Turbo SNG Strategy

Turbo sit and go tournaments are played like regular 9 man SNGs with the exception that the blinds grow larger at a much faster rate. That's the only difference between turbo and non-turbo SNGs but it has a major impact on each tournament. In a turbo SNG, you will experience short stacked situations on a far more frequent basis because of the constantly rising blinds.

If you make the right adjustments to your SNG strategy, turbo SNGs can be a source of even greater profits than normal SNGs. There are two distinct advantages to turbo SNGs: you can play more tournaments per hour and your opponents make more mistakes. If you are able to maintain a positive winrate while playing in turbo SNGs, you'll make more money per hour because they don't take as long to play. On top of that, many turbo SNG players do not know how to correctly adjust for turbo SNG play.

Early Stage Turbo SNG Strategy

In the early stages of a turbo SNG, the correct strategy isn't any different than it is for regular SNGs. At the beginning of a turbo SNG, you should play a standard tight-aggressive game.

You will want to wait for strong hands, avoid marginal hands and only enter the pot with a raise. The early stages should be used to observe your opponents. Try to identify which opponents give up their blinds easily, which opponents play with aggression and note any other details about specific opponents' strategies.

Don't be tempted to play drawing hands such as suited aces and suited connectors during the early stages. In fact, small pocket pairs shouldn't even be played unless several other people have already limped in. Even though the blinds are low at this point, it's not worth spending the chips on those types of hands; they won't pan out often enough to make up for all the times you have to fold.

Middle Stage Turbo SNG Strategy

(Blinds 50/100 and higher)

It won't take long to reach this stage of the tournament. At this point, a few people may have been knocked out but the majority of the players will still be around. The blinds at this point are not too massive but they soon will be. Your strategy now should shift from a tight-aggressive approach to a steal-all-you-can approach.

In this stage, you should use the observations you made about your opponents earlier and start stealing as many blinds as possible. Attack the tightest opponents and keep an eye out for any other opportunities to steal chips. This part of the tournament should be dedicated to stealing poker chips.

Late Stage Turbo SNG Strategy

(Blind 250/500 and higher)

At this point, things have heated up all the way. Almost everybody is short stacked and you will see a lot of all-in moves as the remaining players jostle for position. During the late stages and on the bubble, you need to be willing to push all-in with a wide range of hands.

Your actual cards will matter less and less as the tournament drags on. Instead of looking for strong hands, you should be looking for strong opportunities. Any time you have a decent chance to go all-in and win the pot before the flop, you should do so.

As it gets down to short handed and heads up play, you should amp up the aggression even more. Hands such as A6, K7 and QT are plenty strong enough to push with. Don't worry about your cards so much as your position and the playing styles of your opponents.