Online Poker Sit and Go Options

01/18/2013

Online poker players have many more options for tournaments than live players have ever had. The number of options can be confusing to even the most savvy poker player.

The key to being a successful sit and go player is to find the right game. This goes beyond just deciding whether your game is No Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha or Seven Card Stud. Omaha and Seven Card Stud players do not have many sit and go options. No Limit Hold’em player do though and we have broken down many the options that NLHE players have.

Number of Players

The first option a No Limit Texas Hold’em player must decide is how many players they wish to play in their sit and go. The smallest sit and go available is heads up. This requires a special skill that most players will have to work to find. A special aggression level is needed in these tournaments. This skill is what is needed at the end of most tournaments but that is where most tournament players fail. It is better to try your skills at full table sit and gos to refine your heads up skills. Even then, the end of a sit and go consists more of a shove/fold style. Heads up sit and go players will at least enjoy a reduced rake. Most heads up tournaments have a 5% rake instead of a 10% rake.

Beginner Sit and Gos

Beginner sit and gos are available to players at some poker rooms that protect players just starting out at their poker room from seasoned professional players. Beginner sit and gos are often available only to players that signed up in the previous 30-60 days.

Shootouts

Shootout sit and gos have at least two tables and often three or five. The winner of each table advances to the final table. Prizes are based on the winner of the final table.

Jackpot Sit and Gos

Some online poker rooms award players for winning five or six sit and gos in a row. These tournaments are available at iPoker online poker rooms. Note that these sit and gos carry extra rake that goes towards the jackpot.

Variable Stack Sit and Gos

Some sit and gos offer a different stack for players than normal sit and gos. These may be short stacked or double stack tournaments. Short stacked tournaments often have a lower rake, while deeper stack tournaments have a higher tournament rake. Rakeback should help with higher tournament rake. Short stacked sit and gos often have faster structures as well. These are great for poker players that only have a few minutes to play a game or enjoy the fast action.

Coin Flip

Revolution Gaming and Ongame have Coin Flip sit and gos. These are usually heads up tournaments where two players go all in immediately. The rake is low in these tournaments but no skill is involved. The tournaments are over in just one hand unless there is a tie.

Turbos

There are several forms of turbos. There are hyper turbos, super turbos and regular turbos. All of these tournaments describe how fast blinds go up. Some of the fastest sit and gos also start out with short stacks. These are perfect tournaments for players looking for a quick tournament that requires less skill but provides a quick online poker thrill.

All in or Fold

All in or Fold sit and go players must decide whether they want to fold or shove their entire stack on any given hand. All in or Fold sit and gos tend to end quickly. There is a different mindset needed for these tournaments needed. Position is very important, especially when the tournament gets deep.

Double Up

There are two types of players in a double up sit and go, those that double up and those that do not. These sit and gos have ten seats. The goal of these sit and gos is to place in the top half. Stack sizes mean nothing in these tournaments. Half of the field will double their money while the other half will not.

Satellites

Some online poker sit and gos are satellites to bigger events. Some satellite sit and gos are freerolls, while others require a cash buyin. Regardless, satellite sit and gos award winners a chance at big scores in guaranteed tournaments. These are often the largest tournaments offered by an online poker room each week.

Freerolls

Freerolls do not have any cash buyin. Some freerolls have point buyins, some have qualifications such as a play requirement and some are free to all. Some freerolls have a cash prize pool while others are satellites to bigger events.