Tip #6: How to Beat Super Turbo SNGs

Super turbo sit and go’s are offered at many online poker rooms. These tournaments have a very different structure than regular sit and go’s, and for this reason a different optimal strategy is needed. In this article we will use the Full Tilt Poker super turbo sit and go’s as the basis for the strategy we will talk about. In Full Tilt Poker super turbo sit and go’s players start with three hundred chips each and the blinds increase every three minutes. A lot of players consider these super turbo sit and go’s a lottery that requires no skill. In actuality super turbo sit and go’s are beatable as long as you know the structure and make the correct decisions to use the structure to your benefit.

In this article we will discuss why you should play tight early in the tournament, increase your range of pushing hands as the blinds increase and players are eliminated and how to avoid the bubble.

You start the super turbo sit and go’s with 10X as many chips as the big blind and this means you should either be moving all-in or folding in most situations. Exceptions include limping from the small blind or checking from the big blind. Since there are so many players early in the tournament you should only be pushing with a premium hand. Because there is so many players it means there is a greater chance that another player has a better hand than you and it also gives you more hands between blinds to try to find the hand that you want to make a move with. In the early stages of a super turbo sit and go you should play tight and wait for a big hand to try to double up.

As the blinds increase and more players bust out of the tournament you will have to increase your range of all-in hands. This is because they blinds will be coming at you faster and since there are fewer players left there is a better chance that your hand is the best at the table even if it isn’t a super premium hand. Pushing all-in from good positions and from good hands will also help you steal the ever increasing blinds which will help you maintain and grow your stack through to the bubble.

Avoiding the bubble is the most important thing to do in a super turbo sit and go. The difference between 3rd and 4th place is the greatest difference in placing between any two positions in a super turbo sit and go tournament. In order to avoid the bubble you have to make adjustments to your game to give yourself the best chance of cashing. If you are the shortest stack you should be moving all-in from good positions to try to steal blinds or double up and maintain your stack. If you are in second or third you should probably play tighter and hope that the shortest stack busts out of the tournament. If you are the largest stack at the table this is a good time to raise the second and third placed stacks because they are much more likely to fold near the bubble because they will be focused on at least placing third.

After the bubble, when it gets down to 3 players remaining you should be moving all-in with any reasonable hand. The blinds will be so big at this point that a very aggressive style will bring in the most profit.

Super turbo tournaments are a lot of fun and can be profitable over the long run if you use a strong strategy. Full Tilt Poker is a great place to play super turbo sit and go’s. When signing up at Full Tilt you should use a good Full Tilt referral code to make sure that you receive a good bonus on your initial deposit.

Tip #4: Comparing Turbo Versus Standard Speed

Since sit and go poker first became popular, the choice over whether to play turbo or standard blinds has been fiercely debated. This article will look at the pros and cons of the different formats – giving you the information you need to make the right (and most profitable) choice for you.

Firstly we need to establish what we mean by turbo blinds, as this is different at each poker site – and can often have a blurred boundary with ‘ultra turbo SNGs‘ or ‘super turbo SNG’ games. Turbo blinds typically last 5 minutes and result in games which continue for between 70 and 90 hands. Turbo games on Stars and Full Tilt fit into this category, which also includes the ‘speed’ games at Party Poker.

When comparing a 5 minute blind game with a 15 minute blind level game, there are two critical factors to take into account. Firstly the time or scope for your skill edge to establish itself. Secondly, the profits you can make from each blind structure in a set period of time.

Standard blinds give you the most time for your skill advantage over your opponents to show. This means that, everything else being equal, you should be able to win more money playing in a game with longer blind levels. Of course, the number of chips you have somewhat restricts your skill edge – however, giving ‘bad’ opponents more time will generally lead them to make more mistakes.

With turbo blinds the skill set required is different. Since you will reach the higher blind levels faster then a knowledge of push / fold poker will increase your returns, while the post-flop play of the early stages will be shorter. Opponents will make many mistakes at the bubble while the blinds are high – giving those players who have taken the time to learn mathematical models such as ICM a clear advantage.

All else being equal standard blinds should be more profitable on a per game basis. Yet we recommend that you look carefully at the turbo sit and goes instead. The reason is that, you can play so many more of these games per hour that you can make more money overall, even with a lower return per game.

For example, let us imagine that you play 4 games at once. In an ‘average’ hour this is 4 standard games or 8 turbo games. If your return for the each of the standard games is $3 and your return for the turbo games is $2 you could make and extra $4 per hour playing turbo games – and over many hours this kind of edge will make a big difference.

Finally, many sites have lower fees for the turbo sit and go tournaments when compared to the standard games – this can add a further boost to your profits. We recommend Poker Stars, where the fee is lower and the game selection the best anywhere online – use marketing code sitandgotips.com when you register to claim your 100% to $50 bonus!