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| The MTT Scene - November 2005 |
 This monthly column recaps the large online events, and shares information on freeroll tournaments, satellites to WPT and WSOP events, and high buy-in online events. This month, read about an ITH member's big win, a $1000 online tournament, and big tournaments in Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Atlantic City, and the Bahamas. ITH Forum Member Chevin Makes Top 5 in Stars $700,000Big congratulations to ITH member Chevin who made the top five in the most recent PokerStars $700,000 Guaranteed tournament. A deal between the top five players gave Chevin almost $60,000 and left $10,000 on the table for first place. Chevin made a nice showing, finishing third overall. Discussion was intense on the ITH chat forum and a thread in the ITH forum discussed the final table play and the machinations of the deal making. Way to represent the ITH team, Chevin! Welcome to the Final Table…in Tahiti? Paradise Poker completed its Paradise Masters 3 tournament on October 16. The $1000 multi-table tournament was played in two stages, beginning with a typical online MTT. Play continued until the final table of ten was determined, whereupon play paused, and the finalists were flown (expenses paid) to Tahiti to play the final table live in paradise (of course). Player “Brett Ho” came back from the low stack to emerge victorious and take home over $240,000. Satellites are currently running for Paradise Masters 4. The online portion of the $1 million guaranteed tournament begins on January 15, 2006. A series of qualifying MTTs known as “Hop” and “Skip” can be entered for as little as $5. Where will your final table play? Get Ready for Your Next WPT or WSOP event One major difference between online MTTs and live tournaments is the blind/stack ratio. The large stacks and long levels in live tournaments are a big adjustment for online players, who are used to fast action and are more willing to rely on luck. If you are preparing to enter one of the major live tournaments, look into the PokerStars Deep Stacks tournaments. These MTTs are weeknights at 1815 ET, weekends at 1200 ET, and feature buyins ranging from $11 to $109. Games include Limit and No-Limit Holdem, Omaha, and Omaha Hi-Lo. Starting stacks are $5000 and blind levels are 30 minutes. This more closely approximates the conditions found in major live tournaments. Short handed experts will appreciate the new 6-handed MTTs at Stars, played at 2045 ET six days per week. Let Howard and Annie Teach You Poker Win an expense-paid trip to Annie Duke and Howard Lederer’s Poker Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas December 1. The four-day event includes $100,000 in freerolls for participants. PokerRoom is giving away $9000 prize packages to the Camp. Win in a $108 MTT or enter the subsatellite for $12. If you are not already a player at PokerRoom, use the ITH Free Book Offer to sign up and get two free poker books along with a 40% deposit bonus and a new player freeroll. Rumor Mill Rumors have circulated that Party Poker may change its March Party Poker Million V tournament from Limit to No Limit. As of now, there is no change, and Party Poker continues to emphasize the Limit format. Watch this space. Sunday Night Football…and Poker Full Tilt Poker is hosting a Post Game Poker $50+5 tournament at 2359ET on Sundays. The prize pool will be increased by $1 for each point scored in that day’s NFL games. So, bet the over, and go all in! A Winter Escape and a WPT Tournament January…shoveling snow…paying off Christmas bills…how about playing poker in the Bahamas instead? PokerStars is hosting the World Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure from January 4-11. The $12,000 prize package includes an $8000 entry, 7 nights lodging in the glorious Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas, and $2000 in meal and travel expense money. Seats can be won in $175 Double Shootouts (3 per day) or $615+35 MTTs. Sub qualifiers can be entered for as little as $3. Online Satellites to Live MTTs The World Poker Finals WPT event at Foxwoods begins November 13. Last minute qualifiers are still running at Full Tilt, Paradise, Absolute, and UltimateBet. The WPT Five Diamond Classic at Bellagio in Las Vegas takes place in mid-December. Satellites are currently running at Empire Poker, PokerRoom, and Hollywood Poker. European players will appreciate the opportunity to win a $16,000 prize package to the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo event. PokerStars is running satellites including freerolls. Full Tilt Poker is qualifying players for the World Series of Poker Circuit events. Satellites to the Atlantic City and Las Vegas circuit events are running through November 20. WSOP Dates Set Harrah’s has officially announced the dates for the 2006 World Series of Poker. The series runs from June 25 through August 10. The Main Event begins July 28 and ends August 10. Some sites have started satellites to the Main Event. Now that the official date is set, more sites will announce their prize packages. Keep an eye on this column next month for a rundown, and a look at qualifier strategy. Freerollin' Freeroll specialists will enjoy the daylong action at Absolute Poker. At least 40 freerolls make the schedule daily. Most are NL Holdem, but Omaha, Stud, and their Hi-Lo versions are also available. These free tournaments are a great way to expose yourself to a range of poker varieties. This column previously mentioned the Million Dollar Freeroll II at Paradise Poker, and it is worth mentioning again. The online portion of the freeroll takes place December 3, and qualifiers are running three times daily until then. Don’t miss your chance at a free million…and a trip to paradise as well! Win a Fortune Without Leaving Home The $1000 Grand Tournament V at Poker Network sites (PokerRoom and Hollywood Poker included) is a two-day online MTT, on December 17 and 18. Starting stack is 10,000, so this tournament allows better players enough time for their skills to win out. First place in GT IV won $134,000. Strategy Corner Last month, I looked at a fold/call situation from the bubble of an MTT. The player held the nuts on the turn (top set), but was possibly vulnerable to two separate straight draws and a flush draw. Three players were all in before our hero. In a regular cash MTT, this hand should never be folded in that circumstance. A player shouldn’t fold here to try to get in the money. The biggest issue here is probably bankroll. A properly bankrolled MTT player does not worry about calling all-in in the above situation, because there is always another tournament. Bankroll requirements for MTT players are like those for ring game players. A player should have enough bankroll to play proper strategy without having to worry about the swings of the game. The difference is that the bankroll must be measured in buy-ins, not bets. While a player’s skill level will partially determine bankroll requirements, a good general rule is to have 40 buy ins at the player’s normal level. This allows for some substantial swings and allows the player to take the appropriate risks required to finish at the top. The minimum should be about 20 buy ins, and any player dropping below that level should consider dropping down. Don’t forget to participate in the MTT forum for hand examples and strategy advice. |
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