This chapter will give you the basic knowledge about how to play in the middle stages of a Sit & Go tournament. The middle stages are defined as a table with 6 to 4 players remaining. When you reach the middle stages you will also notice the increased blinds. They are now worth fighting for. In short you need to get more active, play more pots and, if possible, try to steal some blinds.

Our basic strategy is still slightly tight and aggressive. You should be happy if you raise a pot thereby picking up the blinds. However if you get called you still want a decent hand to play after the flop. Your choices of starting hands at the beginning of this middle stage should still focus on higher pocket pairs and high suited or unsuited connectors. Remember that as the number of players diminishes your starting hands go up in value especially those with high cards. Towards the end of this stage for instance any ace can be played if the circumstances are right.

A lot of great poker players give you the advice to become very active when it is only four people left. The reason is to get into a good position before it is time to divide the money between the people finishing in the top three. A very aggressive approach will work nicely if the table is tight. But a lot of times you will run into a lot of players trying to do the same thing as you. Therefore the advice is to not wait until you are only four players left. Five players are almost just as good. But when you change your gear and get more active don't over do it! Pick your moments and wait for good situations. Otherwise you'll often be faced with a very hard decision after suddenly getting re-raised. Remember that a lost chip is worth more than the next one you win.

As the table is getting short handed position becomes more important. From an early position still play good hands. From a middle to late position you can play a lot more hands. Just make sure that you do not get yourself into situations where you risk a dangerously high amount of your chip stack without having an idea of where to go after that. If you try to steal too many blinds someone will eventually get tired and come back over the top. Then you will face a very hard decision especially if you have a medium stack. If you've invested too much in the hand already your only option might be to go all-in. So keep focused with a selective aggressive approach, don´t waste all chips at once, and try to play your opponents by using your position.

This area is something that we could write almost a whole book about. But we will not. Instead we will teach you what we think is the most important to know when playing Sit & Go.

Be wary of stealing blinds from very large or very small stacks. You might get called because the big stack can afford to loose and the small stack might call since he/she is desperate.

If you are getting short stacked yourself; don't wait too long, especially if you are sitting at tight table. Go ahead and raise and hope to pick up blinds to build your stack again. If the table is very active you will, even with a short stack, have to wait for a decent hand. However you should now get action so waiting is not that bad. If the rest of the table is very active there is a great chance they will also eliminate each other.

If you have a large stack you can pick your own strategy. If you like to put pressure on the opponents you can raise as soon as you feel you have a decent hand. If you are more patient and like to play it safe you can sit back and wait for good hands and/or that the other players eliminate each other.

If you can choose who to play against you should not get yourself into a pot with a big stack. They might eliminate you!