Sit-and-Go Financial Management Strategy
Choosing the Sit-and-Go (SNG) stakes you play in is strongly governed by three very important factors: Your expectations of win frequency, the average payout for making the money and the size of your bankroll. Each of these are discussed below in a way that will help you select the right stakes, and help your bankroll grow.
YOUR WIN FREQUENCY EXPECTATIONYou have to be honest with yourself here. How good are you, really? If you have consistently beaten a certain stakes, then you're probably ready to move up and take on a little bit tougher skill level. By consistent, I mean placing in the money almost every time you play that level, only losing the occasional tournament on a bad beat or a cold run of cards. If you are only winning the occasional game, you are probably playing in a stakes level that exceeds your poker prowess. You should step down in the stakes and work on your game.
Ask yourself this: "If I play ten, $5 SNG's, how many of these do I expect to be paid in?" A good way to answer this is to examine your play statistics. How often have you placed in a $5 tournament? Has your play improved over the time period being examined? If the answer to this question is "I expect to be paid one out of every three times I play," then you've probably found a stakes level that's a candidate for your entry fee. But be advised: a stakes level that beats you seven out of ten times is going to test your skill level, your bankroll and your resolve. You will be much happier, and a little richer too, if you choose a stakes level that pays you more often and beats you less often. The key here is to be realistic. Be honest. Have someone else look at your statistics. Pokerjunkies love to help!
PAYOUT STRUCTURE
Payout structures vary from site to site and from game to game. A typical, $5+$0.50 game with ten players pays 50% of the prize pool to the winner, 30% to second, and 20% to third. The average payout in a three place tournament is 33% of the prize pool. Some short-handed tables--like the six-seater TURBO games at Noble Poker--pay only two positions, with 70% to the winner and 30% to second. The average payout in these games is 50%. A player who is consistently beating the stakes in short-handed tables will profit handsomely. Click here to visit Noble Poker
The payout structure and the expected win frequency go hand in hand in determining which games to play. In the ten seat game, the average payout is $16.65, which is approximately equal to the cost of entering three $5+0.50 games. Since you expect to win one out of every three of these over some reasonable time period, this is probably the stakes you want to play in. But, can you afford it?
BANKROLL
If your bankroll is the minimum deposit for Internet Poker rooms ($20) you can't afford these stakes unless you hit a white hot run of cards or you're an exceptionally good poker player. Why? Because you expect to lose seven of these games, and 7 x $5.50 = you're broke. You don't know if you will get your first payout before your $20 is eaten by the first three games (which won't leave you enough to enter another $5.50 game). You either need to bring a little more cushion, or you need to step down in the stakes and play a series of short-handed games that pay better players more money.
ITERATIVE DECISION MAKING
This is an iterative process--you have to examine all three of these factors when considering entering a game. If your game is improving and your win frequency is going up, your bankroll is increasing and the next stakes level becomes more of a possibility. If your win frequency is going down, so is your bankroll and you need to step back, fix whatever's leaking, and build up some cushion in lower stakes games.
Avoid the temptation to gamble in a stakes level you have no business in. While the possibility of hitting a big run of cards and knocking down a $10 or $20 game is always there, the real life probability of that happening is small and you are likely going to lose your entire roll in a very short period of time.
Playing smaller stakes and eking out small paydays is not as much fun as playing larger stakes and knocking down fat payouts. But it's a lot more fun than having to click Cashier and reload your bankroll.
