Betsizing in MTTs vs Cash
Betsizing in MTTs is fundamentally different from cash games. Why?
In cash games, your chip EV is always the same as your dollar EV. One dollar on a cash game is always worth a dollar.
In MTTs, 1$ of tournament chips changes value as the tournament goes on. For example, you can hold 99% of the chips at the table, and your opponent can hold 1% in an MTT, but you will still only win 50-70% of the prize pool for first place. So, in MTTs the fundamental unit for determining betsizing is not # of chips, or BB, but stack-pot ratio.
Fundamentally, you don’t want to bet (or call) too large in MTTs because being pot committed can mean losing a tournament.
Betsizing in MTTs: Early, Middle, Late Stage
Remember how when you were a kid, a dollar seemed like a lot of money? You could buy candy for yourself and your friends. As you grew into a teenager, 1$ was nothing, but 10$ could get you a movie date with a popcorn. As an adult, 10$ barely buys lunch. A similar concept applies in poker.
In a cash game, a minraise is always worth the same amount: 1bb in cash, generally 1% of a full stack. However, in an MTT, a minraise can vary. The table below is not exact, but meant to demonstrate how a 2bb steal and a 3bb (3/4th) Cbet changes based on your stack depth.
| Tournament Stage | Usual Stacks | Minraise Fraction (% of a stack) | 3/4 pot Cbet Fraction (% of a stack) |
| High Stack-pot Ratio (Early) | 50-100bb | 2-4% | 3-5% |
| Medium Stack-pot Ratio (Middle) | 20-50bb | 4-10% | 6-15% |
| Low Stack-pot Ratio (Late) | 5-20 | 10-40% | 15-100% |
Obviously then, as an MTT goes on, smaller betsizes carry larger relative amounts of fold equity. Because of how quickly you can become pot-committed later in a tournament, smaller cbets and steals become appropriate. These smaller sizes allow postflop play in situations where you might otherwise easily find yourself in push or fold situations.
Some inexact guidelines you could follow are:
In early stages raises of 3x, 4x preflop may be standard, with 3-4x 3bet and 2.5x 4bet sizes being appropriate. 2/3 to 3/4 pot cbets are generally the standard.
In middle stages, 2-3x preflop raises are generally standard, with 2.5-3x 3bets and 2x 4bets being more standard. 1/2- 2/3 pot cbets are generally standard here.
In late stages, minraises (or all-ins under 8-10 SPR) are the only way to allow post-flop play. 3bets are generally smaller, and min4bet (if stacks are deep enough) are used. 1/2 pot (or push/fold) cbetting is standard.
Betsizing in MTTs: Special Considerations
Certain circumstances should cause you to think twice about your betsizing:
- Your stack is short (low SPR <10): Generally think about playing push/fold. You have little room for postflop play at this depth.
- You are playing with a large stack against short stacks: Again, play push/fold. Use fold equity to threaten elimination to the smaller stacks and steal aggressively.
- Your opponents play exploitably and fold too much to minraises: elect to minraise to steal, over pushing
- Your opponents play exploitably and fold too much to pushes but make bad calls to minraises: try to get value with minrases, keep pushing as a steal.
