Most Profitable: Cash v S&G

FullOf..IT

Hi,

Ive been playing the $22 S&G's on party for the last 3 months. My ROI is 31% after 587 games.

My question? Im getting rather bored of them at the minute and find my game suffering as a result. I play for 2 hours each day. Would it be more profitable for me to play .25 / .50 for 2 hours a day on 4 tables like I do at the S&Gs?

5starpool

short answer: it depends

slightly longer answer: different people do better at different disciplines of the game, you need to find out what one suits you best. Most people are better at cash/stt/mtt and have a preference for one or the other. A lucky few are adept at them all. Try cash games out, but ensure you are properly bankrolled etc for it.

luckylucky

I agree with 5starpool's analysis though I would say in general cash games from my own online experience and from what I have seen are the more profitable, but 31% ROI is excellent going and after 587 sngs has a bit of credence too, if you are getting bored by all means try out cash games, it is a differnet animal to tournies and many players don't adjust so well, cash games tend to reward tight aggressive play more and you can afford the luxury of sitting back for a long time and just be patient in tournies you obviously have to get involved at some point and timing can be crucial.

Of course you could always move up to the $55 dollar sng game, it's still quite beatable and maybe the extra money involved will take the boredom out of it.

Good luck anyway.

padraig_f

Your earning potential at .25/50 will be in the same ballpark as $20 sngs. It will be pretty tough to beat though I think. You're averaging $6.60 per SnG, if the average SnG takes 45 mins that's nearly $9/hr, or about 9 BBs/100 on a 6-handed cash table. This is not easy to do, if you're beating 5 BBs/100 (or $5/hr) you're doing pretty well.

Having said that I would give the cash games a shot. You'll learn something new and if you go back to SnGs, you should find an improvement in your SnG game too. The more different kinds of games you play, the more it will improve your overall game. I find when you stick to the same type of game it's quite easy to just play on auto-pilot and not learn anything new.

Incidentally 31% ROI is about the maximum you can achieve at the $20 sng level, with this record you should be able to play the $50 SnGs and show a profit straight away. If you can just earn 15% ROI on the $50 games, you'll be making more money than you currently are.

NickyOD

I really don't think you can compare. I would rate myself very highly as a Sit n' Go player but only average for cash.

ChipLdr

I agree with Nicky. Cash and Sng's are completely different.Some noticeable differences include getting the full value of your hand.If you suffer a Fishy bad beat at least in a cash game you can simply reload and take the Fish's money in time whereas if you dont have the chips or the hands in a SNG its impossible to maximise full value of your hands.

Going "Card Dead" in a SNG is a lot more of a problem than in cash games. In cash games you simply pay the miniscule blinds compared to your stack usually about 1% but in a SNG if you go card dead then you've no option but to go super aggressive which can be a pitfall against those that seem to constantly pick up monsters.

Another reason is that as the blinds contiually rise in a sng it affects your decisions on certain hands but in a cash game every decision should be made by focusing on the betting and the players involved .A8,A7 can seem like monsters in a sng when you're shortstacked but in a cash game its an auto fold nearly 100% of the time.

NorwichFanRob seems to be the opposite though and seems to make good money at the SNGs so him and Nicky would be the ppl to ask for advice on the SNGs

luckylucky

The other option for you is to start multi-tabling - it should decrease the boredom but may also increase your stress level.

It's what most of the full-time online pros do and for the majority it's the only way of making serious money online without winning a hefty multi-tourney, I think once you get used to it if you play 4 sngs at the same time - while you won't quadruple your earnings - you could expect to increase them at least 2-fold.

Of course the problem with multi-tabling is it can take the enjoyment out of the game - and you definitely need to be feeling sharp, when I am up for it I do well on the nl hold'em cash games - these days am too knackered, see no reason why you can't do the same on sngs. The advice I have read on playing them is to not start them all at same time - maybe 5 mins apart.

My last bit of advice is you have been running good, don't get too carried away this game has a habit of kicking you in the butt if you do and keep playing good solid poker... good luck.

Mellor

FullOf..IT wrote:

Hi,

Ive been playing the $22 S&G's on party for the last 3 months. My ROI is 31% after 587 games.

My question? Im getting rather bored of them at the minute and find my game suffering as a result. I play for 2 hours each day. Would it be more profitable for me to play .25 / .50 for 2 hours a day on 4 tables like I do at the S&Gs?

He's already multi-tabling, on 4 tables just like you suggested luckylucky

luckylucky

ah forgot he had said that - that's even better then 31% return on that is great going. The logical choice I guess is to move up to the $55 sng, then again I can understand the boredom factor and learning different games helps to improve your poker overall - for that matter nothing stopping you from trying out omaha - poker is not all about hold'em.

Also as other posters have said it's unlikely you will excel in both sngs and cash games, you may even find that if you get good at cash games your sng play will go down.

RoundTower

I am sure the best cash game players make a lot more than the best S&G players. But I expect S&Gs to be more profitable for you.

Scotty #

padraig_f wrote:

$9/hr, or about 9 BBs/100 on a 6-handed cash table. This is not easy to do, if you're beating 5 BBs/100 (or $5/hr) you're doing pretty well

9BB/100? Whats that mean?

padraig_f

Scotty # wrote:

9BB/100? Whats that mean?

9 PokerTracker big-bets per 100 hands. 1 PokerTracker big-bet = 2 big-blinds (a carry-over from limit poker), so for the .25/.50 game, 1 PTBB = $1. In 6-handed play you get roughly 100 hands per hour. So 9BBs/100 equates to about $9 an hour.

You can see how many BBs/100 you're making on the 'General Info' tab in Pokertracker.

Daithio

If you're getting bored move up to the 50s. Your ROI is definitely high enough for this, the players are slightly better but you obviously know how to play the things. The increase in profits will keep you interested for a while, and when you get bored give the 100s a shot! You'll be a millionaire before the year is out.

nicnicnic

what sample size should a player be looking at to get a decent appraisal of how they are performing in stts