Ultra Turbo Sit and Go/MTT Strategy

Ultra turbo tournaments are even faster than their turbo counterparts. The vast majority of sit and go and multi table tournament players are moderately comfortable with turbo games, but ultra turbo tournaments are an entirely different story. There is so much Sit and gos are notorious for their variance. The variance itself isn’t always the real problem, though, as the frustration can send any player over the edge. Sit and go players, depending on their particular limits and games, are accustomed to swings that can range from 5-20 buy ins on a very regular basis. There are a lot of swings in cash games, but they don’t even compare to what a lot of sit and go players have to deal with. Heads up sit and go players have the most variance, as is to be expected. Trailing heads up sit and gos in variance are the short handed and full ring games. Full ring sit and gos have significantly less variance than short handed games and short handed games make heads up games seem like the worst experience in the world. Interestingly enough, the games with the most variance are also the ones who will generally yield the highest returns. One of the lessons to learn with sit and gos is that the more risk you take, the more reward you should expect to find if you are successful. The flaw in this approach is that you will inevitably fail a fair amount of the time if you plan on playing the games with wild variance. Play what you are comfortable with and always be ready to handle the inevitable bad days. Proper bankroll management is of the utmost important when it comes to any type of sit and go. There are a lot of casual players who enjoy playing sit and gos from time to time, but these are not the people who need to worry about their bankrolls. As a serious player who wants to win, you should be paying extremely close attention to your bankroll at all times. In addition to monitoring your bankroll, you should also have the self-discipline to either move down in limits or take a break if things aren’t going well. This is a concept that is lost on a large number of sng players. It is easy to start with a sound bankroll, it is easy to move up in limits when things are going well, but it takes a real effort to rework your game when you run into a few obstacles. Realistic Variance in Sit and Gos While your limits, skill level, and type of game can alter what variance would be considered normal, there are a few general guidelines for downswings in sit and gos. If you are going way over these numbers, you should at least consider changing something up. Normal variance is something that is completely unpreventable and it happens to every single player in the world, but abnormal variance is an unnecessary hurdle that can be improved upon. Heads up sit and gos are the most brutal when it comes to variance. You might think that heads up players would be able to win with greater consistency because they are in a one on one environment, and while that is true in the long run, all that it takes for a big downswing in heads up games is a few lost coin flips. You could have any number of opponents dead in the water, but you could also lose 10 coin flips in a row. Sometimes nothing will go your way, every poker player has been there, but the problems and losses are multiplied in a heads up environment. Small stakes heads up players can easily lose 10-20 buy ins, while mid stakes and high stakes players can lose double this. A solid player won’t have too many stretches of sizable losses, but no one is immune to a big swing in heads up sit and gos. Short handed sit and go players fall right in between the variance found in heads up and full ring games, as any logical player would suspect. The jump in variance is more dramatic when compared to heads up games than full ring games. If you are a full ring player, expect a slight bump in how streaky your wins and losses are in short handed games, but don’t look for extremely dramatic differences. 5-10 buy in swings are quite normal in these games, with 10+ buy in downswings not being something worth crying about. Once you hit a 20 buy in downswing, however, it is probably time to reassess your skills. Full ring sit and gos are the safest route for any player who is worried about losing a lot of buy ins. If you prefer to win your money in smaller, more consistent amounts, full ring games should keep you content. The trade off that full ring players make is a lower overall ROI. You won’t be able to pound out the volume in full ring games that you would be able to in heads up or short handed games. For most players in full ring sit and gos, downswings rarely extend past 10 buy ins. Would a downswing of over 10 buy ins be a reason for panic? Definitely not, but you shouldn’t find that they happen all that often.variance and risk involved in ultra turbo games that they could make the best player in the world look like he has never played the game before. If you thought luck was a big factor before, just wait until you try to beat the ultra turbo tournaments.

Now, onto the good news. While luck has an undeniable presence, it is also undeniable that it is in the very short term. It will not take an eternity before you find consistency, just a bit longer than it would in a regular tournament environment. There is money to be made in these games, there is no doubt about it, and that is all that really matters.

There are two general types of players that you will face in the majority of ultra turbo tournaments. Those two types of players are either very weak players or very skilled players. You are going to be battling with a number of players who focus all of their time and energy on the art of ultra turbo tournaments.

On the other end of the spectrum you will find the random players who have absolutely no clue what they are doing. They may have never played an ultra turbo event in their life or are, at the least, quite inexperienced. Needless to say, your profitability is going to be found in the weak and inexperienced players. Exploiting these players is easy, but as was mentioned earlier, you could still get crushed by the worst player at your table.

It is not always about how good you are at ultra turbo tournaments, but instead about how lucky you can get. Rest assured, though, that these players will do everything in their power to donate it all back eventually.

Ultra Turbo Sit and Gos

Ultra turbo sit and goes typically last just a few minutes. If you are participating in any pre flop action whatsoever, it is going to be at the very beginning. Actual strategic post flop play will come and go before you know it.

After this time is up, you need to immediately shift into push/fold mode. There is no transition stage where you can play speculative hands, it is an immediate and sudden change. If you don’t react to the sharp changes in direction, don’t expect to be hanging around for long. The blinds will rise extremely quick and your stack will die a very fast death. When you play a regular tournament, you would expect the blinds to slowly chip away at your chips, but everything happens much more quickly in an ultra turbo game. Don’t be afraid to take chances in ultra turbo games.

The most apprehensive and scared players are almost always the ones who end up busting first in an ultra turbo event. They will either wait around for a good hand or let the blinds ensure that they will never make the money. Do everything you can to at least give yourself a chance to cash and win. You might have to go all in with 78 off suit, but that is just fine if it will give you even a slight chance at doubling up and making a run.

Utltra Turbo Multi Table Tournaments

Ultra turbo MTTs are very similar to ultra turbo sit and gos. The primary difference between SNGs and MTTs is that MTTs require players to hang around much longer. The blinds are going to increase at the same pace, but eliminations as a whole will not be nearly as rapid. For example, you could lose 50% of the field in a sit and go in about the same time that it takes to lose 20% in a multi table tournament.

You should always be aiming to outlast the field while also looking for opportunities to add chips to your stack. Without a growing stack, you stand little chance of earning a big cash, but a big stack is always relative to the other players left in the tournament. Calculate when you need to start making moves based on the number of players left, how many players need to be eliminated before the money, your stack size, and your hand.

Notice that your hand is often going to be the least critical factor in your play. Ultra turbo tournaments call for very quick and decisive decision making, and one wrong move could either be a lost opportunity or it could send you home packing. You should always be aiming for the one move that gives you a legitimate shot at getting somewhere.

Sometimes that opportunity never presents itself. It is in those spots where you need to make something happen on your own and hope for the best. If you don’t run well, that might be all that you can do. It is infinitely better to create a chance at cashing or winning than it is to try and wait for one to be handed to you.