definitely don't want to be limping in with sub-par hands here during the early stages.

Late Position

Once your one of the last 3 players left to act, now you are in "late position". This is the position you want to be in. Now it becomes much more easier to get away with bluffs and stealing some blinds. It also becomes way less risky to limp in, because the odds of seeing the flop are greater because there or only 1 or 2 people who can make a raise at this point.


Bottom Line


Understanding position is key in being a successful sitngo player. If your a new sitngo player who has made it to the final stages of a sitngo and you start to become a little confused by everyone taking turns going all in or making big raises. What your seeing is everyone using position to take the blinds for that hand to stay alive. More often than not the person going all in doesn't have the best hand , they just have POSITION! Unless you have a HUGE chip lead at the final stage, you cannot afford to wait for the right hand. If you do not use position to take down pots, YOU WILL BE BLINDED OUT. But remember position will only keep you alive for so long. At some point there will be a Showdown because somebody has to win.


For more underground tactics and strategies on mastering position,  check out this post