I began playing poker a few years ago with friends for fun (we knew just the basic rules and didn't bother to learn anything more), and for the past several months, I've started playing online. I recently started playing poker more seriously, and since then, I've been striving to learn how to play it effectively. I'm currently reading the book 'Modern Poker Theory' and watching YouTube channels like GTO Wizard, Finding Equilibrium, while also diving into articles on GTO Wizard's site. I also make an effort to practice daily on the GTO Base. I play only at low stakes, and it has happened that I've come close to the final table in several tournaments in a row, but I've never managed to make it there yet. I don't feel good enough, and I know that if I played better, I would definitely be able to consistently win tournaments at low stakes. What should be my starting point if I want to learn to play better and start winning consistently but don't have the funds for coaches or software? Btw, i play only MTT's because they are more fun for me.

You say you're playing low stakes MTTs - did you at any point learn:

a) how to exploit the weaknesses of typical opponents you will find in low stakes tournaments
b) how to understand ICM and general tournament strategy adjustments

It sounds to me from what you post that you've been trying to learn how to lose to rake in a high stakes cash game, rather than how to beat the game you are actually playing

How many Players go bust before you do in these tournaments that you 'almost' make FT at? You may be doing very well and just losing Flips when stacks get short. Are you 'cashing' or busting?

I'm not 'tournament guy', but I seem to remember that even Pros cash less than 15% of the time. So if you are sniffing FTs then you are probably doing better than OK.


It's very good to want to learn, but please don't move forward with false pretenses. You WILL NOT 'consistently' win tournaments at any legit level. All you can do is study and try to develop an edge over your opponents. At a minimum you want to learn to avoid major mistakes so that you can have as many chips in your stack when those very few hands come around where you can make hay and survive to the next Level .. and then win some Flips too.

Glad you are taking a more serious look-see at Poker. Make sure you are having fun, keep balance in life and maintain some reasonable goals. GL

Just to expand on answer20Â’s post: you will never be very likely to actually win any given poker tournament at any level no matter how good you are. Even pros playing at low stakes tournaments will not win consistently - they will just win a much greater percentage of the time than an average player will.

Winning a tournament requires a lot of luck (in addition to being able to play well). Consider an overly simplified model to see this. In a 128 player tournament you must double up 7 times to win. Suppose you are a great pro playing against low stakes opponents. Since you are great, you will always and only be at risk when you are an 80-20 favorite (equivalent to AA vs KK, or any other larger vs smaller pair spot). What is your chance of winning the tournament given these assumptions?

You must win all seven all ins and lose none. With an 80% win probability for each, that implies your winning chance is 0.8^7 = 0.2097. Our pro wins about 21% of the time given these assumptions, certainly not what you would call winning consistently. The average player would win slightly less than 1% of the time (1 out of 128, by the definition of average), so the pro would be consistently making money in this scenario.

Obviously this scenario is not realistic, nut n a real touenament even the pro is going to be at risk multiple times through the course of a deep run. Further the 80/20 scenario is likely to be a gross overestimate of the proÂ’s average edge in these spots - he is not going to just wait for premiums and there is the distinct possibility that the pro could end up on the wrong end of a cooler (Is the pro really going to always fold KK or QQ when an average opponent shoves? They will sometimes have AA). My scenario is meant to be illustrative, not accurate, but I would be unsurprised if a pro only won 10-15% of the time in a 128 player low stakes tourney, if not even less often. That still is much more than the average player, of course.

some other ideas that worked. Phil hellmuth didn't bust a nut prior to winning the 1989 wsop main event. he even said he declined having sexual intercourse with a beautiful woman on a boat and then went on to win the main later that year. He believes that's a major variable in winning that tournment. Others may disagree but I agree with him. Martial artists also believe this and main religions believe in chastity. It makes you more alert as well which will help in the end stages of mtts.

Listen to heavy metal, eat egg yolks, avoid soy, drugs and alcohol and get ya 8-9 hours sleep. Sleep is important. fedor holz gets around 9. these variables increase test and give you the hunger to win.

Focus on the techinical math side of the game using tools like gto wizard. Game select well. Get enough volume. MTTS are a volume game. Play some smaller field mtts as well.

Goals for MTTs should be volume goals like playing x amount of mtts for the day/week/month/year and study volume goals hours working in gto wizard/books etc. this statement comes from a crusher on the asian/pacific mtt circuit from a couple of years ago. he binked mutiple mtts online and live in a short period of time.
Have goals while playing mtts like chip count goals at certain points of mtts.

Tell me if you are willing to invest 600 hours of studying per year (we have to define that....) and I will answer the question above

Thank you to everyone for your responses. Now I know the misconceptions I was operating under. I think I shouldn't have asked this question before reading 'Modern Poker Theory' because that book already answered my main question.

Yes, of course, I'm familiar with ICM, and I agree with you that I should also pay more attention to who I'm competing against in tournaments and exploit their tendencies more.

I can definitely dedicate 600 hours to this game annually.