Sunday, May 10, 2009

DON vs SNG

OK, gonna try and work this out, so bear with me.
PokerStars "Double or Nothing" Sit and Gos are 10 seat, and pay each of the top 5 places 20% of the prize pool. The payout for a standard 9-seat SNG is 50/30/20.
But let's take a closer look. The entry fee for the cheapest DON is $1.10. So, we're not talking 100% Return On Investment, which is what you'd expect from a 'double-or-nothing'; we're looking at 2/1.1 or about a 81% return[1] when you win. Regular micro SNGs aren't any better: If you cash every time, you're looking at 1.8/1.2, which is only a 50% return. Getting heads up is better: 125%, and winning knocks it out of the park -- of course -- at a 275%[2]. But frankly, the higher numbers are irrelevant; we're looking at 81% for 1/2 the field vs 50% for 1/3rd.
It seems, then that the DONs, at least at the micro-levels, are the better bet.

[1] That's for the turbos, the standard DONs are 2/1.15, or about 73.9% return.
[2] Again, that's assuming 9-handed tables. The return values differ slightly depending on the actual number of players and individual tournament's payout structure, of course.

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