A bit excessive?

Dont you guys think 100 buy ins for a MTT players BR is a bit excessive? I think maybe more like 40-50 buy ins seems appropiate or is there a reason? I understand the variance is higher due to so many players but with a 20% ITM and has a final table in 50 tournaments seems reasonable to me.. I dont know if it makes sense to you guys though

Well...it depends on how big the field is if its 360 or less 50 bi would be fine but 1000+ your gonna need 100+ bi also keep in mind that the higher the bi the tougher the players so your gonna need more bi the higher you go for the added variance

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Well right now i am just playing the 5/10NL grinding there to build a bit of a BR but I really do well in MTT but feel like 100 is a bit much for a 1 tournament when i feel like i do have a decent ROI with low limit MTT.. I usually do try to only enter MTT with at least 500+ players for the better value on my BI

If your gonna need to have 100+ bi if its gonna be 500 or more players 10 nl you could probably get away with 50 bi though

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If your playing to win and taking alot of risks in large mtts to get a big stack then you will hit walls and go through spells of running pretty grim for maybe weeks.

If your playing to cash and climb the pay ladder it is possible to get away with less buy ins on bad sites in fact extremely easily.

such a huge contrast beetween like pokerstars and titan or some other software

The 100 BI limit is ideal for professional poker players. If you are a recreational player then a 40-50 BI limit is good.

Ok well heres a question for cotta.. You say when you play MTT you take more risks and such to get big stack to play for first.. Well when I play MTT I usually play the same as i play in cash except maybe more tight and more aggressive when I pick up good hands and more observant of the other players.. Should my game really change THAT much when I go from cash to MTT? I tend to think im a much better MTT player than I am a cash game player and i've definitely proved that to myself on multiple occassions.. But you guys do know a lot more then me so help me out.. What should the real difference be between cash and MTT? Like I said I tend to play more tight, i actually defend my blinds ( in cash game idc about people pushing me off my blind since its such a little amount compared to my BR)

The obvious diffrence is that your short stacked a good amout of the time and under pressure a good amout of the time
And then the pay ladder jumps the more players get knocked out once you hit the moneh obviously (sorry for bad spelling)

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You need definition of a bankroll first , if it's easily replaceable money then play whatever buyins you like . If it's not and an actual poker bankroll then 100 buyins for large mtts would be prudent. Alternatively sattys are always an option

1000+ buyins is my recommendation

Easier on the nerves

100 BI I think too much ... at the micros 60 70bi - even as it is acceptable. In general, universal BM about it can not be. Should look at the average distance in as you go.
Example BR = $ 70.00. Bi MTT = $ 1.00 + $ 0.10 ... skated 20 rounds - see dynamics. As br jumps as you will enter in the loot. Lose - you will br $ 48.00. MTT mean not yours.

blanco1400 said:

Ok well heres a question for cotta.. You say when you play MTT you take more risks and such to get big stack to play for first..
... Should my game really change THAT much when I go from cash to MTT?

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I can give an idea of what I think he means, based off of what I've seen / think from the OL MTTs I play.

When the blinds are low -- from 10/20 to 40/80, lets say, you have the opportunity to play more pots, cheaper -- especially in DS tourneys.

This can be a great time to play smart LAG, and increase your stack size. Doing this successfully, you'll be well over 20BB by the time blinds are 50/100 -- the point in the tourney where short stacks have to start shoving.

But the LAG strategy is always chancey -- especially early in the tourney when you don't have a great read on your villians. Your bluffs may get called and beat by poor hands from lucky players.


This might not be what Cooto was saying exactly, but this is how I interpreted it. Early in the tourney, when your average player is probably playing tight, you can play loose, and attempt to position yourself stronger for later in the tourney. Considering this is a gamble early on, you're either going to gain a big advantage, or you're going to bust out pretty early.

It's up to you how you want to play it, but this is one approach that I think is exclusive to MTT.

100 BIs for MTTs can go pretty quick

I agree if youre looking at a big field 100+ is good.

I'd say you will need at least 100 bi s for large field MTTs, the reason is if you have only 50 bi s and you go through a bad patch and find yourself down 20 bi s, which can and will happen, then you have nearly done half your bankroll and the pressure that brings could lead to some bad decision making. 50 bi s would be ok for cash or sitngos with smaller fields but with the huge swings and variance which are part of large field MTTs you have to play a lot of games to get a return and that means playing several tournaments at once and 50 bi s will not allow you to multi-table comfortably. Also you are not necessarily guaranteed to be making a final table once every 50 tournaments.

regarding the OP: I play with fewer buy ins, (closer to 40) but I am not a pro, I have a job, and I play live where the fields are usually 80-300 people.

blanco1400 said:

Should my game really change THAT much when I go from cash to MTT?

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The big difference here is stack size management.

You need to be able to comfortably and quickly transition between different strategies and styles based on your current stack size, the average stack size and the stack size of your opponent.

so, in the early stages of most MTTs a cash game strategy is probably just fine. As you enter High blinds with below an average stack, your strategy will look nothing like the original strategy that got you there...ability to adapt to an ever changing environment is the big change, IMO.

How many buyins constitutes a reasonable minimum depends on various factors. Average field size has already been mentioned. Relative ability is another. The better you are, the less likely you are to experience a disastrous downswing.

Playing style can factor in as well. How you play can increase or decrease your variance. Lower variance decreases the likelihood of a disastrous downswing.

There's also your willingness or reluctance to drop down. If you're the type who refuses to drop down during a stretch of bad results, your chance of a disastrous downswing is higher because you'll go through what's left of your BR faster than someone with the same BR who does drop down.

Just as an example, over summer I was playing full time and I went on a $2200 downswing playing $5-$22 tournaments. This is from a winning player, so that's probably around 200BIs I lost. This was on PS where fields are huge and variance is a lot bigger. If you're just taking out a BI here and there from your cash roll to punt on a tournament it's not a big deal but yeah variance is bigger than you probably realise.