I've been moving back into MTT SNG's lately.  The competition is just much weaker at the mid-stakes than in 9 mans.  The problem is that getting a decent volume of $24 18-mans is impossible at FT.  They rarely load even during peak hours.  This has gotten me thinking about moving to the darkside... ie PokerStars.

Although I think PokerStars has a lot going for it, the playerpool is noticibly better at the low stakes and their tournament buyin levels are weird.  The real downside though is that you lose out on the steady stream of rakeback that you can get from Full Tilt.  Unless you are a very high volume player, PokerStars rakeback is terrible. So I have spent a lot of time emphasizing to my students that when they are building their bankroll FT is a better choice.  Now I feel like a turncoat.

However, there are some decent options for cashing out your rakeback at PS that do not involve hitting massive volume levels.  As I described in my video on the "Hyperturbo 6max Satellites" on Drag the Bar, you can convert the VPP's to cash relatively easily. Even though you will not be getting the high volume percentage like you would if you were hitting Supernova or Supernova elite its still a viable option for lower stakes players.  Just spend your VPPs on tournament buyins and role it into cash or tourney tickets for other events. Although the eventual payoff is less certain than rakeback on FT, its still a great way to go even for someone earning only a few thousand VPPs at a time.

So don't hate me for being a turncoat.  Sometimes you just have to go where the games are.

Good luck at the tables!
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