How to decide what MTTs to focus on

Dunc8b

Dunc8b

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I've been playing online for a few months now and think I now need to be more selective about which MTTs I play. To date I have tended to logon to a site and see what games are about to start and picking any that are in that day's buy-in limit I have set. Normally quite a low limit.

I think I play better with starting stacks between 2-5000. I've played with 10,000 and think I get too loose "because I have all these chips" and I have played twice IIRC with 50,000 and the less said about that the better.

When I play in the big (as in number of players) freerolls I usually make the bubble reasonably easily. Being in the last 1100 may seem simple to you more experienced players but to me I have had to be better that 8-10,000 players to get that far and it impresses me still.

I have set a personal target of trying to finish no lower that the top 20% of the starters. This is nowhere near the bubble in some games but what I am trying to get is consistency and when I have that to try and improve on that figure. It can vary wildly at the moment which is why I think I need to possibly reduce the number of games I am playing and play more of the same type of game.

By playing the same type of game I hope that when I review my mistakes I can make better comparisons between tourneys and hopefully better revisions to Master Plan A.

(after all that rambling)

What type of game would you suggest that comes up regularly enough to be able to get a game most evenings (UK time) that isn't a freeroll or attract a huge number of players at the start.
 
FrostyyAustyy

FrostyyAustyy

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MTTs have a lot of variance. If you're confident in your play at the stakes you're currently registering for, then you simply need to register more and hit a bit of run good.
 
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iNs0mN1a

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Standard starting stack is 3000, the ones with 5k and 10k chips are few so you cannot make a schedule solely out of them.
Next you need to find what suits you more: turbos or regulars ? You can find turbos alot more and you can get a better sample size out of them, but you know - more variance.
UK start time is standard eu time, so most mtt's will start evening (but you havent specified a poker site).
The low and micro limit is tougher in regards of the runners they tend to gather, 1k+ most of them, so you need to have this in mind (again variance).
As you climb in limits, you will find more "normal" fields of hundreds of players.
Lastly, you cannot set yourself to finish top 20% every mtt :D In the long run I think the numbers were like 10-25% ITM if I remember corectly.
Hope I've helped you.
 
Dunc8b

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Thanks iNsOmN1a, that the standard starting stack is 3000 is something I didn't know. I think I will plan a week around MTTs that all have the same starting stack of 3k. and monitor what happens. Then repeat that for a few weeks and see what happens.

888 and poker stars. I did sign up for more like all newbies but these two are becoming my default sites.

The 20% was an early attempt to try set a target and monitor if I was improving or not. I realise, as does my bankroll, that 20% isn't always in the bubble. :D
 
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chronical

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I guess by what you said it's better to focus on things like hypers or sngs. I hate thous tournaments BUT you will ALWAYS find a game + it's not time consuming if you compare it to other tournament games.
You said that it has to be UK time + night/evening, so I think you are time constraind (job,family...) so palying "The Big..." or "Sunday mill" on PS for example that could start at 20.00 and at 5.00 or 9.00 is out of the question.
Hypers/sngs on the other hand run all day(or the "wait time" is every short) due to the fact that ussualy there are something like 2K players max and blind grow every 3 min you can finish the tourneys in 2-3 hours. That being said they have more varience (why I hate them pont 1) and you will have to get used to shovin some rubish like KTo from UTG(why I hate them point 2)
You said you play loose and and you ussualy make the bubble, than I would guess you REALLY dont like to throw out 99+ from UTG or wait fro a decent hand for 30min, so again this type of play could be good for hypers were JQo from MP can actually be a good hand.
+ you can find good amount of games that are 360/980 players. That is a lot but if you compare it to 15/25K ... =)
 
Dunc8b

Dunc8b

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I don't usually make the bubble, :D though I can get close quite often.
Done well today in a $4.40 Hot One on PS and made it to No.181 out of 2261 and a lapse of concentration knocked me out. Won $10.65 which is a big win for me. I only entered because doing the Daily Challenges to pass time I tripled my stake in the Zoom challenge and that was the next Hot One to complete that challenge. Been a good day so far.

That's an interesting idea asedu. I've not really played SnGs (not sure why) up to now but the other day I was looking for a game that didn't take too long and tried one.

I can see two advantages.
1) when they start there will be no more players starting. It gets tedious at times when in a MTT with a long late registration where the number of remaining players never seems to get any less but you can see lots of players being knocked out.
2) As you say, there is never a long wait before the next starts.
 
liverpool52

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Beginners should start with a SnG , and play them at least 500 a month to become a professional player and then move to MTT
 
antonis32123

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When you start you should focus on SNG , for all the reasons they said above . I played at the beginning some ( not many ) SNG 0.25 45 and 90 players and very few 0.10 of 180 players . But mostly , although I was a beginner , I used to play the 0.10 and 0.27 tournaments on pokerstars , which unfortunately were stopped so I cannot recommend you .Now , if you don't want to start with SNG, try the 0.27 6max on pokerstars . Now , I like the steps on 888poker . I play 0.01$ step 1 for step 1 0.10$ ticket (its a little bingo ) then the step2 for step 2 1$ ticket , which I use either for SNG or for tournament . In no time I became level 5+ player and now I have in addition the freerolls to play .
You should check these out .
 
Dunc8b

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I used to ignore the "Step" games on 888 but recently set myself the target of playing these till I get 10 Step 1 tickets then playing those 10 to see how many Step 2 tickets I get. Then playing those to get better tickets. And so on.

When I play a Step 1 I am trying to play without using the rebuy to boost my chips at the beginning and later if my stack drops low. I used to spend more on rebuys than it would have cost to go in to a Step 2. :eek:
 
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chronical

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news icoming =)
If youi play on PS you can try Bubble rush, looks fun + might appeal to your time table
 
blackdevil724

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20%?? Iff you are new to poker, don't make mistake to try get on ATM or last as long as you can!! Money is on FT, so you need to play!! Iff you are shortstacked near the bubble it is ok to play tight and try to survive, but in general it is better to go out early 5 times, and go realy deep 6th, than make 5 min cashes!! Also even when you play to be consinstant and min cash, you can also lose...
 
BogdanStark

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I don't usually make the bubble, :D though I can get close quite often.
Done well today in a $4.40 Hot One on PS and made it to No.181 out of 2261 and a lapse of concentration knocked me out. Won $10.65 which is a big win for me. I only entered because doing the Daily Challenges to pass time I tripled my stake in the Zoom challenge and that was the next Hot One to complete that challenge. Been a good day so far.

That's an interesting idea asedu. I've not really played SnGs (not sure why) up to now but the other day I was looking for a game that didn't take too long and tried one.

I can see two advantages.
1) when they start there will be no more players starting. It gets tedious at times when in a MTT with a long late registration where the number of remaining players never seems to get any less but you can see lots of players being knocked out.
2) As you say, there is never a long wait before the next starts.



4.4$ is quit big price for MTT if u r playing only for 2 month. However if u tell that won 10 bucks so I think u good enough. Just find where u can be comfortable to play and be smart )l
 
Dunc8b

Dunc8b

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4.4$ is quit big price for MTT if u r playing only for 2 month. However if u tell that won 10 bucks so I think u good enough. Just find where u can be comfortable to play and be smart )l
I did get there via a satellite, it's not my usual area :D

And I did play thousands and thousands of hands on the freebie site Replay Poker before I ever went near a "proper" site.

I agree the Bubble Rush does look to be my kind of thing. I will try a few in the coming week.
 
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