I love the 90 Player KO SNGs At Full Tilt Poker, They Combine Entertainment,
Bankroll-Boosting Profits And Tournament Experience All In One Game…
Update: FullTilt have redesigned their tournament lobby, and the $3-30c 90 Player Knockouts are right near the top of the list. The others are now filed under SNGs, and so going off less often. There are already a few 'regulars' who seem to be in every game, not enough to stop these being a great way to combine profits with gaining tournament experience though!
90 Player SNG Tournaments are one of the best ways in which players can get experience of the different stages of poker tournaments and build up their poker bankroll at the same time. The ‘Knockout’ games at Full Tilt Poker are even better, with a bounty on the head of each player, range of buy-ins and front-page listing in the tournament section ensuring these games are always full of recreational opponents.
This article covers 90 Player Sit N Go Strategy in general, with a specific focus on the knockout tournament versions at Full Tilt. If you’d prefer not to battle through 3000 opponents to get that essential final table experience then read on…
We start by outlining what 90 player SNG tournaments are available at 3 of the leading poker sites. Next we go through a typical lower buy-in 10-table knockout bounty game on Full Tilt by looking at the early, middle and later stages. Finally we summarize as to how important that final table experience can be for bigger tournaments in the future.
90 Player SNG Tournaments – What Is Available At The Leading Poker Sites.
Full Tilt Poker: The ‘home of the pros’ lists these on their tournament main page in the lobby, with games at $3+30c (50c Bounties), $6+50c ($1 Bounties), $12+$1 ($2 Bounties), $24+$2 ($4 Bounties) and $48+$4 ($8 Bounties). You can also find non-knockout versions in the SNG à Multi-Table Section at $1+10c and $5+50c
Mark's Tip: Any player with some experience and / or strategy knowledge will easily beat the lower level ($3 to $12) 90 Player KO SNGs at Full Tilt Poker. With large numbers of recreational players willing to donate their chips, these are one of the most profitable games around. Check out Full Tilt Poker for yourself now and build that bankroll fast!
Pokerstars: At the world’s most popular poker site you will find $55+$5 turbo 90 player sit n goes at the top of the main tournaments view. In the SNGs Tab under ‘Multi-Table’ you’ll find a wide range starting at just 25c then $$1+10c, $2+20c, $3+25c Turbo, $5+50c, $6+50c Turbo, $8+80c Deep Stacked, $10+$1, $11+$1 Turbo, $20+$2, $25+$2 Turbo, $30+$3 Deep Stacked, $100+$9 and $105+$9 Turbo. Pokerstars also feature ‘triple or nothing’ and ‘MTT Steps’ 90 Player games, however the strategy for these is different enough that we will cover them in a separate article later.
Titan Poker: Non-US Players looking for some beginners games which are very fishy (poor opponents) indeed can check out the ‘Century’ ($5+50) and ‘Centennial’ ($2+40c) 100 player games at Titan Poker. These have 10 tables, paying 10 players and run in the same way as the 90 player games covered here – only with crazier players. Check out our Titan Poker Review for more in this profitable poker destination.
90 Player Knockout Sit N Go Strategy – The Early Stages
With 3000 starting chips, blinds at just 20 / 10 and opponents who are willing to gift you their stack with the most unlikely holdings you’ll need to focus on speculative hands during the early stages of a knockout SNG. Suited connectors, small pairs and suited aces are ideal for flopping a hidden monster and taking the entire stack of someone who thinks top pair is the immortal nuts!
Less experienced players with deep stacks will not only over-value over-pairs, they will call too many chips chasing unlikely draws, justifying that they will still have plenty of chips left. If you have a made hand you should bet for value, checking behind on the end if an obvious draw hits can save you from the ‘clever check raise’ your opponent was planning if his 10-high flush came in.
While the bounties themselves are great we do not advise chasing these for their own sake during the early stages of the game. Here your focus should be on chip accumulation, which will help bring in many more bounties later – and give you a shot at the (far more important) final table payouts. You should bear in mind that people will ‘go after’ a short-stack’s bounty with all sorts of hands and adjust your own play based on this wider range.
90 Player Knockout Sit N Go Strategy – The Middle Stages
We are down to half the field, the blinds are at 120 / 240 with a small ante and the stack sizes around you vary from 3 blinds to around 30. Here you need to focus on taking the lead with any pot you choose to enter. Sure there will be times with a monster holding or small pair when another big stack limps where you will be the caller – however being the raiser is a key concept when opponents become aware that calling, bluffing or pushing all-in over your raise carry an expensive penalty if they are wrong.
Restealing can work at the higher buy-ins, at the lower end then many opponents who raised originally with K-J suited will often call with it. If you find a player who will lay down a hand after raising pre-flop in lower buy-in knockout SNGs then make a note of them, this is a rare find.
Smaller stacks will often be all-in during the crazy middle-stages of 90 player knockout Sit N Go tournaments. There is a major difference with ‘cooperation plays’ – where two larger stacks in the hand check a hand all the way to the river to eliminate a small stacked rival. In a regular 90 man SNG, particularly at the mid levels and above, this is normal and often ‘correct’ in a mathematical sense. Where there is a bounty involved on the short stack it will very rarely happen at all – if you call pre-flop in a multi-way pot then you should expect to need to defend your hand on later streets, even if you suspect your opponent may be bluffing into an empty side-pot.
90 Player Knockout Sit N Go Strategy – The Late Stages
2 tables remaining is simply the most profitable time for a positive player in 90 player sit and go tournaments. As the players dwindle to 14 or 12 you can take advantage of the fact that the majority of your opponents really want to get to the final table and the paid positions. Even if this is with a short stack, even if they pass up a hugely positive bet to become a big stack they would often rather fold into the money. Spotting who fits this stereotype well and who is prepared to fight is a key consideration, you will often find situations where stack sizes and player tendencies combine to mean that the actual cards you hold make little difference.
A similar situation occurs once the final table is formed, with some players desperate to move up the money and others ‘crazy’ to double-up and give themselves a shot at the first place. When you make it this far the bounties should be a distant memory, play should be driven by the stack sizes of your opponents in relation to yours. If there is a tiny-stacked opponent at the table the mid-stacks will often fold rather than risk busting before him. If you are one of the smaller stacks then the time to get aggressive is before you blind down into insignificance… push all-in to steal blinds and antes while you still have the ability to hurt the stack of anyone who calls you and loses.
Once you get short-handed you need to adjust your starting hand requirements down significantly. Position, aggression and adapting to the tendencies of your remaining opponents now determine your play.
90 Player Knockout SNGs – Summary And Next Steps
We believe that the 90 player knockout SNG tournaments at Full Tilt are an excellent way to build your poker bankroll at the same time as gaining valuable final table experience for use in future bigger games.
If you have not already done so then check out Full Tilt Poker for yourself today and see what makes site so awesome!