24 replies to this topic

[Drum Infected]

I was just wondering if there are alot of Pro. Poker players that just play Tournaments. I'm best at tournament play and wanted to know if you can make a living just playing tournaments, or do they play alot of tournaments and also play live cash games as well.This question is more directed to the online play, because my current location this is only 1 casino in my area that has no limit play and that's about 2 hours away. So I mostly play online because of this situation, and I'm trying to build up my bankroll.I'm interested in knowing if you can make a healthy bankroll just doin this and not playin cash games, just sit n gos and multi table tournaments.Any advice is greatly appreciated and thank you for your feedback all :-)

[The Sheriff JBJ]

Like yourself I consider myself to be a MTT specialist. Well thats what I like to play anyway.I mainly play online as I find the UK scene a little bit difficult in terms of regular (weekly) live events.Im no professional. But I can play a bit too and maybe as I progress I may work less and play more poker. My problem is I a have a lack of live experience and its a whole different ball game.I like to play early evening GMT when the casual recreational player comes on. I just hop around mid level STT's and MTT's cleaning up. Now and then I come up against a bigger fish than me. I just try to learn from this situation take out the positives and finish in the money seats.As I have said in earlier posts though if I play too low stake or get bored my game suffers greatly and I make damn silly bets.Hope that gives you a little insight.

[KillerPanda]

I hear that it is possible, but it's harder than specializing in cash games. First off, you have to enter a lot of tourneys and place in the money. With the growth of poker - specifically nl tourneys - the average field in a tourney is growing to astronomical proportions. So, not only would you have to enter tourney after tourney, but you'd have to beat 200+ players each time. Second, with the nature of MTTs (the fact that they run for so long) you'll have to be a whiz at scheduling to be able to play two tourneys at two different casinos. STTs may be a better choice, but I don't think you'd make as much money. If you ask me, you should stick to cash games. There aren't any time limits, and you can determine your own hours. If you wanted to, you could sit there for an hour or so, waiting for a good hand (or you can go nutbar, if you'd like). Basically, you're in control. You don't have to worry about making moves before you're ante'd out. Less pressure. Well, either way, good luck.

[hjkl]

Yeah I think it is possible, but you need to start with a rather big bankroll. It also depends on what level you play at. I have been only playing in tournaments for a while now and find that around 30% of the time I make the money. If one could do that at a $100 buy in, then you could make a living playing one tournament a day.

[CoreyBrown]

Read this artle buy Harry D.http://www.pokerineu...p?articleid=570Maybe this can give you a little idea. He posted it before on this site on a similar topic. It is a good read.

[Drum Infected]

thanks for the advice KillerPanda, but I don't really play alot of MTT's. I usually play just Sit n gos which are one table of 9 people, and then 3rd place and up gets paid.I'm playing STT's until I can build up a huge enough bankroll and then take on MTT's alot more.Basically I play a home game tournament 2 times a week and play online STT's for about 5hrs a day.So after clearing up that a little bit do you think you would have the same advice KillerPanda?CoreyBrown

Quote

Read this artle buy Harry D.http://www.pokerineu...p?articleid=570Maybe this can give you a little idea. He posted it before on this site on a similar topic. It is a good read.

Thanks alot, I'll peep it right now :wink:

[KillerPanda]

If you're more comfortable playing STTs, and you're good at them, well why the heck not? :-) It really comes down to personal preference. I can definitely see pros and cons to both types of games (STTs and ring games), and I think that if you feel that you're making the kind of money that will allow you to live in the style to which you have become accustomed to, then by all means continue to play to your strengths! Perhaps, due to the poker boom, more professional players (not limited to big names, but people who play for a living in general) will take your route and play STTs. The only thing I can say about it is that I haven't seen many STTs available in B&M cardrooms and casinos. I feel that a lot of the appeal of poker is in the social interaction between players. The banter and the ability to stare down your opponent to see if they "have it", or even to send messages like, "you win because I fold, and don't you ever try to bluff me again because next time you'll get snapped off" - little things like that make poker exciting. The sound and feel of real clay chips in your hands is hypnotizing. I don't know, maybe one day poker will be played primarily online. I hope this doesn't happen, but maybe it will. But I'm digressing.Bottom Line: Play to your strengths. If you are comfortable with STTs and you make the kind of money you need, then do it.

[Drum Infected]

totally. If it was up to me I would play B&M anyday of the week. I like playing poker live, and just as you said social interaction between players and reading them and tells, and.... you get the picture.Online play is so much different, and different strategies you have to use when playin online, so I know how you feel about the online play.I'm just stuck in a situation where I can't get to the casino's to play (only once in a great while) because of location.So I'm trying to build up a bankroll so I can maybe move to where there are casinos that have lots of tournaments and etc. and perhaps travel around the world to play in the tournaments.sooner or later, I think I am actually goin to start playin cash games as well, because I don't want to limit myself to just one style of game.thanks for the feedback panda

[KillerPanda]

You're welcome. :-)

[Drum Infected]

good article CoreyBrown, thanks for the link :wink:

[BigEasy6]

I lost all my bankroll ($3000) playing limit holdem at a local casino. I wish I would have realized sooner that I suck at limit holdem. Everything I read said that you can't make it unless you are a good limit player and can win one BB per hour. I just don't have the patience for it. I hate to sit and fold, fold, fold, fold. So I turned to tourneys and NL cash games. I found a group that gets together every Wed and Sat. It is a low buy-in, but my bankroll is starting to gain some momentum. Look on pokerpages.com or cardplayer.com or homepoker.com (I think). They have listing for home games and you can probably find something close to you.My advice is to stick to your plan. You most certainly can make money playing tourneys only. It takes a special frame of mind to compete well in NL tourneys and NL cash games. Most people that do well in NL can't do Limit. Daniel has talked about it himself. Of course, in one article, he said that us tourney players are almost always broke or staked :? I for one am not. Stick to your strongsuits and exploit them. Don't try to be a player others say you should be. I learned that lesson the hard way. It cost me $3,000! Good lu...no wait, we're playing poker. :twisted:

[Drum Infected]

That's what I think as well with limit poker.Limit = Checkers No Limit = ChessI'm just not a fan of the Limit, it's not my bag.

[copernicus]

A nice supplement maybe, but a complete living? Awfully hard grind.If you can find enough $100 STTs and turn an earn rate of about $40 per tourney (a reachable goal if you're really good), and you need to earn 60k a year, thats 1500 tournaments or about 8 a day if you are going to take reasonable vacations and stay fresh.Its a grind for sure.

[ron2573]

ok i don't have pictures of mine myself and i hate advertising for other companies but check out http://www.thechipstore.com they do good work and you can design the sides of your chips and lots of other stuff, very pimp chips i've enjoyed them.

[BPV]

ron.. forgive me if i missed it.. but what did your post have to do with anything?

[KillerPanda]

I think ron posted on the wrong topic. There's this other topic about photos of chips or something to that effect.

[Purdue_Pete]

I am a pretty good no limit player, but i suck at limit. It is a totally different game.

[Drum Infected]

there's alot more calling with Limit and alot of people play alot of hands. There's also pretty much no bluffing in Limit as well.Yeh it sounds like most of you think it's goin to be a very very rough way to make a bankroll, but if you get money for placing 3rd and up, you have a better chance of making some money for your bankroll.Plus the STT's these days online are only 10min levels at the most ( where I play),and they also have speed and turbo STT games which is 5min and 3min levels but I think that's more of a crapshoot then anything. So tournaments don't last that long online compared to B&M tournaments and home game tourneys which last around 6hrs+ to even days.I'm goin to try and start low, for instance stay at the lower entry fee STT's until I build up a decent bankroll and then move up to a higher buy in STT's.My plan for now is to build up a bankroll playin online STT's and playin in weekly home game tournaments. Then when I gather a big enough bankroll try some B&M tournaments. I know I'm thinking way ahead of myself, but I'm trying to make goals to achieve.I'll be sure to come back and tell you all the outcome, and if it doesn't work I'm goin to have to get cash games involved in my poker arsenal.thanks again for all of your feedback, it was greatly appreciated and if you have any more feel welcome to post something :wink:

[AceSpades11]

I make what would be considered a pretty good living off mainly SnG's and multi's. I do play limit cash games and certainly make money at it but I find it too stressful as the swings drive me nuts. Plus I don't enjoy the game as much as I do at NL.My favourite and most profitable things I play on the net would be 5-6 people SnG's and heads up SnG no limit tournament.I hate more then anything limit SnG's and even more limit multi tables.

[fluxer]

In my opinion, someone that says they can't win at limit but can win at no limit does not fully understand the game. They're different games which require different strategies to win and preferring one over the other is fine but just saying "I can't play limit" is not fine.In fact, improving in limit can actually improve your no limit game since you understand what people would want to do in limit and thus prevent them from doing that using the no limit betting structure to your advantage.Personally, I can do fine in PL, NL, and limit games (MTT, STT, cash games). I prefer NL cash games but as far as tournaments go, I actually like limit multi tables the best.