In the past while playing MTT's, I would play ~30 mtt's in a session. How well I'm doing or not doing in those tournaments has no bearing on how many I'm playing that day. The number of mtt's I'm playing in is based upon how I am physically, mentally & emotionally feeling prior to the start of my session. (there are times when I've skipped second half of session... stop registering for more MTT's when just not feeling motivated... or feeling well... I also have late stage (4) liver disease which also impacts what or if I'm playing (I get tired.. & at times not feeling as mentally sharp).
I try to follow strict BRM guidelines... at least 100 buyins (prefer 200) but in micros I will play with fewer buyins. I'll also play above BRM guidelines if there's a huge overlay or if it's some special tournament. Basically... with a bankroll of $1,000 I will play $11 max. buyin.
I used to allot almost 50% of my time towards studying (I was hooked!).
Currently I am just getting back into playing Tournaments (have been playing cashgame for past 5 or 6years). I hope to build up to playing 12-tables at a time & upwards of 50 mtts per session but for now I'm nowhere close to that (6 to 8 tables currently... but probably best to stick to 6). I'm sure this will go up fairly quickly (it better!... or I'm doomed! lol)
As far as 'Study' time goes... as I'm just getting back into it, it has been rather sporadic. I am in the process of setting up a schedule as I write this today. First off... I am setting up a new setup for playing poker (new computer, and finally setting up a couple of new Dell Ultrasharp monitors on a special stand I purchased 5yrs. ago).
My plan is to spend 10hrs. of studying per week & approx. 30hrs. of playing. (playing 3days per week, fri, sat. & sun.).
Good question btw.
Great answer! Thank you for the detailed and informed breakdown of your schedule; this is exactly the type of answer I was looking for. I've been a break-even/losing player now for a while and am starting to think it has more to do with my scheduling, volume, and BRM.
I've been meaning to start making a strict schedule of tourneys that I will play in on the days that I do grind which is all day Thurs + Fri and half days Sat, Sun + Wed. Mon and Tues I devote to studying and hand review + HUD construction. I also read a little bit of one of my
poker books every morning before work for ~10 - 15 minutes. Lately, I've been trying to focus on learning more about advanced bet sizing for extracting the maximum
expected value depending on position, board texture and hero/villain percieved ranges + stats.
I never keep count of the number of tourneys I play or how many buy-ins I use, I just play in the ones I usually play in but I'm guessing it comes up to somewhere between 10 and 15 tournaments. So I definitely need to start planning that out and keeping track of how many I play based on your and others' replies.
Man, 12 tables is a lot!
I usually grind with optimal comfort and focus at around 3 to 4 tables. Sometimes, I go up to 5 max but that's only when I'm in the flow state. I can't imagine doing 8+ or even 12. That would be nice to get to that point.
My BR is close to 2k so I sometimes play up to $22 tourneys. I might need to just drop back down to $11 and below. That's a good study to play ratio that I might have to use as well. I don't track my study time neither but I'm sure it's not 10 hours so I will have to put in a little more time when I can! What does your study usually consist of? Mine is mostly reading in the morning after waking, a little hand review in the afternoon/evening and watching videos at night right before bed.
Do you prepare or warm-up before any of your tourneys? I've heard that some grinders do that and have been meaning to start meditating and/or hand reviewing beforehand.
Also, I'm sorry to hear about your liver man.
You taking any meds or on any treatment program for it? I really hope you can heal/recover from that fully! Health is something people often take for granted, myself included. I've been out of the gym for ~2 and half months since I strained/partially tore my calf + Achilles tendon on my left leg playing basketball; I've been a little bummed about that but am otherwise pretty healthy which I'm grateful for. I'm planning on getting back in there to at least lift some weights while my calf/achilles heals.
EDIT: that set up sounds sick btw! I upgraded to an LG widescreen 4k monitor and got a nice GTR gaming chair a few months ago. The first week I had the new monitor and chair, I had my best day ever up until that point which was $1k+ profit in a day! Sometimes, these things do help lol