Which SNG game is best to play for profit?

Hi guys,

So I'm in college and have just been playing poker online casually for a few extra bones on the side. I'm only trying to make $40-50ish a week. Anyways, I've always played SNG games and have recently been playing "Double or Nothing" games. Top 5 spots pay out (out of 10) and you double up your entry fee.

My question is, which SNG game would you guys recommend I play? Or should I even be playing SNG games?

Thanks!

You are on the right track with the double up tourneys. Them are a very easy way to double up your money. My question would be what type of bankroll are you working with? The best way to consistantly cash in the SNG's is to make sure the buy in is not of your range. Furgeson made a great video on FTP about bankroll management and came up with a $10,000 challenge. Bankroll management is the "KEY" to success when playing poker. Yeah it might seem like a long grind. Keep your buy in levels to 2% of your full bankroll so you can weather some of the long storms of cold decks. You'll also find that at the lower levels if you have any clue of playing good poker you will be able to make a killing at these games. As far as sites to play at. I prefer Full Tilt just because of the variety and never having to wait to long for a SNG to fill up. Also a lot of people like POKERSTARS for the same reasons, just not my fav site due to boring tables and never had much luck there. Good luck on the tables. Hope this helped a little

Ah college life. I wonder how my grades would've been if there was online poker back then.

Anyways, the remark "just been playing poker online casually" makes it sound like you are relatively new to poker. If you want to get better, I would suggest playing different games. Playing DoNs will typically play different than other SNG and MTT (especially) games. Playing DoNs can be lucrative, but then you might have a hard time adjusting to other games, if you plan on playing other games. I've had success playing DoNs, but the style of those games gets a little boring for me.

Thanks guys. Not new to poker but new to online poker. What're DoN? Is MTT, multi-table tourney?

Right now my bankroll is around $50. I was up around $130, playing the double or nothing $20 games but took a hit.

So would you guys recommend sticking with the double or nothing? Or should I play the SNG's where the top 3/5 places pay out? Never played in a more than 10 person SNG game. Would you recommend I play some? I feel like if I play the double or nothing, as long as I play really tight I usually do okay.

DoN is Double or Nothing. And do not play $20 games. One bad streak and its all gone. I would recommend the $5 DoN games until you have about $200 then move to the $10 ones. But if you dip below $170, go back to the $5 ones.

Even playing the $5 at this point is risky but you're young, you can always earn more.

Cool, thanks. One final question, which do you think would be better for ME (again, I'm only playing for some cash on the side, this is not my only source of income and just want a little spending money): DoN ($5) or .5/.10nl?

Hey, I'm currently working on a $2 9-seat SNG guide. Here is a snippet from the guide explaining Bankroll Management. Hope it helps you in deciding what stakes to play.


Part 1: Bankroll (BR) and Bankroll Management (BRM), the BR cushion, and the 10% multi-tabling BR rule

Your poker bankroll is the amount of money you have available at anytime. Your BR will determine what stakes you could/should play. In order to maintain a healthy BR, you would have to practice a healthy BRM plan. Since bad variance and downswings are a part of poker, following a BRM plan to ensure you're not risking too much of your money at one time.

My BR plan for SNGs is to have have at 30 buy-ins for a level with a 5 buy-in cushion. Some may say that 30 buy-ins is too much and 20 buy-ins are enough for SNG, some say it's too low and you need at least 40-50 buy-ins. So, it's entirely up too you. You just want to make sure that it's not too low. I personally think anything below 20 buy-ins is too low. Allowing myself 30 buy-ins at a given level allows me to play comfortably with little risk of going broke. For example, I'm currently playing at the $2 + .25 tables. I have a bankroll $71, which is 31 buy-ins. The next level is $5 + .50 buy-in, so in order to play that limit, I'll need a BR of $165. So, I'll need to continue to play the $2 tables until my BR reaches the $165 mark. Even if I have a BR of $160 or 71 buy-ins, I cannot move up to the $5.5 levels until I have 30 buy-ins.

My only exception to my BRM plan is that since $1 SNG tables are so weak, but the rake is so high, I advice people to move up to $2 tables when they have over 20 buy-ins at the $1 limit. The play at $1 and $2 tables is exactly the same. From there, it's 30 buy-ins.

Following BRM, there are two other rules that I like to follow. They're not necessary, but I find them pretty helpful when building a BR and moving up in stakes. They are The BR Cushion and The 10% multi-tabling BR rule.

The BR Cushion is an additional number of buy-ins added to your BRM plan used when you are planning moving up in stakes. . For example if you're BRM plan is 30 buy-ins, you might have a cushion of 3-5 buy-ins. This cushion allows you to move up stakes and play without running the risk of yo-yo'ing between the stakes. For example, if you have a BR of $165 and you're following the 30 buy-in BR rule, you can play the $5.5 SNGs. Now if you lose a game, you're BR drops to $159.5 and you're no longer BR for the $5.5 games and have to drop back down to the $2. If you play a $2 game and win, you're back up to playing the $5 games. This yo-yo effect can continue until you get a solid upswing and continue playing $5.5 or you're forced back down to lower stakes. Having a cushion of extra buy-ins allows you to play a certain number of games at the new stake without the yo-yo effect. Lets say your cushion is 3 buy-ins. At the $5.5 stakes, your BR should be $165 + $16.5 = $181.5. Your cushion allows you to play 3 games at the $5.5 level before you hit the BR balance between $2 and $5 games. If you win, you're just building your BR more and if you lose the 3 buy-in cushion, you can reevaluate your game. You can either stick with the same stakes or possibly move back down and build another cushion. The cushion is to reduce the risk of yo-yo swings between stakes.

The 10% multi-tabling BR rule is something I started doing recently. I like multi-tabling SNGs a lot because it allows me to get more games per hour in. However, if I play too many at one time, I can be risking a large percent of my BR at one time. So, in order to reduce the risk, I follow a 10% buy-in rule. This means that the total buy-in for all tables combined cannot be more than 10% of my total BR. So, I have a bankroll of $71, 10% of that is $7.1 and I play the $2.25 SNGs. Following the rule, I can multi-table up to 3 tables or less at $2.25 at time, but no more. Not only does this keep me from risking too much of my BR at one time, it keeps my total BR in check in case I do hit a downswing. Another rule is that I have to finish all of the tables first before opening any more. So, if I am only allowed to play 3 $2.25 tables at a time, I must complete these tables first before openning any more. This allows me to reevaluate my BR and the number of tables I can open at given time. I may be able to play 3 now, but i I lose all 3 games, I'll have to drop down to 2 tables. Or if I beat all 3 tables, I might be able to move up to 4 tables. Also, if I allow myself to play one set up multi-tables at a time, I can determine if I want to continue playing or not. So, if I downswing 3 games, I can decided to take a break for a bit before I continued. This is extremely helpful if I'm getting a bit too emotional or I may be tilting. I don't have this option if I'm playing a high number of tables at once or I'm constantly starting new games after I bust out.If your BR is currently $50, then playing $5 DONs/10nl cash games is way above your bankroll. Unless you have no problems redeposting if you happen to bust out. I think DONs are great for slowly building a BR, but they're ridiculously boring (IMO). If you can beat $2 SNGs (where you should be playing with your BR), then there is no reason not to play the 9 seat, 3 places paid structure. There may be more variance, but if you can beat it you should be fine. I don't like DONs because it seems likes you're playing just to make slightly better than 3rd place in a regular SNG. Your win rate may be higher, though. So, it all depends on what your overall goal is. For profit, play the regular SNGs. Easy monies at the lower stakes.

My question is.......Who's go these double up SnG's??!!

Pokerstars and Players Only have them, that I know of.

Pokerstars goes from $1.20 9 persons, to $3.40 9 persons. Sucks for me. I was playing the $3.40s, but after a bad run am back down to the $1.20s wish they had $2 ones, but I guess the $2.20 90 mans aren't that bad.

Really look at that Bankroll Management post.
At the levels you are playing and with the bankroll you have one bad day and you are busted.

FT has $2 SnG's with a small rake and the play is quick (on the turbos) and if you play tight, strong poker (in other words no bluffing out of position) you can cash quite often.

Once you have taken that BR over $200, try a few at $5.00

If you do this right you will never have to deposited anymore money.

Almost every site except FullTilt and UB/AP. You can find them on PokerStars, Cake network and Merge Network.

Worth it to play heads up at all? Figuring it probably isn't.