Massive MTTs, of the kind that attract thousands of players, carry some outstanding potential rewards. You needn’t look any further than PokerStars’ Sunday Million. The flagship guaranteed prize-pool MTT of the largest online poker site is a perfect example in this sense: it attracts thousands of players each week and it always covers its $1.5 million guarantee. With that much dough in the prize-pool, no wonder the winner of the event takes home several hundreds of thousands of dollars, booking a profit that will probably change his life forever. This possibility is what draws so many people to the virtual tables every week. The guaranteed prize-pool also makes sure that those who finish in the money will get their rewards regardless of whether or not the guarantee is covered (this is not really an issue in the Sunday Million though).
So, how do you approach a massive MTT like the Sunday Million? First of all, you need to set your goals straight. Do you go for all the marbles (the win), or do you settle for finishing in the money and possibly doubling up your buy-in? I know what you’ll say: you’ll first aim to make it to the money and then see how deep you can go from there. This is how the majority of people approach such massive MTTs: they aim for the money bubble. The only problem is, if you aim for the money, you won’t play as optimally as the guy who aims for the top spot from the get go.
Basically, you need to decide: do you aim for a money spot, or do you go for the win. Because such large scale MTTs involve a rather serious initial investment (the Sunday Million costs $215 to enter, but some such MTTs – especially the live ones – can cost over $1,000), most players will settle for a money finish. That way, they double up and they walk away with a profit.
If you really want to make your MTT time count though, you’ll go for the win. It is enough if you win such an MTT once in your life: the profit that you’ll make will be through the roof.
Why is this approach more profitable than the “going for a money finish one?” Here’s a mathematical model to illustrate the differences in profitability. Suppose you play 10 $100 buy-in MTTs, aiming for the money. You fall in 5 of them (you lose $500) and you make the money in 5 of them, winning $200 every time. That’ll be a 5X200=$1,000 win there. Your profit will be $500 on the 10 MTTs.
If you play the same 10 MTTs aiming for the top spot, you lose 9 times (which means a $900 loss) and you win once, taking home $100,000. Your total profit at the end will be $99,100.
Remember, this is just a mathematical model. You will not win 1 out of every 10 such MTTs. For a top notch tournament player, the win rate is more like 1 in 40, but you also won’t make the money in 5 of every 10 such MTTs. It’s all just to illustrate how math stacks up against you if you choose to be a “farmer” instead of a “fox”. As a fox, you’ll have to prepare yourself for much larger swings and losses, but in the end, you’ll be the one taking home the life-changing profit.
Always sign up for rakeback when you play in such large scale MTTs. Rakeback offers you a rebate on tournament fees, which in this case can be pretty substantial. In the Sunday Million for instance, you pay a $15 fee on every single registration.
Author Resource:-
Steve Larson, an online poker player from Canada, visit his rakeback site for mor useful tips and strategies.
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