SNG Qualifiers - A Smart Option

One of the most exciting aspects of championship poker in the last few years is the "everyman factor," the fact that the game really could be won by anyone. There was a time that the barrier to entry to big time events (and thus, big time money) was pretty high, events like the World Series of Poker costing thousands to join, even ten thousand for the main event. Then suddenly online poker rooms started handing out seats in the big time as prizes for their bigger tournaments, and it became anyone's game. Chris Moneymaker sealed the deal when he got into the 2003 World Series of Poker after wining a $40 qualifier on PokerStars.com, and then won $2.5 million and the main event. Now that qualifiers are so prevalent, the question becomes, "how do I make the most of them?"

Sit and Go qualifiers can be a smart choice for the poker player looking for a cheap entry into a bigger event, due mainly to their relative low cost and great odds. It is all well and good to take part in a $10 qualifier where someone is going to win a seat into the WSOP, but guess how many folks are going to sign up for that? You are likely to face hundreds, if not thousands, of players. A SNG event typically runs in the low double digits only, giving you much better odds at winning the seat you are after.

There may not be too many WSOP main event seats in a small SNG qualifier, but there are lots of other events that have qualifying tournaments. You could join a $2 SNG and win a seat into a $20 event that pays out hundreds of dollars, for example. Give SNG qualifiers a try and see where it takes you.