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Introduction to Turbo Sit and Go Tournaments

The turbo Sit and Go poker tournament format has become extremely popular. This is because they are more fun and exciting compared to old fashion sit and go poker tournaments. Also, you can complete a Turbo SNG a lot faster than a standard event.

Even the World Series of Poker has adopted the format. Multiple bracelets at the 2020 WSOP Online were of the Turbo variety. Today, we will give you a brief introduction to playing Turbo Sit & Go poker tournaments.

Blind Structure

An important consideration before deciding to play a turbo sit and go is the blind structure of the event. Does the event go through all of the standard levels at breakneck speed or is it a doubling blind structure that makes the game a complete crapshoot from the beginning.

The best Turbo structures are set up similarly to standard events. This still gives some play. Granted, the speed of levels is insane, and therefore there is going to be less time available for a player to make profiles of the other opponents. You’ll need to come out of the gate swinging in most cases.

Early Game Strategy

Early on in the Sit-N-Go, you will want to do two things. First, you will want to try and get the maximum value for your big hands, and you do not want to make mistakes that will get you out early. With the blinds going up every 3 to 5 minutes, you have less time to pick up premium hands, so gambling with speculative hands will become a bigger gamble.

Generally, you will see many players try and employ a shove or fold strategy. If they play a hand, they are going to shove. This is something you should consider depending on the field. If you have a table that plays a bit more reasonably, you can try and make standard raises. However, realize that most hands you choose to play will likely be for your entire stack.

Under these circumstances, during the first half of the turbo SNG, the pots are either going to be very large or very small. The speed of the rising blinds is going to push the players to take faster decisions and at the same time, many of them are going to start making mistakes.

Middle Stages

By the time you are in the midpoint of the Sit-N-Go, your strategy is going to depend on your stack. If you are a big stack, you need to avoid making mistakes that will put your chip position in too much danger.

If you are a middle stack, you want to stay out of situations with big stacks and pick on the short stacks praying to pick up a hand. If you are a short stack, you will want to start looking for a hand to double up. If you can get position on a middle stack, these are good targets to steal on as they will not call you in many shove situations unless they have a big hand.

Once you get to the money, unless you happen to have a huge chip lead, almost any hand you play is going to be for most or all of your stack. Part of this is due to the fact that by the time you reach the money, the blinds and antes will be huge relative to your stack. If you are short, get your money in as best you can and hope you either catch or hold.

Final Table

The final table of most Turbo games will play a bit more reasonably as players are looking to maximize their profits. Of course, there are times where the structure will leave players really short. In these spots, you will have to be a bit more aggressive with hands, especially in position.

When you get to heads-up, often you’ll find these to be glorified crapshoots due to blind levels. You will want to adjust your game depending on your opponent. An aggressive opponent you will want to try and shove with a reasonable hand against. Passive players can either see flops or turn on the aggression.

The hardest part for many players is getting past the itch to insta-shove early in these games. This is where most mistakes are made and will cause you the most variance. Avoid making mistakes early, find places to steal and pick up pots in the middle rounds, and you will have an excellent shot of going deep and winning in your fair share of turbo SNG tournaments.

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