SNG Room Ratings Updated – Big Changes!
The SNG Room Ratings Are Dynamic, As Some Poker Sites Improve And Others Fade – Our Twice Yearly Update Tracks These Changes, Find Out What Went Into The Decisions Here…. Read More….
by Mark
Below you will see our updated matrix for the top rated SNG Poker Sites as of the 29th April 2008. This update is part of a twice-yearly exercise aimed at bringing you the most up-to-date information on Sit N Go and Tournament poker online… and there have been some very big changes.
The first thing to note when comparing this with the old matrix (at the bottom of this blog post) is that there is a missing room – and also a new site added.
After comparing 2 rooms on the Ongame Network in some depth we have come to the conclusion that PokerRoom.com offered the same games as Mansion Poker – but with better promotions and a better community (almost web 2.0 in places) feel, including their established Pokah Forum. While we will keep up to date information on Mansion Poker SNGs for those readers who want it, these will no longer be linked from our main SNG or tournaments page – replaced with PokerRoom.com instead.
In fact there have been a few changes to the SNG Ratings Matrix – we will explain exactly why and what criteria were used below… first the numbers:
Best SNG Poker Sites
| |
| |
 Poker Room |
|
|
Traffic Volumes |
Game Selection |
Opponent Softness |
Software Interface |
Ongoing Promotions |
Overall Rating |
SNG Review
|
Detailed Review |
 |
|
 |
$50
FIRST2008 |
10 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$500+$20*
SNGPLANET |
9 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
8.8 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$600
SNGPLANET |
9 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
8.6 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$600
SNGPLANET |
6 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
8.4 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$250
SNGPLANET |
8 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
8.2 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$100
SNGPLANET |
9 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
|
|
 |
Ultimate Bet |
|
$1100
SNGPLANET |
7 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
7.8 |
Ultimate SNGs |
|
 |
|
|
$400
none required |
6 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
7.4 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$500
SNGPLANET |
7 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
9 |
7 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$550
none required |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
6.4 |
|
|
Room-By-Room Summary Of How Ratings Were Changed:
 #1 – Poker Stars: Introduction of the SNG Leaderboard (the Poker Stars ‘Battle of the Planets’ promotion) plus Steps for the World Series and LAPT events made a significant difference. Recent software updates include a shadow of your hole cards after folding and there has even been a reload bonus for regular players… Stars appear dedicated to growing their site and not complacent about being the largest – so their ratings improved accordingly making them the top rated SNG Poker site.
 #2 – Titan Poker: The leading site on the iPoker Network has also grown in terms of players, however their software is starting to lag behind the other sites (come on Titan, no resizable tables in 2008??) so this site lost some points compared to last years ratings. Good promotions, including regular bonuses, cash-back and satellites… and the famous fishy opponents keep this the best non-US SNG site.
 #3 – Full Tilt Poker: This site remains a popular and solid choice for online Sit N Go poker players. They have lost ground compared to the last set of numbers for one significant reason – no improvements. Fortunately the previous offering with a large bonus, the 2nd largest traffic and huge game selection was already good enough to put Full Tilt up there with the top SNG sites online. However, with the amount of competition among poker sites it is easy to lose ground by standing still – and SNG tournaments at Full Tilt Poker are no exception.
 #4 – Carbon Poker: A Small (by comparison) US-friendly poker site – but one which has maintained a good position in the rankings in spite of the new ‘traffic’ ratings marking them down somewhat. Huge bonus offers continue at Carbon (we now have an exclusive 200% to $600 with our bonus code SNGPLANET) and include reload bonuses plus tournament entries. Bounty SNGs are a 50/50 split between prize pool and bounty which makes these games fast and furious – especially with the weakest opponents of any US-Friendly SNG site.
 #5 – PokerRoom.com: Straight into the middle of the rankings, this Ongame site features many advantages already mentioned. The real advantage of PokerRoom.com is the combination of above average features rather than one exceptional idea. The bonus is fast, the software sleek, the opponents weaker than average and the game selection + traffic is large. We feel positive about recommending this site to our non-US readers and many loyal players at the PokerRoom.com SNG tables agree.
 #6 – Party Poker: The site which made online poker tournaments a household name has lost a couple of points this time around. Some were due to the changed traffic ranking system and others reflect the fact that other sites have come along with more promotions and specials while Party Poker have largely stood still. Always a favorite of ours and we look forward to watching Party make a comeback in the near future. Check out our detailed review of Party Poker SNGs.
 #7 – Ultimate Bet: Another more established Poker site which is relatively new to coverage here at SNG Planet. UB have dusted off the cobwebs, looked around them, and realized that the (newer) competition had left them in the dust! What we are witnessing now is a concerted fightback from the old-timers. This includes a $1100 bonus (code = SNGPLANET as usual!!), better game selection, professional sponsorship and a vastly improved loyalty scheme (called RAI$E). If you have not checked out UB for a while then you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the changes… read our UB SNG Review here.
 #8 – Pacific Poker: Pacific Poker have improved their bonus offer, realizing that their opposition were leaving them in the dust they added an additional $300 to bring the 888.com Poker sign-up bonus to 100% to $400. The $3 Million ‘Online Poker Crown’ also gave this site a boost. Other than this it is the same old fishy opponents, decent lower limit game selection and classic graphics – an all round good combination that has get to become great. Check our Pacific Poker SNGs review here.
 #9 – Absolute Poker: Another site we are considering dropping from the main listings. Not because of the ‘superuser’ scandals (in our opinion this makes Absolute safer now than it has ever been), but due to the fact that this site is turning into a bit of an ‘also-ran’. The points that Absolute have picked up are about right for a mid-sized, US-friendly poker site with lots of low limit cash grinders at the tables. Absolute will need to do something amazing over the next couple of months to remain in the SNG Planet top 10… read our Absolute Poker SNGs review here.
 #10 – Bodog Poker: This has always been a great smaller US-Friendly poker site with some weak opposition (largely due to the sports-book side of the site). When assessing the rankings we looked long and hard for reasons other than lower-limit Texas Holdem SNGs to give them points. Well, we could not find them – again a case of losing points by standing still. If you are a US Player who enjoys $20 and under NLHE SNGs and does not mind plain software then Bodog Poker make an excellent choice, if you can not beat these games then really – time to question whether you are cut out for poker. Check out our review of Bodog SNGs here.
Lots of updates for one blog post, below we have both the new and the old SNGs Rating matrix information for you to compare. Whichever site you choose make sure you check out the 100’s of Poker Strategy articles here at SNG Planet to make sure your play is as profitable as possible.
Best SNG Poker Sites - NEW
| |
| |
Poker Room |
|
|
Traffic Volumes |
Game Selection |
Opponent Softness |
Software Interface |
Ongoing Promotions |
Overall Rating |
SNG Review
|
Detailed Review |
|
|
|
$50
FIRST2008 |
10 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
$500+$20*
SNGPLANET |
9 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
8.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
$600
SNGPLANET |
9 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
8.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
$600
SNGPLANET |
6 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
8.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
$250
SNGPLANET |
8 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
8.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
$100
SNGPLANET |
9 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
|
|
|
Ultimate Bet |
|
$1100
SNGPLANET |
7 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
7.8 |
Ultimate SNGs |
|
|
|
|
$400
none required |
6 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
7.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
$500
SNGPLANET |
7 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
9 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
$550
none required |
6 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
6.4 |
|
|
Best SNG Poker Sites - OLD
| |
| |
Poker Room |
|
|
Traffic Volumes |
Game Selection |
Opponent Softness |
Software Interface |
Ongoing Promotions |
Overall Rating |
SNG Review
|
Detailed Review |
|
|
|
$50
FIRST2008 |
10 |
10 |
4 |
9 |
8 |
8.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
$600
SNGPLANET |
10 |
10 |
6 |
10 |
9 |
9  |
|
|
|
|
|
$500+$20*
SNGPLANET |
9 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
$550
none required |
9 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
8.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
$100
SNGPLANET |
10 |
6 |
10 |
7 |
9 |
8.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
$600
SNGPLANET |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
8.6 |
|
|
 |
|
|
$500
SNGPLANET |
5 |
6 |
9 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
$500
SNGPLANET |
8 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
8.6 |
|
|
|
Ultimate Bet |
|
$1100
SNGPLANET |
8 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
8.8 |
Ultimate SNGs |
|
|
|
|
$400
none required |
8 |
8 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
8.6 |
|
|
|
