Although there is a lot of discussion on bubble strategy and how important it is to your win-rate, making the correct adjustments once you reach the endgame and giving yourself maximum opportunity for additional profit is also key. If you make it to the money in a PKR ten-player Sit & Go there will be three players left and each of them will already be guaranteed 20% of the prizepool. Therefore it makes sense to ignore that money and treat the endgame as if a new tournament has begun.
In this new tournament the first player out gets nothing, second place gets 10% extra and first gets 30% extra. Based on this approach we can see that in the endgame it becomes correct to change your strategy and focus on winning. The Independent Chip Model also tells us the same. While being involved in coin-flip situations, or getting knocked out when a very short stack exists will still be detrimental to you, the effect is far less than on the bubble.
Playing in the money
With even stacks three-handed in a $10 Sit & Go there will still be $40 to play for, and each stack will have equity of $13.33. But doubling up means that increases to $23.33, reducing the edge you need to have when all-in without pot odds to around 57% or greater.
For this reason when three-handed you want to play more aggressively and be happier taking marginal gambles than on the bubble. You can also play draws and reraise your opponents more aggressively as getting called and losing is less important now than accumulating chips. And once in the money your opponents will often open lighter and fold if the blinds are still shallow.
Adjusting to high blinds
Of course a lot of the time the blinds will be very high at this point with players waiting each other out on the bubble, so again you need to adjust your all-in and calling ranges for this. On the bubble you could often move all-in with any two cards in the small blind, however playing three-handed like this would be a mistake. The big blind should be more willing to call you and gamble in the hope of winning the event. Therefore, while you can still move all-in with lots of hands, folding the worst should definitely become part of your strategy.
Stack considerations
With equal stacks you should be prepared to play more aggressively and take marginal gambles, however typically there will be differences in the relative stack sizes. If these differences are extreme it is worth adjusting from the standard strategies. For example, when playing with a smaller second place stack against a very short third place stack, but a massive chip leader, it’s not worth going over the top with your gambles, as this could cost you a second place finish. In this example there is a high probability that you will be able to lock up an additional 10%, but the chances of you winning overall are pretty small. Therefore avoiding the big stack with all but strong hands is now advisable, although it is not normally necessary to take this as far as on the bubble and fold hands like A-K.
If you have a dominating stack and have prospered from bubble play to gain a massive chip lead then you still have considerable leverage. The other players are now more likely to play for second and let you continue accumulating chips. If they are both quite short with stacks of 5-10 big blinds you can move in with most hands from the button and almost all hands from the small blind for up to 15 big blinds.
If there is one smaller stack you will need to be more cautious in your approach. The short stack will be looking to take marginal gambles and you need to tone down your aggression in relation to them. But this situation gives you the opportunity to attack the second place stack even more aggressively as he will not benefit significantly from doubling up through you. If he does decide to, it puts that additional 10% at risk.
Head to head
Once you reach the heads-up of a Sit & Go, it's time to shift strategy again. During most of a Sit & Go you are keeping ICM considerations and payout jumps clearly in mind. Once you reach heads-up, you are simply playing for whatever is left between first and second, so any other considerations go out the window. For this reason you need to re-adjust and simply consider your chips to have a linear value, then play based on that.
If you suspect an all-in call would be a 50/50 and you already have chips committed then you should now automatically want to take that gamble. This is very different from three-handed where with other players remaining, doing so might be a bad idea since they benefit from it.
Fight or flight
When you get heads-up, you will typically find that either the blinds are very high and that the effective stacks are quite short (below 15 big blinds) meaning you should usually adopt an all-in or fold strategy. If you are deeper (above 15 big blinds) then there is room for you to make small raises, limp and play post flop. But most times it will be push or fold.
Playing all-in or fold is quite simple and is essentially a solved game in that optimal play charts can be found in books such as The Mathematics of Poker, or Secrets of Sit & Go’s. These charts give you maximum shoving or calling values for all hands.
However it is worth remembering that most players play too tight in such scenarios and that you can move all-in with a lot of hands from the small blind for 10 big blinds such as 9-7o, or J-3s. Similarly if your opponent is very tight then you can move in with more hands than these tables recommend. But remember that if players are shoving with a smaller range of hands than is optimal, you need to call with less hands to compensate for this.
Going deeper
With deeper stacks there is little point moving all-in and risking all your chips when standard raises to around three big blinds will often do the same job. If you are called you can still afford to continuation bet, giving yourself two chances to win. The most important thing about playing heads-up when deeper is adjusting to your opponent and coming up with a winning strategy.
For example if they are too tight you can raise most buttons, but if they are aggressive you may need to tighten up but be prepared to call all-in with some marginal hands like small pairs, weak Aces and high cards.