Struggling after early MTT success, looking for advice

I’m from West Africa and started poker about 3 years ago. Last year I had some good results won a $55 and finished 3rd in a $109 PKO MTT (both through satellites), and was profitable for a few months.

Recently though, nothing seems to work. I’ve looked into coaching but can’t afford it right now.

What are the best free/low-cost ways to improve? Any tips for handling downswings and getting back on track (especially for MTTs)?

Appreciate any advice

Hi Manoukp , Downswing happen .. don’t overreact.focus on fundamental, review your hands , tighten early stages and be aggressive in late positions. Use free resources Cardschat forums , youtube , hand analysers and stick to solid bankroll management. Stay patient. Try this 30 days training videos. Goodluck 😀

@Manoukp87 Man I feel you. I had the opposite problem: 5 busto sessions straight before my first cash lol.

Last year you shipped a $55 and 3rd in $109 PKO via sats. That's not luck. You have the skill. Downswings happen even to Platinum guys here.

What saved me was 2 things I learned here on CardsChat for FREE:

1. **BRM from Aleksandr1991**: 100 buy-ins rule. You probably moved up too fast after that $109 run. I was playing $0.50 Spins with $1 bankroll until I read his post. Now I'm grinding freerolls until I have proper BRM.

2. **Patience from Kerasuss28**: "Stay 2+ hours" in MTTs. I was busting first 15min like a maniac. Yesterday I finally cashed: 40/2094 for $0.71 in WPD Freeroll after 2h 21m. First time I didn't punt early.

Free ways to improve that worked for me:
- **CardsChat threads**: Lurk "Learning Poker" daily

Hello poker fans,

I had to learn discipline at the poker table and played freerolls until I got to $100 before playing $1.00 buy-ins. My bankroll is at $400+ now and I am still playing $1 buy-in micros. The important thing is that I am not under pressure while playing and focus on making good decisions and going as deep as I can. After gaining a few dollars, I may take a stab at the ring table or higher buy-in tournaments but I always have a threshhold for my downswings before I go back to freerolls again or $1 buy-ins.

The 100 x buy-in rule is fine but set your downswing threshold to $5 then play freerolls until you build it up again. So with $55, I would play $0.50 tournaments and if I ever lose as much as $5 then I play freerolls until I am back to $55 again. During this time, take a critical look at your game and try to find your leaks and plug them.

The big wins will come as long as you work on improving your game. Be patient and do not let a big win get you into a false sense of greatness - poker is a game of percentages and probability. Find your most profitable game and stick to it. I like the Mystery Bounty Micro tournaments - give them a try if you play on 888Poker.

There are bad streaks all the time. As in any game, you will lose many more times than you will win.

As a new player its highly unlikely, you can beat the field in $55-109 MTTs. So you just got lucky and had some early success, which led you to overestimate your own skill level. What you need to do is to build up a track record and only attempt to move up, when your bankroll allow it. Depending on your financial situation you can start with a bankroll of anywhere from $100 to $500, and then you use the 100 x the buyin rule, which was mentioned already.

So if your bankroll is $100, you play $1 tournaments, and if its $500, you play anything up to $5 tournaments. Not satellites but regular tournaments. If you play SnGs, especially the single table type, you can reduce it to 50 x the buyin, so up to $2 SnGs with a $100 bankroll, and up to $10 SnGs with a $500 bankroll.

I would not recommend anything lower than $100 or higher than $500 as a starting bankroll. Lower than $100, you end up spending to much time grinding penny games or freerolls, which run the risk of you getting bored and abandoning the plan. Anything higher than $500 you begin with stakes, which you are unlikely to be able to beat without more practice and study.

If you are profitable in $5 tournaments, your bankroll will grow, and you will get to higher buyins soon enough. Poker is a marathon its not a sprint. Some very profitable players dont even attempt to move up all that much. Take this guy as an example. I play with him regularly in $5-10 SnGs.


As for free ways to improve you can start with our 30 day course:

Varela said:

@Manoukp87 Man I feel you. I had the opposite problem: 5 busto sessions straight before my first cash lol.

Last year you shipped a $55 and 3rd in $109 PKO via sats. That's not luck. You have the skill. Downswings happen even to Platinum guys here.

What saved me was 2 things I learned here on CardsChat for FREE:

1. **BRM from Aleksandr1991**: 100 buy-ins rule. You probably moved up too fast after that $109 run. I was playing $0.50 Spins with $1 bankroll until I read his post. Now I'm grinding freerolls until I have proper BRM.

2. **Patience from Kerasuss28**: "Stay 2+ hours" in MTTs. I was busting first 15min like a maniac. Yesterday I finally cashed: 40/2094 for $0.71 in WPD Freeroll after 2h 21m. First time I didn't punt early.

Free ways to improve that worked for me:
- **CardsChat threads**: Lurk "Learning Poker" daily

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That’s a lot to take in, but it makes sense, especially about my bankroll management. I realize now it hasn’t been solid, and I also don’t have clear rules for re-entries in MTTs.

I’m going to work on fixing that and start applying your advice. Thanks again for the guidance 🙏

u had a good run, now it´s gone standard stuff

Probably just on an extended bad/unlucky streak. Keep playing and just push through. ez game