Hello all,

I wanted to get the forum's opinions about the best way to move up in stakes in MTTs. I am a micro stakes, recreational player, and I hesitate to say "winning player", by that I mean I have been able to withdraw money off, without having to deposit. As we approach SCOOP, I wanted to get some thoughts about how to best take a shot at moving up in stakes.

In the past I have tried directly buying in, and more recently, I have used my bankroll to play lots of satellites instead of regular tournaments. This has been both good and bad, and the reason for my question. I have had some great success in satellites, winning a load of seats, all the way up to a $209 MTT. I have won a total of 32 seats in just over 200 tries. The problem is that I have a single min. cash (and 7 bubbles) to my name despite all of those chances. These days, Pokerstars runs all of the satellites so that you are forced to play, instead of being able to unregister, and take the tournament $, as the satellites usually finish once the MTT has begun. I feel I am so close to making a breakthrough, but keep falling short. I am beginning to get frustrated, and lose hope.

My simple question is, does my strategy of playing satellites instead of regular MTTs make sense, or should I be grinding micro stakes, and then using that bankroll to buy in directly?

Thank you all.

I would recommend to cut down on the number of satelites, and see if there are additional steps to elevate your performance and core strategy for the main events. Reaching the bubble needs to be viewed constructively, even though it can be frustrating to miss bigger scores.

Just playing satelites is not enough to develop all the skills you need to suceed in larger mtts. The skill level of players in large mtt will also be higher.

While 32 MTTs isn't a huge sample, being all in O8 I think it's enough to suggest you can improve your play significantly.

You can't get results from that sample, and also even if you're a recreational player, don't Play mtt's unless you have a good bankroll to take the swings, play Cash or S&G