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Hello all! Making transitions to MTTs

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  1. BigPoppa BigPoppa is offline

    Posts: 118
    Joined: Feb 06

    Feb 25th, 2006 (2/25/2006 2:06pm)

    Thought I'd say and ask for a little advice.

    I'm a reasonably good limit Holdem player trying to make the transition to full time MTT player. I've had a lot of success playing the $10+1 and $5+.50 MTTs on Pokerroom, but want to work on my skills enough to move into higher buying events.

    I've read HOH1&2, Kill Phil, Little Green Book, and about every limit Holdem book on the market. I also read a lot on the internet.

    What is the best path to being a good MTTer?

    My original plan was to play a ton of the 5max 1500 chip SNGs on Pokerroom to get really good at the SH play I'd see on Final Tables, then move over to the 180 man SNgs on pokerstars to make the transition to MTTs.

    Is this a good plan?

    Should I go straight to the 180 mn SNGs? Play 2-3 table SNGs first?

    I was also considering playing a lot of the Double Shootout satellites on PokerStars, both to amass lots of T$ and to get more SH experience.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    Thanks
  2. AceRunner AceRunner is offline

    Thailand

    Posts: 3,722
    Joined: Nov 05

    Feb 25th, 2006 (2/25/2006 2:24pm) in reply to BigPoppa

    180 man SNG's are a good idea, as they are not huge fields where you could experience more variance.

    read Fox's BR management article in the strategy achives to make sure that whatever limits you play you are playing within your BR.

    Don't worry about practicing SH play for FT's yet. worry about getting to the FT first IMO. If you are more of a math type player then you might want to try to work on more of a "feel" type of game that helps later in tournaments when blinds get high. But nothing works better than experience.

    you might want to try to play the $7 Daily SNG qualifiers on PR. just play tight and you will get down to last 4 almost every time. The Daily IS the easiest $50 MTT on the net due to these qualifiers. the quality of play is that of a $10-$20 MTT = donkfest! But there are some good players who play these , so these might be a good introduction to higher buy ins w/o playing a lot of tough players. If you want to see good examples of how to play just watch how the best PR players play in these(if you don't know who these are just look up Dirty Pounders on Pokah)
  3. BigPoppa BigPoppa is offline

    Posts: 118
    Joined: Feb 06

    Feb 25th, 2006 (2/25/2006 3:23pm) in reply to AceRunner

    Thanks, I might give the Daily a try.

    Due to my cash game winnings, bankroll for low/mid buyin events isn't much of an issue (my total BR is just above $10k). I just want to become a decent MTTer before I start playing higher (and winning some money while doing do wouldn't be bad, either).
    Thread Starter
  4. AceRunner AceRunner is offline

    Thailand

    Posts: 3,722
    Joined: Nov 05

    Feb 25th, 2006 (2/25/2006 3:58pm) in reply to BigPoppa

    in that case then play anything under the GP on PR. the $30's and $20's have small fields(under 200 most of the time) and are filled with donks.

    if you don't win one right away don't be discouraged, but just keep avoiding bad decisions and you will win one eventually.

    These pay top heavy on PR so that any amount of players from 100- 200 pays only the FT, which I like more. the Daily and 20k's pay flatter so that it's not much of a reward to play for hours and only double your buy in. Check out the prize structures for the $30's and you wil lsee what i mean. I won a $30 a few weeks ago and it only had 150 players but i won $1200 for first, and even last cash(10th) payed almost $100 in that one.
  5. U4KingJacAce U4KingJacAce is offline

    Kansas City, MO
    United States

    Posts: 252
    Joined: Feb 06

    Feb 25th, 2006 (2/25/2006 4:21pm) in reply to BigPoppa

    I have been off work the month of Feb. and have concentrated more on MTT. The trick is to keep supplementing your bankroll with the STT because the cost of the MTT's can add up quickly. Playing 4-5 $55 buyins a day with only a cash or two can hurt you fast. The $3, $5, and other small buy-in's are a complete waste of time IMO. Playing 5 hours for a $200 first place sucks. I found out it is definately worth it to build a bankroll and play the bigger buy-in's.
    A good tournament is Star's Deep Stacks if your looking to just get some MTT's under your belt. 5000 starting chip's with 30 minute blinds will give you the playing time to work your magic. I final tabled the $30 earlier this month and it took 12 hours. I made $100 an hour, but to make it through that big of a field and and only make $1200 was kind of disappointing. Go for the 55 and 109 with out the rebuy's and add on's. They usually have a field of 200 and last a few haours. Be prepared to not get paid for a while if you cant reach the money. Bankroll management is so important for MTT player's. I think it is impossible to only play these without supplementing with the STT's. You will go broke.
    Advanced Tornament Strategy by Sklansky is a must read. It will break down the tournament and explain the gap theory. This book is also what spawned the KILL PHIL book by Blair. The KP strategy is a ticking bomb style but by reading this book you will be able to recognize who is utilizing the KP strategy at your table and be able to adjust accordingly. Be careful of using this strategy yourself though. There is no replacement to TAG in these MTT's. Also get Poker Tracker to track your opponent's stats at the MTT table's. If you have invested in those book's you have read than this would be a nestegg. Not used to track your stat's really cause you should already know where your at but to know Joe Blow's VPIP and Preflop raise %. This only work's in real time, you wont have any use really storing there stats since you very rarely will ever see that player again on a MTT. Also mixing up your game is not as important in MTT's as people think. You will be moved a lot to different tables and should default to a TAG style until you play a round or two and run Poker Tracker on your new table to see their stat's.
    Good luck and be prepared for long run's between cashes. It does not mean that your not a good player. It is the variance in the Tournament beast. Pro's can go year's without big cashes. That's why I stress supplement. Also dont be afraid to tackle O8, Stud, and Stud8 tournaments. Some very easy money is sitting at these tournaments. By applying gap theory to theses lesser played tournament's you can pick up some easy cashes. If you dont know how to play these game's please learn them. It will help your holdem and open your mind up to deeper thinking and analyzing. Practice practice practice. I know everyone say's this but there really is no substitute to being put in different situation's. Try not to multi table them at first either. Work on concentrating on reading their betting pattern's while Poker Tracker tracks and applying the best move. Multitabling is difficult to do if your new at MTT. To much info to input can cause you to make a mistake and usually the MTT's end on 1 mistake. No room for error. Sorry so long. Good luck.

    Sorry
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