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Poker is a game that can bring not only pleasure, but also profit. However, in order to succeed, you need to be able to make the right tournament grid.
In this article, we'll look at a few important factors that will help you maximize your earnings:
- Separation of tournaments;
- Restriction of satellite;
- Checking the qualification tournament;
- AFS or average number of participants.
1. The optimal ratio of tournaments in the game grid
One of the main points to consider when drawing up a tournament grid is the division of tournaments. The main division is between regular tournaments and turbo. In turbo tournaments, blinds grow much faster, which makes it impossible to wait for a good hand. Therefore, we mainly focus on regular and knock-out tournaments. The ratio between regular and knock-out tournaments should be approximately 80/20, where 80% are regular and knockout tournaments, and 20% are turbo tournaments.
This rule may be waived if:
- Practice your skills well and regularly in a short stack game (in HRC, Icmizer or Simple Nash)
- You successfully play the Big Blind. Passive protection and active protection worked out
- Mixed strategy game on the Small Blind. We exert beneficial pressure on the big blind, we know how to use limes and are not afraid to play with a short stack
- An effective style has been developed and applied steal
2. Limitation of satellite
Satellites are tournaments where you can win a ticket to a larger tournament.
Not all satellites are profitable. It is important to qualify only for those tournaments that take place during good online series. In the final tournament, the money guarantee is higher, and the number of amateurs is higher, which makes the game easier. The input buy-in for satellites should be 4 times less than the main load due to greater dispersion. The structure of the satellite tournament is held with a rapid growth of blinds, which makes it necessary to make decisions with not very good hands.
- For example: if you play mainly 4-dollar tournaments, then the satellite entrance should not exceed $1.
How to understand that the satellite is unprofitable?
Each player is unique. To answer this question, we will help the online statistics collection service Sharkscope. To understand which satellites are profitable, you need to make two reports: satellites and tournaments without satellites. An important indicator is ITM% – the frequency of getting into the prize zone.
- Consider an example: a satellite $1.5 to enter a tournament for $15. The final tournament can be a knockout, and the minimum prize payoff is often less than the buy-in (about $12)
Problems of knockout tournament selection:
- We need to knock out players to get more buy-ins.
- We can qualify for the tournament when it has already begun, then at the start there will be a smaller stack and it will be more difficult to knock out the opponent. The risk of flying out by yourself increases.
- We are going to a regular tournament. Depending on the category of the tournament, we get 2-4 buy-ins when we get into prizes. The final minimum prize is $30.
- Analyzing the reports, you can find out that the percentage of getting into the prizes in satellites is 7%, and you need to play about 14 satellite (100/7=14) to qualify for the key tournament.
- We calculate how much we spend on selection for the tournament: 14 * $1.5 = $21. The final selection amount is already higher than the key price of the tournament, which shows a negative expected value from satellites.
We analyze the ITM% report in the key tournament
To determine the costs for profit, you need to calculate how much is spent on the selection to the tournament and how much to get the minimum payout. The difference between them shows how profitable the game is in the tournament. The graph shows that the hero in regular tournaments gets 24% for the prize zone. We need to play 100/24=4 tournaments to get into the minimum prizes.
Total costs
- $21 – qualify for 1 tournament
- $21*4= $84 – we spend to get the minimum payout
- Calculate the costs for a regular (not knock-out) tournament: $30 - $84 = -$54
Let's figure out what place you need to occupy in the tournament in order to recoup the costs. I took as an example 15$ Daily Special on GGNetwork. To make a profit, we need at least 10 or better 9th place, that is, to go to the final table every time. The percentage of reaching the final table of the reg player at the the long run is 2-4%, which makes the game in the tournament negative at the the long run. Important: It is necessary to monitor the quality of tournaments, ticket guarantees and final tournaments in order to play plus satellites and maximize your income.
3. Checking the qualification tournament with Sharkskope
A unique number is assigned to each tournament. On the Sharkscope website, you can search for tournaments for a certain time, for example, we want to track the tournaments that we play during the week. I hope you treat poker as an investment and have made a schedule to participate in the game. The sampling will help to see the qualifications of the players in the tournament, and the schedule will help to play in good tournaments on an ongoing basis. Low qualifications and a weak rating of the tournament will help you earn more often. Exclude tournaments with high qualifications or with a large number of reg players.
Instructions:
- Opening the schedule. Go to the "Tournaments" report
- Each tournament has a unique number. We open the tournament by clicking on the number
- See the rating – middle qualifications of players
Without a subscription, the period selection is not available, see general information recently or ask for help in a group of poker players. In professional groups, you can easily get the information you need. We still have to consider the impact of AFS or the average number of participants.
