I am a Novice (maybe intermediate...) poker player who plays PLO and NLHE, I go back and forth between the two usually when I start running bad in PLO I'll switch to NLHE or vice versa.

However I only play Cash games and when I do play the occasional MTT its just for fun and I don't really know what I'm doing...

I have always been a recreational player and never used bankroll management because I was always prepared to lose the money I put into poker, But recently I started playing more serious and using bankroll management and I have won back all the money I have lost playing poker, So I am basically breakeven, At this point I have not won or lost any money.

But... My girlfriend Is now Pregnant and I cant afford to Throw money around anymore So I've decided I need to try something new and start small and build my bankroll the right way. I want to start playing Exclusively PLO and NLHE MTT's and start at 3-5$ buyin tournaments.

At the moment all I want to Spend is 125$ a month in buyins until i have built a Good enough bankroll to go up in stakes, Global poker is running alot of "XXX amount of money guaranteed" tournaments through October.

I will be participating in 20 events in october which will Cost 93.50 in buyins leaving me 31.50 to rebuy in certain events that have a larger prizepool.

The total combined prizepool will be 31,500$ for the events I will enter and there will be a 10,000$ freeroll on top of that.

Should I stick to cash games or would tournaments be the safer less/expensive way to keep playing poker on the side.... How beatable are MTTs now-a-days? Are they harder to make money playing than cash games?How much volume do you need to make tournaments worth your while?

Since you state you are a beginner I would actually start even smaller unless you really feel you can lose the money but since you are a novice poker player, with not much MTT experience you are going to find it quite difficult so just be ready for that because its a completely different mindset.

The good thing cash players have going to MTT however is I am assuming you have played post flop quite a lot, and that can give you some edge against weaker MTT players at low limits.

I'd recommend you to play cash, learn MTT and play only few of them.
$125 bankroll is not enough for $3-$5 MTTs. Focus cash games and you will have a lot of money. You can make $200 in 1 month by playing NL2. Build a decent bankroll, study and then start to play MTTs. You can start your session with cash tables and 1 MTT.

I may be completely bias... ok I am completely bias.

But if you want to start trying your hand at MTTs I would suggest having a look at Global Poker especially with our Eagle Cup event due to start next week.

We have Low, Medium and High buy in events for every tournament meaning you will find the perfect game for your bankroll. You also get 2 free $weeps to start with meaning you can try the site out without making a purchase.

On top of that this Sunday at 4:30pm EST the Eagle Cup Opening event is a freeroll with an SC$10,000 prizepool which is a great way to try out the site for free and hopefully to build a bank roll!

You can find information about the Eagle Cup here.

If you want more information about Global Poker in general head to our FAQ page.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

The other thing is that tournament poker takes a lot of time, pregnant girlfriends likewise, As for when the baby's born....

I particularly advise against taking your laptop to the hospital when she goes into labour,

I literally just got first place in the first omaha tournament I bought into.... I'm so happy right now.

If you think you are now beating cash games and are adamant about continuing to play poker then carry on with cash and earn a little at a small but steady stream. There's no reason you couldn't also spend time studying and improving, and then move up in stakes to try to earn a few more pennies per hour

On the other hand, MTTs are absolute variance monsters even if you're good. $125 won't go too far at an average buyin of $4, it's only 30 BI and is asking for busto even for a good player, whereas by your own admission you don't really have much clue what you're doing. You will almost certainly be down $125 every month and will have to resist the temptation to deposit more than you have budgeted for


Anyway, this is the most important bit by about a million miles

Best bet is to just cash out whatever you have in your account, buy one of the many things you're going to need for the baby, then use the hours you'd waste on donkaments doing a proper job, even if it's only something casual like serving drinks in a bar, working in a shop or carrying stuff round a warehouse.

Put the $125/month to one side for the kid, plus whatever you can earn from a few more hours work somewhere and you'll almost certainly be much better off.




Once again, if your heart is absolutely set on poker, cash games have the added advantage of being able to stop immediately the current hand finishes, if you're needed for an emergency, and you don't lose any EV. If you had to stop a tourney at the drop of a hat then you lose lots of EV in every tournament you're sitting in. Pregnancy emergencies can crop up at any time, and you never know when, but you have to deal with it there and then, even if you just made a final table with a huge chip lead. Trust me on this, I had to call paramedics four times for my wife.

But honestly, if you're not already minting it as a pro, which you aren't, then you are better off setting poker to the side completely for the time being, saving yourself the $125/month and finding something else. Maybe give yourself $25/month to click some buttons one night a week purely for entertainment, without any pressure or expectation, and if you do happen to win something back then you got some free entertainment that night. Good luck.