Live MTT Poker Tips by Sparrow Cheung

Live MTT is blossoming like wild flowers in Asia. The reopening of countries and cities in 2023 gives poker players itching to play live tournaments the opportunity to chase their dreams. Poker event organisers duly oblige, and an Asia poker boom is happening right now.

The major Asian organisers, such as Asian Poker Tour (APT), U Series of Poker (USOP), Poker Dream, World Poker Tour (WPT) and Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP), are regularly hosting bigger and bigger series. My very own Hong Kong Poker Players Association (HKPPA) has already hosted two smaller series in 2023, with another coming in April in 2024. Prize pool records are being broken every month, and everyone seems to plan their holidays according to the poker schedule.

HKPPA Premier League Taiwan – April 2024

I get to speak to a lot of newcomers on tour. They started their poker journey online during the COVID lockdown, and are slowly adjusting to the live scene. While they often want to know whether they’ve played a particular hand correctly or not, the one recurring advice I give them is good bankroll management.

Prudence in bankroll management is key to a poker player’s survival.

Live MTT “100 Buy-Ins Rule”

A popular guideline is the “100 buy-ins Rule”. That means one should have at least 100 buy-ins available as his poker bankroll before he considers registering to a particular event. There are several factors that should be considered before we blindly accept the “100 buy-ins Rule”. We should consider the expected Return on Investment, expected Risk of Ruin before we draw a conclusion on how many buy-ins are needed. These are complicated matters and are beyond the scope of this article.

Another notable factor is the size of the field – the bigger the field, the bigger the variance. For two events at the same buy-in level, say US$ 1,000, the bankroll required will depend not only on the amount to buy-in, but more importantly the size of the field. The bigger the field, the deeper your bankroll needs to be. For an event that has a four-figure number of entries, you should even consider reserving 400 buy-ins to play it safe.

400 buy-ins? Am I suggesting that you should remortgage your home before you start playing a main event? Of course not!

Why not consider selling your poker action to friends and fellow players. This will greatly reduce your bankroll burden, and reduce the Risk of Ruin. But when you are deciding how much to sell, the concept of variance should be a key decision point. The bigger the field implies bigger variance, and therefore the more you should sell.

Live MTT is fun. It takes you to a new city and gives you the opportunity to compete against a variety of players from all walks of life. As a recreational player with other stable sources of income, perhaps you can treat a poker trip like a city break – set a budget that suits you, pick several different events at different buy-in levels, and enjoy the journey. A big 100x score may just be around the corner from you, play the best you can, don’t overstretch your bankroll and let fate decide the rest.