Is it time to retire the SNG?
Following the news that 888poker have got rid of traditional Single Table Tournaments, is it a sign the format is dying?
Earlier this month one of the first operators to offer Sit & Go (SNG) tournaments removed them from their lobby. 888poker no longer offers SNGs after more than 20 years, favouring their Lottery SNG format BLAST instead.
SNG tournaments used to be the way newbies learned the game. In more recent years the Lottery SNG, most notably the Spin & Go, has taken this role. They are much faster, mobile optimized, and offer the promise of a potential fortune via the lottery jackpot element.
I personally cut my teeth playing SNGs and it makes me sad they are no longer popular. If there were more traffic to them I likely would play them to this day. I'd love for SNGs to make a comeback, but should they?
The Spin & Go Genie is out of the bottle
The fact of the matter is that the Jackpot SNG is much better for all parties. They attract weak players, which is good news for the professionals. They promise single life-changing prizes which are appealing to all parties and good viral marketing. They are winner-takes-all and randomised seating, meaning collusion and 'bum hunting' is much less of an issue. With just three players it is easy for amateurs to win one, and easier for high-volume players to get a lot of hands in. They are also more suited to mobile, which is good news for recreational players.
The Genie is out of the bottle with the Lottery prize element of Spin & Go. In fact, every format in poker has a niche variant where anyone can suddenly win a massive prize. Cash games have Bad Beat Jackpots and Cash Drops. MTTs have PKOs and Mystery Bounty tournaments. Clearly an instant, enormous, prize at random creates interest for recreational players and, therefore, a profitable environment for professionals.
Traditional SNGs need this to ever compete again. We have already seen bounties become more of a factor in them, for example, the Battle Royale format from GGPoker and the Kick-Off format from PokerStars. However, I think SNGs need a Lottery style payout structure, and thankfully they already exist.
Traditional SNGs, Lottery payouts?
Spin & Go has Spin & Go Max which has between 3-8 players in a game, depending on the traffic. When there are more than 3 players the format has payout structures like a normal SNG, however, the winner prize is variable like a Spin & Go. GGPoker also has its own version, there is a six-max version of Spin & Gold with two payouts and a random prize pool.
Both variants are somewhat hidden in their own respective Lottery SNG lobby, but I think if poker wants to revise high-volume, ICM-centric, SNGs, this is the way to do it. SNGs attract a lot of regs, which is reflected in quite low win rates. We would need a gambling element to bring in casual players and make them more profitable.
I love SNGs and think they are a great way to learn the game, but the writing is on the wall, they are over in their original form. Quite soon we will see PokerStars be the only ones to offer them because that is where the traffic is. Love them or hate them, Lottery SNGs do a lot with a little in poker, there is a reason why they have decimated the old school Sit & Go.
What can poker do to revive the SNG? Let us know in the comments:
