Online poker has been around for a long time, and when playing you have lots of games to choose from. When it comes to using the best sit and go poker sites I have some great picks. Because the abundance of options might make it hard for you to decide which poker game to go for.
This is especially true if you are new to the game. If that’s the case, you might want to try out sit n go poker aka SNG’s as they are also called. Sit n go’s are poker tournaments that start only when a specific preset number of players are present.
This format varies widely in the number of players, blind level duration, bonus distribution, buy-in amounts, and more. Typically, I have played them in the past to build my bankroll. Because in all honesty they are great bankroll builders.
Back when online poker exploded in the early 2000s, it became an essential part of the poker industry. SNG tournaments are sometimes played in live arenas, most notably at the WSOP.
Since waiting for a scheduled match to start can be a hassle, the online site featured SNG as the perfect choice, and the SNG grinder was born.
Different Formats – 2 / 6 / 9 Person
In theory, SNG poker tournaments are not limited by the number of players. Since it is a tournament with no fixed start time, it will start when needed players join.
But, even on the most famous and most significant sites, the limitless number of player formats won’t work. Instead, online SNGs are best suited for tables with a maximum of 45 players. With that said, let’s look at some of the more popular SNG formats available for you to play.
- 2 Player
These are heads-up SNGs, where one player wins the prize. This is a popular niche, and many players work exclusively as HUSNG experts. Some of the biggest buy-ins only apply to these games. They can also be quite profitable if you are an aggressive player.
- 6 Max
Standard format is to pay for two seats, 65%/35% or 70%/30%. You can find these on just about every website, and they’re widespread across a range of buy-ins. They are extremely fun and also profitable once you have the right strategy in place. You can usually play these in turbo and hyper turbo formats.
- 9 Player
This is the standard for three places to pay 50%/30%/20% of the prize pool. These are expected to be the busiest games on almost any online poker site. The only downside to this format is that they can take awhile to finish.
You might want to multi table this format if you give them a go. These are also available in both turbo and hyper turbo formats.
Now that I’ve given you a solid understanding of SNG poker, let’s explore the top 5 poker sites to play sit n go poker right now.
Sit N Go Poker Sites
- Ignition Poker – Read Review
- Bovada Poker – Read Review
- BetOnline Poker – Read Review
- ACR Poker – Read Review
- Sportsbetting Poker – Read Review
1. Ignition Poker
My personal top pick for a poker site to play on right now is Ignition Poker. This is still considered to be one of the newer poker rooms in the United States, opening in 2016, offering various options for actual poker players.
The site is part of Paiwangluo Network, an independent ecosystem previously operated under the Bodog brand. Ignition Poker is exclusively for US players and is active in almost every state in the US.
Some states are exceptions because Ignition complies with local regulations and is unavailable in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Nevada players. These limitations haven’t stopped Ignition from climbing to the top of US player traffic, where it currently holds the No. 1 spot in terms of total players.
The stakes for sit n go’s start at $1 and go up to $200. You can enjoy heads-up, six-handed, and nine-max sit-n-go poker tournaments. Omaha Hi and Omaha Hi-Lo are offered up to $100.
They also offer sit-and-go satellites which allow you to win entry to big multi-table tournaments especially when major tourney series are scheduled to run, such as the Super Millions Poker Open which is a newly branded series they released in the last couple of years.
You can also try Double-Up events, which is what Ignition calls Double or Nothing SNGs. You’ll also encounter Triple-Ups, which pay out triple the buyin to one-third of the field, but they don’t feature reduced fees. Ignition provides. Bottom line is their is a lot of good stuff to check out. You can get started on Ignition Poker here.
Pros
- America’s Highest Poker Traffic
- Awesome mobile software
- 4 tables at a time on mobile
- Some of the Fastest Bitcoin Withdrawals
- 24/7 customer support
- Many similar players to play against
Cons
- Rewards program could be better
- USA & Australia players only
- Limited to 4 tables at a time
2. Bovada Poker
Next up we have Bovada Poker. This poker site was established in late 2011 when the Bodog brand exited the US market. Morris Mohawk Gaming Group spun off from Bodog and formed Bovada.
Combining its history with the Bodog brand, Bovada has over ten years of experience serving players with excellence. Over the last decade, Bovada has made its reputation through exceptional customer service and consistent player payouts.
While initially licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission awhile back, Bovada later shifted its jurisdiction to Curacao eGaming, maintaining its position as a leading name in American online poker.
Similar to Ignition the stakes for sit n go’s start at $1 and go up to $200. You can try heads-up, six-handed, and nine-max sit-n-go poker tournaments. Omaha Hi and Omaha Hi-Lo are offered as well.
They also offer sit-and-go satellites which allow you to win entry to big multi-table tournaments especially when major tourney series are scheduled to run, such as the Super Millions Poker Open which is a newly branded series they released in the last couple of years.
You can also try Double-Up events, which is what Bovada calls Double or Nothing SNGs. You’ll also encounter Triple-Ups, which pay out triple the buyin to one-third of the field, but they don’t feature reduced fees. You can get started on Bovada Poker here.
Pros
- Just click and drag to resize the table
- Accepts all types of cryptocurrencies
- Fast cash out and withdrawal options
Cons
- Player tracking software is limited
- USA players only
- Rewards program could be better
- Limited to 4 tables at a time
3. BetOnline Poker
BetOnline Poker is an online poker site whose gaming platform uses Connective Games software. It is primarily a sports betting site, but many players try poker tournaments and cash games on it. I’ve been using them since around 2011.
BetOnline Poker has many soft players because it is associated with sportsbooks, live dealer casinos, and bingo sites. They also have a great mobile poker app for playing games on the go.
The sit n go selection on here is also diverse. While the traffic for playing sit n go’s will be a little bit less than on our first two choices the competition on here is overall very fishy.
The most traffic sit n go for BetOnline tends to be either the 6 person or heads up formats. However, good news is both of these are extremely profitable if your a sit n go grinder.
You can also check out some big multi table tournaments as well. You can get started on BetOnline Poker here.
Pros
- Many soft players
- Accepts cryptocurrencies
- Great rewards program for players
- Fast cash outs
Cons
- Traffic could be better
4. America’s Cardroom
Americas Cardroom has been around for quite a long time. They host some of the biggest poker tournaments in the world including the “Venom Series.” This one series alone pays out over 10 million dollars in guaranteed prize money.
The sit and go selection on site are vast with lots to choose from. They have all the popular formats as well as a ton of different cash game options as well.
They also host what are called On Demand tournaments, which start when a specified number of people register, like many other sit-n-go, but they then allow more entrants to join, like a multi-table tournament.
This poker site sometimes runs SNG step tournaments to award seats into major live events in different places throughout the world. Most notably the WSOP.
They even one of the biggest online poker tournaments in the world the Venom which currently has a prize pool of over 10 million dollars. You can get started on Americas Cardroom here.
Pros
- US-focused global supplier
- Some of the biggest tournaments in the world
- Accepts players worldwide
- Fast Payouts and withdrawals
Cons
- Some concerns about robots
- No mobile app is available
- Rewards program could be better
5. Sportsbetting Poker
SportsBetting.ag is another top-rated poker site. Players looking for a large community site will love this poker room. This site has everything, including a casino, sports book, and racebook.
There are always thousands of players at any given moment, so you don’t have to worry about finding a game to play. I often use this site for a little bit of everything, and the good news is they are highly reputable.
Another major attraction from SportsBetting.ag is that it offers massive poker tournaments. Players can enter tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $200. Additionally, there are daily free rolls that you can participate in. You can get started with them here.
Pros
- Tons of poker players
- Freeroll tournaments with cash prizes
- 100% first-deposit poker bonus
- Excellent on mobile
- Decent cash-games traffic
Cons
- Simple and basic design
- Limited number of live dealer games
Different Types of Sit N Go’s
- Shootouts
Shootouts are larger-scale tournaments involving multiple tables. Each table plays down one winner, and then the winner of each table goes head-to-head to determine who is the best player.
These games can be fun and exciting because these tournaments involve a process of elimination, and there is only one winner. So you don’t have to worry about sharing those juicy payouts.
- Single Table
A single table sit n go can be anywhere from 6 to 10 players. This is a personal favorite choice of mine. Some of the smaller single tables will have only two players as the absolute minimum number, and this is referred to as a heads-up sit and go.
These are also the most popular of the sit and go poker formats. These types of tournaments can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to complete and can begin within a matter of minutes. This is one of my favorite types of sit n go’s.
- Multi-Table
Multi table tournaments offer higher payouts, but also have a lot more variance. . Like a single table sit and go, these games do not have an official start time but begin once the fixed number of entrants is met.
In terms of online sit and go poker strategy and set up, multi-table sit and gos are extremely similar to big guaranteed multi table tournaments but with far less players. Online sit and go poker tournaments that follow this multi-table format will typically see a fixed number of players – with 18 to 36 players.
- Satellites
Satellites allow you to buy in cheaply to get a seat to a larger payout tournament. These are mainly used for winning free tickets, but almost always cost real money to buy into.
So, basically these sit and go online poker tournaments are ones where the winners can earn an entry in larger online or in-person tournaments.
The buy-ins for these tournaments are pooled amongst the players. Any cash that remains at the end of the session is typically awarded to the next place position or positions.
- Turbo Sit N Go’s
Turbo Sit n Go’s are now the most common type you’ll find on most sites. They feature faster blind levels – around 5 minutes between increases – and sometimes shorter starting stacks as well. A full ring Turbo might take 45 minutes from start to finish which is still pretty long.
The faster the tournament, the more variance you will experience – but the more tournaments you can play per hour. This means that you can make more money per hour even though your return-on-investment (ROI) is lower.
ROI is calculated by your total profit divided by your total buy-ins and is the standard measure of tournament win rate. Since you can usually play more than 1 of these at a time you can put in some serious volume doing turbo’s.
When playing turbos, you can typically play more games per hour if you’re a bit of a grinder. You could even multi table a couple of these at a time to get your win rate up faster. Just make sure not to play too many at a time otherwise you could just end up losing more often not being able to focus.
- Double or Nothing
Standard sit n go formats have an even number of players like 6 or 10. However, the game is over once half of the players have been knocked out. The remaining players win double the amount of their buy-in.
Which is actually pretty cool because it gives you more of a chance of winning. The only downside is that you will make far less money playing them unless your putting in some serious volume. Bottom line is they can be fun to add in the mix.
Benefits of Poker Sit and Go (SNGs)
There are a lot of benefits that accrue to Poker SNGs that give them an edge over the typical styles of poker games and tournaments. The best part is the options we’ve laid out are all free sit and go poker sites for USA players.
So, if you are pondering why you should give SNGs a shot, below are some of the benefits you’ll enjoy from playing them.
- They develop well-rounded poker players because they embrace so many aspects of poker that SNG players are forced to study how the game changes as the situation changes.
- Sit & Go is more convenient than traditional tournaments. No need to schedule your game to a specific time. All you need to do is join the game in your free time. As the name implies, you sit and have a go at the game. If you get eliminated from a tournament, you can jump straight to another.
- Single table SNGs are also much faster – you don’t have to spend 6 hours on your computer like you would with a traditional big field MTT. That raises your hourly rate and balances the difference – even the best MTT players may go months without a high score.
- They can help build your bankroll in the beginning. This is one of the most important things to understand about sit n go’s and it’s that eventually you will hit a profit ceiling. At some point the smartest play to make once your comfortable is to move over to cash games. The profit for playing cash games can easily scale up and making hundreds if not thousands of dollars a day is a reality.
So, you see, many reasons should motivate you to try your hand at SNG pokers. With your knowledge of the benefits, you should also know about the formats these SNG pokers can play.
Final Thoughts
Playing sit and go’s is a great way to have some good old entertainment while simultaneously growing your bankroll. Like I stated in the beginning of this article I’ve used them to boost my bankroll in the past.
The options of sit and go’s to play are diverse, but it’s best to find a format that you enjoy playing. From my own experience when you enjoy playing something you tend to do better at it overtime. So, find a style you like to play on the regular.
If you were looking for some of the best poker sites for sit n go’s we hope this helps you out. Over the years, poker sites have come up with many variations of sit and go tournaments.
Right now you can find multiple table sit and go tournaments, six handed, and even heads up sit n go’s. One of the newer and in recent years has become very popular with a lot of variance is the 180 person sit n go. These tournaments begin as soon as 180 people join and then play just like normal tournaments after that.
While sit n go poker is a fun way to make money and build a bankroll, you should eventually move to cash games if you want to make the big bucks. Because eventually you will inevitably hit a ceiling for how much money you can make. Wherever you decide playing good luck on the virtual felt!
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