Sit & Go (SNG)
Single-table tournament that starts when full
Definition
A Sit & Go (SNG) is a tournament with no fixed schedule that starts as soon as the planned number of seats fills — historically one table (6 or 9 players), sometimes two or three. Unlike cash games, you pay a fixed buy-in for a chip stack, and only the top places are paid (classic 9-player structure: 50/30/20% for the top three). An SNG's life crosses three phases with distinct strategies: a deep phase (50-75bb stacks) played tight — accumulating without risk has little value when only survival pays —, a middle phase where blinds rise and stealing becomes central, and a short phase (under 15-20bb) that flips into push/fold, where Nash charts become the reference tool. The SNG is the format where ICM weighs heaviest per hand played: the bubble returns every single game. It's the historical school of short-stack preflop play: mastering your shove, call and resteal ranges by depth converts directly into ROI — and that's exactly what drilling ranges automates.
9-player SNG, 4 left (3 paid): the bubble. You're 2nd in chips in the SB with 12bb; the Nash shove says ~40% of hands against the BB... but the BB is the only stack covering you, and two 4bb shorts will bust within the orbit. Tightening your shove well below chip-EV Nash is the correct line here: bubble ICM is worth more than stolen blinds.