Sit and Go Tournaments as a Good Profit Center
Sit and Go Tournaments as a Good Profit Center
Sit & go tournaments (S&Gs) can be a profitable addition to one's profitability with very limited risk. The whole thing depends on two important factors:
1. The Expected Value that may be anticipated by playing in these tournaments on demand, and
2. The Payout Structure of the standard online S&G.
Let's take a closer look at each factor starting in reverse order.
The Payout Structure
In most tournaments only 10% of the field get paid. Oh, sure you say, a lot of people will cash in a large multi-table tournament (MTT) but the fact still remains that only 10% of those entering any MTT will cash with the larger cashes limited to the final 9 or 10 players.
Not so with the normal structure of an online S&G. In fact, in a standard 9 player table 33.33% of the players cash. Of the 9 entrants to a S&G, 3 will end up with a profit. Not only that, but the payout is structured as 50% of the prize pool going to 1st place, 30% of the pool to 2nd place and 20% of the pool going to the third place finisher.
Cashing in a S&G means that 60% of the prize pool is already committed to the field of finishers as each player is guaranteed at least 20% of the prize pool. The difference between 3rd and 2nd is but 10% extra but finishing first is a whopping 20% better than finishing 2nd. Once I cash, I open my game up to a very wide hand selection. I want to finish first, never second, but I realize that there is absolutely no shame in finishing 3rd. By opening up my game and by accelerating my already aggressive style, I am able to push more timid opponents into laying down stronger hands and pushing more of their stacks to mine. Sometimes this backfires and I wind up going broke in 3rd place but more often than not if I survive to heads-up I am in a position to win and that is, after all, my goal.
Expected Value
Expected Value is a mathematical expression of the value of all the potential outcomes of any given event. In the case of a S&G there are four outcomes possible for any given tournament.
You will lose your buy-in and tournament fee
You will win 20% of the prize pool
You will win 30% of the prize pool, or
You will win 50% of the prize pool
An expected value formula adds up the winning percentages and the loosing percentage and comes to a positive or negative number. The positive number represents how much you earn every single time you play regardless of the outcome. Conversely, a negative EV represents the amount you will lose every time you play regardless of the outcome. A positive EV of as little as one cent on the positive side means that over the long term, you will earn that amount as profit. The formula looks something like this:
EV=((PPx.5)(Occ)+(PPx.3)(Occ)+(PPx.2)(Occ)+(-Lx)(Occ))
where PP=Prize Pool, Occ=Percentage of occurance, and L=Loss expressed as a negative number)
$2.25 S&G EV Example
The image above is an example of the EV calculation for a S&G with a $2.00 buy-in and a $0.25 tournament fee. In this case, Winning 16 of 100 S&Gs, placing in 17 of 100 and coming in third in 18 of 1oo S&Gs let to an EV of $0.89 per S&G played. This includes loosing 49 of 100 S&Gs by coming in 4th or worse. This means that over 100 S&Gs using the numbers of this example, one will earn a profit of $89.00.
A Break Even Example
This example represents a break even projection. In this example you would have to lose 69% of the time and cash 31% of the time with a larger percentage going to 3rd place and even then you would still make $2.00 over 1oo games played.
Increasing your Winning Chances in a Typical S&G
In most low buy-in no-limit S&Gs many, if not most, players are maniacs. It is not unusual to have 3 or 4 players at the table seeing 50% or more of flops and acting aggressively, raising and re-raising much of the time. These bullies are, in fact, quite vulnerable to solid, patient play. When I am playing in a S&G, I tend to play tighter than an aging movie star's forehead. Only hands I would play in early position have value until the first three players have self-destructed. Patience is the most important virtue for early S&G play. The blinds are cheap and your stack is relatively large with an M of 20+ placing you in the green zone. No hurry here. Wait out the bully and crush him with AA, KK or QQ when he is raising with 79 offsuit.
Even better, your super tight table image will help you in middle stages of the S&G. Now you are working to eliminate three more players. If you are perceived as super tight, you are in position to now expand your play. In the middle stages of a S&G I tend to expand to hands I would normally play from early and middle position without regard to position. While I am entering more pots, it will take some time before any but the most observant player will actually notice the change in my play. I now want to build my stack by stealing blinds and aggressively winning a few large pots. If I can knock a short stacked player out all the better, but I now want to attack the middle stacks as I build my own. Again, nothing crazy. I stay away from the remaining maniacs unless I have a premium hand and then I play possum, checking and calling the maniac until he bets himself broke.
Tight is absolutely right in the early and middle stages of a S&G. Once you make the money and you are in the late stages you can really open up your game. Pressure is rewarded here. Raising and re-raising more timid opponents is almost always guaranteed to grow your stack giving you an opportunity to finish first. Trapping more aggressive opponents that are left in the final stages also works to build your stack. In short, once you make the money, there is no reason to sit back and conserve your chips. You are getting paid no matter what you do. Now your goal is to push your way to the top. It is not profitable to settle for second place. For me, first is the goal and I will go broke trying to get there and settle for 3rd but I hate coming in 2nd.
Why Cross-channel Email Marketing Is The Best Way To Reach Your Customers Outsourced Telemarketing in Canada Heartburn During Second Trimester Scam Affiliate Marketing Tips : : Your own email list and own affiliate program Great Taste No Pain By Sherry Brescia Scam Marketing Secret Of the Software Industry Car Auction Sites Australia Scam Hair Salon Marketing and You Using Customer Analytics To Direct A Successful Email Marketing Campaign Where To Look For Mj Bobble Marketing Coupons And Deals How to Find a Niche Market Ideas Popular in 3 simple steps Forex Neutrino Signals Scam German Market Sees Record Increase By Barvetii Wealth Consultants