I agree with Mike. The mini steps are a decent investment for someone with a low bankroll which I think was the gist of his post. If you are just starting out they are ideal as you get a lot of games and SnG practice for your buck. Someone depositing $50 into Party probably isn't looking to grind out 2 BB's an hour and wants a bit fun for his little investment.

I deposited $50 into Party in October for the sole reason of playing them. I was grinding the micro's on Bet365 and saw the structure and it looked possible to get a payday for $6 investment.

Mini Step Structure

I got addicted to them and played them soldidly for over a month and you could say I luckboxed seven Step 5's, cashing in 6 of them for around $5000 but I had the same gameplan as Mike, aim for the top 5 replay then go for the top 2 which is a lot different than playing a standard SnG. Even in Step 1 I was happy with 6th place as you got most of your money back again.

I found the Step 1-3 pretty soft and the Step 4 a rock garden most of the time. I was seeing the same players in step 3 and 4 a lot over the month so I knew their style of play which helped. Whereas if you are playing $11 or $22 SnG's you are playing different players most of the time.

You also get a good mix of game if you are a beginner. You get the loose maniac step 1 and 2 to practice at. Then the 1000 chip start from Step 3 onwards which a low bankroll player would rarely get to play. The rock garden Step 4. Then the good player Step 5 which has it's regular buy in'ers and very good players. You probably get to play a pro like Zee Justin or whatever. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

For the fun casual player improving his game they are top value.

There are a lot of players who play the steps exclusively and are generally multi tabling maybe sitting at a Step 2, 3, 4 & 5 at the same time. They must be making some cash from it. They must see it as +EV thing to do.

I stopped playing them in December and played normal SnG's and have done well and that's probably because of playing 100's of Mini Step games and the practice. I'm going to go back to them for January and see if it was all just pure luck. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

I'm rambling.