 A lot is going on in the world of MTT's. The World Series of Poker kicks off in four months with all of its associated online qualifiers. Our very own ITH Poker League is going strong after one month of play. If you are an ITH member, and your name is Tall Paul or Ohjay, you have been performing especially well in tournament play lately. This month’s MTT Scene introduces a few new live tournaments that can be qualified for online, details World Series offerings of six more sites, and updates you on some tournament changes in the works.
ITH Poker League Starts Off Strong
The February 1 debut of the ITH Poker League was a rousing success. Since then, 445 unique participants have played in at least one of the seven weekly leagues. The top 27 overall point totals will play for a $2500 World Series of Poker travel/entry package. Winners of each tournament and monthly league winners qualify for a freeroll that will award a $12,000 World Series of Poker Main Event package. Additional prizes include stakes in Matthew Hilger's World Series entry, free Poker Tutor lessons, and cash.
The current top ten overall point scorers are Ohjay, ciaran, 86fxrd, evv98, Patch, rayrns, McFoldem, rezster, nsidestrate, and DSpitler.
ITH Member “Tall Paul” Enjoys February Swoon
Tall Paul has shredded the fields in recent big-dollar online tournaments. His big wins included final tables of a $320 PokerStars tournament and the nightly $80,000 Guaranteed at Paradise Poker, for net wins of at least $10,000 during the month.
Party Poker Million Cruise Approaches
Matthew Hilger is one of the thousands of poker players and guests who will set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida March 12 to participate in the Party Poker Million V. This is a fixed-limit Texas Holdem tournament. Planned stops in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are part of the cruise.
World Series of Poker Satellites
Less than four months from now, the World Series of Poker kicks off at the Rio in Las Vegas. Forty-five days of non-stop poker action will be followed by the second annual ITH Convention.
There are a lot of new satellite offerings from poker sites. Here is a quick recap of those already discussed, including entry fee, chances of winning, event, and amount of travel/expense money included. Sub-qualifiers are available for each of the satellites listed.
- Pacific Poker, $135, 1/100, Main Event, $2500.
- Absolute Poker, $108, 1/110, Main Event, $1000.
- Prima Network, $780, 1/20, Main Event, $500 (site pays travel costs).
- Prima Network, $1072, 1/8, Event 28 - $5000 7-Stud, $500 (travel paid).
- Prima Network, $640, 1/10, Event 24 - $3000 OmahaHiLo, $500 (travel paid).
- Prima Network, $910, 1/5, Event 36 - $1500 LHE Shootout, $500 (travel paid).
The Prima sites will also award a Multi-Event package that includes travel and sixty nights’ accommodations in Las Vegas, and entry to as many of the Series events as possible.
Several sites have recently added WSOP qualifying to their schedule of events.
UltimateBet awards $12,000 Main Event packages. Satellite tournaments can be entered for $109 (1/120 win), $215 (1/60), $320 (1/40), or $1050 (1/12). The first 150 players to win a WSOP seat through UB will enter a VIP freeroll, which will award the top three finishers with first class travel and hotels paid for, along with $25,000 in entries to other events, and an additional $5000 cash.
Paradise Poker awards $12,000 Main Event packages, which are contested in weekly $500 tournaments. Paradise is also giving away $1 million worth of free WSOP packages. These tournaments are entered with Paradise frequent player awards points.
Absolute Poker has added a $5000 Player’s Choice tournament to its WSOP offerings. The $108 tournament, played bi-weekly, gives a $5000 package to one of every fifty players. The winners select from any WSOP event, and the balance of the $5000 is awarded to the player as cash.
Bodog Poker allows players to go for a variety of WSOP buy-ins. Main Event packages ($12,500) are $270, 1/50 wins. Qualifiers to the earlier WSOP events are based on buy in. Enter the semifinal at Bodog for $135. For $2500 WSOP events, 1/28 win. For $2000 WSOP events, 1/24 win. For $1500 WSOP events, 1/20 win. Each preliminary event package includes $1000 for travel.
The Tribeca Network (74 sites, including Doyle’s Room) awards $12,500 packages via $220 freezeout or $220 rebuy tournaments.
Full Tilt Poker has jumped onto the WSOP bandwagon, with weekly $200+16 or $1000+60 main event qualifiers. The Full Tilt packages are worth $12,000. Any Full Tilt qualifier who goes on to win the Main Event will find their earnings supplemented by a $10 million award from Full Tilt Poker. Players that win more than one WSOP package on FTP will receive cash prizes instead of additional packages. The player that wins the most WSOP qualifiers will get their trip upgraded with first class travel and hotel, and exclusive limousine use while in Las Vegas.
Full Tilt is also qualifying many players to its July 16 100 Seats Guaranteed tournament. Entry is $535. FTP will give away $1 million in free WSOP entries as well. Expect competition to be intense, however, as Full Tilt players are on a roll. FTP qualifiers recently nailed down four of the top seven spots at the WPT’s Borgata Poker Open.
In the 2005 Main Event, twenty percent of the players qualified on PokerStars, so their offerings are eagerly awaited. Party Poker and the Poker Network also have yet to announce details of their offerings.
Freerollin’
Daily qualifiers continue at Paradise Poker for the July 22 Million Dollar Freeroll. A destination for the live final has yet to be announced.
A tour of the daily freerolls at various sites:
Poker Network sites(Most notable PokerRoom) has three $500 freerolls daily. Prima Network sites feature 4 daily $1000 freerolls. Empire has 5 tournaments daily, awarding $1600 total. PartyPoker’s nine daily scheduled freerolls include $9400 in prize money.
Absolute Poker is the freeroll champion with forty daily freerolls in various games. By signing up via the link on the Free Book Offer page, new Absolute members can enjoy:
- A 100% Deposit Bonus up to $300
- A $5000 New Depositors freeroll
- Two free poker books
- A chance to win the 300 Millionth Hand promotion, which awards a trip to Costa Rica
Upcoming Live Tournaments with Online Qualifiers
UK players should consider qualifying for one of the upcoming events in London. Paradise Poker is awarding packages ($5225 buy-in + $2275 travel) to the British Poker Open, March 23-26. Tribeca sites award $5000 (2850+2150) packages to the March 24-26 Euro Poker Classics.
The World Poker Tour Championship is April 18-24 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Sites running qualifiers include PokerRoom, Paradise, and PokerStars.
Prima sites are awarding a $7600 entry/travel package to the WPT World Poker Challenge March 27-30 in Reno.
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles is the next stop for the World Poker Showdown, April 29-May 8. Ten tournaments range in buy-in from $180 to $2600. Travel and entry sponsorships can be won at America’s Card Room.
Paradise Poker joins the Bahamas tournament revolution by hosting their first all-live tournament, the May 8-14 Conquest of Paradise Island. Satellite winners gain tournament entry, travel money, and a stay at the five-star Atlantis resort.
Look to the Tribeca Network again to enter the World Heads-Up Challenge, held May 19-28 in Barcelona, Spain. One in 25 $220 entrants will win the $5000 package ($1900 for travel).
UltimateBet has begun satellites to the Fifth Annual UltimateBet Poker Classic, September 23-October 1 in Aruba. Satellite winners get a $5200 tournament entry, airfare, and hotel. In addition, the first 150 qualifiers will be entered in a live freeroll to be held September 24 in Aruba. The winner becomes a sponsored pro for 2007, with paid entries and expenses to the 2007 WSOP, Five Diamond Classic, Aussie Millions, and UB Poker Classic in Aruba.
Strategy Corner
Last month’s MTT Scene took a brief look at endgame strategy in qualifying tournaments (where multiple players win the same prize, usually entry into a larger tournament).
This month, the Strategy Corner will discuss some preparatory planning that can be done in these tournaments to set you up well for the endgame.
As soon as the number of prizes is determined based on the number of entries, you must take careful note of how many places are paid. In a freezeout tournament, the prizes are often determined as soon as the registration period ends. In rebuy tournaments, this usually comes at the end of the rebuy and addon period.
Once the prize structure is posted in the tournament lobby, you will have an idea of how you must play throughout the tournament. If a small number of prizes is awarded in relation to the number of entrants, strategy is quite similar to standard payout tournaments…you are simply playing to win first place. Your level of aggressiveness will be primarily determined by the blind structure of the tournament. When the bubble approaches (meaning the number of remaining players is about 150% of the number of prizes), you can then adjust strategy based on chip counts.
Alternatively, in some rebuy tournaments, as many as 20% of the entrants can win a top prize.
Once the number of prizes is determined, you should take note of how many places receive entry to the next tournament. If there is significant extra money in the prize pool, the next three places after the winners often receive a substantial amount of cash. If this is the case, you can often play more aggressively on the bubble if one of the cash prizes will make a nice consolation.
When the prizes are posted, immediately calculate the average number of chips that will be held by each player at the end. Use this formula:
| (Number of players currently in x Current Average Stack) | Number of Prizes Awarded |
The result of this formula will give you a rough idea of how many chips you will want to have towards the end of the tournament. For example: You have entered a rebuy tournament, and the rebuy period has ended. At the conclusion of the add-on period, the site will post the prizes in the tournament lobby. If there are 150 players remaining, and the top 30 receive a first prize, and the average stack is T8000, then the average stack at the end of the tournament will be T40,000. When 75 players remain, the average stack will be T16,000. Use these two numbers as rough guides to help you determine how fast you should play in certain situations. If you are significantly ahead of schedule, you might tighten up some and wait for a huge opportunity. Remember, when it’s down to 30 players, you get the same prize whether you have 1 chip or 1 million!
Discuss qualifier (and all MTT) strategy in the ITH MTT Forum.
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