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Multi Table Tournaments as a Threat to Your Poker Bankroll

Multi table poker tournaments have a strong appeal for most poker players – they speak to the ‘gambler’ in every player, offering the potential for spectacular return. However, it’s important to rationally evaluate the true risk and reward considerations involved in playing multis. Playing in multis can easily become a habit that, if left unchecked, can wreak havoc on a developing bankroll.

1) Multis are a guaranteed variance increaser. Unlike ring games where time, skill and patience are guaranteed to bring success in the long run, the rules of tournament play greatly increase the impact of chance on your outcome. Any time luck is more of a factor, you can expect your bankroll fluctuations to increase as well. This is especially true in online multis, where the number of participants can routinely exceed a thousand.

2) Multis can breed some very bad habits in your ring game. Compare hand quizzes from books on tournament and ring play and you may surprised how identical hands in identical situations require radically different play. Anything that throws off your regular game will also increase your bankroll swings.

3) Multis do not provide a steady hourly in the short term. If you’re playing steady poker in a ring game, over the course of a few months a steady hourly expectation will start to emerge. In tournament play, even top-notch players can go months without a big win. A developing bankroll needs to grow steadily, not in fits and starts.

4) Playing in a multi means you’re not playing in a ring game. Yeah, I know, but read that sentence again. When you play in a multi for three hours only to finish just out of the money, that’s three hours you could have been playing your regular game where you have a steady expectation. Again, steady growth is key both to a developing players bankroll and confidence.

This is not to say that multis aren’t fun [they are], or that they are inherently unprofitable [that would be ridiculous]. It just means that before you play in a multi, you should think about the long-term impacts on your bankroll. I would suggest never committing more than 5% of your total bankroll to a multi [buy-in and re-buys / add-ons included] and checking out your regular game first to see if there isn’t an opportunity for more immediate, consistent profit

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