Beginners Guide To 180 Man Sit and Go’s

The 180 Man SnGs are some of the most profitable tournaments around at the minute and can easily be beaten with a solid, yet relatively straightforward approach.

The tournament itself is classed as a Sit and go, but will play similar to an extended version of the game in the form on MTT (Multi table tournament). It’s capped at 180 players and will only start when all 180 seats have been taken.

Buy-ins range from $2, with 1st prize paying out $108, up to $36 with 1st prize paying out $1782, catering for every bankroll size. The frequency in which they run is a huge plus with one kicking off at various levels every 5-10 minutes, so if multi tabling is your thing, then you can easily jump into as many as you wish.

The average time for the tournament is around 3hrs 20 min, which is about 1/3rd of the time of a regular tournament on Poker Stars.

An important part of 180s is working out what sort of stack size you want to be (ideally) at the end of each level. Obviously the bigger the better, but throughout this guide I will post some pointers as a guide in relation to the blinds.

Level 1 to 3 – 10/20 to 25/50.

Don’t be shy early on! Use your 75bb starting stack to good use. Try and get a look at cheap flops with hands that have equity to flop big, like suited connectors etc. Don’t be afraid of moving chips in as another tourney won’t be far away.

Level 4 – 50/100.

Blinds are getting quite serious now and more focus has to be taken on pre-flop play. Look to exploit the tighter players at your table, but be wary when they play back. Keep your raises to 3xbb, no need for any more. Ideally we would have around 4000 in chips at this point.

Level 5 to 6 – 75/150 to 100/200.

Stay aggressive at this point in the tournament. Play back at people who keep going for your big blind and look to take those that don’t defend. Don’t be afraid to flip for your tournament life!

Level 7 to 9 – 100/200/25 to 300/600/50.

Antes have kicked in which increases pot sizes and will start to reduce your ‘M’. At some point in these middle stages you will probably have to get your stack in. Look for aggro players to play back it and spots where you can shove squeeze with a bit of value if possible.

Level 10 to 14 – 400/800/50 to 1500/3000/150.

So money bubble has usually burst by now and the nits who were holding on for that min cash have open their ranges and looking for a double up.

Note who these people are and look to get it in with hands that have high equity such as AT+, KQ and 66+. Don’t try to steal from them as they are looking to gamble.

Level 15 200/400/200.

Usually the final level. Stay aggressive, especially 2-3 handed. The majority of the time neither will have hands so keep the pressure on.

The difference between 1st and 2nd is usually fairly significant so don’t switch off because you have made it this far.