PokerStars Fifty50 SnGs vs DoNs

PokerStars came out with a new game type, the Fifty50 Sit & Go. They're a bit similar to the Double or Nothing (DoN) Sit & Gos where the 5 players left standing of the initial 10 get double their buy in and the game ends after half the field is gone. These games are available in Turbo and normal speed.

I played some to get a feel for the games and wanted to share info on the games and my thoughts.

There are a few key differences for Fifty50's vs DoNs.

Payout Structure

Unlike the traditional DoN SnGs where the remaining 5 players all get paid the same amount, in a Fifty50 SnG half of the prize is distributed evenly (winners get their buy-in, not including rake, back) and the other half is distributed based on chip counts.

The formula for payout is buy-in + (end chips/total chips) * (0.5 * total prize pool)

The different payout structure gives players incentive to accumulate chips otherwise they'll barely make a profit for the game if they finish in last place.

It can also reduce the incentive to implicitly collude. If a short stack pushes all in on the bubble and two players call they might fight over the pot to accumulate more chips and win more money.

Blind Structure

The blind structure of these tournaments is very different from DoN SnGs or even the regular full ring SnGs on PokerStars.

Blind levels go up in smaller increments but each level is 6 minutes compared to 10 minutes for DoNs and regular SnGs. Turbo Fifty50 games have 3 minute blind levels.

As a result the blinds go up faster. After 30 minutes in a Fifty50 SnG you'll be playing 40/80 with a 5 chip ante compared to 25/50 with a 5 chip ante.

Are Fifty50 SnGs Worth Playing?

I played a few of these to test them out. At first it seems like it might not be worth the effort if you're a regular DoN player. You'll have to cash in significantly more than 50% of the tournaments or end with a big chip lead enough times to make the games worth it.

The good news is that these games seem to be really soft right now so it's not hard to have a high ITM rate and a good ROI. These games also have 25% less rake than DoN SnGs. With a DoN you're paying 8% in rake, with these you're paying only 6%.

When they first came out I saw a few don regs playing them but they didn't seem to stick with them so the fields aren't all that tough. I usually play around 10 DoNs at a time so I tried doing the same with these and out of all my tables there was only one player that I had come across before.

I'm going to try and play a few more sets and get a better feel for them but they're not as horrible as I thought they might be. The problem for me is because it's less rake you're also earning less VPPs/FPPs and right now I'm on a bit of an FPP kick.