Best Sit And Go Poker Sites
Check out the very beatable Sit N Goes at BetOnline Poker for yourself now! Best Site For Sit N Goes – Specific Variations + Links To More Articles. Aside from the big picture view of the best Sit n Goes, I have specific recommendations which cover many of the variations + unique reviews of each site which focus on sit and go tournaments too. Traffic at Sit and Go Poker Sites. Traffic is the most important variables of a sit n go poker site. You need lots of players for games to be constantly running. From my experience, cash games receive the bulk of the traffic for any given poker site. One of the sites with the smallest stakes SNGs I've come across is Betsafe Poker.Their smallest buy-in regular sit and go tournaments start at $0.10+1c. In general, the lowest level STTs at the vast majority of poker sites start at around $1.
- Poker Sit And Go
- 10 Best Free Poker Sites
- Best Sit And Go Poker Sites Near Me
- Best Sit And Go Poker Sites Like
- Best Sit And Go Poker Sites Online
On this page you’ll find a list of our reviews for PokerSitnGos.com. We will list only the best sit and go poker sites here and give you a little checklist of sorts to ensure you choose the right room for you.
These reviews are unlike other reviews that you may read on other sites. That’s because they are reviewed and written from the perspective of an actual sit and go player. What that means is that a room could be great for sit and go players, but bad for everyone else, and vice versa. So that’s something that you want to keep in mind just in case you are looking for a site to play sit and go tournaments or cash games.
Not only that, but you want to keep in mind that there isn’t a one size fits all solution. I played sit and go’s more seriously than other players, but not as seriously as a professional. So that affected my reviews too. What that means is if you play sit and goes periodically, a room that I find borderline or not worth my time might be just fine for you.
Our Most Recommended Poker Sites for Sit & Go's
Poker Site | USA? | Bonus | Register | Review |
#1 | YES | $1000 | Sign Up | BetOnline Review |
#2 | YES | $1000 | Sign Up | SportsBetting.ag Poker Review |
Our Full List of Poker Room Reviews
- Ignition Poker Review – #1 OVERALL (USA-friendly, too)
- PPI Poker Review – #2 OVERALL and 35% INSTANT rakeback
Below you’ll find a list of qualities that we look for in each room that will matter the most to sit and go players. Read through each one to see why they are important to sit and go tournaments, and more specifically, what we look for in each one.
Sit n Go Game Variety
Game variety is very important for the following reasons:
- More games and variations mean less saturation of each game with solid players.
- Gives you options when your preferred game is loading slow.
- You have more options when you choose to branch out.
The types of games, variants and structures are important too. For example, if earning a high hourly is important to you, you’ll want to find sites that offer turbo or super turbo structures, as well as single or smaller multi-table options.
Don’t forget about the stakes either. The higher the stakes, the more room you have to grow.
Traffic at Sit and Go Poker Sites
Traffic is the most important variables of a sit n go poker site. You need lots of players for games to be constantly running. From my experience, cash games receive the bulk of the traffic for any given poker site. So, the poker site needs more than a couple thousand players for the tournament and sit and go section to see any (decent) traffic.
To give you some perspective, PokerStars has around 200,000 players logged in at any time. They don’t list how many of those players are in the tournament or sit n go section of the site, but what I can tell you is that from 7am to 11pm at night on the west coast, you never have to wait for a sit n go to load. The exception to this would be the larger sit n go’s, like the 90s or 180s. All the others load up pretty quick.
Compare that to a site like Carbon Poker, where they have 6,000 to 10,000 players logged in at any given time. Only 25% of their players can be found in the tournament and sit n go section and you do have to wait for games to load.
I don’t have exact traffic numbers, but I would say that an average room should have 20,000 players at their site during peak hours for the sit n go section to be decent, and preferably as high as 50-75,000 (or more). Any less than 20,000 players and it’s going to be difficult to get multiple tables going in one session, let alone get enough volume in if you want to play semi-seriously.
Sit n Go VIP Programs
VIP programs matter more to me than the deposit bonus does, just because you’ll be earning from it long after you clear your initial bonus.
Solid VIP program will offer things like cash back, entries into tournaments, special service and points multipliers. Points multipliers will mean that for every tier you jump up in the VIP program the faster you will earn points.
Equally as important is your ability to take advantage of the VIP program. In other words, VIP programs are usually based on the number of points that you earn. The more points you earn the higher your VIP status.
The issue that you might find with some VIP programs is that the number of points they require you to earn for every VIP status is so much compared to the amount of volume a player can actually get in, much less the amount of volume available at that site. So what you want to look for are sites that have nice VIP programs that are achievable and maintainable.
Sit n Go Welcome (Deposit) Bonus
Although not as important (to me) as the site’s VIP program, you should still consider the deposit bonus before signing up. Most sites offer match bonuses between $500 and $1,000. The most common match is 100% (dollar for dollar), but it’s not uncommon to find 50, 150 or 200 percent matches.
In addition to the bonus amount, you also need to consider how easy it is to clear your bonus. Poker sites don’t give you the money for free, but instead, you need to play real money games, generate rake and earn points. Your bonus will be released to you after you have generated so many points (rake). What you want to look for is the number of points that you need to earn for every dollar of your bonus. Some sites will require you to earn more points (compared to other sites) which means paying more rake.
Last, you need to look for an expiration date. If your bonus has an expiration date, you’ll need to complete your bonus before that date or else you’ll forfeit the rest of the bonus (and in some cases the entire thing). Be sure to compare the number of points you need with the expiration date too, just to make sure it’s feasible for you to complete the bonus playing your games and stakes before the expiration date.
Poker Room Software
Most poker reviews that you read online will cover the software from a new player point of view. In other words, they cover things like how good the graphics look, how fast everything operates and basic stats that are shown in the lobby or that can be brought up while seated.
Not that these things aren’t important, but I feel that the most important things include your ability to customize your table, your ability to resize your table or position it how you want, whether or not the software is compatible with PC or Mac and whether or not the poker site allows you to use third-party software such as Poker Tracker or Hold’em Manager. You should also be able to multi table as many tables as you want.
Banking Options
Before you hit the download button you want to make sure that the poster site has banking options that work for you, especially if you live in the USA. Players in the USA will have fewer options and those options will change more often as poker sites are forced to look for new processors due to US laws.
You will want to check on your withdrawal options, too, as well as how long it takes for you to request a withdrawal and for that money to hit your bank account.
Support
Support is extremely important.
All sites will at least have an e-mail or contact form. Some sites also have live chat and/or telephone numbers. When possible, I always use the live chat option. I have found it to be the fastest way to get your problems resolved.
Other than the contact method, you should also test a poker site for how quickly they get back to you. If a site can get back to you within 24 hours, I’d question whether or not it’s worth playing there.
Poker SNGs are a great poker format to play. Like tournaments, they give you a lot of bang for your buck, but with less variance. You can find plenty of SNGs running around the clock if you join the right online poker site.
That last part is important. Your experience all depends on whether you join the right site.
The good news is that joining the right site is easy to do. We’ve already done the legwork for you by researching, reviewing, and vetting the best poker sites for SNGs on the internet.
Rank | Poker Site | Exclusive Bonus | Get Started | |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | 888poker | 100% Up To€400 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
Choose one of these top online poker rooms and within minutes, you could be playing your favorite SNG variant.
These sites were not chosen at random. The listings were not bought and paid for, nor did we receive any bribes.
Members of our team either played sit and go tournaments or continue to play them now. They reviewed different sites and have determined that these are the best online poker sites for sit and go tourneys.
You’ll find tons of great games, variants, and stakes to choose from. There’s something for everyone in this list of sites.
In the next section, we’ll explain why these poker rooms made the cut and the standards we hold every real money poker site we recommend to.
Then, we’ll talk about why you should play SNGs if you’re not already sold on them. Finally, we’ll wrap up this short guide with a few tips for how to cash in SNGs more often.
Because who doesn’t want to win more often?
How to Choose the Best SNG Poker Site
It’s not easy finding the best SNG poker site. There are many variables to consider, one of which is unique to poker.
The most important variable you’ll want to consider is traffic. For example, how many players does the poker room have? To figure this out, look through the lobby and see what games and variants players are registering for.
It’s also a good idea to click the “running games” filter (most poker sites have one) to get an idea of how many SNGs run overall. We recommend doing this during peak hours to get the most accurate info.
This should work if you enjoy playing any kind of SNG. However, if you prefer to play a specific game or type, then you’ll need to see how much traffic there is for those games.
If there aren’t many games running during peak hours, then it makes no sense to join that site. You’ll hardly get to play any SNGs and your money will just sit in your account.
That’s why traffic is usually the number one thing we consider when reviewing and rating real money poker sites. It doesn’t matter if it’s for SNGs, tournaments, or cash games.
Traffic isn’t the only thing that matters, though. There are other variables that you need to consider before you give a poker site your business.
- Do they have a gaming license? Are they regulated by a trustworthy gaming commission?
- Are there banking options that you can use? Are the banking limits and fees reasonable?
- Does their software have the features and options you want?
- Can you use a poker HUD, equity calculator, and other software or tools?
- Do they allow multi-tabling? How many tables can you play at once?
- What kinds of promotions do they offer poker players? Are their terms fair?
- What types of SNGs can you play? What stakes can you play for?
We can go on and on, but we think you get the point. There are a lot of variables to look for and compare in order to find the best poker sites for SNGs (or any other poker format).
The most difficult part for us is recommending poker sites that have widespread appeal. Since we have no idea what you’re looking for in a SNG poker site, the best we can do is recommend sites that have lots of features and options.
Of course, if you have any questions about the sites we recommend, you can read our poker room reviews to learn more about each one.
Okay, so we explained a little bit about what we look for when selecting which SNG poker sites to recommend to our readers. But how do you know that you can trust our suggestions?
The honest answer?
You can’t. Not really. Not until you take a chance, join one of our recommended online poker sites, and see for yourself that it’s everything we say it is.
Other than that, the best we can do is share with you what our standards are. Or, in other words, what we’re willing to do and not willing to do when it comes to our reviews and ratings.
- We don’t accept money for preferential treatment. Our reviews are written from our perspective and do not include fluff or omit important details.
- No one can buy a higher spot in our recommendations table. Every site must earn their place, for better or for worse.
- Our reviews include both the good and the bad that we find. That way, you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into when you join.
- Our reviews are updated regularly to ensure that you have all the current information you need to decide where to play. We use this information to update our recommendations as needed.
Few information websites can say the same thing. Take a look and see for yourself. Most websites either have outdated information or the top spots in their ratings tables are bought and paid for.
We think that’s dishonest, especially since most of these sites don’t disclose that fact. And it doesn’t get our readers any closer to finding the best poker site for them.
So, that’s why we do things the way we do them.
You can find a poker site on your own. However, we encourage you to take a chance on our recommendations. Choose a site from the table above and make a small deposit.
Chance are, you’ll see and experience a great poker site filled to the brim with promotions, features, and reasonable terms. That’s why we’ve ranked them as the top real money poker sites for SNG players.
Perhaps you’re new to this online poker thing. Maybe you heard that sit and go (SNG) tournaments are a great game to play but no one bothered to explain why.
We want to change that. SNGs are a great poker format to play, especially for beginners. The following are a few of our favorite reasons why.
1You Know Exactly What You Can Win or Lose
SNGs are a fixed format. When you register to play, you know exactly how many people there will be, how many places are paid, and how much each place pays.
There is some peace of mind that comes with knowing all this. If you deposit $20 and join a $1 tournament, you know that, no matter what, the max you can lose is $1.
In contrast, if you play cash games, there’s no telling how much you’ll win or lose in a session. Maybe you play for hours and don’t even win 10% of your buy-in. Or maybe you play for 10 minutes and lose two buy-ins.
This uncertainty is why some players choose SNGs (and tournaments) over cash games.
This is a benefit over larger tournaments. A large tournament might be scheduled to start a few days, weeks, or even months from now.
SNGs, on the other hand, will start immediately once every seat has been filled. For example, a nine-man SNG will start once nine players have registered. A 180-man will start once 180 players have registered.
This is great because you’ll know exactly how many players you have to fight through to cash or win the game. You know what you’re getting yourself into.
Another reason this is a benefit is because you know that the game will run. It’s just a matter of how long it’ll take for all the seats to fill.
Finally, this means that you can play SNGs at any time of day, whereas with scheduled tournaments, you have to wait until their scheduled time.
3SNG Skills Translate Well to MTTs
There are many skills that you need to learn before you can consistently beat SNGs. Here are a couple of examples of the skills you need.
- Understanding of ICM (push/fold)
- How to play the early levels
- How to change your strategy for antes
- How to build a stack
- How to play (abuse or survive) the bubble
- How to play a full table, short-handed, and heads-up
- How to read hands
And so on.
The bad news is that this will take a fair amount of time and effort on your part.
The great news is that all these skills are also necessary to do well in tournaments. So, once you learn these skills and start crushing SNGs, you can then transition to MTTs and expect to do reasonably well.
One of the biggest complaints people have about playing tournaments is that you’ll experience a lot of variance. You can go months without cashing, let alone winning. And you can go even longer than that.
While you’ll still experience variance playing SNGs, it won’t be nearly as bad as playing tournaments with thousands of players in them.
Think about it this way. The smaller the SNG, the more consistent you can be in making it into the money. Good SNG players can expect to cashout 40% to 50% of the time for STTs and up to half of that for the 2-5 MTT SNGs.
So, while you will experience some variance playing SNGs, it won’t be nearly as bad compared to playing MTTs.
Quick Tips for Cashing out More Often
SNGs are a great poker format to play. However, one of the risks to playing is not winning any money. In fact, you probably won’t cash in the majority of the SNGs you play.
That’s okay, though, because with a solid strategy, the times you do cash should more than make up for the times you lose. Unfortunately, most players don’t have a solid strategy, thus, they hardly ever win a tournament, let alone make it into the money.
We want to help you fix that. The following are a few tips that, if you follow them, should help you to cash more often in the SNGs you play.
There’s a saying in the MTT community that you can’t win an MTT during the first couple of levels, but you can lose it during the first couple of levels.
The same idea applies to SNGs. Many players make the mistake of playing lots of hands. It makes sense, right? After all, you start most normal SNGs with 100 big blinds or more. So, why not play a lot of hands and try to double up?
Well, there are a couple of problems with this approach. For one thing, with every hand you play, you risk your tournament life. This is especially true if you tend to overplay your weaker top pairs or worse hands.
Next, doubling or tripling up doesn’t even guarantee that you’ll cash out. Yet, in attempting to build your stack so aggressively, you put yourself at risk.
Finally, it’s not as crucial to build a massive stack in most SNGs like it is in MTTs. You can do just fine as a short stack. Just shove a couple of times to pick up a couple of pots during the levels where there are antes and you’ll be right back in it.
2Change Gears and Catch People off Guard
One tactic you can try is to simply change gears while everyone else is still doing the same thing. Here’s an example to show you what we mean.
In MTT SNGs, a common spot to change gears is when a few players have busted and the tables are short-handed; this should be before the poker room moves players around and the tables become nine-handed again.
Many players at this point are still in nine-handed or full table mode. They haven’t adjusted their opening or stealing range for fewer players, but you can.
What you’d do here is simply play more hands. You can play more hands because every hand has gone up in value. Since these players are still playing the same way, tighter and/or with weaker hands that we still dominate, the hands you’d open will be purely for value.
Either way, this is a great opportunity to add chips to your stack.
Another spot that many players miss, especially recreational players, is when antes are introduced.
Antes are a forced bet that everyone pays before the cards are dealt. These are usually a fraction of the blinds, but since everyone has to pay them, it can add up to a lot of money.
For example, during the 200/400 level, there will be only 600 chips in the pot. This is a good chunk of change relative to the average stack size, which will be around 10 to 15 big blinds depending on the SNG.
However, when you add a 50-chip ante from all players, you increase the pot by 450 chips. The pot is now 1,050. If players have 4,000 to 6,000 in their stack, the pot is now worth 15% to 25% of their stack before the cards are dealt.
This is the perfect time to get aggressive. Raise to steal the blinds. Learn how to re-steal from other players who also know to steal the blinds. Shove into other shorter stacks because you will have maximum fold equity (which means they’re more likely to give up and let you have the pot).
Do this a few times and not only will you double or triple up, but you’ll often end up the chip leader. Then, you can start abusing the table, picking up $1,050 (or whatever) every time the table folds.
Get aggressive here and you can build a stack for the bubble and final table. Seriously, follow tip #1 and this tip, and we have no doubt that you’ll win more often.
4Try Min-Raising Once Antes Kick In
Poker Sit And Go
Sometimes, winning more often simply boils down to preserving chips instead of trying to collect more of them. One way you can do that is to simply risk less when you raise or re-raise.
There are a couple of reasons why this works.
Let’s say the blinds are 200/400. Many people would open-raise for 1,200 chips. However, if you raise for 800 chips instead, every two raises buys you another attempt to steal.
Another benefit is that you don’t have to win as often for the raise to be profitable in the long run.
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For example, if you bet 1,200 to win a 1,050 pot, you’ll need folds 53% of the time to breakeven. However, if you bet 800, you only need folds 43% of the time.
And if you’re called, then your hand needs around 30% equity to breakeven. Chances are, if you’re shoving or raising anything decent, you’ll have more than 30% equity. This means your steal is all-around more profitable.
Ultimately, you’ll risk less to win the same amount. And any chips you save will ultimately keep you alive longer and give you more opportunities to steal the blinds and play poker.
In turn, this should increase your chances of cashing in every SNG you play.
If you haven’t played a poker SNG, then you don’t know what you’re missing. They’re a great format for the following reasons.
- They don’t take as long as scheduled MTTs do. They’re more convenient to play.
- You know exactly what you stand to lose and what you can win if you’re the last player standing.
- The strategies you learn playing SNGs can be used in MTTs.
- SNGs are softer. There are more bad players compared to cash games.
Best Sit And Go Poker Sites Near Me
We can keep going, but the point is that these games are worth playing if you can join one of the best poker sites for SNGs.
Best Sit And Go Poker Sites Like
Those sites are listed at the top of this page. We’ve already vetted each one to ensure that they’re reputable, safe, have lots of banking options and promotions, and tons of SNGs to choose from.
Best Sit And Go Poker Sites Online
What are you waiting for? Choose a site and start playing real money SNGs online now.