A little help regarding MTTs?

Hi all.
Im a bit new to holdem poker, but im getting along all right for a newbie.
I usually practice my poker skills at the various freeroll tournaments found on different poker sites.
I feel that im definately getting better at poker, now I can play for 2h+ before getting beaten.
Yesterday at a freeroll tounament with over 16K registered players, I finished 900th or so.
I would be glad if any of you could give me a bit of advice on how to move on from there.
It seems like im pretty beaten when the blinds go high (2000/4000), and my stack gets smaller than other stacks (30/40K).
BTW, sorry about my bad english, im from Greenland.

go to the MTT and SnG forums and read the stickies.

Then start reading posts.

welcome to FTR

MTTs with over 16k players are a total crapshoot, especially freerolls. If MTTs are the road you wish to take you'd probably be better off playing the very small buy-in MTTs (unless you can afford to play higher stakes).
On PS I've played a few MTTs at the lower stakes ($1/2 buy-ins) and I've managed to place each time. The players are slightly less loose and willing to throw chips around with anything as they have money invested, unlike freerolls.

A few general tips that you may already know, that are explained better in one of the MTTs articles. At higher levels you have to steal the blinds, obviously try this on (or very near) the button/small blind. If you have less than 7-8xBB in your stack you are then in 'push all-in or fold mode' pre-flop, at this point you have lost fold-equity and can not afford to get cute and try min-raising/limping.

When it comes to freerolls, The money is virtually non existant. To struggle for 3+hours to win $2 or $5 is rediculous. If you have to play them because you have no money, download 10 pokersites at least. Try google adn search freerolls, there are several sites. Then play the first hour like a maniac. you need a stack the size of a small animal before the first break. Don't waste your time playing poker until it's worth it. If you bust go to another site and play another. Hell register or open 5 sites at once and get ready. Bust, move on, Don't waste 2+ hours on no return. In freerolls it not poker till you get near the bubble. hen it starts, so don't even think you are practicing while waiting for the big score.

well i do alot of freerolls myself as my three kids seem to get most of my bank roll lol. I have noticed alot of dumb plays you will be beat alot just from idiots getting lucky . I manage to do ok in these trny but the best i have done is 57th place for a great big 1.25 wooohooooo. i figure once i get a few bux from playing them and maybe getting lucky and winning one( fingers crossed) I will move into some .02 /.04 tables and start working my way up.

What you need is to play smart,if you got the big hand bet big get them crap players out( the ones who think poker is all luck and no skill) Play smart If you see a person getting a big bet in and it looks like a flush flop or a straight or trips ect... chances are they have it fold (if you got a good read and think its bluff call).

But in my freeroll life i can say alot of it is luck in a freeroll you figure and im not no great math person but with 15 thousand players playing your chances of winning anything are about 0.344 give or take a little lol. SO good luck.

Thank you all for your replys.
My best place in a freeroll is number 26th i think..
won about 3$. lol
i couldve made that into a lot more, if i knew more about poker at that time. (i do now, thanks to you guys/FTR)
My problem is that it takes over a week for me to deposit any money..
I live in Greenland, and dont have a VISA.

I think youre right guys. I shouldnt be playing freerolls.
5 minutes ago i went all in on a bad hand and lost, after 1½ hours and after outliving 14K opponents.
finished 1000th.
With family in the house and all, you cant maintain concentration and prevent getting a bit annoyed.
Maybe i will lock my door for 3 hours next time i play at a freeroll.
Amazing how something like people talking to each other next to you can break your concentration and make you do bad desicions.

Ive dropped the freerolls.
Found some free SnG's at Everest Poker.
1st $0.05
2nd $0.03
3rd $0.02



I manage to get ITM nearly all the time, and then buy-in at next level no-limit SnG's:
1st $0.20
2nd $0.12
3rd $0.08

And thats where i get unlucky after 1 hour+ of playing.
Most of the time the game is soooo tight, and with the $0.05 winning, I can only afford 1 buyin. And I only get 4th or so.
I was hoping to build me a (at first very small) bankroll at Everest Poker.
Its a little difficult to deposit money living in Greenland.
Ill update if I success building the small bankroll.

who cares if it takes a week to deposite atleast you will have real money.

not to be mean but freerolls dont require any skill and are a waste of time. its not that impressive to outlast most of the feel by just playing tight. get some real money and start playing low limits atleast.

...sorry

I managed to build a bankroll of $ 1500, starting with playing the freeroll sng's at everest. It's certainly doable, but you'll have to have A LOT of patience .

A soon as you have, say $ 8, start playing the micro tables 6-max and build your bankroll. Than you can start playing some poker.

And I agree large freerolls are a waste of time.

Originally Posted by Tom42

I managed to build a bankroll of $ 1500, starting with playing the freeroll sng's at everest. It's certainly doable, but you'll have to have A LOT of patience .

A soon as you have, say $ 8, start playing the micro tables 6-max and build your bankroll. Than you can start playing some poker.

And I agree large freerolls are a waste of time.

Thanks for the reply.
By 6-max, do you mean 6 entrants?.
And how many times would I want to start playing before i move on to the low buyin tables? (how many $)

BTW, im depositing $80, they should be there in a week or so.
Is the 100 buyin advice for SnG's?
Then I would have to find $0.8 SnG's, and the SnG's start at $6 at partypoker. Im used to The Gaming Club, but due to bad reviews, i wont use it. Maybe Everest Poker?

Originally Posted by jwz

By 6-max, do you mean 6 entrants?.
And how many times would I want to start playing before i move on to the low buyin tables? (how many $)

With 6-max I mean the low buy-in ring games with 6 entrants.

Normally you should have about 20 buy-ins for ring games, but IMO you can try the $2 buy-in tables if you have $8 or $ 10. I began taking stabs at 2NL ring with $ 8, if I lost a buy-in I would grind it back in the sng's...

It found it much easier to build a bankroll playing these ring games than sng's. The competion is weak in both, but your edge is bigger in ring game , especially 6-max, if you are a decent player.

Also it can take a while to fill up the sng's at everest, there really isn't enough traffic.

So if you are planning to play sng's I wouldn't deposit at everest. Everest is only good for the low buy-in ring games 2NL, 10NL and 25NL and the freeroll sng's IMO.

$ 80 is more than enough to play to $2 buy-in ring games though.

I had the mind set in the begining that it's not about making money but learning the game so I can make money. I played freerolls, play money low blind ring games, low entry S&G's and MTT. I was only concerned with getting better and not wasting my money in learning.

It has worked wonderfully so far and what I have learned has made me money. And I am slowly moving up.

Play whatever and whenever you can learn learn learn. It will pay off!

Yeah.
Ive misunderstanded something about buyins....
Moneybookers registered my 80$ today, played around at the 0.10 0.25 ring games at partypoker...
won some great money, then lost it all. tilt?
It all started with a bad beat, my QQ vs a JJ. But I wont whine about it.
After my loss, I thought about the situation.. 80$ only gave me about three 25$ buyins. (didnt think about the buyin cost, only saw the 0.10 0.25 thing.
sad...
I guess that the 10 times buyin "rule" means that i would have to have ....
hmm.... 250$ for the 0.10 0.25 tables???
In the middle of my sadness I'm gonna go find a minimum deposit site with micro buyins to start learning, and winning back.

I guess that the 10 times buyin "rule" means that i would have to have ....
hmm.... 250$ for the 0.10 0.25 tables???

Yes, but I use 20 buyins. Dont underestimate the amount of money that can be won (or lost) at .10/.25. I made something like $19/hour at 25NL.

If you have $80, go find a site that has $4NL. The game is very soft, your edge is huge, and you'll find youreslf making a lot more money than you think you will.

You also dont -have- to buy in for the full amount.

Ive deposited my remaining 5$ from moneybookers to bet356. lol.
Hoping to build me a small bankroll of that at the beginners table..
5$ should last a while at least playing small stack strategy.
Maybe ill get my 80$ back in time.

I'm not sure but I think there are single-table SNGs on poker.com where there is no entry fee but the winner gets $1. They've already said they're not going to stop taking US players if that is a concern.

wow.. 1$??
At everest poker, the free prizepool is as little as 0.10$...
Im checking it out now..

I checked it out.
I bought a coupon for the level 1 SnG Funstep 1, for 100$ playmoney. LOL
Cheap eh'?
Placed 1st.
won a coupon for the next level.
There is 3 levels of the "funstep" SnG's.
Winner of step 3, wins 1$.
Should be enough for a start at the 0.02/0.04 blinds ring game.
Thanks Spoonitnow

n00b needs help again.
I lost all of my money.
Got 5€ free from i4poker. play at 1€ SnGs. but not enough buyin.
Now I play at 0.02/0.04€ NL ring games, with only 0.80€ buyin. (4€ max)
I manage well. Get ~10€. Then I become more reckless. Sit in with 0.80€, call all the time, go all-in even when I read the opponents higher hand. Bluff too much. Lose my money except for 3€. Did that 3 times. What do I do to prevent the "tilt" when i get about 10€ again?
Dont know why I tilt there. Boredom? Too many fish?