Multi-table tournaments are a great option for players eager to test their multi-tasking skills. Diversifying strategies and increasing the pace of the games by playing several hands at the same time are two of the main advantages offered by these competitions, the spearhead of many platforms dedicated to organizing multitudinous competitive games of different levels.
But there are those who do not know what MTTs in poker are, how they are played or how dangerous it can be to be playing different hands simultaneously. For players used to cash games, this can be a problem, but if you are curious, you will not be the first or the last to combine your game with cash games and MTT.
MTT in poker: what does it mean?
MTT stands for Multi Table Tournament, “multi-table tournament” if we translate it literally from English. These acronyms are used to talk about competitions that offer the possibility of playing on several tables at the same time, each one with its own opponents, its own cards, its own limits and its own dynamics.
This requires a great capacity for abstraction in order to have the panoramic view that playing with several open strategies requires. If you fail, you will minimize the size of your mistake. If you win, you will be able to do so in a more sustained manner and without compromising the rest of your points.
Is it appropriate to use the acronym “MTT” as a synonym to refer to tournaments that offer this possibility? Yes, without a doubt, so don’t get confused and know what we are referring to when you hear about MTTs.
Rules of multi-table poker tournaments
Something you must always be very clear about is that multi-table tournaments are not played like a normal tournament. They keep aspects in common, such as the game based on points and not on chips, but you will soon realize that their dynamics are much more complex and it is more like a long-distance race.
MTTs are not won in the first few hands. You will always have to show your patience to gather enough data for when the time is right. In any winning strategy of an MTT in poker, connected middle cards will be your best allies, especially on the last streets.
Keep in mind that, as a general rule, all pots in a multi-table tournament can be fought with continuation bets, but you will have to be careful if there are players who call your continuation bet, because if they bet on the turn, they can take you out of the fight.
When responding to a bet, you should be cautious. Overbetting is too obvious for an experienced player, but you can be seen to be anxious if you don’t respect the beats. That will expose you and leave you in a delicate situation for the rest of the round. How to avoid this? By not making a call at the first hand, by not folding (the unmistakable sign of a good postflop player) and by taking the initiative on the flop.
Despite diversifying strategies in a poker MTT and having to reduce risks by broadening your spectrum of options and ways of playing, you will have to show a changing style even after winning. Expanding your stack should be your priority, but not your end. If you manage to increase your points, but keep playing the same, you will be x-raying your game round after round and that will expose you, something you have to avoid.
Staying in an opaque style is the right choice, although it is not always easy. There are things you will have to change to camouflage mistakes, disguise the effects of a bad decision and make opponents doubt what you are really doing. What you should never do under any circumstances is to play outside your bankroll, because that can compromise your continuity in the tournament.
As you can see, although it is still a poker tournament, it is a type of competition with quite peculiar characteristics. Always think in the long term and give a long run to some of your strategies is the best way to be able to fight the jackpots and increase your positions in the ranking.
MTT vs cash games: how do they differ?
Something that a poker novice should know is that multi-table tournaments and cash games are not only not played the same, but they are different types of competition. While cash games are played with chips, tournaments are played with points.
For practical purposes, some people talk about stack and bankroll in an MTT, but you must be clear that there is always an abstract meaning behind it. There is no bankroll or stack to defend in a poker tournament, but there is a potential booty of points that will make you rise in the final list of players. It’s just a matter of changing the chip and reassociating some terms with which you were already familiar.
But by playing with points instead of real money chips we are not saying that a multi-table tournament is less profitable than cash games.
Moreover, there is no clear answer if we talk about which type of game is the one that gives a greater reward to the winner, because, while it is true that cash games are a direct way to fight for cash prizes, multi-table tournaments, by offering a diversified game scheme with which to play several rounds simultaneously, the potential to obtain a greater reward increase. It all depends on the preferences of each user.