Danny Ryan

Many of the top online professionals got their feet wet first in sit-and-gos. Sit-and-gos require a unique skill set to maintain a positive return on investment. Sheer aggression might take down a multitable event, but sit-and-gos require a mastery of your chip stack, as stacks are rarely very deep. Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan is one such master, and one of the most feared sit-and-go regulars on the Internet.

Ryan dominates the highest-stakes sit-and-gos dealt online: the $1,000 and $2,000 tables on PokerStars, and the recently added $5,000 level at FullTiltPoker. In 2007, he also won a number of online multitable events, taking home more than $1.1 million. He credits his sit-and-go stack skills to his a smooth transition to multitable tournaments. "I feel really comfortable with my stack when I have seven to fifteen big blinds," said Ryan. "Basically knowing what to push, call, or value-call with is an invaluable skill I learned from so many sit-and-gos."

Ryan thrives on the psychological challenge of squaring off with an opponent across the felt. He credits much of his success and a positive mindset to the book Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry Phillips. Beats happen, cards can change in a heartbeat, and staying calm, cool, and relaxed in every situation has been one of Ryan's biggest assets.

In 2005, he moved from the United States to the southeast coast of Spain, after graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. For the moment, he'll keep his finance degree on the wall and pursue a career in poker. Ryan plans to compete in many of the upcoming European Poker Tour events, as well as a full schedule at the World Series of Poker.

Craig Tapscott: Share some of the major leaks you see in sit-and-gos.

Danny Ryan: One: The biggest mistake people make is to try to pull too many moves early on when the blinds are small. Playing loose at the beginning will usually not get you paid off, anyway.

Two: Many players don't push enough at the end when it's four- or fivehanded, because they care too much about getting third place. They need to be chipping up when the blinds are rising and not getting blinded off. This type of thinking is not good for long-term profits. Taking a lot of third places isn't nearly the same as grabbing a few firsts.

Three: Some people don't value-call enough when there are four left with A-10 or a similar hand. It's pretty standard that the button player will be pushing with a big range, and you need to call there with A-10, usually.

CT: Early on, what took your game to the next level?

DR: I guess what helped me go from an above-average player to booking more wins was this one final table I was at. I watched this guy make all these crazy moves and bluffs, basically attacking any perceived weaknesses. It was then that I realized that you could take a lot of pots away with aggression alone. That moment helped me jump to another level.

CT: What do you do with small pairs in the early stages?

DR: I try to keep the pot fairly small. With something like pocket eights, I raise or sometimes limp. If I get raised, I can just call, and have set value. Sometimes I'll fold my pocket fours or fives. Folding small pairs when under the gun may seem like weak poker, but in a sit-and-go format, sometimes it's the correct play.

CT: A-K is a hand that's overplayed a lot, especially in the lower stakes.

DR: I see people playing it too transparently, where it's screaming A-K when a player shoves 1,500 into a 90 preflop raise. Also, overcalling with A-K is pretty bad. If there's heavy action before you, a raise and a reraise, many people will call off their tournament there with A-K. It's almost never a good play. At the higher buy-ins, you're not going to see people stick all of their chips in with A-Q or worse; it's almost always Q-Q or better.

CT: Isn't the point to disguise your hand strength?

DR: Well, one way to be deceptive is to make a big hand look like A-K. When you overshove with A-A or K-K, they usually put you on A-K. It looks like a resteal, and you can get a call in that spot many times from A-Q or something like nines or tens.

CT: What exactly are the top-tier online pros doing so differently overall?

DR: Psychological dominance. You want to make them fear you at the table. You need to learn how to constantly keep pressure on the other stacks, especially when you catch them stealing from late position. You have to repop these stacks and not let them get away with too much. And don't be afraid to play big pots with the other big stacks at the table. That's how you can amass a huge pile of chips and win tournaments.