Do you get frustrated playing poker tournaments? You might play regularly but rarely cash, and when you do, it’s often the minimum. Occasionally, a deep run ends with your Kings running into Aces, leaving you with another broken mouse. Sound familiar?
With experience, you learn that to succeed as a poker player, you need to embrace running bad. This is especially true if you specialize in tournaments. No matter how seasoned you are, prolonged bad runs can test your resolve and make you doubt your skills. For amateur players who only play a few tournaments a week, these stretches can feel endless, skewing your perception and affecting your play.
So how do pros handle it? And why do they seem to hit those big cashes more often? Let’s dive into the crucial topics of volume and variance.
Amateur Poker Players vs. Pros
Amateurs
An amateur typically plays 1-3 times per week, usually at night, balancing poker with a full-time job, family, or college. These players take the game seriously, often arzimasks.com best-restaurants-in-marrakech.com capitalator.com cyclehousefamily.com dowdingshop.com studying forums and training materials, but their time is limited. They mostly play large-field no-limit hold’em tournaments and might be winning players, break-even, or slight losers.
Pros
Professionals play online poker as their primary source of income, dedicating their time to large-field online tournaments. Their results are shaped by their focus on volume and precision.
The Stats
The following data compares amateurs and pros based on results from Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars in 2010. The pro stats span January to August, while amateur stats extend to September. All data includes tournaments with over 180 players.
| Stats | Pros | Amateurs |
|---|---|---|
| Tournaments Played | 3,557 | 661.5 |
| Avg. Played/Day | 21.5 | 3.58 |
| In the Money (ITM) | 13.1% | 15.7% |
| Final Tables | 3.13% | 2% |
| Top 3 Finishes | 1.36% | 0.54% |
| Wins | 0.73% | 0.22% |
| ROI | 77.65% | 19.68% |
| Longest Non-Cash Streak | 47 | 22.5 |
Note: Pro stats were derived from the top 10 online tournament players. Amateur data came from volunteers in poker forums.
Understanding the Numbers
Even the top pros don’t cash or win as often as you might think. Here are some key takeaways:
- Winning Frequency: Pros win tournaments less than 1% of the time. For some, it’s as low as 0.6%, meaning they’ll win only 1 out of every 100 tournaments. Variance can stretch this further, with 200-300 tournaments between wins.
- Final Tables: Top pros make final tables about 3% of the time, with some as low as 2%.
- Cashing: Pros cash in 13% of tournaments, meaning they lose money 87% of the time. Amateurs actually cash more often but don’t go as deep.
- Downswings: Pros experience significant losing streaks, with non-cash streaks lasting up to 47 tournaments.
What sets pros apart is their ability to close tournaments. Their ROI is significantly higher because:
- They make 1/3 more final tables than amateurs.
- At final tables, they finish in the top 3 almost 44% of the time.
- When they cash, they make deeper runs, final tabling nearly 24% of the time compared to amateurs at 12.8%.
Improving Your Game
How can you use these insights to improve your own results?
Add More Tables
If you’re playing just 1-3 tables, expand your comfort zone by adding a couple more. While this might slightly hinder your reads, the increased volume will enhance your skills and help you see the long-term impact of profitable decisions.
Play More Days
Try adding just one more day of play per week. If you currently play 7 tournaments per day, one additional day per week adds 364 tournaments per year. Even at a modest 20% ROI with a $30 average buy-in, that’s an extra $2,184 in profit.
Stop Focusing on Individual Tournaments
It’s easy to get emotionally invested in single tournaments, but remember: you’ll only cash about 15% of the time. Focus on making sound decisions, and trust that variance will balance out over time.
Play to Win
Amateurs often tighten up near the bubble, prioritizing cashing over accumulating chips. To succeed in poker tournaments, you need to take risks and trust your instincts. Real money is made by going deep, not by playing it safe.