Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Hey everyone I am trying to build up a bankroll from about 50 dollars (I am a college student so cant really afford much else at a time). I heard that playing in mtt is a good way to do this. I was thinking of trying to do this by playing in 2 dollar 180 person sit and goes on Full Tilt. Does this sound reasonable to anyone?

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

good luck, but for 2/180s I think you should have at least $250.

i would suggest the 1/45 and 1/18 on stars, and search for some freerolls of course.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

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I heard that playing in mtt is a good way to do this.

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Lies.

Anyhow, you are wanting to take 25 BIs (actually less b/c of rake) into 180 man MTTs? Probably a bad idea. Try the 1/45s on stars first.

Your best bet at building quickly is to go to cash games. Then play MTTs when winning something will actually be worth your time.

Sherman

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Go find a part-time job, work for a couple of weeks, take $500 of the money you made, deposit that, and start playing the $4/180's, the $6/45's and other <$10 mtt's.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Three months ago i started playing 2$ 9 player SnGs for bankroll building. I deposited 50$ played like 100 but couldn't get well. I was stuck around 120-100$. I was learning the game. After two months of playing like 300 SnGs i thought SnGs suck because if you know the perfect strategy for them it still takes too much time to build bankroll. at 2$ 9 players your ROI will be at best %17ish. this means you gain ~0.37$ on one SnG. And if you start your career with downswing it'll really hurt you. Then i started to play 5$ 45 players and got nice cash outs and doubled my bankroll to 200$. But still not cashing in like 5-10 tourneys on a row at 5$ when you have like 150$ really hurts. Now i grinded my bankroll to ~300$ and playing MTTs. This is what i wanted at first but variance is deadly. I still couldn't get to final table like for 40 tourneys, got busted 11.-12. lots of times. It hurts so bad. When i'm down to 220$ i'm playing some cash game and 5$-10$ 45s and make my bankroll up to 300$. Still wondering if MTTs aren't my game.

I can say don't try MTTs first or at least get min. 100 buyins, if you're learning the game 150 buyins.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Plz dont do it, stick to 2NL

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

I am really new to all this. Thanks for all the advice everyone! Yeah I have really noticed how bad the variance is for the tournament play. I guess I will try to grind it out in the low limit cash games. OMG I feel like such a noob but what does 2NL mean? Thanks again everyone!

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Don't do it. It will crush your spirit, melt your brain, and it may not even work. Imagine how you'd feel if you were just on a long cooler but you still felt like you couldn't beat the lowest-stakes games on the internet.

That said, the softest, biggest-payout, fastest-turnaround microstakes tournament for my money is the turbo 3.25 45-man SNG. Low rake, soft field... A guy could give up his job at Chipotle for those.

Seriously, though. You're best off finding a way to come up with a couple hundred bucks to deposit so that you can play a game that returns you a reasonable hourly rate. The idea is that you can make *more* money playing poker than you can at the Kum-N-Go. or Loaf-N-Jug. or whatever.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Yeah, it is very frustrating. I really enjoy playing tournaments though but I cant afford the 11$ and up ones. So I guess I will be better off by playing the cash games and just using that to finance my tournament play huh? So just out of curiosity what are the rough guidelines for bankroll management? I have seen a lot of conflicting stats and suggestions but I was just wondering what have yall personally found to work?

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

Well your situation is similar to mine when I made my last deposit about a month ago. I had $46, started playing $2-5$ MTTs (playing at a not-so-major site) and 10NL ring games. It took me about a week to get up to $100 and after that I played the $10 MTTs and 20NL. I cashed at about 50% of the tourneys I played, went to cash tables to grind when I was losing at the MTTs. I'm now up to $640. Although I'm not placing ITM at every tourney I play at, I have consistently improved my BR throughout November.

So yes, it is possible but it's pretty hard at first. The only thing I would recommend you doing is playing at stakes your comfortable with and w´here you can win. When you're a winning player try the next level, if you succeed there you can move up, if not just return to your previous level. At least that's what I've done.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

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I cashed at about 50% of the tourneys I played

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%50 ITM on MTTs means you have a very good relationship with variance.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

I don't have Pocker Tracker so this is just from the top of my head. I usually have time for one tourney every day, so I doesn't add up for that many tourneys. Some MTTs I play have a field of 200+, some have 50 or less. I mostly play freezeouts and at the lower stakes they're fairly easy.

I have had quite a run this month and I've exceeded my own expectations my a mile, just wondering how long I can keep this up.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

I've been attempting to do essentially the same thing and have come to pretty much the same conclusions as the others. I started with a $200 deposit and played about 50 $5 SNG on 'stars. I did well for a while, cashing about 30% of the time (got up to ~$300, but the downswings kill that small of a roll. I'm pretty much back to even now and plan to spend most of the time multitabling 10NL. I think that's gotta be the best way to go to grind a small roll up.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

If you can add money weekly than thats a fine idea. If all you have is 50 bucks lifetime savings than god no dont do it. If your trying to be proper with the lowest risk with 50 bucks than play the smallest stake sit n gos there is. The less people you play with the more likely your gonna be to not lose(common sense) If you want to play big feilds I know stars has 25 cent and 10 cent MTT you could partake in within your budget.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

I've recently been doing this. I started with $200 on Stars and played exclusively the 27 and 45 man $5.50 SNGs. While I'm certain I ran hot, I was up to $1000 within a month. Once I got to $500 I started taking shots at the $11 27 and 45 man tourneys, and occasionally, after getting past $800 the $20 one, though they hardly ever run (and I managed to win the first one I played which helped.)

I genuinely believe the $5.50 27 and 45 man tourneys on stars to be the softest online and I certainly think they're a decent place to improve your game and build a BR.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

By soft, what do you mean. Are they easier to beat than the $1.20 27 and 45 man?
The reason I ask is, I am in the same situation as the OP. I started with $50 went down to $10, then back up to $60 now back down to $20. I went a week doing nothing but winning, ITM 8 out of 10 times and took down 1st 4 times. Then the cards ran cold. 3 weeks passed before I could make 3 or 4 hands in 1 tourney.
The swings are terrible when you start out with a low budget.
One thing I did to ensure a foot up, so to speak. Sign up at you local library and check out all the books on holdem you can get. I started playing holdem a month and a half ago and have read @dozen books. It really gives you a sense of direction as far as strategy. Hanging around here and reading as much as possible is a good start too. Good Luck on your journey, it'll be a bumpy one.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

just play the micro stakes MTT's... they are really easy and the fields are so large that winning gives you an incredible risk/reward ratio... I started my roll by selling play money and then I would take those smalls amounts of money and hit the micro MTTs. It took me a while but I got the hang of it and finaly won a $2.20 after final tabling it the weekend before. I also got 3rd at a $1.10, 2nd at the $0.50, and a couple other FTs along the way. I now almost have $1k in my account now. I think it's a good way to build up your account but it may take a while to get accustomed to navigating through 2000-3000 ppl just to make final table. Goodluck

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

On Poker Stars, the 2+.20 satellites to the Sunday Hundred Grand are very soft, and lots of players who have no idea how to play satellites. An easy way to win $T, just read up on how to play satellites.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

[ QUOTE ]
I am really new to all this. Thanks for all the advice everyone! Yeah I have really noticed how bad the variance is for the tournament play. I guess I will try to grind it out in the low limit cash games. OMG I feel like such a noob but what does 2NL mean? Thanks again everyone!

[/ QUOTE ]$2 NL is when the big blind is $0.02. When someone says X NL, X is 100 times the big blind, which is a standard amount to buy in. So $25NL has a $0.25 big blind, $600NL is a $6 big blind, etc.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

[ QUOTE ]
Well your situation is similar to mine when I made my last deposit about a month ago. I had $46, started playing $2-5$ MTTs (playing at a not-so-major site) and 10NL ring games. It took me about a week to get up to $100 and after that I played the $10 MTTs and 20NL. I cashed at about 50% of the tourneys I played, went to cash tables to grind when I was losing at the MTTs. I'm now up to $640. Although I'm not placing ITM at every tourney I play at, I have consistently improved my BR throughout November.

So yes, it is possible but it's pretty hard at first. The only thing I would recommend you doing is playing at stakes your comfortable with and w´here you can win. When you're a winning player try the next level, if you succeed there you can move up, if not just return to your previous level. At least that's what I've done.

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You're just lucky, as well, you are the reason 10 dollar games remain soft.

Re: Building a bankroll in mtt tournaments
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Well your situation is similar to mine when I made my last deposit about a month ago. I had $46, started playing $2-5$ MTTs (playing at a not-so-major site) and 10NL ring games. It took me about a week to get up to $100 and after that I played the $10 MTTs and 20NL. I cashed at about 50% of the tourneys I played, went to cash tables to grind when I was losing at the MTTs. I'm now up to $640. Although I'm not placing ITM at every tourney I play at, I have consistently improved my BR throughout November.

So yes, it is possible but it's pretty hard at first. The only thing I would recommend you doing is playing at stakes your comfortable with and w´here you can win. When you're a winning player try the next level, if you succeed there you can move up, if not just return to your previous level. At least that's what I've done.

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You're just lucky, as well, you are the reason 10 dollar games remain soft.

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Cashing at 50% of your MTTs is a leak IMO: you're not taking enough risks before the money to accumulate chips. Hard to win an MTT when you are playing too tight in the early stages (always remember than an MTT is NOT a 9 man sit and go. MTTs are played for fisrt place, no exceptions).

I always save 100 buy ins for my MTTs and find that if I am playing my highest allowed limit... I don't play as good as when I am playing lower buy ins, where I take a lot more gambles and accumulate more chips in the process.