SNG ROI and Win Rate: How to Measure Results
ROI tells you if you're really beating sit & gos. Learn the formula, what counts as a good ROI, sample size, and how rake eats it.
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ROI (return on investment) is the single number that tells you whether you actually beat sit & gos. It’s your total profit divided by the total money you’ve staked, written as a percent. Win rate in cash games is measured in big blinds per 100 hands; in SNGs, ROI is the equivalent scoreboard — and it’s the first thing any serious grinder tracks.
The formula
ROI = (total profit ÷ total amount staked) × 100
“Amount staked” means every dollar you put in, buy-in plus the fee. A $10 + $1 game costs you $11 each time.
Play 100 games at $10 + $1, so you’ve staked $1,100. If your prizes came to $1,210, your profit is $110 and:
110 ÷ 1,100 = 10% ROI
That 10% is your return per dollar risked — not per game, and not per hour. It’s the cleanest way to compare a $5 grinder to a $200 grinder on equal footing.
ROI vs. profit per game (ABI)
ROI hides your stakes, which is exactly why it’s useful for skill comparison. But to project earnings you also need your average buy-in (ABI):
Profit per game = ROI × average buy-in (incl. fee)
At 10% ROI and an $11 ABI, you make about $1.10 per game. Play 40 an hour and that’s ~$44/hr before rakeback. Notice the lever: doubling your ABI doubles your hourly at the same ROI — which is why bankroll and move-ups matter as much as edge. See how to size your SNG bankroll.
What counts as a good ROI
Numbers depend heavily on format and speed, because rake is a fixed tax on a variable edge.
| Format | Typical winning ROI | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Regular single-table SNG | 5–15% | Slower structure, more room for skill |
| Turbo SNG | 4–10% | Shorter stacks compress edges |
| Hyper-turbo | 2–5% | Rake is a big share of a thin edge |
| Double-or-nothing | 3–8% | Flat payout caps upside |
| Large-field / spin-style | can be higher variance, similar % | Top-heavy payouts swing it |
A player claiming a 50% ROI over 300 games isn’t a genius — they’re inside the noise. Which brings us to the part everyone underestimates.
Sample size: why 300 games means nothing
SNG results are wildly variant. Cashing is common; the money that moves the needle sits in the top finishes, and those cluster or dry up over hundreds of games.
- Under ~500 games: essentially unknowable. You could be a 10% winner running like a 20% loser, or vice versa.
- ~1,000 games: a rough directional read — winning, losing, or breakeven.
- 3,000–5,000 games: enough to trust the number within a few points.
How rake quietly caps your ROI
Rake is the house fee inside your buy-in. It doesn’t just shave profit — it sets the ceiling on what a winning player can earn.
Imagine two players of identical skill, each with a 12% pre-rake edge:
- At a 5% fee (e.g. $10 + $0.50), realized ROI ≈ 12% − 5% = ~7%.
- At a 10% fee (e.g. $10 + $1.00), realized ROI ≈ 12% − 10% = ~2%.
Same skill, less than a third of the return — purely from rake. That’s why grinders hunt low-rake structures and rakeback, and why hyper-turbos need much higher volume to justify. The math is a cousin of the price-you-pay logic behind pot odds.
Tracking it without a tool
You don’t need software to start:
- Log date, buy-in (incl. fee), and cashout for every game in a spreadsheet.
- Sum the fees-inclusive buy-ins → total staked.
- Sum the cashouts, subtract total staked → profit.
- Divide profit by total staked → ROI. Track ABI alongside it.
Add a running game count so you always know whether your ROI is signal or noise.
Put it together
ROI is your SNG report card: profit divided by everything you staked. Pair it with your average buy-in to project earnings, respect the huge sample sizes variance demands, and remember rake sets the ceiling. Then apply the edge across the core sit & go strategy and manage risk through the bankroll hub. The whole hub of formats and tactics lives at sit & go strategy.
Frequently asked
How do you calculate ROI in sit and gos?
ROI equals total profit divided by total amount staked, expressed as a percent. If you play 100 SNGs at a $10+$1 buy-in ($1,100 staked) and finish $110 ahead, your ROI is 110 / 1,100 = 10%. It measures return per dollar risked, not per game.
What is a good ROI for sit and gos?
For single-table SNGs, a 5-10% ROI after rake is solid and a 10-15% ROI is strong. Faster formats like hyper-turbos run lower, often 2-5%, because rake is a bigger share of a smaller edge. Anything sustained above 15% at meaningful volume is excellent.
How many SNGs do I need to know my true ROI?
Variance is high, so a few hundred games tell you almost nothing. Aim for at least 1,000 games for a rough read and 3,000-5,000 before trusting the number. Faster and larger-field formats need even more.
Does ROI include the rake?
Your realized ROI already reflects rake because rake is baked into the buy-in you stake and the prizes you win. When comparing formats, remember that higher rake directly lowers the ROI a winning player can achieve.