The premise is very simple. Sit'n'Gos are mini tournaments. Normally consisting of anything between a heads up match (2 players) through a two table tourney (18 players for Hold'em or Omaha).
Buy-ins range from $5+0.50 to $5000+100. The first amount is placed in the prize pool and the second amount is for the house. So if you were in a 1 table $10+1 No Limit Hold'em Sit'n'Go the prize pool would be $90.00.
In a full table tourney you will see the top three finishers paid out at 50%, 30%, 20% so in the above example the payouts would be $45, $27 and $18. A two table tourney will pay four spots, and short handed tourneys normally only pay 1 spot.
Each player is given a set starting amount. I've seen this range from T800 to T1500. As in all tournaments, you go bust you are out.
Pros and Cons.
The attraction of SnGs is that they start once the tournament fills up. So for something like NLHE at the low levels you can guarantee a new game starting almost every minute or two. Games like Omaha and Stud normally take a little longer to fill up but they do, especially at the low levels.
You won't get rich playing SnGs, however you can have a positive realization if you have a little patience and play reasonable smart. They are however very good practice for tournament play, especially for gaining experience in shorthanded and heads up play.
It can be tough finding higher buy in games.
I like SnGs especially to play games that can have wild swings in live games. PL Omaha/8 and Stud/8 can be crazy playing live, but they are the funnest games to play in tournaments, especially since very few people know how to play those games properly. I place in the money about 75% of the time playing either of those, and win often enough to balance the swings I experience in other online games.
Mike described SNG's pretty well, so there's no need for me to repeat anything. I'll just say that lately I play SNG's 95% of the time. I just love the tournament format better than ring games. I also use SNG's for practice for bigger tournaments (multi-table ones). And they're just fun to me and I place in the money around 60-70% of the time. 8)
Players play HORRIBLY in these sit'n'gos. I think you can make good money playing them while reducing your risk. I have been using them to control the volitility in my normal cash game. My last 7 had be place in the money 5 times.
Here is some of the stuff you see in these tournaments (from ones I did not place in the money).
BB 9 people left I have A5 (nothing to write home about). Flop comes all babies with a 5. I play very conservative early on and I check as do the other two players. Turn comes Ace. Now I figure it likely hit one of them so I decide to check. 3rd player bets and I make a BIG re-raise. The guy behind me calls as does the 3rd player. River comes 6. I make a half pot sized bet and get called by the guy in 2nd -- A6 and he takes the pot.
That is right the guy called a big raise on the turn wiht top pair 6 kicker. While I didn't like the results, I love this kind of player.
The other one I didn't finish in the money ... well I made a VERY bad play. I limped in on the button with 44 and the flop came 235. Checked to me and I bet the pot with my second pair up&down draw. Turn comes 7 and the one caller checks to me. At this point I have about 400 left in chips and the pot has about 600 in it ... I push all-in and I get called by A5 (who wins).
Can't comment too much about this hand, other than the guy with top pair top kicker simply calls on the flop and calls on the turn. Lots of hands beat him but he still puts all his money in. I made a bad play here (knowing this is how people actually play) and I should have checked the turn through and tried to make my hand for cheap.
Fact is this is close to the only hand I would have played this way (and normally I don't even play it this way). Usually my bet on the flop would have been an over pair or the hand that my opponent had (A5s is about the worst I would play early in a tournament). My bet on the turn almost always has A5 beat (but it didn't this time). LOL
Anyway those are the type of players you will be up against. I would suggest playing VERY tight early on and then lossen up when you are around 4-5 handed so you can gather some chips for the push. 60-70% win rate is not at all uncommon.
Lately, my win rate has gone up a lot from SNG's. I'd probably bump up my overall win rate to around 80-85% when I look back on all of my winnings from SNG's.
I just tried these sit and goes tonite. Well OK last night. lol I've been up all night playing cards you see. lol Discovered a fleecing heaven in these s + g's. Entered 4 so far. Placed in money in all of them.
I'd suggest avoiding the $5+$1 SNG's since the house edge (20%) is far too big. Either stick to the $10+$1 if you feel you have the bankroll to play at that level, or try a site that has $5+$0.50 SNG's if you'd rather play that size buy-in.
I'd suggest avoiding the $5+$1 SNG's since the house edge (20%) is far too big. Either stick to the $10+$1 if you feel you have the bankroll to play at that level, or try a site that has $5+$0.50 SNG's if you'd rather play that size buy-in.
The difference is exactly $0.50 multiplied by the number of tournaments you play in. Play 100 tournaments, lose $50. Play 1000 tournaments, lose $500. And for no good reason I might add. There are large well-established poker sites that offer $5+$0.50 SNG's.
A dramatic example of why this matters is that my win rate at $5+$0.50 is close to $0.50 per tournament. If I was playing $5+$1 tournaments, I would be transformed from a profitable player to a break even player.
You can probably imagine what happens if you are a break even player at $5+$0.50 SNG's and move to $5+$1...
The difference is exactly $0.50 multiplied by the number of tournaments you play in. Play 100 tournaments, lose $50. Play 1000 tournaments, lose $500. And for no good reason I might add. There are large well-established poker sites that offer $5+$0.50 SNG's.
A dramatic example of why this matters is that my win rate at $5+$0.50 is close to $0.50 per tournament. If I was playing $5+$1 tournaments, I would be transformed from a profitable player to a break even player.
You can probably imagine what happens if you are a break even player at $5+$0.50 SNG's and move to $5+$1...
have just starting playing sng's too and so far i am up 145$.. if u win 1outa 3 times u should be a profitable player.. at first i loss a lot but once u get a feel for the game u should be alright
Had a bad run the day after I was up all night playing. Lost a few s+g's. I quit money ahead, but less than I was before, and then rested up until last night to start fresh. Started playing again last night and was finishing in money. Decided to keep playing until I missed the money. I just did, on a $5 + .50 but I placed in money 6 straight matches before that. some 5 + and some 10 + My original stack is almost triple now. lol woohoo
Comments
Buy-ins range from $5+0.50 to $5000+100. The first amount is placed in the prize pool and the second amount is for the house. So if you were in a 1 table $10+1 No Limit Hold'em Sit'n'Go the prize pool would be $90.00.
In a full table tourney you will see the top three finishers paid out at 50%, 30%, 20% so in the above example the payouts would be $45, $27 and $18. A two table tourney will pay four spots, and short handed tourneys normally only pay 1 spot.
Each player is given a set starting amount. I've seen this range from T800 to T1500. As in all tournaments, you go bust you are out.
Pros and Cons.
The attraction of SnGs is that they start once the tournament fills up. So for something like NLHE at the low levels you can guarantee a new game starting almost every minute or two. Games like Omaha and Stud normally take a little longer to fill up but they do, especially at the low levels.
You won't get rich playing SnGs, however you can have a positive realization if you have a little patience and play reasonable smart. They are however very good practice for tournament play, especially for gaining experience in shorthanded and heads up play.
It can be tough finding higher buy in games.
I like SnGs especially to play games that can have wild swings in live games. PL Omaha/8 and Stud/8 can be crazy playing live, but they are the funnest games to play in tournaments, especially since very few people know how to play those games properly. I place in the money about 75% of the time playing either of those, and win often enough to balance the swings I experience in other online games.
Hope that helps, or perhaps it was overkill.
Mike
Here is some of the stuff you see in these tournaments (from ones I did not place in the money).
BB 9 people left I have A5 (nothing to write home about). Flop comes all babies with a 5. I play very conservative early on and I check as do the other two players. Turn comes Ace. Now I figure it likely hit one of them so I decide to check. 3rd player bets and I make a BIG re-raise. The guy behind me calls as does the 3rd player. River comes 6. I make a half pot sized bet and get called by the guy in 2nd -- A6 and he takes the pot.
That is right the guy called a big raise on the turn wiht top pair 6 kicker. While I didn't like the results, I love this kind of player.
The other one I didn't finish in the money ... well I made a VERY bad play. I limped in on the button with 44 and the flop came 235. Checked to me and I bet the pot with my second pair up&down draw. Turn comes 7 and the one caller checks to me. At this point I have about 400 left in chips and the pot has about 600 in it ... I push all-in and I get called by A5 (who wins).
Can't comment too much about this hand, other than the guy with top pair top kicker simply calls on the flop and calls on the turn. Lots of hands beat him but he still puts all his money in. I made a bad play here (knowing this is how people actually play) and I should have checked the turn through and tried to make my hand for cheap.
Fact is this is close to the only hand I would have played this way (and normally I don't even play it this way). Usually my bet on the flop would have been an over pair or the hand that my opponent had (A5s is about the worst I would play early in a tournament). My bet on the turn almost always has A5 beat (but it didn't this time). LOL
Anyway those are the type of players you will be up against. I would suggest playing VERY tight early on and then lossen up when you are around 4-5 handed so you can gather some chips for the push. 60-70% win rate is not at all uncommon.
.kw
1. $5+$1, got 3rd
2. $10+$1, got 2nd
3. $5+$1, got 1st
4. $10+$1, got 1st
I'm up to $105 from $55
Looks like I'll be playing until work this morning. :shock: And I'll be playing less freerolls from now on too I think. lol
good point
plus ya gots ta go to work in an hour LOL
ScottyZ
ScottyZ,
$5+$1 SNG's vs $5+$0.50 SNG's
is there a huge difference?
thanks,
CO
Yes.
The difference is exactly $0.50 multiplied by the number of tournaments you play in. Play 100 tournaments, lose $50. Play 1000 tournaments, lose $500. And for no good reason I might add. There are large well-established poker sites that offer $5+$0.50 SNG's.
A dramatic example of why this matters is that my win rate at $5+$0.50 is close to $0.50 per tournament. If I was playing $5+$1 tournaments, I would be transformed from a profitable player to a break even player.
You can probably imagine what happens if you are a break even player at $5+$0.50 SNG's and move to $5+$1...
ScottyZ
OIC