Playing Online Poker SitnGos

There are three major ways to play poker online: at cash tables, through sitngos, and through tournaments. Today we will talk about sitngos and the pros and cons of playing sitngos versus cash tables and tournaments. Understanding the differences of the three will help you know the best place to put your money and give you the best chances of winning.

What is a sitngo? A sitngo is a small tournament, usually seating between 9 and 10 players (larger sitngos are called Multi Table Tournaments and can have as many as 30 players). In these mini tournaments everyone puts up the same amount of money (plus a small fee for the internet site). The prize pool is added together and then split among the top three players.

Sitngos are a fun and easy way to play poker and probably the least stressful of your options. Players playing sitngos generally don't consider themselves professionals and are just playing to have fun. Because there are only 9 or 10 players, finishing in the money (in the top three) is a considerably easier task and playing poker online is always more fun if you are winning money!

Sitngos are also a lot faster than larger tournaments. Generally you can play a sitngo in about an hour, depending on the site you play for. Hardly ever do sitngos last longer than one hour and a half; even limit sitngos are generally done fairly quickly.

So what are the drawbacks of sitngos? Sometimes sitngos can draw out and seem long and boring, and because you already bought in you are stuck until the tournament is over. This might encourage you to play badly just to be down with the tournament, which will cost you money. Also, especially as you start out you will find yourself finishing in a lot of 4^th places (one place shy of the money) and this can be incredibly frustrating. Knowing that you were so close and still lost money can be overwhelmingly frustrating. Add on to the fact that you got unlucky and you can be steaming for quite some time.

Perhaps the only thing as bad as finishing 4^th is playing a long drawn out sitngo to finally make it in the money and WHAM get knocked out in 3^rd place. While you will make a little bit of money here, generally third place is not too much more than your original buy-in, so your profit margin is slim (if you want to consistently make money you need to finish 1^st or 2^nd). This can also be frustrating to have played such a long game and hung in there so long only to just about break even. If you were doing well early on in the tournament and even had the chip lead at times, well then this can be almost devastating!

Playing sitngos online can be one of the most fun ways to play online poker, but sitngos can be just as stressful at times as well. You are getting good odds for your money and have a decent chance to turn a profit, so good luck and have fun!