Micro player just won MTT, bankroll boosted ... now what?

rowhousepd · Jun 22, 2010

I've been playing live NL Holdem recreationally at home for about a year, I know the basics, but I don't consider myself much more than an advanced-beginner. I started an online poker account w/ $100 on Full Tilt a few months ago, I've been playing mostly $1 SnG's & MTT's for a few months w/ some success doing a little better than breaking even. But then all of a sudden ... wham!!! I win a large-ish $1 MTT for nice ~ $600 prize.

I have to say, even I was surprised.

So now what??? I've been following good bankroll management guidelines and have been playing pretty much the cheapest tourneys out there -- which made sense for how much I initially invested. I've read that you shouldn't play tourneys w/ any less than 50x the buy-in amount in your BR, and to be really safe not any more than 100x in your BR. But now I've got ~ $600 in my account, and I'm not sure what I should be playing.

Keeping to the same conservative (& probably wise) BR management guidelines, I technically could jump up to at least $6 MTT's, or maybe even $10 if I'm more liberal ... but should I? Like I said, I'm an OK player with a grasp of the fundamentals, and I'm eager to keep learning, read the forums, read some books, etc., and I definitely did play well at the tourney in question. But I don't really know if it warrants going up to ~ $6 tourneys right now ... or does it?

Any advice?

eberetta1 · Jun 22, 2010

I seem to be in the same boat as you. My current bankroll is $1118, but 3 months ago I was approaching the $800 mark. I told myself if I hit the $800 mark there is no reason I should not reward myself. The reward, not jumping all over myself just because I choose to enter any $3 tourneys at any time. You will have some higher variance, when you play at higher amounts. And the learning curve at $3 might take just as long as it took you to learn how to play competitively at the $1 amount. I told myself I can move to the $5 entry fee tourneys if I got over the $1000 bankroll. I have accomplished that to my bankroll, but feel I have not been at the $3 level long enough, so I am being sheepish making the leap to $5 and feel quite comfortable staying at $3, and $1. Maybe, if my bankroll hits $1500, It will get rid of my fear of playing $5 games. Congrats on your bankroll increase. It allows you to make decisions now based on what you want to do. Don't forget, you do not have to jump to $6, you can master the $3 level first. But, think of all the dough coming in if you were in $6 tourneys...lol.

appaz86 · Jun 22, 2010

my first suggestion would be to stop doing the $1 +20c SnG's as 20% rake is just silly and you are hurting yourself in the long run

for $2 +25c you are paying only 5c more rake and doubling your prize money for the exact same sized SnG and you now have the bank roll to do it so why not play the $2.25 from now on with a few $1-$10 MTT's thrown in here and there.

but your bread and butter should now be the $2.25 SnG's for me the 9, 18 and 27 player SnG's are nice

lektrikguy · Jun 22, 2010

If you feel like you can hang with the higher tables, then try it. If you lose 3 or 4 in a row and feel outplayed then step back down-there's no rule saying you need to play that high just because you can afford it. You do need to make that money work for you-definitely step up to at least the $2 tourneys.

rowhousepd · Jun 22, 2010

eberetta1 said:
I told myself I can move to the $5 entry fee tourneys if I got over the $1000 bankroll. I have accomplished that to my bankroll, but feel I have not been at the $3 level long enough, so I am being sheepish making the leap to $5 and feel quite comfortable staying at $3, and $1. Maybe, if my bankroll hits $1500, It will get rid of my fear of playing $5 games. Congrats on your bankroll increase. It allows you to make decisions now based on what you want to do.

Huh, so you're basically sticking to tourneys that make your bankroll to be 300x the buy-in ... which I have to say is pretty large compared to what I've been reading. I definitely don't want to be greedy here, but I've read that BRs can/should be anywhere from 40x to 100x the buy in -- and that's a wide range.

appaz86 said:
my first suggestion would be to stop doing the $1 +20c SnG's as 20% rake is just silly and you are hurting yourself in the long run

but your bread and butter should now be the $2.25 SnG's for me the 9, 18 and 27 player SnG's are nice

Good suggestion. Thanks.

The other thing I'm still not sure about is whether you should treat multi-table SnG's differently from MTT's -- that is, whether the ratio of BR to buy-in ought to be different from cash games, and from one another. I've read you need a min of 20x max BI's for full ring games, 40x for SnG's, and 100x for MTT's ... but I've also heard a lot of different guidelines. Anyone have any opinions?

BTW, there are loads of examples of these suggestions online, but there's one here and here and here.

appaz86 · Jun 22, 2010

rowhousepd said:
Huh, so you're basically sticking to tourneys that make your bankroll to be 300x the buy-in ... which I have to say is pretty large compared to what I've been reading. I definitely don't want to be greedy here, but I've read that BRs can/should be anywhere from 40x to 100x the buy in -- and that's a wide range.

Good suggestion. Thanks.

The other thing I'm still not sure about is whether you should treat multi-table SnG's differently from MTT's -- that is, whether the ratio of BR to buy-in ought to be different from cash games, and from one another. I've read you need a min of 20x max BI's for full ring games, 40x for SnG's, and 100x for MTT's ... but I've also heard a lot of different guidelines. Anyone have any opinions?

BTW, there are loads of examples of these suggestions online, but there's one here and here and here.

the way i look at it is you grind your favourite SnG religiously and play MTT's here and there... this way if you grinding the $2.25 SnG's you could play anywhere from $1-$10 MTT's (they are more of a dice roll)

how about as a rule you grind some SnG's for 2 or 3 days, if you are profitable you put 1/2 your profit money into MTT's for the next 1 or 2 days but only 1/2 the profit you made from the SnG's

this way your bankroll is going up steadily and if/when you hit a bigger cash in another MTT you move up to the $5 SnG's and continue the process

Arjonius · Jun 22, 2010

While I won't speak for SNGs since I don't play them regularly, I don't think there's a great leap in field strength from $1 MTTs up to $5. Some, yes, but IMO, not enough to take you completely out of your comfort zone.

What I suggest is to take part of your expanded roll, say $100, and allocate it to trying out some higher buyins. If you don't feel like jumping up to $5, then just step up to $2 and $3.

If you feel comfortable at whatever levels you try, then you can decide to move up. If you don't, then you're not ready to move up regardless of how many buyins your bankroll contains.

You might also want to consider withdrawing at least your original $100. I started with $150, and withdrew it a couple of months later when I hit $500. It wasn't for any logical reason. I just felt better knowing I'd be playing with my winnings and that even my small original stake was no longer at risk.

naruto_miu · Jun 22, 2010

rowhousepd said:
I've been playing live NL Holdem recreationally at home for about a year, I know the basics, but I don't consider myself much more than an advanced-beginner. I started an online poker account w/ $100 on Full Tilt a few months ago, I've been playing mostly $1 SnG's & MTT's for a few months w/ some success doing a little better than breaking even. But then all of a sudden ... wham!!! I win a large-ish $1 MTT for nice ~ $600 prize. I have to say, even I was surprised.

So now what??? I've been following good bankroll management guidelines and have been playing pretty much the cheapest tourneys out there -- which made sense for how much I initially invested. I've read that you shouldn't play tourneys w/ any less than 50x the buy-in amount in your BR, and to be really safe not any more than 100x in your BR. But now I've got ~ $600 in my account, and I'm not sure what I should be playing.

Keeping to the same conservative (& probably wise) BR management guidelines, I technically could jump up to at least $6 MTT's, or maybe even $10 if I'm more liberal ... but should I? Like I said, I'm an OK player with a grasp of the fundamentals, and I'm eager to keep learning, read the forums, read some books, etc., and I definitely did play well at the tourney in question. But I don't really know if it warrants going up to ~ $6 tourneys right now ... or does it? Any advice?

Well Congrats are in Order...My Advice to you is don't jump up Limits in Mtts Quite yet unless...Your Crushing the Limit that your At....

The_Pup · Jun 23, 2010

Well done for the win - it's a lovely feeling isn't it? When I won my first tourney I did have a strange feeling when the last hand played out and that was it! Although the $1K or whatever it was was nice I felt a bit flat that the table just closed down and suddenly I was sitting all alone - no ticker-tape parade or post match interviews...

I'd recommend taking out a chunk of money and buying something for yourself (I got a new microphone for my harmonica playing) and then decide whether you want to step up your game or carry on as an occassional player. I reckon 50 buy ins is fine for SnGs with a once-a-week treat of a MTT of twice that.

Good luck!

straytfrush · Jun 25, 2010

As was said before just take a portion of your winnings to put towards higher limits. If you have success stay there. If you feel that it is a bit above your level you can always back down. What you must not do however, is it to lose the amount you set aside at higher stakes and then in frustration keep playing to win it back since you feel you can win more at higher stakes in a shorter time. Being able to step down is a good exercise in self control.

jh1spartanfan · Jun 25, 2010

Here's what I would say, jump up to the next level in SNGs ($2), see how you do, if you do well, then move up to $3 to $5 buy-ins and see how you do. For MTTs, I would say you could play up to about $5 or $6 buy-ins. Here's my thought as to how the different levels play, it's not that moving up to these higher limits your going to see a lot of really good players. There are really good players that play micro limits, but the difference is, is that in the jump, you will see different play. There will be less chasing, and tighter play for the most part, at the higher stakes, but there still will be some, because $5 is not a huge buy-in. GL, and congrats on the big win.

womackcali02 · Jun 26, 2010

Keep It Simple

If you won $600 playing a low stakes MTT like that surely you can do it again. I myself have been in this situation a number of times. I try to raise the buyin and find the variance just kills me. So just keep grinding away build up a real good bankroll and when you have the money to lose then move up.

Gutshot22 · Jun 27, 2010

The difference is actually not as great as you think it is. Once you play a couple, you'll see the fish are doing the same stuff at the $5 level as at the $1 level.

I would also keep the money on the site unless you truly need. That money is your investment and taking any out will slow your progression. You will walk into some downswing moving up, but once you adjust, you'll be glad you have the extra cash there.

kmixer · Jun 27, 2010

Forast and foremost congrats on the win. Very nice cash for a $1 game. Now go and look at the rest of your $1 games and see what your average place and profit is. This will tell you how well you are playing. I agrree that unles you are getting rake you are getting killed at the $1 BIs. if this is FTP you need top be playing the 2 games no matter what.

My advide would be to move up to those $2 games and get your feet wet in them. If you are killing them over say a 25-100 game arange than move up again. If you aren;t tehn you are best to stay there. Having 100 BIUs can go fast and you don't want to lose that money in a short period of time if it took a long time to get there. Even if it only was one game that got you there,

By the way you need to take at least $100 out and buy yourself something with it. That is a reward of winning at poker. Then work the BRM from there.

PoKeRFoRNiA · Jun 28, 2010

Congrats. All I can tell you is have good bankroll management and have at least 100 buy-ins of whatever you do. I've gotten this advice from Leatherass9's book. He would never buy into any higher cash game or tournament that exceeds more than 1/100th of his bankroll. Spend it wisely. There are so many potential with the bankroll you got.

bobsay225 · Jun 28, 2010

Congrats on your win. I have seen it already said but I would at least move up to the 2.25 sng's because of rake. I might want to take some out and buy a poker tracker or holdem manager and start grinding.Looking on shark scope signing up for fishy games on the tourney selector too

good luck

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Micro player just won MTT, bankroll boosted ... now what?

rowhousepd

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eberetta1

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appaz86

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lektrikguy

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rowhousepd

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appaz86

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Arjonius

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straytfrush

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jh1spartanfan

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