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Best U.S. Online Poker Sites for Sit-N-Go Action

Some gamblers like the feeling of a first place result in a poker contest without the multi-hour commitment involved in a normal poker tourney. For these busy individuals, sit-n-go poker tournaments may be a winning solution. We've identified the best poker sites for American sit-and-go players, and they are:

Americas Cardroom
Chico Poker Network
Ignition Poker

About Our SNG Research Methods

We don't believe in trusting slick marketing materials or third-hand reports from years ago. We've actually observed the SNG lobbies at the major U.S.-friendly online poker sites over the course of more than a week. After gathering our data together, we've determined which rooms offer a broad range of Sit N' Go stakes, a diverse selection of game types, and – perhaps most important – enough player traffic to keep waiting times to a minimum.

Rest assured, we've also done our due diligence as to the reputability of the organizations on our shortlist, so you can trust them with your hard-earned dough. They all feature fair dealing procedures, and they take active measures to combat cheating and collusion. If you're good enough or lucky enough to amass substantial winnings, they'll pay you out rapidly as revealed in our monthly real-money U.S.A. poker sites payouts report.

#1 SNG Poker Site for Americans: Americas Cardroom

SNGs at Americas Cardroom start as small as $1.50 + $0.12 and reach as high as $1,200 + $15. However, the priciest events listed in the lobby are mostly for show, and you won't really find much running above around $200 or so. Full-ring contests are pretty popular as are heads-up matches, but oddly, six-max doesn't seem to get as much action as the two other table sizes. You'll likely see anywhere from 20 to 80 separate sit-and-gos taking place simultaneously depending on the time and day of the week. Of these, the majority will be Texas Hold'em Poker, but you might encounter a couple of PLO or PLO8 competitions active for micro or small stakes.

ACR isn't the busiest destination for standard single-table poker tournaments in the United States, so you may be wondering why we've rated it #1. The answer lies in the unparalleled variety of games hosted by the company. There are On Demand tournaments, which start when a specified number of people register, like any other sit-n-go, but they then allow more entrants to join, like a multi-table tournament. The poker site sometimes runs SNG step tournaments to award seats into major live poker festivals, like the WSOP. One thing that's missing, though, is Double or Nothing contests wherein half the field wins twice their buyin.

Jackpot Poker and SNG 2.0 are unique offerings that have their own tabs in the poker lobby. Jackpot Poker is a three-handed, lottery-style game where the prize pool is multiplied by a random factor that can be up to 2,500 times the buyin. You can enter Jackpots for $2, $10, $25, and $40 in NLHE and $2, $10, and $25 for PLO. SNG 2.0 seats nine and contains a pre-game round that allows the prize pool to grow and may even trigger a jackpot payout if the right cards appear. SNG 2.0 is spread only in No Limit Hold'em and comes in five buyin levels: $5 + $0.50, $10 + $1, $25 + $2.50, $50 + $5, and $100 + $9.

SNG Lobby at Americas Cardroom

All SNG players at Americas Cardroom get points toward the Sit & Crush leaderboard. At the end of every week, dozens of the top placers receive cash prizes of up to $1,250 each and entry into satellite poker tournaments. The best part about this is that you don't have to fork over any extra money to participate; the prizes are funded through a portion of the normal SNG fees. Other rewards at ACR include a 100% up to $2,000 bonus (clears at 20% rate). Everyone who creates an account gets to receive 27% rakeback. Individuals who opt to decline flat rakeback will instead receive free cash from the Elite Benefits program and $10 for free with no deposit required! Just use our exclusive promotional code PRB10FREE.

It's easy to sign up and begin playing on Americas Cardroom from your Windows PC. There's a Mac client also available, but it's still in public beta testing. Take a read through our comprehensive Americas Cardroom review for all the details. Or you can join one of ACR's sister sites on the Winning Poker Network instead.

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#2 SNG Poker Site for Americans: Chico Poker Network

The Chico Poker Network is probably the top operator when it comes to volume among U.S. online poker sites for basic sit-n-go tourneys although it's difficult to tell because of the way some poker rooms implement their SNG sections. There are sometimes more than 100 tourneys running during peak hours. The top-of-the-line games cost $500 + $25 to register for at Chico, but the bottom end may be more interesting with $0.05 fee-free sit-n-goes and $0.10 + $0.01 nano-stakes tables catering to the low-rolling crowd. HU battles up to $210 start pretty frequently, but larger tables tend to gain enough entries to launch only at levels below $100. A handful of Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo tournaments typically run alongside their Texas Hold'em brethren, but four-card poker is offered only up to the $20 + $2 level.

Table sizes are an aspect of Chico that sets it apart from most competitors. In addition to the regular heads-up and six-person games that are present at almost every SNG poker site, there are also eight-max and ten-seater games. Standard nine-player sit-and-goes are absent. All four table sizes tend to attract a fair share of players. There are Double or Nothings at the CPN, under the name “1-Up,” but they mostly charge close to the full 10% in fees, at least for buyins under $100, so they aren't really a good deal.

Sportsbetting.ag SNG Lobby

The best 60 sit-and-goers split up $5,000 in leaderboard prizes each week. Twenty winners emerge from each buyin division ($0.05 - $1.99 | $2.00 - $19.99 | $20.00+) with the top prize for each category being $250, $500, and $1,000 respectively. Only six-max and ten-max events count for the leaderboard, and players only receive points if they finish in the money. A first deposit bonus of 100% up to $1,000 delivers approximately 10% of your SNG fees back to you.

The two sites on the Chico Poker Network that accept Americans are BetOnline and Sportsbetting.ag. Whichever one you sign up for, you'll be able to play sit-n-goes from Windows, Mac, and mobile devices.

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#3 SNG Poker Site for Americans: Ignition

Ignition Poker, and the rest of the PaiWangLuo Network, do things a bit differently than the majority of other internet poker sites. All usernames are hidden at the tables, and so your SNG opponents will show up simply as “Player 1,” “Player 2,” and so on. Additionally, it's not possible to see games you're not involved in after they begin. This makes it challenging to attempt to gauge how active Ignition's sit-and-goes are, but we've read reports from other players on the leading poker forums to determine that there are more than enough games going to satisfy most users.

The stakes start at $1 + $0.05 and go up to $200 + $14, and you can enjoy heads-up, six-handed, and nine-max sit-n-go poker tournaments. Omaha Hi and Omaha Hi-Lo are offered up to $100 + $5. Frequent sit-and-go satellites allow you to win entry to big multi-table tournaments especially when major tourney series are scheduled to run, such as the Super Millions Poker Open.

There are Double-Up events, which is what Ignition calls Double or Nothing SNGs, and they only take 5% of the buyin for the house. You'll also encounter Triple-Ups, which pay out triple the buyin to one-third of the field, but they don't feature reduced fees. Ignition provides “Beginners” sit-and-gos that seat six and pay out three players. Despite what their name might imply, they aren't restricted to new customers, and in fact, they can be found as high as $64 + $6: a level that most actual novices would probably shy away from.

Ignition Poker SNG Lobby

Read our Ignition Poker review to learn how to score a 100% up to $1,000 bonus that's worth 30% rakeback on your sit n go fees. You can play from either a Windows system or a Mac. A responsive web app serves phone and tablet aficionados, but it only contains cash games, not SNGs or MTTs.

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Wild Card SNG Poker Site for Americans: SwCPoker

All games are denominated in Bitcoin at SwCPoker, and this digital currency is the only valid means of payment and cashout. It's pretty slim pickings in the sit & go lobby, but this poker room has something up its sleeve. It's the sole online poker site in the American market that hosts SNGs in certain obscure formats, like Open Face Chinese Pineapple, 8 Game, and Big O. You won't get a table to fill whenever you want, but it can't hurt to leave yourself logged into SwC while playing at other sites just in case others join your game of choice. There's no initial deposit bonus here, but you can obtain increasing rakeback percentages through the Krill rewards program, which is described on our thorough SwC page.

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If you're keen on combining your single-table tournament play with larger and potentially more profitable multi-table events, then be sure to check out our list of the best MTT sites for U.S. players. If ring games are more your speed, then our overview of the leading U.S.A. cash game poker sites may be helpful. For a description of all of our recommended American-friendly online poker sites, look here. If you're interested in which sites are the best for other types of games, check out these articles: