Beginner - What is considered a good average place?

[theblitz]

I know that the simple answer will be "The one that makes the most money" but as a beginner (about 3-4 weeks online) I wanted to get a feel of what is considered a good average placing in on-line tournaments (I use ParadisePoker).

I have been averaging top 10-15% with a couple 5th place finishes (out of a few hundred).

Is that considered good and is there hope for me?

[Equal]

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I know that the simple answer will be "The one that makes the most money" but as a beginner (about 3-4 weeks online) I wanted to get a feel of what is considered a good average placing in on-line tournaments (I use ParadisePoker).

I have been averaging top 10-15% with a couple 5th place finishes (out of a few hundred).

Is that considered good and is there hope for me?

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Welcome to the forum blitz. The problem with this question is that tournament poker is not like other competitions. Your average place of finish is not really a relevant stat. One could just fold every hand until they got blinded out and place decently high in every tournament. In contrast, the best player in the world can get all-in with AA on the very first hand and lose. This doesnt mean that the guy who posts-folds was a better player in the tourney than the one who goes out on the first hand with Aces.

You should focus more on execution than results. Sometimes you can play very well, but still bust out of the tourney before the money. You have to be learn to be happy about that result. Learning to understand that execution is more important than results is quite a paradigm shift for some people and I think is the major stumbling block for most amateur players.

[Percula]

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You should focus more on execution than results. Sometimes you can play very well, but still bust out of the tourney before the money. You have to be learn to be happy about that result. Learning to understand that execution is more important than results is quite a paradigm shift for some people and I think is the major stumbling block for most amateur players.

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That is a very true statement. I have played where I have made just horrible plays and got lucky and finish first and played without a single mistake and been out well before the money.

Skill a big part of tourament play, but so is luck. Where the skill comes in is being able to stay alive and healthy (stealing blinds and bluffing, etc) until you can get those cards that give you the nuts and then being able to get the most out of them.