Poker players who are serious about the game can put their skills to the test in an online poker or live casino poker tournament. These tournaments are available in different formats, each with its own rules that will affect your poker tournament strategy. 

Two of the most popular tournament formats are multi-table and sit-and-go poker tournaments, but which of these is considered the better format? Learn more about each of these types of poker tournaments so you can decide which one is right for you.

What Is Multi-Table Tournament Poker?

If you’ve ever watched a poker tournament with dozens or hundreds of people taking part, it’s likely you were spectating a multi-table tournament (MTT). These tournaments can be played with any poker variant, but the most popular tournaments are Texas Hold’em events. 

MTTs are, by far, the most popular poker tournament format. These tournaments consist of a large number of players spread across multiple tables. Each of these tables can have up to 10 people competing for a chance to be “in the money” (these are the players who remain in the tournament long enough to win cash prizes) and to get to the final table (these players will walk away with the largest winnings, depending on their final placements). 

A multi-table tournament may begin with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of competitors. Players can be eliminated at any time they lose all their chips, and as the field thins, the tournament staff restructures tables to consolidate and reduce the number of tables in play. Ultimately, there will only be enough players to fill one table, known as the final table. The winner of the final table is declared when one player holds all the poker chips in play.

There are many ways to format an MTT based on the number of players and the amount of money in the prize pool. The tournament chip structures dictate the speed of play and should inform players’ strategies as they prepare for and play an MTT. Subformats also affect how MTTs play and the way players strategize. 

Some of the most popular among these formats are:

• Bounty: Bounty games, also known as knockouts or PKOs (progressive knockouts), award players with cash prizes for knocking out opponents as the tournament progresses.

• Shootouts: These allow players to compete for the win at their table, with only the winners moving on to the next round of the shootout.
• Rebuy: When a player loses all their chips but buys back in, per tournament rules, they are rebuying. This can only take place up until a certain point in the tournament.

These tournaments are very popular due to their large prizes, with players of all skill levels joining with the hopes of making final tables and winning multi-table poker tournaments. Many players also aspire to be the next Chris Moneymaker, who secured his spot in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event by playing in an online satellite tournament for less than $100 and then went on to win the $2,500,000 first-place prize.

Should you try multi-table tournaments? Let’s dig deeper into MTTs to gather more information.

The Pros and Cons of MTT Poker

Here are the pros of this tournament format:

• Relatively low buy-ins: The buy-ins are relatively low compared to the potential prizes. For example, a well-publicized MTT could cost $500 to enter but garner enough players to award a million-dollar first-place prize.
• Wide range of skill levels: Players may display a wide range of skills during play due to the potential prizes and popularity of the format. This means that even those who just study the best hands for multi-table tournaments have a chance to do well.
• Thrilling games: There’s exciting gameplay due to the range of skills and increasing stakes as the tournament moves toward the final table.

These are the cons that you should keep in mind:

• Longer games: MTTs can involve long poker tournament sessions, with events often lasting for hours to days.
• Few overall winners: Only a relatively small percentage of the original players will win any money, often only 10% or 15% of the field.
• Victory affected by chance: Variance could drastically affect your final placement, which requires players to practice solid bankroll management for poker tournaments.

What Is Sit-and-Go Poker?

Sit-and-go (SNG) poker tournaments offer players an alternative to the intense hours-long play of MTTs. The name of this format refers to players sitting at a table, with the action kicking off as soon as the table is full. The game takes place at a single table, usually, though there can be two or three tables involved in an 18-player or 27-player SNG.

Players familiar with standard poker will know how to play sit-and-go poker. Players are eliminated as they run out of chips. Prizes are then awarded based on where players finished, with, usually, the top three players at a nine-person table receiving winnings. The first-place winner takes home the largest share of the total prize pool. 

As with MTTs, these types of poker tournaments can be played using any poker variant, but the tournaments themselves have different subformats depending on the event. The different subformats that these events can use include the following.

• Deep Stacks: Players have more starting chips than usual.

• Turbo: The levels are shorter than usual, and the blinds increase quickly, resulting in shorter playing time.
• Winner Takes All: Only the first-place player receives the entire prize pool.

The Pros and Cons of SNG Poker

Here are the advantages of competing in an SNG poker tournament:

• Fast games: They are quick, meaning you have more flexibility to play with limited time or to play more tournaments.
• Middle-ground format:  SNGs offer a good balance between cash games and MTTs as far as time constraints and buy-in amounts.
• Lower variance: It has less variance when compared to MTTs, a plus for the average low-stakes poker player.

However, there are also downsides to this format, such as:

• Smaller payouts: There are smaller prize pools than in most MTTs.
• Small difference in player skill: There tends to be less variance in player skill levels, as strategy options are limited to positions and different stack sizes in poker games.
• Games can be a grind: Games can get quite repetitive.

Choose Your Preferred Poker Format

Now that you understand the pros and cons of each poker tournament format, it’s up to you to decide what works for you. When in doubt, give both a try and see for yourself, and then do your homework on how to improve in your preferred game, whether picking up the latest tips for MTTs or perfecting your SNG strategies. 

Keep in mind that most players will have a specialty format in which they excel, but they also alternate between tournaments and cash games, and different poker variants and formats. This meets the need to challenge themselves while also sharpening their skills in a broad range of poker types and options. 

Put Your Poker Skills to the Test at BetMGM

Poker players looking for the best online poker games should take advantage of BetMGM’s excellent online poker platform. BetMGM has poker games available in multiple variants, including Omaha poker, seven-card stud, and Texas Hold’em. These exciting variants are available for players to enjoy as cash games or as competitive poker tournaments.  Players can choose from a variety of online poker tournaments at BetMGM, such as heads-up matches, multi-table events, shootouts, and sit-and-go style poker tournaments.

A fantastic poker scene awaits you when you register at BetMGM Poker. It’s a chance to play poker with real money in legal online poker games online, all licensed and regulated by the states in which they operate. Simply open a new account, check out the online poker welcome bonus, and start playing today.