MTT
TournamentAliases: MTT, 多桌锦标赛, Multi Table Tournament
MTT is a multi-table tournament running across many tables simultaneously. Variance is higher than cash and SNG, and late-stage ICM is a core skill.
MTT (Multi-Table Tournament) is a tournament that runs across many tables at once, with tables consolidating as players bust. Field sizes range from a few dozen to thousands or even tens of thousands.
Detailed Explanation
MTT characteristics:
- Buy-in = max loss: you can only lose your buy-in per event, but win far more than buy-in in prizes
- Top-heavy prize structure: typically 1st takes 15-30% of the pool, top 10% cash
- Staged: early deep-stacked play, mid-stage accumulation, late-stage ICM–driven
- High variance: per-event variance is extreme — you need 5,000+ events to assess your true ROI
- Rewards theoretical depth: late-stage decisions matter most; deeper theory raises ROI more
MTT stage strategy:
| Stage | Stack | Dominant thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Early (first 20%) | 100bb+ | Near-cash (chipEV) |
| Middle (20-60%) | 30-60bb | Accumulation + blind-stealing |
| Mid-late (60-85%) | 15-30bb | ICM begins to matter |
| Bubble + FT | 10-25bb | ICM-dominant |
| Heads-up | Variable | Returns toward chipEV |
MTT bankroll requirements far exceed cash:
- 6-max cash: 30-50 buy-ins
- MTT: 100 buy-ins minimum, 200+ for safety
The gap comes from variance — you can go 100+ MTTs without cashing, which tests both your mindset and bankroll severely.
Common Use Cases
- Recreational players: small-buy-in MTTs let you chase big prizes with a small bankroll
- Stepping up from SNGs: after grasping ICM, expanding from SNGs to MTTs is the natural path
- Live MTTs: fewer events but longer duration — different strategy weighting
- Online MTT grind: requires multi-tabling to make hourly rates work