Online Poker Tournaments - Hunting For Value - 07-05-06

July 5 - Sit&Go tournaments series seem to be a popular trend at online poker rooms, and many of the leading poker rooms offer them. The idea is to start off at a lower level buy-in and win buy-in tickets to a final tournament with a big prize at the end. We look at three of the best tournaments of this type...

I have been playing poker for about a year now under the careful watching eye of my mentor, Marc (my co-editor here at Online Gambling Insider who recently won a WSOP final event package). We have been focusing on Sit&Go tournaments as my learning ground. These types of tournaments are well suited to novices trying to improve their poker. The games are typically over within a maximum of 90 minutes (if you last through the end), and the blind structures are reasonable.

As a result, I have played Sit&Go tournaments at around 10 different poker rooms. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. The biggest problem with Sit&Go tournaments is that you need to pick a poker room with good traffic, especially if you are not resident in the the US. Many rooms are very quiet during US off peak hours.

To add some spice to your play, you may want to consider entering into staged Sit&Go series, offered at many of the leading poker rooms. These types of tournaments add a bit of excitement to Sit&Go's (and more purpose). They come in two forms. In the first type, you can win tickets to a next level buy-in tournament. You start off at relative low level buy-in tournaments, and if you progress, you gain free entry into games with much higher stakes (similar to qualifiers). The ultimate goal is to get to the final stage where there is a huge prize pool. A big advantage of these types of games is that you can get a taste of bigger stake tournaments, without hurting your bank roll too much.

The second type of staged Sit&Go tournaments are a lot simpler. You need to win a certain number of games to win a big jackpot. Obviously the odds for these kind of tournaments are much longer. If you lose, you start all over again. In the first example, you could win re-entry into the current level and have another go.

Here are a few examples of these types of tournaments. These in my opinion are best on offer at the moment.

At PokerRoom.com, you can enter into the "Poker Classic" Series. This is by far the biggest tournament of of its kind, with a massive $5 million guaranteed prize pool, and a live final table in Barcelona. The Sit&Go's start at $1 +$0.10 and there are four stages, with the four stage being a $580+$20 Sit&Go. Win one of these and you get a seat to the $5000 buy-in final, where the top 45 go to Barcelona. Needless to say, the odds are pretty horrendous for even intermediate players, but there is a huge carrot at the ends. I am currently hoping to get through stage 3. Regardless of the odds, the Sit&Goes get pretty big, so it's a very useful opportunity to judge where your game is at.

Our second example is at Fair Poker, a Playtech iPoker network skin. This is a typical jackpot style series. Win 6 $50 buy in Sit & Goes and you hit the $100,000 jackpot. I don't even want to think of the odds. The second series also available at Fair Poker is the Rio Jackpot. Here the jackpot starts at $25,000 and the poker room adds $10,000 per week until it is won. This jackpot applies to any level, where a player wins six in a row. It was won twice in June, so it seems to be more reasonable.

Our last example, and by far the most attractive (certainly for my own requirements) is the "Sit&Go Rounders" series run at Wild Jack Poker, a Microgaming Poker Skin. This series offers the best odds from what I have seen (albeit for a much smaller prize), with lots of opportunities to replay a level at now cost. There are five stages, or rounds, and your initial buy-in is a paltry $5+$0.50. The final round is a 10 seat $550+$55. The great thing is that the first five players in the fourth level ($275+$27.50) progress to the fifth stage. All the way along you get free re-entries if you drop out. So, even there is no fat jackpot here, I think this series presents the best opportunity for beginners and intermediary players to push their limits without a chunk getting munched out of their bank rolls.

Good luck at the tables!

Here's a deal. I will be playing at Poker Room and Wild Jack Poker quite a bit for the coming weeks. My nicknames are cardie (pokerroom) and YourTurn (Wild Jack). Say "hi" to me and I will arrange a free $50 casino account for you at one of our partners. Not a bad deal!

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