Tourney Where to start, beginner to tournament scene. (1 Viewer)

[vircily]

19 and looking to start getting serious, been playing for a while. Any tips on where I should start as far as getting into tournaments?

What else do I need to know aside from poker knowledge? Like, how much money should I bring, where should I sit, how should I carry myself, and just other miscellaneous things I might need to be aware of.

Additionally, what would be a tip that you wish you would've known when first getting into tournaments?

 

[BPTDirector]

Most tournaments will state their buy in amount and if there are add ons or re buys available. That will help you with the amount you’ll need. As far as seating there is usually a method set up by the host or casino where they will tell you where to sit or you’ll draw a card or seating mechanism like a chip or token that will direct you to your seat. Blinds structures will be either posted or kept visible by other means.

Go get em. Have fun good luck. Tip is play slow until you get the lay of the land so to speak.

 

[3ars]

Im fairly new to tournaments as well, i’ve played about 10 so far. My biggest advice is to be methodical about your bankroll management.

I know some people reference a 20 buy in rule, though im not sure if it applies to tournaments as well. Assuming that it does, it simply means if you want to dedicate 2000$ for your bankroll, then you should be playing at 100$ buy in tournaments.

I made the mistake of playing too high above my pay grade early on and lost more than I wanted to too fast. As a result I demoted myself to a more reasonable buy in level until i build a solid bankroll to afford higher buy in amounts.

I recommend setting up a spreadsheet to track your tourney wins and losses, track buy in amounts, how many times you bought in, how much did you cash out, and then add those total profits/losses to your initial starting bankroll. You then take the resulting number and divide it by say 20 to get ur appropriate buy in level. The better player you are the smaller you can make that 20, and the safer you want to be to bigger you make it.

You will most likely go through many loses at first before you see your first payday, so make sure you don’t experience those losses for a high price. I personally went through 7 losses before my first cashout.

 

[JustinInMN]

know some people reference a 20 buy in rule, though im not sure if it applies to tournaments as well. Assuming that it does, it simply means if you want to dedicate 2000$ for your bankroll, then you should be playing at 100$ buy in tournaments.

Probably an argument to be rolled even deeper for tournaments, especially if you play in larger fields. The biggest paydays are bigger, but they are further between.

I made the mistake of playing too high above my pay grade early on and lost more than I wanted to too fast. As a result I demoted myself to a more reasonable buy in level until i build a solid bankroll to afford higher buy in amounts.

Smart approach.

That said, bankrolls are mostly for people that play professionally. If you have real world income, there is nothing wrong with spending whatever you feel comfortable with replacing with your "real-world" income. But even at that, poker is swingier than people think and new players inevitably underestimate how long a bad swing can go.

 

[3ars]

Probably an argument to be rolled even deeper for tournaments, especially if you play in larger fields. The biggest paydays are bigger, but they are further between.


Smart approach.

That said, bankrolls are mostly for people that play professionally. If you have real world income, there is nothing wrong with spending whatever you feel comfortable with replacing with your "real-world" income. But even at that, poker is swingier than people thing and new players inevitably underestimate how long a bad swing can go.

The way i have my bankroll setup is with a starting amount of disposable income. Since tournament play is not a source of income for me, i keep it at 20, and then reimburse the bankroll if things get desperate with additional disposable income. Hopefully with 20 buy ins i wont ever reach that point, but if it happens too often i might have to up it to 25-30 buy ins. Im still new to this so my numbers are very tweak able.

Thanks for the advice

 

[upNdown]

Go find the old people!
I don’t know what your local situation is, if you have casinos or cardrooms or social clubs or what. But old people I’ve cheap tournaments and you can beat them! All you have to do is find them. Wherever they have tournaments for $100 or less, go there.

 

[JustinInMN]

Go find the old people!
I don’t know what your local situation is, if you have casinos or cardrooms or social clubs or what. But old people I’ve cheap tournaments and you can beat them! All you have to do is find them. Wherever they have tournaments for $100 or less, go there.

This is also very good advice. The tough thing with this approach in a casino setting at least is these tournaments often have absolutely killer rake. However, the softness of the fields can compensate for that. (Which in a roundabout way supports Daniel Negranu's bizarre statement from a couple years ago, but this particular instance is the grain of truth.)

 

[3ars]

This is also very good advice. The tough thing with this approach in a casino setting at least is these tournaments often have absolutely killer rake. However, the softness of the fields can compensate for that. (Which in a roundabout way supports Daniel Negranu's bizarre statement from a couple years ago, but this particular instance is the grain of truth.)

What was his statement?

 

[JustinInMN]

What was his statement?

"More rake is better" (Though this is the link to his post explaining his viewpoint. https://danielnegreanu.com/my-thoughts-on-rake/)

 

[3ars]

"More rake is better" (Though this is the link to his post explaining his viewpoint. https://danielnegreanu.com/my-thoughts-on-rake/)

Totally valid point. I’ve always taken to heart that knowing your skill level as a poker player is a really powerful thing. You never wanna play against better opponents. Big egos make you go broke. You’re only ever gonna make consistent money by playing worse players. I think in Daniel's statement he just meant that bigger rake tables were where the fish gathered. So if you don’t see yourself as a pro, play in the high rake games, cuz the fish might not even realize they're getting a bad deal on those tables, but pros certainly do

 

[Steverino]

Totally valid point. I’ve always taken to heart that knowing your skill level as a poker player is a really powerful thing. You never wanna play against better opponents. Big egos make you go broke. You’re only ever gonna make consistent money by playing worse players. I think in Daniel's statement he just meant that bigger rake tables were where the fish gathered. So if you don’t see yourself as a pro, play in the high rake games, cuz the fish might not even realize they're getting a bad deal on those tables, but pros certainly do

I totally agree with this. On my first cruise I didn't play poker due to the ridiculous rake. A friend of mine told me that I was nuts and he made mucho dinero on his cruise. My next cruise I played a few nights and won big. Unfortunately for me, it barely covered the jewelry that my wife bought at the ports.