Decided to give MTTs a go

[mathare]

Playing a $2 NLHE freezeout on Ladbrokes. It's just starting now but I will let you know how it goes and what I think

[mathare]

Nope, didn't go too well. I got very few playable hands and busted out 74th out of 160 without even making the first break.

I found that my stack didn't really go anywhere and when I ended up on a table with much bigger stacks I felt a little imtimidated. At least in an STT the stacks are generally more even. Here there were 4 or 5 stacks that were 6-8 times my stack size but I still wasn't short stacked in terms of the blinds for a lot of the play. That's not a situation I am familiar with or comfortable in at present.

The hand that did for me was a gamble. I was in mid position and shoved with around 10xBB on QJo trying to isolate myself against the SB who had just lost a big pot and had less than 1xBB left after posting so I figured he might call on a hiding to nothing. I got a caller two seats to my left with QQ. I caught a straight draw on the flop when it came AxK but the turn and river blanked and I was out. Ah well. At least I gave it a go, eh

[Win2Win]

I enjoy MTT's, but I do need the time which I seem to have little of. I usually play them slow the first hour, and just 'steal' chips when I can rather than getting in battles.

[GlosRFC]

Had a day like that yesterday where nothing I did went right...AK would lose to 33, TT would lose to Q5 or something equally ridiculous. And the number of times I went out on the river when holding the highest hand was unbelievable.

Today was better...as silax and Keith said, you have to avoid getting into stupid battles. Trouble is, sometimes they're just unavoidable. I'm always amazed why, when the people are so close to getting to the payout, they risk throwing all their chips away with a ludicrous all-in bet. And when they do, I've usually got the best hand but they strike lucky on the flop. Last two tournaments today I was within ten places of the cash ($20k and $6k freezeouts) and my AK and A9 suited were both raised all-in by KT. One flopped two pair and the other flopped three of a kind.

The stupid thing is they could've simply raised, or called, as they would've had plenty of chips to survive a few more blinds and, in all likelihood, guarantee themselves some money. Instead, they both acted like it was the first deal in a speed rebuy...cretins!

[piggy]

if i play mtt's i only play freezeouts can't stand rebuy tournys which seems to limit me

[John]

Just done alright in a 2.5 hour long MTT..... for a paltry $8.55... YAY! :D

11th out of 190. KQs out to AA. Nevermind.

[mathare]

Just done alright in a 2.5 hour long MTT..... for a paltry $8.55... YAY! :DAnd that's why I don't like MTTs. I don't often get several hours in one continuous block and when I do I don't fancy playing all that poker for a small reward when I know I can make more in other ways.

[John]

When it gets to 50 remaining the buzz is only just beginning... when it gets to 20 you're laughing... then it's a case of, "oooh, let's steal blinds because I'm holding crap(ish) cards to do so with"...

But, I still enjoy MTTs! Going to start playing more SnGs though.

[silax]

Nope, didn't go too well. I got very few playable hands and busted out 74th out of 160 without even making the first break.

I found that my stack didn't really go anywhere and when I ended up on a table with much bigger stacks I felt a little imtimidated. At least in an STT the stacks are generally more even. Here there were 4 or 5 stacks that were 6-8 times my stack size but I still wasn't short stacked in terms of the blinds for a lot of the play. That's not a situation I am familiar with or comfortable in at present.

The hand that did for me was a gamble. I was in mid position and shoved with around 10xBB on QJo trying to isolate myself against the SB who had just lost a big pot and had less than 1xBB left after posting so I figured he might call on a hiding to nothing. I got a caller two seats to my left with QQ. I caught a straight draw on the flop when it came AxK but the turn and river blanked and I was out. Ah well. At least I gave it a go, eh
jesus matt 1 game and you're knocking it on the head i thought you were in gambling with the big picture available.
you're just summing up how easy it is for the good players to make cash at this game cos the really good guys (which i think you're in that brackett) can't get there heads around bad luck which happens ffs matt run 100 tournys and see how you do i'll put a big wager on it you have more then 22% roi at the end of it. but really matt you were onto a no brainer before you started you have an inbuilt negative about mtts my god give me your knowlegde and i'll be at the wsop

[silax]

sorry about that post matt the infamous silax drunken post appears again.

[mathare]

sorry about that post matt the infamous silax drunken post appears again.No sweat, you make some good points.

I am in this for the long term, very much so. But I also have short term goals and one thing I am not comfortable with at present is a low SR game which is what MTTs are really. My poker time is limited by my working hours so I would rather spend that time on games I know I can make money at. I'm hoping that some years down the line I can give up the day job and free up so much more time, and then I can give MTTs a serious go but for now I am kinda results oriented in as much as I prefer to see results from the limited time I have available.

I can only play a few evenings a week and at weekends. Suppose I play 3-5 MTTs a week in that time. Chances are I won't win one in any given week, obviously. So it's going to seem psychologically that I am on a long losing streak, not in terms of number of tournaments necessarily but over the period of time they are spread out over and I know what effect that will have on my game.

I also have plans that I wish to see through. I have started at the lowest rung of the STT ladder and I would like to see what life is like a few rungs up. I want to focus on STTs and improve that side of my game and make a few quid out of it. I'm glad I played that MTT yesterday so that I know have more recent experience of them and am aware of how they make me feel and how my game was impacted by the situations I found myself in.

So I'm not giving up on MTTs long term, just saying they are not part of my short term poker plans at present.

[John]

I can relate to a lot of the above actually Mat. It's got me thinking that although I enjoy playing MTTs, with the little amount of time I can spend playing them (some evenings and weekends) there isn't really a high enough Win%SR for me to say that I'm doing a really good job - this week - or this month.

So with that in mind I'm going to try cutting down on MTTs and trying out a few more STTs and Multi-table Sit & Gos.

Yesterday I joined Full Tilt, and already I can see why people enjoy playing on there. But what is attractive about Full Tilt is that you can play 36 and 45 table Sit & Gos and that's something I think I want to try out. But what I really want to find out when I play these is how much I have to (if any) differ my game from playing an MTT. I can imagine that they're fairly similar in some ways.

Presumably I will continue playing MTTs but nights like last night, but when I'm thinking, wow I could win some quite serious money here and finish 11th for 8 dollars, it really annoys me. I still enjoy them though... and I'm usually pretty good at them, and judging when I'm beaten. I tend to only push on with good cards, so if and when I do go out I've got my head held high. The thing is even on the final table you have to finish at least 4th or 5th to be in with a decent chance of what I would call a reasonable cash payout compared to the buy-in ($3.30 buy in to make $40+ for example).

Anyway, bit of a scatterbrain (PC!) post, so I'll leave it there for now.

[markwales]

You should play what you're good at.

I only play MTT's, coz I'm shat at all other formats.

Some good MTT's for the people without much time are :
Pokerstars 180 seater $12 Turbo 5 min blinds. Full of donks and profitable, 2 hour max to win.
Full Tilt 90 seater $11 turbo knockout mtt, again 2 hours max. $2 for every person you knock out, the rest goes into the pool

Although both turbo's there is plenty of play in both structures, especially the Full Tilt 3k starting stack.

[John]

I can't stop playing STTs now... and you know what... I love them to bits. Mat, completely agree with you about the concentration thing. MTTs sometimes tire me (though they never used to) whereas STTs just now are keeping me hot on my heels. It may also be down to the fact that I can't stop winning them either! :D

Playing $6 + $0.50 STT (Turbo) tournaments, most of which have been lasting 25-40 minutes for me.

Won 2 of my last 3 STTs, came 3rd in the other, earning a shade over $50 which ain't bad for a $20 outlay. :) Hoping it continues this weekend... I seem to be doing well at them. Cursed now!

[silax]

john the only guy I know who missed entry inyo a speed dating night because he was too slow to register has finally found his nitch at poker good luck mate

[John]

Haha that's brilliant Silax! Good luck to the guy. Has he found his lady yet? :D