1000th post: MTT success - it's not all in the game

[Soulman]

For my 1000th post I’d like to take the time to share with you a little bit about myself, as well as what factors I have used to be moderately successful at MTTs that has nothing to do with the game itself.

If you don’t give a rat’s ass about my background, skip the part between the lines – I have some “words of wisdom” at the bottom.

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I’m 31 years old, live in Norway and work as an IT project manager at the university in my city. Like others poker players before me, I played Magic: the Gathering before I discovered poker. This lasted for about 5 years, before I get dog-tired of the game and got out. Unlike most other guys, I have a girlfriend (11 years last week) that’s always been a gamer herself. We played Magic together, and she was the first one to pick up poker after our Magic addiction died out.

I started out at PartyPoker in March of 2005, everyone’s favorite site. The cash games were my first stop, but I quickly tired of them and started the $5+$1 SNGs. After going through $100 deposits a few times, I got interested in MTTs. One day I was working from home, the temptation to join the 3:00 am $10k guaranteed at Party was a bit too much – and I took it home, winning $2.5k. I remember the insane adrenaline rush from that first win – what a feeling! After that, I was hooked on MTTs.

Like most guys who win too much too early (this was in July, three months after I started playing), I withdrew a large part, around $1.5k. I kept playing SNGs and MTTs, and after a few months of bad game selection I was busto. I deposited $100 three times and blew it all – I was left with $25. Frustrated with the game, I entered a $20 MTT and swore to never play poker again if I didn't win big. Miraculously, I finished deep and won $1000. Talk about signs…I bought a bunch of poker books (HOH etc) and started studying. I didn’t pay much attention to the web page of the publicists, a place called www.twoplustwo.com.

This was in October 2005, and was the last time I’ve ever deposited money for poker. I hit an insane row of finishes in December and January – something like 5-6 FTs for a combined total of $10k or so (all in <$20 buy-ins with huge fields). Obviously, I was the greatest poker player since Chris Moneymaker. Once again I withdrew too much, leaving myself with a $2k roll. It was around this time I discovered 2+2.

This discovery led to a rather painful 6 months for me, where I went without an FT the entire time. My roll dipped to $1k, then to $500. I didn’t know it at the time – but I was severely confuzlled. The learning process messed with the basic knowledge I had, leading me into disaster areas time after time. A while back, I claimed to be a Leaper, which I now realize was completely wrong. I’m pretty sure I am one now. I’ve started to pick up some more abstract stuff, but still not enough to actively participate in the (all too few) threads that come along.

Once my roll reached its low point, I finally started taking the lessons on 2+2 on bankroll management to heart for the first time. I built my roll back up to $2k with SNGs. Then, Party’s payback on the Monster brought another k. And finally, I started winning at MTTs again. It’s weird; some of you have probably experienced this as well. It’s like all the knowledge I’ve been exposing myself to finally filtered through into my brain and clicked. In the last couple of months, I’ve made a bunch of FTs and my roll is up to $7k – and this time, I feel confident I will continue to win.
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So what have I learned through the year and a half I’ve played? Pokerwise, nothing that hasn’t been said here before. What I DO think I’m better at than many others, is all the other stuff. This isn’t revolutionary. It’s simple. It’s basic. And yet, I see good players in this forum make these mistakes over and over. I can’t remember where I saw it, but I read that being successful at poker is around 30% being good at poker. While the exact number may be off, I certainly agree with the sentiment.

Here are some of the things I think are ALL needed (to a lesser or bigger degree) to be successful at MTTs. Note that this is mainly geared towards MTT-only players – if you play cash, sorry, I’m clueless. This is also mainly for new players – you won’t see anything new here.

<u>MTT success factors</u>
Bankroll management – yes, score one for captain OBVIOUS. And yet, you see guys blow large portions of their roll on waaaay too large buy-ins. I’ve started playing some $100 MTTs with a $7k roll, but my average buy-in is around $60. If you play cash, the tilt factor is obviously higher. Still, playing in the Sunday Million if your roll is $1k is probably not the best idea, and yet I’d venture that 70%+ of the participants in that tourney is underrolled.

Field selection – part of the reason I went on a 6-month no FT stretch was due to horrible field selection. I played nothing but the giant rebuys at Party and Stars, with minimum fields of 500+. This is just plain horrible. Rizen put me on better thoughts: play some small fields, both to keep variance down and for the FT practice.

Site selection – I love Stars, but let’s face it: the competition IS tougher there. Play at some of the smaller sites – you’ll get smaller fields and worse opponents. Sure, you want to play against the best as well, but choose your battles.

Multitabling – anyone who’s played MTTs for a while know they’re a bitch for variance. Multitabling alleviates this somewhat, since the variance won’t be as spread out in time. Note, if you’re new to MTTs I don’t recommend this too much. Myself, I can’t bring myself to focus on one table only at the beginning (see below as well) – I’m quickly bored to tears.

Staying in shape – in the so-called cybersports (CounterStrike, Starcraft and the like), the best players stay in shape to get an extra edge. Yet, this is barely mentioned in any poker magazines, books and so forth. Sure, as a poker player you don’t need the reaction times, extreme hand-eye coordination, but one thing you do need is stamina. The ability to focus is essential for getting good reads, especially late in an MTT. Making complex decisions, going through a bunch of factors if you’re out of shape and on your 10th straight hour of poker – it’s hard. Give yourself the extra edge. Playing big online MTTs can take 10+ hours; I don’t even want to get into the WSOP and other huge, multi-day live events. Obviously, staying in shape has a bunch of other upsides as well, but I won't get into that here.

Focusing – I don’t focus enough at the start of MTTs. If I only play one table, surfing usually takes precedence. HUDs help somewhat, but not nearly enough. Toward the middle and end, where steals and resteals are of paramount importance, focusing is just essential. If I go deep in a non-trivial event, I never open additional tourneys, SNGs, browsers etc – focus is needed.

Tilt control – I’m pretty proud that I haven’t tilted, even once (although see below under goals). The worst I’ve ever done is probably participating in the $30r 30k guaranteed on Party after some bad beats – but ending up in 3rd wasn’t too karmic, haha. If you’re a cash gamer (particularly NL), this is obviously a way bigger issue. How do you stop it? I suggest reading the thread that http://<a href="http://forumserver.t...6861632]Kramer started</a> after he blew a large portion of his roll (hope you don’t mind Kramer) – there is some very good advice in there.

Find your strengths (but don’t ignore your weaknesses) – I’ve found that I do much better in freezeouts than rebuys. The answer is probably obvious: I suck at deep stack poker, which rebuys will lead to. The first hour I’m pretty good at, but after that….man. I’ve improved tons lately, but I’m still better at freezeouts. This means I’ll play more freezeouts, but not exlusively – after all, I DO want to get better at deep stack poker.

Use PokerXFactor and other training sites – just like books, these can be the short road to knowledge. My girlfriend is not the studious type (unlike me), but she’s learned a LOT from watching Rizen, JohnnyBax and the rest. So if you hate books, at least consider these.

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No milestone post should be without goals – so here are mine:
• Grow my roll to $10k, so I can participate in $100 MTTs regularly and stay within my roll.
• Post more strategy, particularly hands I’ve played myself. Looking through my history, I’ve barely posted any hands myself. I’m often about to, but then realize I already know the answer. I’ll pay attention to hands that are interesting and could lead to interesting discussions.
• Get better at deep stack poker. I’ve avoided cash games like the plague so far…I just find them horribly boring. Poker is about the challenge much more than the money to me, and endless grinding is just not fascinating. So my road to deep stack skills will probably be through MTTs – we’ll see if cash games can grow on me…
• Analyze, analyze, analyze. I’ve never really analyzed my own game – poring through hand histories is just a bit too tedious. With the PXF replayer, I find it’s a lot better. And if seke is still willing to take HHs…I’ll contact him as well.
• Drop the trash talking. I’m a really, really competitive person. I just hate losing. So if I get a bad beat, I’m pretty likely to bitch at the villain, no matter if he played bad or not (although way more likely if he donked it up). It’s just disgraceful, and in stark contrast to the friendly tone I keep prior to going out (and in real life). It just needs to stop; it’s shameful and classless. This is actually my number one goal.

In closing, I’d like to thank the 2+2 community for sharing their knowledge with each other and anonymous posters – I know I’m a much better player than I would have been without you. Even though I have no plans of ever going pro and poker always will be a hobby of mine, I do play 20+ hours each week – I see no reason why I can’t evolve further. Hopefully, by the time I reach 2000 or 2500 (which is the big one here?) posts, I will have evolved into a true poker player.

Any comments are appreciated, thanks guys.

[Bidz]

great post, thanks

[registrar]

Hey Soulman, drop the avatar - it still turns my guts.

Nice post. I would say the following.

Bankroll management: I'm beginning to see the light here having always cashed out after a big win but this does depend on our objectives in the game. I like money, I like spending money, despite frequent early success in first cash games, then STTs then MTTs, I never thought that I was good enough to move up buyins so I just cashed out. I think I'm better now so I am finally working towards building a roll. I'm up from about $1000 to $7000 in two months. I'll take out half when I get to $10k but that will be the last time (for a while). I think a lot of this is self-management. I simply play better when the money means something and the money means more when my bankroll is low. However, I would now like to move up stakes because I no longer feel out of place at these buyins.

Field selection: Yes. This is why I've always made money at poker, despite not being very good.


Site selection: IMO, Stars has become a lot softer in the last month. Crypto remains the softest but the flipside is the beats.

Multitabling: I know I'm in a minority here but I suck at multitabling and never do it nowadays. I understand the variance argument, but if you know how every villain has bet every hand and checked the HH for mucked hands at showdown and watched for timing tells etc. etc., you're decreasing variance. I find if I smoke spliff and listen to music, I don't get too bored. I also usually sweat my mate, Aplunk (he took first in the Autumn Windfall $100 last night btw), we get some poker-related chat going.


Staying in Shape: Absolutely - check the FAQ in the Stud forum, BTW.

OK, I'm getting sick of formatting now. Some more quick points.

Tilt control isn't massively important in MTTs.
Deep stack: I'm not great at deepstack poker but this doesn't mean I can't win rebuys. You should play some more of these, particularly with 2-300 fields. Get a big stack in the first hour, play tight for the second...

One other point, I think playing a bigger buyin once in a while is fine. If we must be prim, then take it out of your current account, not your bankroll. Poker is a hobby after all.

[Soulman]

Haha, I'll find another avatar - I'm getting tired of it myself.

I agree about doing a bigger buyin once in a while btw, as long it's not 25% of your roll or something.

[mornelth]

NH

[FortunaMaximus]

Great post, Soulman.

I don't know. That's not a half-bad avatar. It has a deadening effect after awhile. Heh.

Yeah. BR management is an albatross. Have been very, very cautious about doing my next deposit. I want to be sure I'm doing it right this time. I don't think I'm gonna look back when I take that step.

Again, great post, man. GL.

[Art Vandelay]

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NH

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PS. Keep the avatar, its one of my favorites.

[rothko]

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NH

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PS. Keep the avatar, its one of my favorites.

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[Soulman]

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Bankroll management: I'm beginning to see the light here having always cashed out after a big win but this does depend on our objectives in the game. I like money, I like spending money, despite frequent early success in first cash games, then STTs then MTTs, I never thought that I was good enough to move up buyins so I just cashed out. I think I'm better now so I am finally working towards building a roll. I'm up from about $1000 to $7000 in two months. I'll take out half when I get to $10k but that will be the last time (for a while). I think a lot of this is self-management. I simply play better when the money means something and the money means more when my bankroll is low. However, I would now like to move up stakes because I no longer feel out of place at these buyins.


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Just wanted to add something here: from your posts, I'm pretty sure you're leaving money on the table by not leaving your roll at $10k-ish and playing $100 events regularly. But hey, you'll get back up there again if you do take out half.

[registrar]

TYVM. As I say, I've begun to see the light but I want three weeks in Thailand at Christmas for me and the family and I want poker to pay for that. I really believe that I'll be able to quit smoking there (which will be +EVlife) and that three weeks of no poker at all (online gambling is banned in Thailand) will be massively useful.

The funny thing is that I realised the other day that I've never actually won a buyin of less than £20 in an MTT. I totally suck at low buyins and I don't enjoy playing them.

I've cashed out $20k+ in the last 12 months but I really believe that it's only recently that I've been good enough to move up and it's not so much about the money but about the simple thrill of competition. There's just too many good games I think I'm missing.

Of course, since I've made up my mind to make $10k, I'm suffering my leanest ever spell.

Most of the $20k cashed out was from one big win of $15k btw. That kind of freaked me out at the time and in retrospect I think it was right not to leave that in bankroll because I'm fairly sure I would have wasted it.

Funnily enough, talking about karma, there was a thread on 2+2 at the time "What was your biggest ever cash?" and I said "$3k - but I'm going to take down a big one this weekend"