Hi Tim, hope you are well. I'm on my way to earning 5000 points through the full tilt academy. Just wondering which represent better value 1 $26 token or 5000 ftp's ? They are the same price in the store.
My logic was that when 9 people enter an 1800ftp tournament, 3 tokens are awarded. Thus the value of each $26 is 5400ftp. So 5400 > 5000 and I should buy the token.
Does this appear to be sound ?
hey nibanna,
I can't see a problem with your logic 
Also it seems purchasing tokens with your academy credits does not affect rakeback according to the FAQ.
Tim
The sooner someone can tell me what FTP's latest adjustment to its structure of FTP based tournaments means for my challenge, the better.
I'm thoroughly confused 
It seems like the 1800 FTP tournaments I used to play, and which paid $26 tourney tokens, are a thing of the past.
Instead, I can now buy tournament tickets directly with my FTP but at what seems to be a significantly worse rate:
Old System
1800 FTP = 1/3 of $26 (1 in 3 chance of winning $26 token). Therefore 1800 FTP = $8.67
New System
I now have to spend 1950 FTP to buy a Step 2 ticket (buyin value $8.70) which, if I win, provides me with a $26 value Step 3 ticket. So unless I'm very much mistaken, my challenge will cost me an extra 150 FTP for each trny I play. In addition, the prize pool for the Step 2 tourneys is $72.20, instead of $78 under the old system. And the split of prizes is such that there are only 2 $26 step tickets up for grabs, instead of 3.
Have I missed something?
Even more important, as far as I'm concerned is this: at what point and how do I turn my tournament tickets or step tickets into cold, hard cash?
The rules state that I can use step 3 and above tickets to enter any tournament of that value. But all I can find in the way of tournaments for either $26 or $75 entry fees are 45 man sngs. So again, unless I'm missing something, these changes seem to make it considerably harder for me to turn my FTP into $ by playing tournaments.
Advice earnestly sought!
Tim64
Looks like you are stuck with a 5% increase in points for your $26 value.
The answers thread says there are many "exit points" meaning SNGS and MTTs that you can buy into now. Maybe the software is still buggy like it always is after they update and you can not see all the available things to play.
i agree having also played the 1800 tournies. The system gives us much less value for our points but i am earning points at an accelerated rate due to rushpoker
Originally posted by nibbana
Hi Tim, hope you are well. I'm on my way to earning 5000 points through the full tilt academy. Just wondering which represent better value 1 $26 token or 5000 ftp's ? They are the same price in the store.My logic was that when 9 people enter an 1800ftp tournament, 3 tokens are awarded. Thus the value of each $26 is 5400ftp. So 5400 > 5000 and I should buy the token.
Does this appear to be sound ?
your logic is flawed b/c u did not consider your edge in the points tounament. the odds of u finishing in the money r imo about 1:2.5 which makes the $26 worth only 4500 if u play the satellite. u also have to consider that playing the satellite will take 40 minutes which u could spend playing your normal game.
FTP has definitely devalued their FTPs in this update.
I used to by in to the daily dollars with 200 points. Now you can't use the direct buy-in, but you have to buy from the store. And it also costs 240 points now. bummer.
Oh man, what a ripoff, no more 1800 FTP SNGS? 
I made a small fortune out of those, and now the dream is denied.
I hope you can come up with some new cool challenge which I can copycat as well 
Originally posted by fun101rockets
your logic is flawed b/c u did not consider your edge in the points tounament. the odds of u finishing in the money r imo about 1:2.5 which makes the $26 worth only 4500 if u play the satellite. u also have to consider that playing the satellite will take 40 minutes which u could spend playing your normal game.
It doesn't matter anymore anyhow, they stopped selling the tokens and you can only buy points with your academy credits now 
Seems like they are changing a few things, given the FTP changes mentioned here and the changes to the buyins for the Super Turbo SNG's
I think FT's decision to scrap the 1800 FTP SnGs may have been a blessing in disguise.
As you'll recall, since starting this blog, my main aim has been to find a way to convert FTP and IMs to $ cash. My original plan was to play the 1800s to gain $26 tokens, play the $26 9 man turbo SnGs to win $75 tokens and use these to enter 9 man tournaments that... finally... paid out cash prizes.
My first response to the introduction of Steps was to utter a four letter word beginning with 'f'. It seemed the tournaments I was hoping to play no longer paid out $ cash, just more tickets instead.
This lead me to look a bit deeper at what tournaments were available with a buyin of $26. Basically there seem to be no single table tournaments at either the $26 or $75 level that pay out cash. I really didn't want to play the 45 or 90 man MTTs which are time consuming and variance rich and (most importantly) would require me to learn another poker skill.
But, I think I've found a possible half-way house. The $26 matrix tournaments are 9man SnGs which pay out cash. As there are 9 man turbos available I should be familiar-ish with the format and as cash is paid at this level, there will no longer be a need to get to the $75s to start turning my VURT into dollars.
So this is my plan: start using my $26 tokens and tickets to play these tournaments and see what kind of return I can get. And that will remain the plan.... RIGHT UP TO THE POINT FULL TILT CHANGE THE RULES ON ME AGAIN ♦
P.S. If anyone has played Matrix and can give me pointers as to how to maximise profit given the complex payout rules, I'd be appreciative.
Tim64
Let me get this correct in my head..........
you will be playing the steps games to gain a $26 ticket?
Hi Tim, I clocked that this would be the quickest route out for cash too. I've played $5/$26 Super Turbo and $26 Turbo Matrix tournaments. You get a point for each person you outlast so one or two have been a little nitty. You get 2 points for KO's though plus the 1 point for outlasting the person you KO'd, so I think being a little more aggressive than your standard SNG is the best bet or at least this is what I've been trying !
I don't think you'll have much problem beating these, it's just whether you can get the volume you want in - they do take some time to fill
All the best,
nibbana
Thanks, nibbana, for that - will give it some thought. Glad I am on more or less the right track with my reasoning!
@lennonac: This is the bit of the plan that I haven't yet worked out. My suspicion is that grinding the $3.30s with FTP is going to be time consuming and frustrating. At 750 a pop this is rather bad value ($.044/FTP compared with $0.048 for the old 1800s) but, then again, buying the $26 tickets is just as poor value.
Hmmmm...
I think I need to forget what the deal was for the old system and just accept the fact that the 'price' of these tourneys has gone up and therefore effective r/back has dropped a few 10ths of a per cent (from around 3.38% rback for FTPs gained to around 3.12% - around a 0.25% reduction)...
Ok, so on that basis I have to think about $/hr once again. I will lose ROI by buying $26 tickets directly compared to earning them by grinding step 1 and step 2 tickets. BUT... my slightly increased ROI will never compensate for the loss in $/hr if I elect to grind the $3.30s rather than just playing those tournaments that allow me to convert FTP to $ with reasonable effeciency.
The purpose of this blog is to find a the best overall rake crystalisation tournament for my game taking into account 1. ROI 2. $/hr and 3. ease of conversion and NOT simply to maximise the pure $ value of my rakeback at the expense of other considerations.
Progress update to come...
Its a shame you cant buy in to step 1 with ftp's
You can, I think. Just go to Full Tilt store, select Tournament Tickets as your shop category and Steps tickets from there. Step 1 tkts are 750 ftp each.
-Tim
tim u need nothing fancy to play the matrix . play them as u play your usual sngs ,i just suggest u to play just 1 matrix per time so u canfocus on your opponents . i dont have big sample of these sngs (like 6-7) but for a winning sng player as u is really impossible NOT to cash anything from these , their format make them really low variance games and the opponents are sure worse than the 6.5$ turbo sngs . the only disadvantage is that they take ages to fill in
@ schris - thanks, that's helpful. It's a good point about the relatively low variance. I've played 2 (low limit just for practice) and not covered my buyin on either, but at least cashed partially.
Challenge summary:
FTP: 11213 (equiv $49.3 @ $.0044$/FTP)
IM Medals: c600 (equiv. 4.29 $26 tokens or $111.43)
$26 Tickets: 6 (equiv. $156)
$75 Tokens: 0
Value of Uncrystalised Rakeback Total (VURT): $316.73
A picture paints a thousand words:
This is my first serious success at the rakeback crystallisation game and I'm delighted to report turning a $26 token into $60.48.
Over and out.
Tim64
Bravo !
Have you considered how much you lose in edge playing the Super Turbo matrix ? Because you pay $1 less in rake so $25 goes to the prizepool. Just a thought...
