Why do you play MTT?

[JaBlue]

I don't get it. Even for the best guys entering 215$ MTTs that expect their equity to be, say, 500$, have to earn that over a period of 5 hours (just a guess, maybe its more maybe its less) for an hourly expectation of $100. Why would you deal with all the variance etc. when it seems you could make the same in cash games with less stress?

And for the vast majority of you guys who are playing 20 and 50 and 100 maybe your expectation is 60, 150, and 300, respectively. However, your hourly expectation seems to come out to something like 10, 30, and 60 respectively here. Why do you do it?

I've often thought of this to. I play the $100NL for a living and wanted to start playing MTTs when my BR hit x amount of dollars. I reread Inside the Poker Mind for like the 30th time and he said the reason he doesn't play tournaments is because he doesn't have as much of a positive expectation an hour so he doesn't play them. This made me change my mind because there is no way to make in $20/$30 tournaments that I make 6-7 tabling the $100.

So I just wanted to share my thoughts about it and why what you're saying is true. Although I think it's that one big score that makes it worth it. So I continue to play small buyin rebuys and 20/30 dollar tournaments.

I think you're drastically underestimating how much the top players can expect to win.

[Melchiades]

I generally make money playing STT and spend them on MTT. MTT's are more fun, and there is always a hope of a big payday. When my bankroll was about 5-600 I won a MTT for 1400, and suddenly had 2000. That would have been a lot of grindin at the SnG's. (Story continues with me thinking my win was proof I was the real deal, and started blowing it away on 10+R, etc. And have now less than 1500 again.)

[Slow Play Ray]

[ QUOTE ]
Why do you play MTT?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because I thrive on frustration.

[odiggity]

theres the competitive aspect of mtts that u dont find in cash games--where u can go back into ur pocket for more cash if u go broke. u lose all ur chips in a mtt and its over. also, theres tremendous satisfaction that comes with winning tourneys. i recently turned $4.40 into a $200+16 200k guaranteed ticket with 1st paying over 53,0000. i was chip leader at the break. preveously, $5 turned into 3,200. so the qualifiers r not to be overlooked.(all together about $30 was spent trying to qualify for the 200k)

[Exitonly]

** They are the most fun for me, ring games, and SnG's are boring and repetitive. I can still play them, but MTT's are my fav.

** Your math was off, you used 5 hrs as the average time, the average time for a MTT from my sample size is 1.5 hours. So, if i had a $500 expectation, i'd be making close to $400 an hour.

** Big wins are always more gratifying than bunches of gradual little wins.


edit:

And for lets say $10's.. if you could get an expectation of $30 (200% ROI, pretty hard, but do-able) that's $20 per table hour, for a $10 SnG you get like max $5 per table hour (30% ROI 40 minute average). So for teh same risk, you're getting 4x the hourly rate. The problem is that you can't 10 (16 or 20) table as easily, due to availability and the extra attention MTT's need.

Anyways, that should be enough reasons for now, i'm going to go stroll aroudn Dublin (wooooo dublin!).

Because while 95% of the tourneys you enter are going to leave you extremelly frustrated. The 5% where you play your best and get to a final table or even win are worth it. I don't care how great a session you have in a cash game, it doesn't equal the feeling of taking down a 1000 or 2000 person MTT and knowing that for the past 5-8 hours you played better poker than everyone else in the tourney.

After 4-8 tabling cash games or even STTs for a couple hours I feel like I've wasted my time regardless of how well I do.

Win 1 MTT and make that 1 big payday and you'll see what I mean. Poker wouldn't be a major part of my life if it wasn't for MTTs. The strategy and competitivness that they bring just doesn't come out in a cash game.

While I make a good amount playing MTTs, they're the reason I love poker. If it was only cash games I don't think I'd be playing poker as seriosly as I do.

[PFrese]

I agree with most of the above - MTT are far more interesting and fun than SNGs. SNGs really bore the hell out of me and I find myself losing patience, and thus busting out. Consequently, I am breakeven on SNGs and way up on MTTs. A MTT is far more strategic, far more exciting. And I can tell you - there are very few things in poker like getting to the FT of a big MTT. Yes, it is frustrating to work your butt off for 3.5 hours and win 30 bucks, but, that is not why you are doing it. It is all about the final table, baby!!

Get there, and you will know what we mean.

[Luke]

Here's one reason I play them