Once you’ve built up a few chips, and the game has really gotten underway, it’s coasting time. During this time, you don’t really want to be playing any suited connectors, or gambling hands, unless you can get in the pot real cheap.
The trick is not to risk any chips you don’t have to, you just need to make the money right now. To be a profitable sit n go player, your first goal is simple: Always make it into the money.
If you’re in late position, and getting odds to call say a 78 suited, then by all means, call and be willing to throw it away the second you don’t flop 2 pair or better. If you’ve found yourself with a pair and a draw, then make a stab at it, and see what the turn brings.
The important thing is not to get married to anything that isn’t the nuts. It’s also important that you’re not making excuses to call mediocre hands and funnelling all of your chips back into the other players chipstacks.
More often than not players that find themselves all in in the first couple hands, insta-doubling their chipstacks funnel those chips back in call-folding during the rest of the game.
Let those players get themselves into trouble, you on the other hand should be looking for reasons to fold. If you just cannot justify a fold, then you belong in the hand. If by any chance folding might be the best option, don’t hesitate to do it.
Play continues like this until we reach the bubble, which is in most cases reached when the game is down to 4 players.
Once the game is down to 4, wait and see how it looks like your opponents have decided to play it. If they’ve decided to coast into the money by using the strategy you’ve been using thus far, then change it up and go into theft mode. As you steal pots by making believable bets whenever it appears that your opponents are not interested in them, be aware of any calls. Be ready to lay anything down that gets challenged.
Eventually, the players at the table are going to realize what you’re up to, or they’re going to hit a monster hand, just remember never to want the pot worse than anyone else does if you don’t have the nuts.
No fancy play required, fold to re-raises.
If by playing aggressively, you create aggressiveness, then let the other players battle against each other while you in turn coast into the money. Once you’ve successfully reached the money, it’ll be time to switch things up again, keeping your opponents on their toes, and your graphs moving in the right direction.
