I'm currently planning my vegas trip this summer and think that total buy-in is probably the most reasonable goal to shoot for and plan ahead.

This will be my first time playing a relatively full schedule (The entire month of June) of live tournaments in the summer.
I only play NL tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $300 to $2k.
I am indifferent towards venues, will play in PH, RIO, Wynn, Aria, and Venetian.
Not planning to spend much time going out, there will be the occasional early bust out drink special and recharge days but that's about it.

I am completely lost with my schedule since there are so many multiple day events and different starting days. I think the responsible thing to do would be to have some sort of an realistic idea of the total buy ins I am going to need and make bankroll considerations.

Any input on past experiences or advice will help.

I would bring $20K totally expecting to put $10-15K in play.

That's pretty much what I was planning. Thanks

I had a very similar approach buyin-wise last year. 2 1/2 weeks in June with buyins 235-1000. I bricked everything ( one min cash) and was down about 9k.

'bout tree fiddy

sorry...someone had to

on to the more serious reply...

each year, I take a calendar and put down each of the events with location and buy-in that I have an interest in playing. This is something I find helps me tremendously with both the travel planning (I tend to make multiple trips back and forth since I have client obligations to tend to in addition to my poker playing) and the amounts I expect to spend.

It takes a little while going through the various schedules and keeping up with the changes that get made, but then you have a single sheet to look at in the decision-making processes.

I just take my cash out with me, and then play it by ear.

There are a few comps I'm definitely going to play, and there is always scope to find something at a day or so notice, dependent on how you're feeling.

Best of luck for the summer!

I would prolly start out by playing a few cheap dailies you don’t care about buy in to get in tournament groove. I would then look at what’s offered and play best value tournies. I would stick to an mtt budget and not go over it. Say 15k maybe or whatever your fine to lose. Finally, I would throw in some big buy in events you are excited to play. For example, I play 100-500bis live, but def care more about higher buy in events in the 300-5000 range. I would prolly pick a buy in level that excites you and throw in 4-5 or these separated on your trip. Just my thoughts.

I have heard the Venetian deep stack mtts are solid and wouldn’t just play wsop events. Action should be good. Good luck!

Last year i pretended it was conceivable for me to take the WSOP off and 20K seems reasonable if you are staying under 2K buy ins.

I'd probably stay away from the WSOP except for the 1K double, millionaire maker, maybe the Marathon, and Monster Stack.

I think you are going to get your money in better focusing on the Wynn and Venetian 400-1K's and an occasional Planet Hollywood or Golden Nugget when you want to step down in stakes and/or the schedule permits.

I would guess this is on the conservative side, unless at least some of these things are in play for OP:

* Schedule is heavily weighted to the low end of your BI range
* Not going to fire multiple bullets in each MTT
* Not going to play another MTT the same day, when you bust
* Going to take a lot of days off (didn't sound like that was the case)

I do something similar and find it extremely helpful.

I basically put the MTTs in tiers, based on:

* Game
* Buy-in
* Expected field size/quality
* Number of days MTT runs and time of day
* Venue considerations (location, dealer/floor quality, etc.)

Then I decide which MTTs I absolutely will play... the ones I will play if I bust early... and the ones I'll play if I'm up big (can now afford), bored (skip day off), or running cold (can only afford haha).

As far as OP, it really depends on a number of factors.

If you don't have a budget, then make one based on a realistic schedule and decide how many bullets you will fire in each/every MTT. I use 1.5-2x per MTT as a realistic range with perhaps some margin for error, but I don't play NLHE (for which the avg. should be higher). I also assume I will bust every multi-day MTT by the end of day 1, which builds in additional margin for error.

That yields a budget for the worst-case scenario: I bust early (but realistically, given some are FL games) in every MTT I play... I fire multiple bullets, on avg., in every MTT (esp. non-FL games)... and I don't cash any. If that total loss is acceptable, then I have a good tentative schedule.

If you do have a budget, then I would do the same thing, but start with more of a bare bones schedule and add from there. You will likely have some tough decisions about whether or not to fire multiple bullets, whether or not to play some more marginal big BI MTTs, etc., but at least you won't (or at least shouldn't) leave yourself unable to play the MTTs you most want to play.

I suggest not playing multiple tourneys daily unless you absolutely feel your best. Busting takes a toll and very few players can play their A game for multiple ones in a day, especially the longe the summer goes

That's pretty much what I have planned, though its over 6 weeks (I tend to take more days off). I usually plan to fire several bullets at the biggest events, like the Venetian MSPT 1100 or whatever. The benefit of that, bankroll-wise, is if I happen to make day 2 on the first or one of the first bullets, then my budget just got a boost regardless of whether I cash or not. And I get a day or two extra off where I can use that gained budget for something else or just save it.

Good luck to OP.

Laughing at myself . Going to Vegas for 1 or 2 bullets of Colossus .

Lot of excellent ideas and approaches discussed

http://vegas-poker-schedule.com/export.php

Personally I would use the program above to set up a "what if" schedule for myself for the time period to look at your realistic entry cost then add in your rebuy average costs.

For a month long trip you know you will take time off from the tables(or at least should) and it is fair to assume you won't bust day one in all of the events.

For a ball park I would take a MINIMUM of $20K but I am NOT a big "rebuy" guy if I am set for a month of action and I sure as heck don't plan on running from one tourney bust out to the next Daily available very often.

For 10 days I take $10K but don't necessarily plan on using it all for buy ins and I have back up funds readily available and reward friendly credit cards for other expenditures .

Good luck to you

This is generally good advice, but as you said one should base it on how one feels, among other things.

Last year I played a $360 FLO8 at GN and made final 3 tables, but didn't cash. I then went to PH and late reg'd $600 PLO/PLO8. When I busted at FT on day 2, I then debated late reg. of WSOP Stud8. I decided against that, because I was pretty drained, it was a $1.5k BI and Stud8 isn't my best game. No single factor ruled it out, but the combination was enough for me to skip it.

Another general factor in making a tentative schedule is when days 2+ of multi-day MTT will conflict with day 1 of another MTT that is in a higher tier. Often I hop off the fence on the side of skipping a multi-day MTT that isn't one of my best games, because the best case scenario is that I make day 2+ and in the process likely miss a higher tier MTT.