Thoughts about rake - SNG v. Ring

[binions]

In online ring games, I am seeing around 60 hands per hour. At a max of $3 rake per hand, that's max $180 taken off the table per hour. At a 9 seat table like Stars, that's max $20 per hour per player. Since not all pots are raked $3, it's gonna average a little less than $20 per hour at Stars for the ring games.

Compare the SNGs, which last 45 minutes at Stars for the Turbos, and a little over an hour for the regulars. Rakes can be as little as $1 for the $15 turbo, up to $20 for the $300 regular.

Sure seems like the rake on the SNGs is far less, compared to what you might expect to win, than the ring games.

Am I thinking about this correctly?

[hurlyburly]

I think you're right.

I like SNGs because they cost less over time and have the added benefits of not allowing anyone to leave after finding out that they're up against better players or when they lose 1/2 their stack on a hand. It also seems to be more popular with the weaker players, making it pretty easy to money. They also force me to adjust to more styles and mix up my play more in order to win, tactics that don't work well in ring games (at least for me).

I'm a one-table 20+2 player though, so my experience is limited. Everytime I tried settling in at higher limits, I found much tougher games than I wanted, which turned into turkeyshoots when the blinds reached 300/600, and the wait for the Multi-SNGs to fill is just too long.

With all that in mind I can definitely see why higher stakes players hit the ring games over tournys.