Grinding Discussion Multi-Table SNGs
Reading around the Internet I am constantly looking for ways to increase my bankroll and remove some of the volatile swings that cause us poker players to lose sleep at night. For those of us who sweat the bad results or the bad beats like it is a punch to our stomach, this type of information would make a real difference. Reading a forum or two, I noticed that many players advocated the grinding of multi table SNG’s. Some of them reported an ROI of up to 50%, so I decided to investigate further.
The payout structure on a standard SNG with 10 players fighting for the top three spots are 50/30/20. That is 50% of the prize pool to the winner, 30% to second and 20% for the third place finisher. This helps shape strategy as just to make the money doubles your entry fee. Larger SNG’s with 27, 45, 90 or 180 players have payouts usually of 10%, so you do not have to do quite as well to cash. A win, however, can see you earn many times your buy-in due to the large field. Payouts are not as top heavy as standard tournaments and are more evenly distributed, but like MTT’s the variance increases the more players are involved.
I posted a question on a poker forum asking for opinions on whether or not I should focus on the single table poker tournaments (STT’s) or the multi’s. The response was mixed. Some players used the fact that the larger tournaments take longer as a reason not to play them. This argument is valid if you are able to beat the smaller field SNG in a shorter space of time. You are aiming to maximise your hourly rate at the table, which is important as your earnings are capped in a SNG and you can never go on the cash game heater and earn lots in a short space of time due to the structure. Knowing earn rate is important to making the right game decisions.
I also noticed that the ROI (Return on Investment) for players can be misleading. If you play a 180 man SNG and win, your ROI will be increased massively. If you then go on a terrible run of losses, playing badly and taking beats you will still be showing a positive ROI thanks to your big win. A player with a smaller ROI could still earn more money than you due to more consistent performances.
Grinding takes time as you need a large sample size of games to work out what you’re true ROI is. The more games you play (there is no correct amount just the more the better) the more accurate your calculation becomes. From this percentage you can work out your hourly rate and calculate whether playing that much can be worth it for you. I found in my research that SNG players crunch the numbers as well as the hands.
Multi-table SNG offer me many advantages as many players just want a game and make bad decisions as they are simply taking part. Of course you have your grinders who are probably playing 12+ tournaments at once, but if you concentrate and play well the field dwindles around you. Two of three nice hands and well played moves are enough to see you get into a good position to cash. The extra money available due to the larger field makes the cash on offer more lucrative. Once you get a feel for the game you may develop a tendency to do better in the 45 man games or the 90 man games, that all depends on you.
I constantly assess whether I should be playing cash or SNG’s during my daily play. I play tournaments but normally as a way of shooting for the big score. I do not class myself as a grinder of tournaments as the variance causes me pain! It is definitely worth your time researching each type of SNG. Try them out as they are a great way of earning rakeback and getting tournament experience, as well as some good profits.
By Malcolm Clarke
Related posts:
- How to Punish the Poker Table Chatterbox
- The life of an online poker pro
- Is It Just Lucky To Win At The World Series?
Tags: MTT, multi table tournaments, play poker, play poker tournaments, poker, poker tournaments, SNG