You can easily find yourself in a trap in turbo sit and go tournaments, if you actually go on a streak and win a few. The truth of it is, they WILL eventually send you spiraling in such a way that can render you unfit for real life. That is not a prediction, but rather a mathematical surety.

To prove this point, do a little exercise by loading up and viewing a few 20+ buck sngs on any site. Select a few of what seem to be the more solid players, (rounders) and do a deep level search on their statistics at SharkScope. SharkScope can tell a lot of truth about a player and if you discover somebody's ROI quite high, like 20% or more, check to see how many turbos they play.

What you will find, proof positive, is that winning players DO NOT play turbos with any regularity if at all. It is simply not mathematically profitable to do so, no matter how good you are. The main substance of this derives from the fact that after 3 or 4 levels your game is essentially left up to the randomness of the deck, thus virtually eliminating the skill aspect in the latter half of the tournament.

It is the same analogy between playing poker or blackjack. The best blackjack teachers admit your goal should be not to lose money since the odds (house) are always against you long term. Long term, it is a losing proposition. How many professional blackjack players are there?

When the game's structure reduces or eliminates the skill factor, then the rounders will know it just by glancing at this information window, and thus, by and large avoiding that type of tournament. Luck is not part of the rounder game. Rounders dwell on winning percentages, return on investment and bankroll strategies and because they do, a random winner type format just cannot fit into that overall plan.

The only time I find turbos poker tournaments acceptable is for fun or social event. If you are going out with the guys or girls, most home style, one table tournaments are well suited for turbo style blinds if only to prevent the last 2 or 3 players left don't monopolize the poker table too long. Consider your 10 or 20 bucks in those situations entertainment. Oh yeah, and you better know what chance your 76 suited has against AQos.

If you want some silly fun and are drinking with your friends, by all means go turbo. If you want to build your online bankroll, get a brain on.

About the Author

Marty Smith is webmaster and a regular online poker player. He has a FREE Sit and GO Video Strategy Series on his website at http://www.PokerSitandGoReport.com . He is also editor of http://www.FullTiltPokerReport.com .