Starting out with SNG

Irish_Bomber473 · #1 02-25-2007, 11:31 AM

Looking for advice on whether or not you think SNG are good place for a beginner to start out and build a bankroll from. My plan is to play the $2 tables at FT until I build up $250, then move to the $5, get to $500 move to $10.

BDPOD · #2 03-01-2007, 05:42 PM

SnGs are a good place to start.

Good posts in 1-table tournaments forum.

niugnep · #3 03-01-2007, 08:09 PM

Just out of curiosity, what is your starting bankroll going to be?

swingdoc · #4 03-03-2007, 04:33 AM

Hey Irish,

Very good question as I love to recommend starting to learn poker by playing SNGs [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. The STT forum here is one of the best, so that doesn't hurt either. Here are my good, bad and ugly lists

SNG

Good: Variety of play from the early levels to becoming short stack, bubble play, etc. Very easy and cheap to get a lot of good poker experience. $2 for 150 hands is a heck of a lot cheaper than most (even micro stakes) cash games.

Bad: Because the blinds go up quite quickly, you will almost always get to a point in the tournament where you have to push all in or fold. This is a great learning opportunity as concepts such as stack size and folding equity will make a ton more sense here than in cash games. This also exposes you to a lot more variance than in cash games.

Ugly: You do need more software to play SNGs well than you do for cash games. PokerTracker & PAHUD or GT+ are still important. You also will need a subscription to Sharkscope & either SNGWizard or SNGPowerTool.

doublerc33 · #5 03-04-2007, 05:06 AM

Hey Irish,

I began my brief career playing $1 & $2 SNG's and saw some success, but in the long run ended up breaking even. I then started playing the micro cash games and have improved my game beyond expectation, while building my bankroll quicker than with SNGs. Sit N Go's are a good way to help you perform well in tournaments, but statistically they aren't as profitable as cash games. So if you're looking to really make profit playing online, I'd consider playing the .05/.10 FT cash games as well.

Good luck!

-RRC

p.s. Look me up on FT sometime: doublerc33

DeuceSeven · #6 03-05-2007, 03:10 AM

I see nothing wrong with starting with sngs. I would also trt cash games (NL and limit)and see what you like, if you already did this then go ahead play what you like. Before you sign up anywhere check out the rakeback forum and sign up with an affiliate, if you don't it might cost you thousands later.

Also check out UB, they have sngs starting at $1. I think that's all I can think of that wasn't mentioned.

jedi · #7 03-05-2007, 04:59 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Looking for advice on whether or not you think SNG are good place for a beginner to start out and build a bankroll from. My plan is to play the $2 tables at FT until I build up $250, then move to the $5, get to $500 move to $10.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, that's not a bad plan provided that you start with enough of a bankroll. You probably can move up at $200 then $400 if you've got a good handle on what you're doing. If you're REALLY just starting out then $250, $500 will probably be safer. Also, if you hit a bad run, know when to move back down if it comes to it. I remember a similar project of mine when starting out and had to move from the $30s back down to the $20s a few times.

Also, I'll echo the comment about reading the 1-table tournaments forum.

Lastly, if you're going to concentrate on SnGs, don't try to jump to ring games for now. Those are completely different games.

jdog1999 · #8 03-06-2007, 11:46 AM

I'm not sure what structure FT has but PokerStars has 45 person $1 SNG (5 tables 9 seats each table). I've had a great deal of success with them and found they have less variance (for me at least).

Irish_Bomber473 · #9 03-06-2007, 04:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Irish,

I began my brief career playing $1 & $2 SNG's and saw some success, but in the long run ended up breaking even. I then started playing the micro cash games and have improved my game beyond expectation, while building my bankroll quicker than with SNGs. Sit N Go's are a good way to help you perform well in tournaments, but statistically they aren't as profitable as cash games. So if you're looking to really make profit playing online, I'd consider playing the .05/.10 FT cash games as well.

Good luck!

-RRC

p.s. Look me up on FT sometime: doublerc33

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Thats funny, not to long after I posted this I noticed that I just seemed to be breaking even on the SNG's. I tried my hand at the FT .05/.10 NLHE game and I haven't looked back. I am naturally a conservative player so I love grinding it out on the cash games. I am now reading through SSHE and my goal for now is to build my bank roll to $500 then move up to the .10/.25 tables.