If you are like me, you probably enjoy Sit n Go's on Full Tilt from time to time. No matter what dollar level a game you want to play, they are always plentiful and easy to find. The allure of the SnG is the experience you get in a reasonable time frame. You can aproximate how much time you are going to spend playing one, and you get a maximum amount of experience for a limited amount of liability. If you are going to succeed and make money consistently in Sit n Go's, however, you need to become adept and playing on the bubble.

In Full Tilt Sit n Go's 9-player games, the top 3 players make the money. Obivously the bubble comes when the table has been paired down to 4 players. One player is going to end up with nothing for his efforts and 3 will get paid. I don't think you need me to tell you which position you need to be in!

I favor a fairly aggressive style of play, but on the bubble in a SnG is one time that I will scale back. For example, if I have a decent size chip stack and am not in danger of being blinded off soon, I will not call an all-in pre-flop or post flop on, say a flush draw. Here is what I mean.

I am in the Small blind with A-T off suit and the chip leader pushes all-in from the Button. Do I most likely have the best hand here? Yes. Is he trying to push me around and steal the blinds? Yes. Do I care right now? No. It is too important to make the money at this point to fool around with marginal hands.

Lets say I have K-T of spades in the Big Blind, the button raises to $800 and it is $400 for me to call. I make the call and the Flop comes 3s-8s-Ad. I check. He pushes all-in. Do I call? No. At this point, I am not threatened and I can do better than a 50/50 chance of being the player who busts out.

Once the bubble has burst, this same hand may be a call that I would make because I am already getting paid and it may be worth the risk to vault me up to 1st place and the chance to put a lock on the tournament.  Once the bubble has burst, I will go back to aggression. If I finish in 3rd, so be it, I will get paid. But, I will not get blinded/anted down to nothing waiting for the perfect hand at this point. I will aggressively go for 1st place or bust.(in 3rd) There is a big strategical difference in the way you should play hands between 3 players left and 4. The more you work on your game in this area, the more money you will add to your bankroll.