Turbo SNGs = Glory Times

I’ve chronicled my SNG escapades over the last couple months, and fortunately the hot run has continued.

After achieving iron man status on Full Tilt in June for the second month in a row, I transferred a large chunk of my bankroll to Absolute Poker to take advantage of 30% rakeback. Absolute is on the Cereus platform with Ultimate Bet, and because they have roughly 30% of the traffic that Full Tilt has, I wasn’t expecting a large flow of SNG traffic either.

(What’s funny is that I was getting pissed about Full Tilt support NOT responding to my rakeback emails… I started sending angry emails, threatening to leave the site. Of course, because I’m an idiot, I was sending those emails to support@fulltilt.com… Instead of support@fulltiltPOKER.com… I received an angry email from the site that runs the other Full Tilt company, telling me to stop bombarding them with poker emails…)

The SNG of choice over at Absolute appears to be the turbo SNG. I’ve really never dabbled in turbos because I’ve always had such a huge edge in the regular SNGs. But even though the gab between good players and bad players narrows with turbos, you are able to play more tournaments, thus increasing your overall winrate.

Because the traffic is still sporadic, I register for anything between $20-50, depending on what’s available. They all seem to have comparable overall skill levels. I think this is because losing players go on hot streaks at the $50 level and continue playing.

The main strategy is to play RIDICULOUSLY tight for the first 3-4 levels, only raising preflop with AA, KK, QQ and JJ. limp with all other pocket pairs, limp with AQ, and limp with other fun hands in late position, but open fold everything else. My goal is to preserve those precious chips for when the average stack is < 10bb. It’s important to have fold equity when the turbo SNG turns into an LOL shove-a-ment.

Once the blinds reach 50/100 (then to 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, etc.), I go into full “Shock and Awe” mode. But I do it selectively, picking on shorter stacks and avoiding situations where a big stack may call my all in.

It’s also important to take advantage of situations where you are playing 4-5 handed and everyone is basically even in chips. Go balls to the wall in this spot and take the chip lead.

I guess in turbo SNGs I’m always playing based on what my opponents are likely to do. If we are 4-handed (3 paid) and I am chip leader with 2 shorties, I’ll shove almost any 2 knowing the other three players will not call without a monster.

If I’m short with 4 to go, and another guy is also short, I will look to be aggressive on that player’s blind, because I’d rather take money from/play against him than the two big stacks. Stealing money from the other shorty puts him further below me. And if he calls, I have a chance to knock him out (even if I’m a 40/60 dog) and get to the money.

Stuff like that. Always thinking strategically.

Here’s the summer results so far, with Full Tilt on top and Absolute on the bottom (Full Tilt summer starts around game 650, and of course doesn’t include two big multi-table hits… Absolute graph starts last Monday, with red = equity and green = profit):

Phil Mackey is a sports radio personality at 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. He's also the editor and publisher of Minnesota Poker Magazine, and the co-founder of the Minnesota State Poker Tour. Contact Phil at phil@mnpokermag.com