Tip #3: SNG sizes: Choose The Right One For You

There is a bewildering choice of sit and go tournaments at the top online poker sites. These range from 2 players (heads-up) and go all the way to 360 player SNG games. This article looks at the most common sizes of sit and goes, and explains why you might choose each one. Remember, choosing the right size of game for your personal needs can improve your profits as well as your enjoyment of the game.

Heads-Up SNG Tournaments

2 player sit and goes are surprisingly popular online and are on offer in a wide range of game types and buy-in levels. These games involve finding patterns in your opponents play and adjusting your strategy to exploit them. Post-flop poker features in these quick-fire SNGs. Variations include 4-player games where the winners of round 1 face off on a ‘final table’.

6-Player SNG Tournaments

Short-handed sit and goes are hugely popular. These games pay the top 2 in a 65% / 35% format. Blinds hit you more frequently than in a full-ring game, meaning that you can not wait for monster starting hands. Since your opponents know this position and post-flop skills become important in 6-max SNGs. In turn this means less ‘grinders’ who prefer the simple decisions of the ‘full ring’ games.

9-Player SNG Tournaments

The most popular format of all involves 9 or 10 players with a payout structure of 50% / 30% / 20%. Buy-ins for these games start at just cents and go up to $1000′s for the high-rollers. You’ll be able to find a speed, poker game and buy-in variation for you in the 1 table format. Players learning the game and also those wishing to multi-table these games for improved profit should try out the 9-player games first.

2-Table SNG Tournaments

With 18 or 20 players the 2-table SNGs pay out either 4 or 5 people. Winning one of these sit and goes will give your bankroll a great boost – with first prize often in the region of 7 to 10 buy-ins. 2-table sit and goes effectively have 2 ‘bubbles’, the first when the tables consolidate into one and the second next to the money paying places. Recommended for those players who play poker for leisure as well as profit.

5-Table SNG Tournaments

45 or 50 players come together in the 5-table games. The advantage of these is that those who reach the 7 or so paying places will get a great return on their stake. What is more these are the most popular among ‘fun’ players – meaning that the games are soft at comparable buy-in levels to the single table games.

Bigger SNG Tournaments

Depending on the site at which you play SNGs and the buy-in levels which you prefer you will find a huge number of bigger sit and go tournaments. Some of the sizes include 90 to 100 players (10 tables), 180 Player SNGs (hugely popular at both Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker) and even 360 player games.

With such a large number of sizes around it can be difficult to know where to start. The sit and go tips advice here is simple: Take some time to find the games which suit you the best – and then specialize in that one variation for a while. Learning the tendencies of opponents and play in certain common situations will improve the most important thing of all – your poker profits!