Sit & Go ROI Calculator
Measures your long-run profitability in 9-player Sit & Go tournaments by comparing prize payouts to total buy-ins spent. Use it after any sample of SNGs to benchmark your edge.
Last updated: September 2026
Formula below · 1 source (Wikipedia) · Updated Sep 2026
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About this calculator
Return on investment (ROI) for Sit & Go tournaments measures how much profit you generate per dollar invested in buy-ins. This calculator assumes a standard 9-player payout structure where first place receives 4.5× the buy-in, second place 2.7×, and third place 1.8×. Those multiples apply to the prize-pool part of the buy-in (9 entries × 50%, 30% and 20%); the entry fee (rake) goes to the site, so it is added to your cost. The formula is: ROI = ((1st × buyIn × 4.5 + 2nd × buyIn × 2.7 + 3rd × buyIn × 1.8) − tournamentsPlayed × (buyIn + fee)) / (tournamentsPlayed × (buyIn + fee)) × 100. A positive ROI means you are a winning player over that sample; a negative ROI indicates a loss. Because variance is high in SNGs, a sample of at least 500 tournaments is generally recommended before drawing firm conclusions about your true edge.
How to use
Suppose you played 100 SNGs at a $10 buy-in, finishing 1st twelve times, 2nd ten times, and 3rd eight times. Prize money = (12 × $10 × 4.5) + (10 × $10 × 2.7) + (8 × $10 × 1.8) = $540 + $270 + $144 = $954. Total invested = 100 × $10 = $1,000. ROI = ($954 − $1,000) / $1,000 × 100 = −4.6%. If the SNGs were $10 + $1, the cost is 100 × $11 = $1,100 and ROI = ($954 − $1,100) / $1,100 × 100 = −13.27%. Leave the fee blank (0) if your buy-in figure already excludes it and you want ROI on the prize-pool portion only.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ROI for Sit & Go poker tournaments?
A ROI of 5–10% is considered solid for low-stakes SNGs, while elite players at micro-stakes can exceed 15%. As stakes rise, game pools get tougher and ROI naturally compresses. Any positive ROI over a large sample (500+ games) indicates a genuine edge over the field.
How many Sit & Go tournaments do I need for my ROI to be statistically meaningful?
Due to the high variance in winner-take-most formats, most analysts recommend at least 500 SNGs before treating your ROI as reliable. With fewer games, a few big scores or bad runs can swing results dramatically. Tracking your results in a database tool alongside this calculator gives the clearest long-term picture.
Why does this calculator use fixed payout multipliers of 4.5x, 2.7x, and 1.8x?
These multipliers reflect the standard prize pool distribution for a 9-player SNG: 50%, 30% and 20% of a prize pool made of nine prize-pool contributions, which is 4.5×, 2.7× and 1.8× the prize-pool part of one buy-in. The site's fee is not in the prize pool, so enter it in the fee field; with a $10 + $1 SNG the payouts are $45, $27 and $18 and your cost per game is $11. If your site uses a different structure, the multipliers will not match and the ROI will be off.