A comentor in a previous post made a good comment regarding specializing in cash games as they have been proven to be the most consistent way to grind a profit. It's a valid point that I have considered.
However, I am choosing not to specialzie in one type of game for the following reasons:
1) Self-indulgence. More specifically, I really like the "I Win, I am better than you" feeling as you take down a SNG or MTT (espeically MTTs).
2) MTT wins provide very nice influxes of cash to your bankroll relative to the buy-in when you place in the top 5.
3) I want to be the best overall player that I can be.
4) I believe skills learned in SNGs and MTTs can be intertwined with the cash game. For example, hand reading vs stack size is especially important situational skill in both.
5) Helps prevent burnout. The grind in cash games can be exactly that at times, a grind.
6) Time. Sometimes I will have sufficient time for a SNG or an MTT. Oten times I will not. Being good at cash games can fill the spots where I only have an hour or two.
Those are just a few of the reasons. I believe it is pertinent to always be reviewing why you do something. This is a short-list of why I will continue to play both MTTs and SNGs.
Take care,
DubsPoke
PS: ~$280 (haven't grinded too many hands here recently but when I have it's been good.)
FT: ~$85. (Love variance that SNGs and MTTs provide. Shooting for a 25% ITM rate for my $2 buy-in MTTs. Still examining what is a good stat in SNGs for ITM.)
As much as I enjoy MTTs the real profit comes from the cash games unless you can make that "big" score. You can spend $50k on MTTs over a period of time, have a few big scores and still only make a few bucks relative to the amount you are gonna spend. That isn't to say MTTs (or SNGs for that matter) are a bad investment. But I'd rather grind at the cash games with 50k over a period of time and take home fifth place money on the daily, or even hourly basis. If you don't think you are spending that kind of money on SNGs I'll put it in perspective for you. According to your SharkScope you have spent over 9k on SNGs on Full Tilt for a nice profit of almost $1400. But you also played over 1,000 games which took a lot of time. With that same 9k in cash games you could easily take home much more than that in a few days at a $1-$2 game. Even if it took a few weeks it would be a better return. That said I still dabble in everything because I enjoy the competition. But if I want the money I'll play the side games. Most very successful tournament players (Seidel, Ferguson, Hellmuth, etc.) who make their money largely from tournaments (or exclusively from them) will tell you it's a very difficult way to make money from poker (although they seem to make it look easy). Grinding cash tables brings home the bacon in the long term. This is how I see it but I am sure there are those who disagree. Nobody is wrong or right but there is a right and wrong answer for each individual.
ReplyDelete~TMS