Full Tilt Super-Turbos
Playing the Internet's Fastest Sit & Gos
Mar 26, 2009 Matthew McFarland
Fold or push . . . short-stacked poker at its simplest. This is the basic mind set for entering into one of Full Tilt Poker’s Super-Turbo Sit & Go Tournaments. Players start with 300 chips, blinds increase every three minutes, and there is no additional time bank to ponder difficult decisions. In essence, Full Tilt Super-Turbos are fifteen minutes of pure insanity!
Turbo Strategy
These tournaments have their own unique strategy, but there is not much strategic poker being played here. They are all about the thrill . . . the excitement. Chip stacks and consequently bankrolls can disappear in a matter of minutes, all on the whim of luck. In these Super-Turbos, when all of the chips go into the middle, there is no guarantee who will walk away with all the chips, and the money.
Pairs are premium, and the higher, the better. Made hands are favored, but draws have an uncanny knack for being chased down by the river. Luck is an essential element of all poker games, but it is the primary factor in determining a winner in these Sit & Gos.
Tough Swings and Bad Beats
Projections are futile as the swings are so drastic. Predicting a victory will often result in a rude wake up call. Pockets Aces have been cracked by 7-5 offsuit, and trips on the turn have been flushed on the river. The best hands can instantly morph into the sickest beats ever witnessed by man.
The poker gods are unforgiving of mistakes, and there is often no justice in playing well. Lady Luck must be siting in your lap when you register, and you best pray she doesn’t get up or move before you make it to the money. Players make all-in calls with 10-6 suited against A-K, then flop straights or flushes, and look like geniuses instead of the rabbit foot clinching suckers they are. Sucking out is not a skill.
What To Expect
There is nothing more frustrating to a credible player trying to grind it out the right way than when someone lucks into a monster hand and takes all of your money. That is why these tournaments should not be recommended to those with a high level of poker skill.
You will invariably give someone too much credit for the hand they hold, and eventually be blinded or busted out of the tournament because you were forced to decide whether or not to go all-in pre-flop with something like Q-9 suited.
But that is poker at its bluffing, shoving, crazed best. Players that register for these Super-Turbos and subject themselves to these erratic swings must be fully accepting of all the eventual outcomes. They must be a special a breed to disregard the value of money just for that seat of your pants’ thrill and a chance to make a quick buck.
With progressive buy-ins between $3.50 and $160, players at all levels have the option of experiencing fifteen to twenty minutes of pure insanity.
Buy-ins + (fee)
- $3.50 + ($0.30)
- $7.00 + ($0.50)
- $14 + ($1)
- $28 + ($2)
- $42 + ($3)
- $70 + ($5)
- $160 + ($9)
player going all-in with 7's against A-Q!
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