I have a question for someone that has been successful in building a good bankroll.
I've been playing a lot of 360 and 45 person micro-stakes mtts and I quite often find myself in a situation where I'm getting close to the money and my stack is such that I'm confident of getting paid but probably not a very big payout. The problem is that I when I'm in this position, I start folding even really good cards because I don't want to miss the money.
Since I am in the process of building my bank, is it more important that I protect my buy in and make sure I survive into the money or should I be trying to take advantage of everyone else that is playing tighter and risk not getting paid at all?
Ideally you want to put yourself in a position where you can win the tournament as opposed to just making a lame payout.
I reccomend not even changing your strategy around the bubble unless you are a monster stack, in which case you should be attacking small stacks apprehensive of trying to avoid losing wihtout getting ITM, or very small stacked in which case you might want to just fold everything to get ITM.
Ive had a quiet a few time in tournaments just being able to sneak into the money and then finish deep.
The reason, the longer you stay in a tournament the larger the blinds get.
Then with a few double ups you can go from coming last to being average stack size and back in the game. Alot of the time you will see that large stacked players start to tumble because the get too confident and call the bubbles very loose.
Doesn't happen all the time (or even close) of cause but I'm sure we have all done the going from last to win run.
Steve
i agree with well timed agg. you need to get good chip position if you want to make the final. or at least stay afloat. you dont want to boomhowere trying to get to the money. becase once it gets there there gonna drop like flies. them really good hands play them depending deferntly depending on position, and the player(s). as far as your bank roll is concerned i would stick to the basic dont spend more than 5 of ten percent or your roll per game. if your really confident 20 but i dont suggest it.
gl darthwager
I find a good way to get chips in late stages of a MTT is late position shoving and don't really need a good hand to do it. Stack dependant obviously and not too often but the reason it works is that even if the blinds know what u r upto they are still hard pushed to call even with say a mid suited Ace just in case u might actually have a hand combined with not wanting to be sucked out. Add this to the fact that it increases the odds of you getting called with a big hand.
This nicely timed has got me heavily back in when the blinds are big - especially with antes.
You have to pick your spots, and around the bubble its time to get more aggressive to pick up chips.
considering your bankroll , i would advise u , at least for the 360 person sng, not to invest more than 2 percent of your bankroll, i try to keep it under 1 percent if i can in the big ones 2000 +ppl. that way its easier to mentaly deal with longer streaks without a deep finish .
i really like playing the 180 ppl 22 dollar non turbo on stars.
100 ppl on average are reallly poor players and solid ABC should get u into to top 30 a quarter of the time ... then its only a matter of hittin a few cards and u are there...
hope this helps
With the MTT's I feel you have to be playing for the top spots or your just wasting your time. Too often you can go for a stretch without final tabling due to variance. If you are getting yourself to the bubble as a short stack then you may need to play more selectively and just try to money. If you have a medium stack you should pick on other medium stacks because they are going to want to money and avoid bubbling. If you are deep you should bully everyone but other deep stacks. A few firsts or seconds that result from aggressive play in those events will far out way many of the barley moneyed spots that you rack up by playing it safe.
Also, if you are that concerned about protecting your bankroll then you are probably playing above your limit. You should be playing at a level where you don't feel pressure to just make it in. I like a 100 buy in rule to guard against variance and mental anxiety.
for the most part in MTTs you want to be pushing aside that STT strategy that "your playing to cash, then you go for the win"
if you take this mentality into MTT sngs by the time you eek into the money your only going to have literally a blind or two left and thus no chance at getting the bigger prize.. all your money in these comes from taking them down or going really deep since in a 180 player MTT for example 18th to 10th pays out only double the buy in! and you have to plow through over 100 people to get there.. is it worth just being a nit and cashing? absolutely not
considering your building strategy etc it may prove to be better for your psych etc to play some lower variance and therefor play to cash games such as the STTs
"Since I am in the process of building my bank, is it more important that I protect my buy in and make sure I survive into the money or should I be trying to take advantage of everyone else that is playing tighter and risk not getting paid at all?""
For do ii a good bankroll . better try to win more money and have the risk of not getting anything.
Is better one first or 3 sevens¿??Here you have the answer.Thanks
If you are really low in buy-ins my suggestion is to play as low as possible. Once you get to enough buy-ins were you feel comfortable enough to make moves then open up your game substantially. However, make calculated decisions based on your opponents tendencies. Making a move without a good reason can get you into trouble and might get you back to where you started. At the level you are playing at pay attention to the board consistency and opponents post flop tendencies. You can win a ton of chips from weak tight players post flop if you can put them on hands. But, beware of calling stations when you float someone for a scare card turn bet if they check to you. As stated before, play in position against folding stations heads up preferably that open regularly from MP2 or MP3, HJ, or cutoff. Pay attention to the two to your right and two to your left first then work your way around the table. If someone gets you to showdown and you get caught you need to change gears.
Offcourse in the long run its better to play ur good cards and not look at the bubble. But yeh depends how much u need that money. But for the long run ''play to win, not to cash''.
I didnt read all of the responses, but if you are worried about protecting your bankroll, then the games you are buying into are too much. You need to follow some rules like the first poster suggested ( i think it was the first poster). You need to be in a game where at no point in time your decisions are influenced by the amount of money you have invested.
I agree, but you don't want to just throw away money either. I just dont hand $100 to a bum off the highway just because its chump change to me. 
The number 1 goal in poker is to make money. So if not playing a couple of hands gets you in the money, then do it. Just play premmies if they come. Don't play any hands unless you're ready to put all your chips in because big stacks will put you all in if you're a short stack around the bubble.
I had a 26 game non-cash streak some time ago where 10 or 11 of those times i could have tightened up for a few hands and made the money. Not only would my ROI be higher, i would probably had played better in other tournies. You know, that "success breeds success" thing
Also keep in mind that right after the bubble burst is the ideal time to double, triple, quadruple up because a lot of short stacks push with subpar hands since they have already made the money. I've squeeked into the money several times and within a few hands had a big stack because of small stacks shoving right after the bubble.
Never settle.....be cautious but be smart....Learn the habits of the players at your table...you will know who you can steal from.
I think selective aggression is the key here. As per your latest blog entry, you've witnessed first hand some of the ridiculous plays your opponents are capable of in the micro stakes. In a MTT by the time you get to the bubble, you should have some stats on some of your opponents. Put pressure on the ones you feel are capable of folding, and try to avoid mixing it up with the others. But I don't think I'd be folding "even really good cards" though. But by the same token this may also depend on the chip stacks and how close you are to the money.
And in the long run, "protecting your buy in" may lead to more ITM finishes, but a lower ROI. IMHO it would be best for your bankroll to make sure you're taking advantage of every possible edge you have on your opponents while going for the win.