SNG poker tournaments have long been one of the most popular forms of the game and helped online poker explode during the poker boom. In brick & mortar casinos, starting an SNG meant waiting around for enough people to be ready to play. This would invariably cause sizable waits between registration time and when an event would actually start. Needless to say, this inconvenience made SNGs quite difficult to run on a steady basis.
Some of the most well-known names of the initial poker boom were products of the SNG world, so it should come as no surprise that poker enthusiasts from around the world quickly switched over to this arena. Of course, as the fields grew tougher and tougher, the easy money in SNGs eventually dwindled down. With that said, there’s still money to be made playing SNGs if you know what you are doing. Our goal with this master series is to teach you the basics of getting started in SNG tournaments and point you down a winning path. But first, here’s a look at the different types of SNG tournaments. Keep in mind that the strategy varies with each format and of course, the ability to profit will become exceedingly difficult as you move up in limits.
TABLE TYPES: FULL-RING vs 6-MAX vs HEADS-UP
There are many different types of SNGs that players can participate in. The primary forms of the game include the standard full ring and 6-max variations in regular or hyper-turbo formats. As is the case with cash games, heads-up games are also made available at just about every poker site. The slowest form of SNG poker would be a full-ring, normal-speed table. This discounts deep-stack and multi-table events, using the normal formats as a reference. You will learn about the difference between normal speed tables and hyper/turbo speeds later on in this series.
The payout tables are one of the most obvious differences between the three different sit and go variations. Full ring games will usually pay the top three finishers, 6-max games will pay the top two, and heads up only pays the winner. The breakdown will vary from site to site, but usually, the third place finisher in a full ring game will get a bit over their initial buy-in back. The second place finisher will make over two times their buy-in, and the winner will be rewarded with the remaining prize pool. Again, the exact payout structure is subject to the particular site that you are playing on. There are even some rooms that will allow players to chop their payouts in SNGs, but this is typically reserved for multi-table tournament play.
The skill level is usually going to be the second thing that players notice about these different types of SNGs. The fewer players involved, the tougher the game will tend to be. Heads-up SNGs have long been home to some of the stiffest competition in all of online poker. The players in these games seldom have extended losing streaks and are truly talented and quite skilled at what they do. If you are playing recreationally more than anything else, full ring or even 6-max games would be your best bet. Plus, you can always work your way towards the heads up tables as you gain experience.
SPEED TYPES: HYPER/TURBO vs NORMAL
The speed of the SNG that you are playing will determine how long any given event is likely to last. A normal speed full ring SNG could easily take an hour or more, whereas ultra turbo events could be done in 15 minutes or even less. As you may have realized, the faster-paced games are going to involve less poker “instinctual” skill and more mathematical skills. The reason for this is that the quick pace of the events will force players to make decisions that often times come down to either folding or shoving.
When you are playing poker this way, it should be understood that you are going to have a lot of variance. If your primary intent is to have the most fun possible while getting the most bang for your buck, anything but turbo SNGs will be in your best interest. Not only are you likely to become frustrated when you bust in just a few minutes, but you won’t truly get to play the game to the point where you really need to think.
The only trouble with placing an emphasis on regular speed SNGs is that you aren’t going to have a whole lot of games to choose from. For the most part, online poker has gone the way of faster paced everything. Be it cash games with less time to act or SNGs, you just aren’t going to be playing for hours on end without a lot of action. Turbo SNGs have essentially replaced normal speed SNGs over the past few years. It’s worth noting, however, that turbo tournaments don’t necessarily go extremely fast. In fact, there are plenty of turbo events that could last a half hour or even longer.
The real speed comes into play once you are in ultra turbo and other variations of turbo play. These types of tournaments can easily be finished in 15 minutes or less. There are even SNGs that are run at hyper/turbo. These games can run from start to finish in 5 minutes or less. To make these events even faster, they are often played with short stacks. The very fast SNG tournaments are ideal for the player who likes to experience frequent “rushes.” They will undoubtedly cure an itch for gambling much more effectively than just about any other form of poker. Of course, you are also going to be annoyed by the fact that you are forced to go all in seemingly just as the SNG began.
In the end, SNGs offer many different options to players. You can play in games with a lot of players or just one opponent, you can play for an hour or ten minutes. Part of the beauty in this form of the game is a number of choices that you’ll have. If nothing else, SNGs are a great way to learn skills of the game that will carry over well into cash games and especially tournaments. Remember that SNGs are arguably the most common way for poker players to be introduced to the game and that many of today’s best players were once total amateurs playing for only a few bucks.
Later on in this series, you will learn more about the differences between normal and turbo speed SNGs, how strategies change, and which game is right for you. In the next lesson, you will learn about bankroll management for SNG tournaments, why it’s important and when to move up limits.
