After running fairly bad in mid October in the live $20/$40 game, I've had a number of consecutive sessions that ranged from break even to great results; i.e. monotonically increasing bankroll :P. The first few of those sessions I think I was making good decisions in marginal situations.
During my most recent session I sitting around feeling very happy. I was smiling and joking around since I was having a great session. However, I made several incorrect decisions in marginal situations. I didn't think too much about it at the time and just continued to sit around in my Homer Simpson-like state.
This was in a live game where I had time to think about how the action went, and because of the slow pace of play, I can still remember most hands after the session is over. Whenever I am having a bad session, I am immediately reviewing in excruciating detail what I (think I) did right and wrong. It should make no difference if I am having a good or bad session. I wonder how often this kind of thing is happening in my online play. I should go back and review my "good" online sessions. I should, but I probably won't. But I should.....
Hmmm, my discipline is increasingly becoming questionable. So much for trying to work on my psychological game.
I made (at least) 3BB of mistakes today, and those 3BB are gone. Gone forever.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Online Satellites
I've been playing online rebuy satellites for the last 4 days; namely $20, $27, $33 satellites, and $2, $3 qualifiers at Stars and Dise. So far, I've played somewhere between 15-20 of these.
I see a number of "name" online players in these events. So far, I've been at the same table as 5 players from PocketFive's tournament ranking list. I am not surprised that the players that win a large number of packages play in a ~lot~ of satellites. I suspect their success is not only because of quality but quantity as well.
I've become comfortable in 6-8 tabling a mix of games; 1-3 NL satellites with 4-5 small stakes limit ring games. In the past, I've disliked mixing Limit and No-Limit at the same time, but I don't think it is a big deal anymore. If I am in decent shape by the late 3rd hour of a sat, I will substantially cut down on the multitabling.
Some thoughts
1) I always rebuy on hand #1, and am willing to rebuy anytime I am permitted to during the first half hour. I will do an add-on if I am below average. I will likely not rebuy in the last couple of levels of the 1st hour.
2) During the second hour when I have no larger than 1.5x the average stack, I am perfectly content to jam (preflop or on the flop) in any situation that I strongly suspect I will successfully get my money in headsup in a coin flip (or better). You don't need to desperately search for these situations as they are very abundant given the loose play in these sats. My reasoning is that a large percentage of the big stacks are playing very loose and aggressive, so I am willing to take even money situations (at that stage of the sat) to build a stack that is capable of becoming a monster stack.
3) A monster stack is overrated. :P In these satellites anyway. Don't count on using the stack to push too many people around until fairly late in the sat. In these events, it seems to me that the benefits of a monster stack is mainly that you can be more conservative against small and average stacks (in that you don't have to get involved with them without a pretty strong hand), and you can see more flops againist other huge stacks with speculative hands. I think these things are true given the amount of time I have available to pay attention to a particular satellite. It would probably make more difference if I was dedicating 100% of my attention to just one table.
4) I need to better incorporate re-steals into my repetoire during the 3rd hour.
5) The 12 minute levels at Paradise (for these buy in levels) make for noticibly more short stack play during the mid and late levels when compared to the 15 minute levels at Stars.
6) I like to keep the tournament lobby windows handy (to keep track of the blinds, number of players, time to next level, etc), so it gets harder to multitable if playing 3 tournaments. I wonder if I should get another video card so that I can use a 3rd monitor.
That is all I can think of for now. Perhaps I will have more thoughts after sitting through a few more of these.
I see a number of "name" online players in these events. So far, I've been at the same table as 5 players from PocketFive's tournament ranking list. I am not surprised that the players that win a large number of packages play in a ~lot~ of satellites. I suspect their success is not only because of quality but quantity as well.
I've become comfortable in 6-8 tabling a mix of games; 1-3 NL satellites with 4-5 small stakes limit ring games. In the past, I've disliked mixing Limit and No-Limit at the same time, but I don't think it is a big deal anymore. If I am in decent shape by the late 3rd hour of a sat, I will substantially cut down on the multitabling.
Some thoughts
1) I always rebuy on hand #1, and am willing to rebuy anytime I am permitted to during the first half hour. I will do an add-on if I am below average. I will likely not rebuy in the last couple of levels of the 1st hour.
2) During the second hour when I have no larger than 1.5x the average stack, I am perfectly content to jam (preflop or on the flop) in any situation that I strongly suspect I will successfully get my money in headsup in a coin flip (or better). You don't need to desperately search for these situations as they are very abundant given the loose play in these sats. My reasoning is that a large percentage of the big stacks are playing very loose and aggressive, so I am willing to take even money situations (at that stage of the sat) to build a stack that is capable of becoming a monster stack.
3) A monster stack is overrated. :P In these satellites anyway. Don't count on using the stack to push too many people around until fairly late in the sat. In these events, it seems to me that the benefits of a monster stack is mainly that you can be more conservative against small and average stacks (in that you don't have to get involved with them without a pretty strong hand), and you can see more flops againist other huge stacks with speculative hands. I think these things are true given the amount of time I have available to pay attention to a particular satellite. It would probably make more difference if I was dedicating 100% of my attention to just one table.
4) I need to better incorporate re-steals into my repetoire during the 3rd hour.
5) The 12 minute levels at Paradise (for these buy in levels) make for noticibly more short stack play during the mid and late levels when compared to the 15 minute levels at Stars.
6) I like to keep the tournament lobby windows handy (to keep track of the blinds, number of players, time to next level, etc), so it gets harder to multitable if playing 3 tournaments. I wonder if I should get another video card so that I can use a 3rd monitor.
That is all I can think of for now. Perhaps I will have more thoughts after sitting through a few more of these.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
October update
October was quite a rollercoaster ride. I started the month by cashing fairly high at a live NL tourney. Cash games were respectable, though not great. In the middle 2 weeks of the month, I busted out of 3 substantially large tournaments without cashing (I had been hoping my tournament EV from these 3 events would be in the range of $6-9k, so this was a disappointment. and yes I know I am cocky). My cash games really went south.... really, really south. The last weekend of the month, I invested a substantial amount of effort in playing in satellite tournaments with very favorable results. Cash game results were steady in the last week.
Overall, results-wise it was a decent month.
My online bankroll is sufficiently funded to safely play $15/$30 (which was a goal I had in August), and my live bankroll is sufficiently funded to safely play $20/$40. For online ring games, I will continue to play almost exclusively $3/$6 6 max and $3/$6 10 max until I have sufficient data accumulated to statistically (with 95% confidence) demonstrate that I am a winning player.
0.95 CI lower bound $3/$6 6max: -2.64BB/100h over 11k hands
0.95 CI lower bound $3/$6 10max: -0.52BB/100h over 27k hands
I will attempt to grind out a large number of hands at Party in November to have some reasonable VIP status there (I will definitely have enough Party points to make it to Silver on 1/1/06, but it is unlikely that I will have the legs to make it to Gold). For live ring games, $20/$40 will continue to be my game of choice. I will occasionally take a shot at $30/$60 (when available) and $40/$80, particular when the game looks good.
Investment-wise, I purchased a 3rd Dell 2001FP so that I could use a 2nd one with my home PC (the other is in the office) and a new set of headphones (Sony MDR-V600). I purchased 4 more poker/gambling related books, and I will shortly be purchasing the released version of PokerAce HUD. I did not make any additional financial commitments for any new poker-related trips (although I already booked the expenses for my Foxwoods and December Vegas trips in September). I don't anticipate any substantial upcoming poker expenses, so I have a choice as to what to do with any near term earnings. I can either take some cash out of the poker bankroll or perhaps try to build up the live bankroll for higher levels.
On the learning front, I've tried to branch out and learn 2-7 Triple Draw and Omaha H/L. I am still a newbie, but I hope to put in an additional 15-20 table hours in November plus whatever reading I can squeeze in. My goal on the learning front is to be capable of playing in the Wynn $10/$20 mixed game on my December Vegas trip.
Satellite Update:
I only budgeted $3k for satellite entries for the next 3 months, but in typical donkey fashion, I went crazy in the first 48 hours and spent $627 of the budget (as well as 1000FPPoints at Stars, but hey, those don't count right??). At this rate, the budget won't last through the end of the year.
$ spent: $627
$ returned to general poker bankroll: $2150
Net W$ or $T: W$650
Other: $10k Bay 101 seat
Overall, results-wise it was a decent month.
My online bankroll is sufficiently funded to safely play $15/$30 (which was a goal I had in August), and my live bankroll is sufficiently funded to safely play $20/$40. For online ring games, I will continue to play almost exclusively $3/$6 6 max and $3/$6 10 max until I have sufficient data accumulated to statistically (with 95% confidence) demonstrate that I am a winning player.
0.95 CI lower bound $3/$6 6max: -2.64BB/100h over 11k hands
0.95 CI lower bound $3/$6 10max: -0.52BB/100h over 27k hands
I will attempt to grind out a large number of hands at Party in November to have some reasonable VIP status there (I will definitely have enough Party points to make it to Silver on 1/1/06, but it is unlikely that I will have the legs to make it to Gold). For live ring games, $20/$40 will continue to be my game of choice. I will occasionally take a shot at $30/$60 (when available) and $40/$80, particular when the game looks good.
Investment-wise, I purchased a 3rd Dell 2001FP so that I could use a 2nd one with my home PC (the other is in the office) and a new set of headphones (Sony MDR-V600). I purchased 4 more poker/gambling related books, and I will shortly be purchasing the released version of PokerAce HUD. I did not make any additional financial commitments for any new poker-related trips (although I already booked the expenses for my Foxwoods and December Vegas trips in September). I don't anticipate any substantial upcoming poker expenses, so I have a choice as to what to do with any near term earnings. I can either take some cash out of the poker bankroll or perhaps try to build up the live bankroll for higher levels.
On the learning front, I've tried to branch out and learn 2-7 Triple Draw and Omaha H/L. I am still a newbie, but I hope to put in an additional 15-20 table hours in November plus whatever reading I can squeeze in. My goal on the learning front is to be capable of playing in the Wynn $10/$20 mixed game on my December Vegas trip.
Satellite Update:
I only budgeted $3k for satellite entries for the next 3 months, but in typical donkey fashion, I went crazy in the first 48 hours and spent $627 of the budget (as well as 1000FPPoints at Stars, but hey, those don't count right??). At this rate, the budget won't last through the end of the year.
$ spent: $627
$ returned to general poker bankroll: $2150
Net W$ or $T: W$650
Other: $10k Bay 101 seat
Monday, October 31, 2005
Paradise rocks
I've never had a reason to have any interaction with the staff at Paradise Poker until today, and I must say that I was very satisfied with the whole experience. Given some possible complications in spending the week in Connecticut because of scheduling issues with my day job, I emailed their Promotions department requesting to exchange my $10k+$200 Foxwoods seat for a $9600+$400 Bay 101 Shooting Stars seat which runs in late February 2006. I was more than willing to make an even swap to let Paradise keep the $200 for the trouble.
The Promotions manager fairly quickly replied that although it was not their normal policy to allow such exchanges, they were willing to accomodate this request given how soon the Foxwoods event begins. As soon as I confirmed that I wanted to go ahead with this, she instantly credited my account for an additional $200 and just like that I'm a "member of Team Paradise for Bay 101 Shooting Stars".
It was a quick, easy, and painless affair. Try doing that at Party Poker. You'll be lucky if they even understand your request by the second exchange of emails, let alone actually let you do a switch. It is nice once in a while to have a company meet or exceed your expectations.
I'll still be heading out to Foxwoods during the weekend of the start of the main event (from a poker trip that I previously planned in September) to play in some side action cash games, but I will be sitting out the main event. The funny thing is that I'll probably get more table hours in from this trip then if I actually played in the main event. Dead money indeed.
The Promotions manager fairly quickly replied that although it was not their normal policy to allow such exchanges, they were willing to accomodate this request given how soon the Foxwoods event begins. As soon as I confirmed that I wanted to go ahead with this, she instantly credited my account for an additional $200 and just like that I'm a "member of Team Paradise for Bay 101 Shooting Stars".
It was a quick, easy, and painless affair. Try doing that at Party Poker. You'll be lucky if they even understand your request by the second exchange of emails, let alone actually let you do a switch. It is nice once in a while to have a company meet or exceed your expectations.
I'll still be heading out to Foxwoods during the weekend of the start of the main event (from a poker trip that I previously planned in September) to play in some side action cash games, but I will be sitting out the main event. The funny thing is that I'll probably get more table hours in from this trip then if I actually played in the main event. Dead money indeed.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Foxwoods Satellite
6:23pm
Whew, I'm currently in 1st in the $30 Foxwoods satellite at Dise (1 $11.5k package only), 20 players remaining...
"Don't do anything stupid!!"
6:41pm
Okay, 3rd break. I'm 3rd in chips with about 11.5% of total chips. That means I have an 11.5% chance to win, right? hmmmm, don't do anything stupid.
The structure of this tournament is pretty tough. The average chip stack has less than 8xbb.
7:10pm
Whew, 1st place w 6 left. DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!!!
7:37pm
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I WON!!
Not sure what is wrong with their ranking list, some guy (Trod0018) got left on the list. But anyway, I did it!
I just plain got lucky. I won 3 coin flips for all (or essentially all) my chips, my KK held up to A9 for all my chips, my AA held up to AQo for all my chips. I can't count how many times I was all in. The AA vs. AQo hand was the worst one to sweat as the villian flopped a Q (with backdoor draws), turned a flush draw, and bricked on the river. Paradise has pretty dramatically long delays between the flop, turn and river.
Whew, I can't take this anymore. POKER IS TOO STRESSFUL!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
While I was playing this satellite, I was also playing in a $3 qualifier for the $615+$35 PCA super, and I was one of the 5 winners! I decided to unregister for the $650 event, and convert it into W$. I think I'm going to try and save up these W$ for a WSOP event.
Whew, I'm currently in 1st in the $30 Foxwoods satellite at Dise (1 $11.5k package only), 20 players remaining...
"Don't do anything stupid!!"
6:41pm
Okay, 3rd break. I'm 3rd in chips with about 11.5% of total chips. That means I have an 11.5% chance to win, right? hmmmm, don't do anything stupid.
The structure of this tournament is pretty tough. The average chip stack has less than 8xbb.
7:10pm
Whew, 1st place w 6 left. DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!!!
7:37pm
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I WON!!
Not sure what is wrong with their ranking list, some guy (Trod0018) got left on the list. But anyway, I did it!
I just plain got lucky. I won 3 coin flips for all (or essentially all) my chips, my KK held up to A9 for all my chips, my AA held up to AQo for all my chips. I can't count how many times I was all in. The AA vs. AQo hand was the worst one to sweat as the villian flopped a Q (with backdoor draws), turned a flush draw, and bricked on the river. Paradise has pretty dramatically long delays between the flop, turn and river.
Whew, I can't take this anymore. POKER IS TOO STRESSFUL!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
While I was playing this satellite, I was also playing in a $3 qualifier for the $615+$35 PCA super, and I was one of the 5 winners! I decided to unregister for the $650 event, and convert it into W$. I think I'm going to try and save up these W$ for a WSOP event.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
PCA or bust
11:27pm
Whew, I'm 2nd in the $30+$3 PCA (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure) super tonight with 22 players remaining. Just one $12k seat and 5 $650 consolation prizes. Who the heck cares about finishing in the money? It is first or bust!
11:35pm
My QQ went in preflop against a smallish stack's KK and didn't suck out...
11:41pm
Damn, I'm an idiot. I was in the SB w AA w 19xBB. UTG+1 opens for 3xbb, CO flat calls, I pop it to 11xBB. Both fold.
17 more to go.
12:13am
Woohoo, final table. I'm 2nd last.... :(
12:27am
"I'm in the money. So little money...."
12:50am
Well, just before the third break I lost an all in coin flip when my A9o couldn't hold off KQo. I've dropped from about 20% of total chips down to 8% of total chips with 5 players remaining. Boy, I feel so out of practice playing a winner takes all 5 person sitngo. I'm playing way too scared.
12:52am
Well, I got my last 66k chips in with a dominated hand K9o vs AKo and did not suck out. I finished 5th for a pay out of $650.
I really hate myself for the way I played in the last hour. There were 2 occasions that I had a monster (AA preflop, and trips on the flop) in 3 way situations, and I bet my opponents out of the pot. In the trips hand (with ~8 players remaining), there was a flush draw on the flop so I made a definitive raise on the SB's flop bet from the BB to protect my hand. In this winner takes all format, I should definitely try to trap my opponents to get them all in on the turn.
Whew, I'm 2nd in the $30+$3 PCA (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure) super tonight with 22 players remaining. Just one $12k seat and 5 $650 consolation prizes. Who the heck cares about finishing in the money? It is first or bust!
11:35pm
My QQ went in preflop against a smallish stack's KK and didn't suck out...
11:41pm
Damn, I'm an idiot. I was in the SB w AA w 19xBB. UTG+1 opens for 3xbb, CO flat calls, I pop it to 11xBB. Both fold.
17 more to go.
12:13am
Woohoo, final table. I'm 2nd last.... :(
12:27am
"I'm in the money. So little money...."
12:50am
Well, just before the third break I lost an all in coin flip when my A9o couldn't hold off KQo. I've dropped from about 20% of total chips down to 8% of total chips with 5 players remaining. Boy, I feel so out of practice playing a winner takes all 5 person sitngo. I'm playing way too scared.
12:52am
Well, I got my last 66k chips in with a dominated hand K9o vs AKo and did not suck out. I finished 5th for a pay out of $650.
I really hate myself for the way I played in the last hour. There were 2 occasions that I had a monster (AA preflop, and trips on the flop) in 3 way situations, and I bet my opponents out of the pot. In the trips hand (with ~8 players remaining), there was a flush draw on the flop so I made a definitive raise on the SB's flop bet from the BB to protect my hand. In this winner takes all format, I should definitely try to trap my opponents to get them all in on the turn.
Almost the bubble boy
I am 0/1 in my attempt to win a seat to a major event. $325/$3000 spent.
My first shot was today at a super satellite to a $10k WPT event in early 2006. This was a live $100+$25 NLHE rebuy event. The structure was $1000T for the buy in, multiple $100 rebuys for $1000T during the first hour (any time you have $1000T or less), and a single $100 add-on for $2000T.
I finished 13th/108, slightly out of the money where the payout structure was something like:
1st and 2nd: $10k seat to a WPT event + $240 cash
3: $2k seat, + $2100 cash
4: $2500
5: $1000
6: $700
7: $600
8: $500
9: $400
10: $300
A ~very~ top heavy payout. About 5/6 of the total prize pool going to the top 3 places. I would realisitcally say that finishing 6th is like finishing on the bubble; so I'm really stretching it to say that I almost finished on the bubble.
There were 20 minute levels and the blind structure was as follows:
25/25, 25/50, 50/100, break
100/200, 200/400, 300/600, break
500/1000, 1000/2000, 1500/3000, break
2000/4000, 3000/6000, 4000/8000, break
5000/10000, 10000/15000, 10000/20000
In the actual tournament, after all rebuys and add ons, there were a total of $389,000T chips in play.
How did I run during this tournament?
Starting level 4, I was slightly above average chips, 22.5xbb (~95 players remaining)
From level 6 onwards, my stack size never exceeded 10xbb.
Starting level 7, I had ~45% of average chips 3xbb (~60 players remaining)
Starting level 10, I had close to average chips 4.5xbb (21 players)
These were all of my major hands:
- I was all in exactly two hands during this tournament, including my last hand which was a coin flip.
- I was involved in 4 all in preflop coin flips, winning 2 and losing 2
- I was involved in 3 PP vs Ax (where x is an unsuited undercard, and I had the PP), winning all 3.
- I had 2 slightly smaller stacks both all in with AA vs their QQ and AKo and lost when the board came xxxKK.
So overall I ran better than average.
During the duration of the tournament, I was faced with a number of decisions. I'm not sure how good my decisions were so I will list them here to reflect on them some more:
Decisions:
#1: Should I enter this event at all (given I am willing to spend $3000 on satellite entries) given the structure? Actual Decision: enter Thoughts: Is this event just a crapshoot with $25 juice and average time consumed, door to door, ~4 hours?
#2: Should I rebuy at all, and if so when should I rebuy? Actual Decision: rebuy. During the second orbit I concluded that my starting table was the best table I had been at for a Saturday tournament in at least the last 2 months. There were 5 opponents (at a 10 seated table) that were extremely poor (willing to commit their entire stack on any hand where they had any pair or any draw on the flop) and no smart loose aggressive opponents. There is no need to give any examples, just trust me, this was the case, and it was demonstrated multiple times during the first hour. (total rebuys at this table were 10, but could probably have been closer to 15 if the chips hadn't moved back and forth a few times). Result: I finished level 3 with $2500T.
#3: Should I take the add on? There were roughly 95 players with average chips somewhere around $2200T, the overwhelming majority would be taking the add on, so average chips entering level 4 would be ~$4200T. Actual Decision: add on to start level 4 with $4500T.
#4: Having very recently been crippled in level 5 (200/400 blinds), it is folded to me in the small blind where I have $1500T. BB has $1200T and is very loose preflop. My hand is Q4o, which is slightly worse than 50% against a random hand. Should I move in or muck? Actual Decision: move all in. Result: My opponent went into the tank for over 30 seconds, and then called with 67o (very close to a coin flip); neither of us improved. Thoughts: I don't know if I made a mistake. I believe I should certainly push with any hand that is 50% or better than an average hand. My opponent's calling range is probably 90% of all hands, or put another way my opponent will lay down 10% of the worst possible hands. Any knowledgeable player should assume that SB will move in with any 2 cards, so any knowledgeable player should blindly call since even 23o is getting the right price at 2:1. Given an opponent that will fold 10% of his hands, what % of random hands do I need to beat to move in?
#5: In level 8 ($1000T/$2000T), I have been moved to this table in the last 2 orbits and played exactly one hand where I moved in and stole the blinds. It is folded to me in the CO and I find KcKs. Button is on the conservative side, SB has "average" preflop standards, BB is a little tight. I believe that BB is not sophisticated enough to recognize that a less than all in raise probably means a very strong hand. I have $9500T, button has $12000T, SB $16000T, BB $8000T, 26 people remain, avg chips ~$15kT. What's my play? Actual Decision: Move all in. Result: Button and SB quickly mucked. BB went into the tank for about 1 minute and mucked.
Thoughts:Should I have made a less than all in raise? Would this have increased the probability of getting action? Which hands to I want action from? I think I welcome action from any worse hands from all players, just so long as all the money goes in preflop. If only 1 player calls, how much of his stack do I want in before the flop?
#6: In level 10 ($2kT/$4kT), we are 6 seated (13 players remaining total), I have moved in twice already in this orbit where I was called once and showed AKo. I have $28kT, very close to avg chips, UTG and find pocket 5s. The 3 chip leaders at the table are on the button, SB and BB, who have between $45kT and $65kT. I am about 8th or 9th in chips. What's my play? Actual Decision: Move all in. Result: only SB called with AK and SB won the coin flip. Thoughts: At this stage of the tournament with my chip stack, I could probably have a 75% chance of folding my way into the money. Given the top heavy payout, this is a poor strategy. I think UTG, at this 6 seated table, I should push with any pair, any A better than A7o, any K better than K8o, and even some other hands as bad as QTs, J9s. The 2 short stacks at my table are playing very tight, and the big stacks are ~not~ playing particularly loose.
#7: Did I play too tightly during rounds 5-10 since I was hovering around 6-7xbb for the majority of that time? Overall, players were substantially tighter starting in round 7. I missed ~4 actual occasions where it was folded to me (somewhere between MP -> MP+2) where I had a trash hand, mucked, and it was folded to at least the SB.
$3000 to spend on satellites will go pretty darn fast if I'm spending $325 a pop. One other thing I should make a note of is that: I had fun. I enjoy these live $100 buy in tournaments much more than online ones, and I find them considerably more exciting that limit ring games.
The 2nd half of these tournaments are almost entirely about all in moves with 3-10xbb stacks which means a huge amount of luck. I believe that over 70% of the field have a poor grasp of the all in values of most hands, so in the long run I still think there is some "skill" in that stage of the tournament. Unfortunately, the long run dwarfs the number of entries I will make into these events.
My first shot was today at a super satellite to a $10k WPT event in early 2006. This was a live $100+$25 NLHE rebuy event. The structure was $1000T for the buy in, multiple $100 rebuys for $1000T during the first hour (any time you have $1000T or less), and a single $100 add-on for $2000T.
I finished 13th/108, slightly out of the money where the payout structure was something like:
1st and 2nd: $10k seat to a WPT event + $240 cash
3: $2k seat, + $2100 cash
4: $2500
5: $1000
6: $700
7: $600
8: $500
9: $400
10: $300
A ~very~ top heavy payout. About 5/6 of the total prize pool going to the top 3 places. I would realisitcally say that finishing 6th is like finishing on the bubble; so I'm really stretching it to say that I almost finished on the bubble.
There were 20 minute levels and the blind structure was as follows:
25/25, 25/50, 50/100, break
100/200, 200/400, 300/600, break
500/1000, 1000/2000, 1500/3000, break
2000/4000, 3000/6000, 4000/8000, break
5000/10000, 10000/15000, 10000/20000
In the actual tournament, after all rebuys and add ons, there were a total of $389,000T chips in play.
How did I run during this tournament?
Starting level 4, I was slightly above average chips, 22.5xbb (~95 players remaining)
From level 6 onwards, my stack size never exceeded 10xbb.
Starting level 7, I had ~45% of average chips 3xbb (~60 players remaining)
Starting level 10, I had close to average chips 4.5xbb (21 players)
These were all of my major hands:
- I was all in exactly two hands during this tournament, including my last hand which was a coin flip.
- I was involved in 4 all in preflop coin flips, winning 2 and losing 2
- I was involved in 3 PP vs Ax (where x is an unsuited undercard, and I had the PP), winning all 3.
- I had 2 slightly smaller stacks both all in with AA vs their QQ and AKo and lost when the board came xxxKK.
So overall I ran better than average.
During the duration of the tournament, I was faced with a number of decisions. I'm not sure how good my decisions were so I will list them here to reflect on them some more:
Decisions:
#1: Should I enter this event at all (given I am willing to spend $3000 on satellite entries) given the structure? Actual Decision: enter Thoughts: Is this event just a crapshoot with $25 juice and average time consumed, door to door, ~4 hours?
#2: Should I rebuy at all, and if so when should I rebuy? Actual Decision: rebuy. During the second orbit I concluded that my starting table was the best table I had been at for a Saturday tournament in at least the last 2 months. There were 5 opponents (at a 10 seated table) that were extremely poor (willing to commit their entire stack on any hand where they had any pair or any draw on the flop) and no smart loose aggressive opponents. There is no need to give any examples, just trust me, this was the case, and it was demonstrated multiple times during the first hour. (total rebuys at this table were 10, but could probably have been closer to 15 if the chips hadn't moved back and forth a few times). Result: I finished level 3 with $2500T.
#3: Should I take the add on? There were roughly 95 players with average chips somewhere around $2200T, the overwhelming majority would be taking the add on, so average chips entering level 4 would be ~$4200T. Actual Decision: add on to start level 4 with $4500T.
#4: Having very recently been crippled in level 5 (200/400 blinds), it is folded to me in the small blind where I have $1500T. BB has $1200T and is very loose preflop. My hand is Q4o, which is slightly worse than 50% against a random hand. Should I move in or muck? Actual Decision: move all in. Result: My opponent went into the tank for over 30 seconds, and then called with 67o (very close to a coin flip); neither of us improved. Thoughts: I don't know if I made a mistake. I believe I should certainly push with any hand that is 50% or better than an average hand. My opponent's calling range is probably 90% of all hands, or put another way my opponent will lay down 10% of the worst possible hands. Any knowledgeable player should assume that SB will move in with any 2 cards, so any knowledgeable player should blindly call since even 23o is getting the right price at 2:1. Given an opponent that will fold 10% of his hands, what % of random hands do I need to beat to move in?
#5: In level 8 ($1000T/$2000T), I have been moved to this table in the last 2 orbits and played exactly one hand where I moved in and stole the blinds. It is folded to me in the CO and I find KcKs. Button is on the conservative side, SB has "average" preflop standards, BB is a little tight. I believe that BB is not sophisticated enough to recognize that a less than all in raise probably means a very strong hand. I have $9500T, button has $12000T, SB $16000T, BB $8000T, 26 people remain, avg chips ~$15kT. What's my play? Actual Decision: Move all in. Result: Button and SB quickly mucked. BB went into the tank for about 1 minute and mucked.
Thoughts:Should I have made a less than all in raise? Would this have increased the probability of getting action? Which hands to I want action from? I think I welcome action from any worse hands from all players, just so long as all the money goes in preflop. If only 1 player calls, how much of his stack do I want in before the flop?
#6: In level 10 ($2kT/$4kT), we are 6 seated (13 players remaining total), I have moved in twice already in this orbit where I was called once and showed AKo. I have $28kT, very close to avg chips, UTG and find pocket 5s. The 3 chip leaders at the table are on the button, SB and BB, who have between $45kT and $65kT. I am about 8th or 9th in chips. What's my play? Actual Decision: Move all in. Result: only SB called with AK and SB won the coin flip. Thoughts: At this stage of the tournament with my chip stack, I could probably have a 75% chance of folding my way into the money. Given the top heavy payout, this is a poor strategy. I think UTG, at this 6 seated table, I should push with any pair, any A better than A7o, any K better than K8o, and even some other hands as bad as QTs, J9s. The 2 short stacks at my table are playing very tight, and the big stacks are ~not~ playing particularly loose.
#7: Did I play too tightly during rounds 5-10 since I was hovering around 6-7xbb for the majority of that time? Overall, players were substantially tighter starting in round 7. I missed ~4 actual occasions where it was folded to me (somewhere between MP -> MP+2) where I had a trash hand, mucked, and it was folded to at least the SB.
$3000 to spend on satellites will go pretty darn fast if I'm spending $325 a pop. One other thing I should make a note of is that: I had fun. I enjoy these live $100 buy in tournaments much more than online ones, and I find them considerably more exciting that limit ring games.
The 2nd half of these tournaments are almost entirely about all in moves with 3-10xbb stacks which means a huge amount of luck. I believe that over 70% of the field have a poor grasp of the all in values of most hands, so in the long run I still think there is some "skill" in that stage of the tournament. Unfortunately, the long run dwarfs the number of entries I will make into these events.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Even a monkey could play it
My wife is often concerned that poker causes me way too much stress. My last live $20/$40 LHE session absolutely did not fit in this category. It was my 2nd best $20/$40 session ever, and I either completely hit or completely missed the flop, well defined turn cards would come, etc..... All in all, a very easy-to-play session. If only I could have more sessions like this one, I'd be a much more relaxed person.
Miscellaneous
Weekly review
In the past week, my playing time has been divided roughly 75/25 online/live. The online portion was approximately 80% $3/$6 6max HE at Party, 20% bonus clearing at UB and Stars at $3/$6 HE 10max. Live play has been roughly a 50/50 mix of $4/$8 Omaha HiLo 1/2 kill and $20/$40 HE.
My last 7000 hands of Party $3/$6 6 max has been an anemic +1.5BB/100h, despite what have been tremendously good games. I have felt overburdened when trying to play more than 4 tables at a time, and I think in the last week my average number of tables is slightly less than 4. When playing more than 4 tables, I think I miss far too much information. Generally, I try to play for multiple one hour sessions with at least a very short break between each session. More than half of the sessions were either > +50BB sessions or -50BB. Variance is really sick. I've been ramping up my aggression factor on the turn and river, and this may be contributing to increased variance.
The $3/$6 experiment could take a couple more months at this rate. After plugging my latest $3/$6 6 max WR/SD numbers into the spreadsheet, I'm somewhere between a -2.85BB/100h to +5.95BB/100h player. At $3/$6 10max, I'm a -0.55BB/100h to +2.90BB/100h. Yup, that is really helpful info...
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New games
On the learning front, I'm enjoying the learning aspect of playing new games. I've read that the Wynn has started spreading a $10/$20 mixed game - Hold'em, Omaha8, Stud8, 2-7 Triple Draw and Razz. With a Vegas trip coming up in early December, it would be a nice goal to develop enough experience in each of those games to be able to take a shot at that mixed game. I would be content to play in this game even with an EV of 0 (just for the experience). I wouldn't be willing to play though if my EV is worse than -1BB/hr, which is very very possible. I can't see any way I can judge this, and it will naturally depend on the opponents who happen to be at the table.
I read a really good review of High-Low-Split Poker by Ray Zee, so I think I will order this book to help prep for the mixed games.
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Intermediate plans
I haven't decided exactly what games I will play on my upcoming Foxwoods trips (naturally it depends on what games are running, but given that a WPT event will be running, there should be a ton of great games). My preference currently leans towards $30/$60 Limit Hold'em or $2/$5 No Limit HE.
I've decided to set aside $3000 of my bankroll (and just as importantly the correspondingly appropriate amount of table time) to play in satellites for major events in the next 3 months. In order of preference, I'm interested in: 1) the WPT event at my local poker room, 2) the main event of the 2006 WSOP, 3) any other event at the 2006 WSOP, 4) any major US based event, 5) any North American based event, 6) any European event.
I intend to focus a substantial amount of my effort on #1 since it should be the least intrusive on my day job should I qualify. (there will be satellites both online and live for this event)
The plan is to spend the entire $3k on various types of satellite entries, and see how many seats I can obtain. Any cash winnings from these events will go directly back into the general poker bankroll. Any tips I give (if I win a bricks and mortar satellite) will come from this $3k.
I'm going to arrogantly predict that with my $3k investment, I will complete the experiment with +$3k in seats and cash. I will track my progress and post my results weekly.
In the past week, my playing time has been divided roughly 75/25 online/live. The online portion was approximately 80% $3/$6 6max HE at Party, 20% bonus clearing at UB and Stars at $3/$6 HE 10max. Live play has been roughly a 50/50 mix of $4/$8 Omaha HiLo 1/2 kill and $20/$40 HE.
My last 7000 hands of Party $3/$6 6 max has been an anemic +1.5BB/100h, despite what have been tremendously good games. I have felt overburdened when trying to play more than 4 tables at a time, and I think in the last week my average number of tables is slightly less than 4. When playing more than 4 tables, I think I miss far too much information. Generally, I try to play for multiple one hour sessions with at least a very short break between each session. More than half of the sessions were either > +50BB sessions or -50BB. Variance is really sick. I've been ramping up my aggression factor on the turn and river, and this may be contributing to increased variance.
The $3/$6 experiment could take a couple more months at this rate. After plugging my latest $3/$6 6 max WR/SD numbers into the spreadsheet, I'm somewhere between a -2.85BB/100h to +5.95BB/100h player. At $3/$6 10max, I'm a -0.55BB/100h to +2.90BB/100h. Yup, that is really helpful info...
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New games
On the learning front, I'm enjoying the learning aspect of playing new games. I've read that the Wynn has started spreading a $10/$20 mixed game - Hold'em, Omaha8, Stud8, 2-7 Triple Draw and Razz. With a Vegas trip coming up in early December, it would be a nice goal to develop enough experience in each of those games to be able to take a shot at that mixed game. I would be content to play in this game even with an EV of 0 (just for the experience). I wouldn't be willing to play though if my EV is worse than -1BB/hr, which is very very possible. I can't see any way I can judge this, and it will naturally depend on the opponents who happen to be at the table.
I read a really good review of High-Low-Split Poker by Ray Zee, so I think I will order this book to help prep for the mixed games.
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Intermediate plans
I haven't decided exactly what games I will play on my upcoming Foxwoods trips (naturally it depends on what games are running, but given that a WPT event will be running, there should be a ton of great games). My preference currently leans towards $30/$60 Limit Hold'em or $2/$5 No Limit HE.
I've decided to set aside $3000 of my bankroll (and just as importantly the correspondingly appropriate amount of table time) to play in satellites for major events in the next 3 months. In order of preference, I'm interested in: 1) the WPT event at my local poker room, 2) the main event of the 2006 WSOP, 3) any other event at the 2006 WSOP, 4) any major US based event, 5) any North American based event, 6) any European event.
I intend to focus a substantial amount of my effort on #1 since it should be the least intrusive on my day job should I qualify. (there will be satellites both online and live for this event)
The plan is to spend the entire $3k on various types of satellite entries, and see how many seats I can obtain. Any cash winnings from these events will go directly back into the general poker bankroll. Any tips I give (if I win a bricks and mortar satellite) will come from this $3k.
I'm going to arrogantly predict that with my $3k investment, I will complete the experiment with +$3k in seats and cash. I will track my progress and post my results weekly.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
To rakeback or not to rakeback
This is the subject that high volume players are considering these days. There have been countless numbers of posts on this subject at 2+2 and poker blogs (including this great one by suckout).
My Party account was originally signed up with no affilate (how little I knew about the online poker business back then......), and I had been only using it strictly for bonus whoring. All of my other play at Party was through a skin where I was receiving rakeback.
When the skins were broken off, I looked for a few offers from affliates that would quietly give rakeback. The offers I received were tiered between 20-25% rakeback depending on MGR.
I finally got around to emailing Party's VIP group to get an offer directly from them. Their initial offer was $200 for 7000k raked hands, and I "negotiated" to $350 for 10k (about a 22.5%/raked hand improvement). If I play above this threshold, my bonus will be increased on a pro-rata basis. This seems to be a fairly standard offer given the stakes and # hands I play when compared to what others were listing in this 2+2 thread.
I asked and was told that the offer is only for November, and that some different, but better (yeah right...), promotion scheme will be coming for their VIP club.
The question I ponder is if I should try to get a combination of rakeback plus bonus $. I think for now I will take the conservative approach to stick with my existing Party account for just the bonus $ and see how others fare.
My Party account was originally signed up with no affilate (how little I knew about the online poker business back then......), and I had been only using it strictly for bonus whoring. All of my other play at Party was through a skin where I was receiving rakeback.
When the skins were broken off, I looked for a few offers from affliates that would quietly give rakeback. The offers I received were tiered between 20-25% rakeback depending on MGR.
I finally got around to emailing Party's VIP group to get an offer directly from them. Their initial offer was $200 for 7000k raked hands, and I "negotiated" to $350 for 10k (about a 22.5%/raked hand improvement). If I play above this threshold, my bonus will be increased on a pro-rata basis. This seems to be a fairly standard offer given the stakes and # hands I play when compared to what others were listing in this 2+2 thread.
I asked and was told that the offer is only for November, and that some different, but better (yeah right...), promotion scheme will be coming for their VIP club.
The question I ponder is if I should try to get a combination of rakeback plus bonus $. I think for now I will take the conservative approach to stick with my existing Party account for just the bonus $ and see how others fare.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Omaha H/L 8/B
During my last trip to the poker room, there were long lists for all games except for a small stakes ($4/$8) Omaha H/L 8/B game with 1/2 kill. While waiting for a $20/$40 HE seat, I decided to take my first shot at live Omaha.
I made a resolution not to post any hand histories in my blogging entries anymore, but I'll just say that it wasn't until after the completion of the first hand that I realized that we were playing a H/L game. :P
I really need to look up some info on starting hand selection in Omaha H/L! Omaha is a game with such a large number of possibilities, and H/L makes it even more so.
It was a very fun and interesting experience, and it re-inforces the idea to me that I should continue to search for new games and experiences to keep the game of poker interesting.
There were quite a few rules that I was unsure about ranging from whether straights or flushes affected your low, to whether or not a kill button affects the order of play preflop (in the only 1/2 kill hold'em game I have played in, the player with the kill button acts last preflop but normally postflop; but in this Omaha kill game, the player with the kill button acts in normal order on every street).
I was also occasionally struggling to view my 4 hole cards easily. I ended up viewing my first two hole cards as they were dealt, and then viewing the 2nd 2 hole cards seperately.
Anyway, I finished my first and only session of live Omaha in the black. Woo hoo!
I made a resolution not to post any hand histories in my blogging entries anymore, but I'll just say that it wasn't until after the completion of the first hand that I realized that we were playing a H/L game. :P
I really need to look up some info on starting hand selection in Omaha H/L! Omaha is a game with such a large number of possibilities, and H/L makes it even more so.
It was a very fun and interesting experience, and it re-inforces the idea to me that I should continue to search for new games and experiences to keep the game of poker interesting.
There were quite a few rules that I was unsure about ranging from whether straights or flushes affected your low, to whether or not a kill button affects the order of play preflop (in the only 1/2 kill hold'em game I have played in, the player with the kill button acts last preflop but normally postflop; but in this Omaha kill game, the player with the kill button acts in normal order on every street).
I was also occasionally struggling to view my 4 hole cards easily. I ended up viewing my first two hole cards as they were dealt, and then viewing the 2nd 2 hole cards seperately.
Anyway, I finished my first and only session of live Omaha in the black. Woo hoo!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Trash talking
On Friday night, I played in a $40/$80 game for the 2nd time in my life. The banter was just as trashy as that of a Party $15/$30 game, xxxx this and xxxx that. You know, everyone on the internet is a tough guy, but I wasn't expecting the same in a live game.
At any rate, I was pretty overmatched in the trash talking department. Yet another thing to work on....
At any rate, I was pretty overmatched in the trash talking department. Yet another thing to work on....
No joy
I missed cashing in both the $1000+$50 Limit HE event and the $1500+$80 Spread-Limit HE event (and missed the PokerStars Blogger tournament entirely).
I actually felt physically sick after the bust out of the Limit Hold'em event. I busted very early in level 3, having won exactly 1 hand. Hand #1.
Overall, I played fairly poorly. Initially, I wished I could have gotten away from the last 2 big hands I got involved with, but after some reflection I think I can live with myself for calling down on the river in both hands. In both cases I had fairly decent 2nd best hand, and I think I'll never make it far in LHE events if I consistently lay those types of hands down with so much of my remaining stack in the pot.
The winner of the LHE event was this year's 4th place finisher at the Main event of the WSOP. The tournament director made a funny remark pointing out that "Aaron ~finally~ won a tournament!".
In the Spread Limit hold'em event, I was actually surprised that there were a few name pros playing. I busted close to the end of level 7, about 20 places away from the money. With the exception of one complete donkey, all 3 tables I played at were moderately tough. Unfortunately, I didn't get my hands on any of the donkey's chips when he busted in 11 minutes, 28 seconds when he got all his chips in preflop with JJ against, of course, AA and did not suck out.
I had above average chips for the first two levels only, and remained slightly below average for the remainder of the tournament. The last 2 levels for me simply degenerated down to all in blind steals or blind defense. My bustout hand was the classic coinflip where I called a slightly larger stack's EP all in from the SB with my best starting hand of the day, TsTc. Villain had AQo. A in the doorcard, and IGHN. I had allowed myself to drop to a mere 4.25x BB, so perhaps I should have made a move earlier to get above 10xBB or bust. hard to say...
The winner of the $1580 event was, again, a named pro. (Dan A.) Geez, can't they keep out the riffraff?
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In terms of preparation to play for these tournaments, I slept very poorly the night before the LHE event, but got a very good night's rest before the SLHE event. I've got to be more consistent about getting a good night's rest before any big events.
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I went pretty deep in a PokerStars PCA super. In the teens, I was at a great table where there was one player that was ~the~ sheriff. He was successfully able to call ~well over~ 2 dozen all in's. When I say successfully, I don't mean that he won them all or lost them all. He probably won close to 70% of them. When I say successful, I mean that he was successfully able to call every time with the worst hand. A2s, 22, JTs, it really didn't matter, his hand was always the underdog. In all fairness, there were only a few situations that his hand was truly dominated, but in the majority of the situations there was virtually no possibility that he could think that he was ahead when he called. He was the kind of player you want at your table in a super sat when you ~already~ have a large number of chips, and just want the remaining players to get busted by ~somebody~.
I went 0/3 with the sheriff, and busted 13th. Sigh... maybe next time.
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In ring game play, I had my best session ever in multitabling $3/$6 6max, and my 2nd best session ever in $20/$40 live.
Overall, I would say that my confidence level is about 80% after all the tournament bustouts, but decent ring games.
I've been trying to read more poker psychology and lifestyle books lately. I'm hoping to strengthen the psychological aspects of my game.
I actually felt physically sick after the bust out of the Limit Hold'em event. I busted very early in level 3, having won exactly 1 hand. Hand #1.
Overall, I played fairly poorly. Initially, I wished I could have gotten away from the last 2 big hands I got involved with, but after some reflection I think I can live with myself for calling down on the river in both hands. In both cases I had fairly decent 2nd best hand, and I think I'll never make it far in LHE events if I consistently lay those types of hands down with so much of my remaining stack in the pot.
The winner of the LHE event was this year's 4th place finisher at the Main event of the WSOP. The tournament director made a funny remark pointing out that "Aaron ~finally~ won a tournament!".
In the Spread Limit hold'em event, I was actually surprised that there were a few name pros playing. I busted close to the end of level 7, about 20 places away from the money. With the exception of one complete donkey, all 3 tables I played at were moderately tough. Unfortunately, I didn't get my hands on any of the donkey's chips when he busted in 11 minutes, 28 seconds when he got all his chips in preflop with JJ against, of course, AA and did not suck out.
I had above average chips for the first two levels only, and remained slightly below average for the remainder of the tournament. The last 2 levels for me simply degenerated down to all in blind steals or blind defense. My bustout hand was the classic coinflip where I called a slightly larger stack's EP all in from the SB with my best starting hand of the day, TsTc. Villain had AQo. A in the doorcard, and IGHN. I had allowed myself to drop to a mere 4.25x BB, so perhaps I should have made a move earlier to get above 10xBB or bust. hard to say...
The winner of the $1580 event was, again, a named pro. (Dan A.) Geez, can't they keep out the riffraff?
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In terms of preparation to play for these tournaments, I slept very poorly the night before the LHE event, but got a very good night's rest before the SLHE event. I've got to be more consistent about getting a good night's rest before any big events.
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I went pretty deep in a PokerStars PCA super. In the teens, I was at a great table where there was one player that was ~the~ sheriff. He was successfully able to call ~well over~ 2 dozen all in's. When I say successfully, I don't mean that he won them all or lost them all. He probably won close to 70% of them. When I say successful, I mean that he was successfully able to call every time with the worst hand. A2s, 22, JTs, it really didn't matter, his hand was always the underdog. In all fairness, there were only a few situations that his hand was truly dominated, but in the majority of the situations there was virtually no possibility that he could think that he was ahead when he called. He was the kind of player you want at your table in a super sat when you ~already~ have a large number of chips, and just want the remaining players to get busted by ~somebody~.
I went 0/3 with the sheriff, and busted 13th. Sigh... maybe next time.
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In ring game play, I had my best session ever in multitabling $3/$6 6max, and my 2nd best session ever in $20/$40 live.
Overall, I would say that my confidence level is about 80% after all the tournament bustouts, but decent ring games.
I've been trying to read more poker psychology and lifestyle books lately. I'm hoping to strengthen the psychological aspects of my game.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Light at the end of the tunnel?
Lately, my online play (not just results) has been very iffy. I decided to play live for a change since I've made increasingly poor decisions during the rapid pace of online play as my confidence deteriorated (playing alternatively too weak or too aggressive at precisely the wrong times). (nice run on sentence....)
Overall, my last couple of live sessions have been a real moral booster.
Table selection tonight was the toughest call to make. There were 2 main games at the $20/$40, and both featured 1 truly horrible player and 1 fairly bad player. I didn't have the best seat at my table, but I still elected to remain in the first main game. Fortunately, the fairly bad player at the other table decided to do a table change, so it worked out better for me anyway.
My next big tournament is on Saturday, and it is a Limit Hold'em event. It is fantastic that I had this confidence boost so close to the start of this event.
Overall, my last couple of live sessions have been a real moral booster.
Table selection tonight was the toughest call to make. There were 2 main games at the $20/$40, and both featured 1 truly horrible player and 1 fairly bad player. I didn't have the best seat at my table, but I still elected to remain in the first main game. Fortunately, the fairly bad player at the other table decided to do a table change, so it worked out better for me anyway.
My next big tournament is on Saturday, and it is a Limit Hold'em event. It is fantastic that I had this confidence boost so close to the start of this event.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Numb
Okay, in the last two days I have lost 15% of my entire online bankroll. What the hell am I doing?
This is probably the worst I have ever felt about my poker results. It has been a fairly rough 2 weeks, followed by a horrific 48 hours.
I don't believe that I am calling down too much on the river. I keep getting that sick feeling when a seemingly harmless card hits on the river when I am headsup and I am bet into or raised by someone who has been calling me all the way. I have been paying off the the majority of the time in 6-8BB sized pots (and catching very ridiculous bluffs approximately the same inverse ratio of the time), but the rivered ugly 2 pair or rivered set is what really has been driving me absolute nuts.
Are these types of situations driving me to uber tilt? Probably yes. I think I need to resolve myself to not play again until I carefully review my worst couple of sessions. I think I played like complete crap in the later half of those sessions.
Calm down. Rationally and honestly review the data. Find and plug the leaks.
This is probably the worst I have ever felt about my poker results. It has been a fairly rough 2 weeks, followed by a horrific 48 hours.
I don't believe that I am calling down too much on the river. I keep getting that sick feeling when a seemingly harmless card hits on the river when I am headsup and I am bet into or raised by someone who has been calling me all the way. I have been paying off the the majority of the time in 6-8BB sized pots (and catching very ridiculous bluffs approximately the same inverse ratio of the time), but the rivered ugly 2 pair or rivered set is what really has been driving me absolute nuts.
Are these types of situations driving me to uber tilt? Probably yes. I think I need to resolve myself to not play again until I carefully review my worst couple of sessions. I think I played like complete crap in the later half of those sessions.
Calm down. Rationally and honestly review the data. Find and plug the leaks.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Running bad
Well, I have been running fairly poorly over the last couple of weeks. This is both in tournaments and in cash games.
Today was a somewhat reflective example of my last couple of weeks.
During the first hour (3 levels) of the huge overlay ($87k overlay) rebuy tournament, I would have been perfectly content to get all my chips into the pot in even money or better situations to build a big stack. My starting chips were $800T, and I naturally elected to do a rebuy on the first hand for $1kT (for $40).
During the rebuy period I was able to get my chips all in on the flop twice where my opponent had 3 outs. Lost the first one, won the second one. I had about 3rd chip stack at my table with both big stacks on my right, so I limped on almost every hand that they did (which granted was no more than 3 occasions), but didn't encounter any interesting situations.
At the break, I had only a slightly larger than average chip stack. I took another 3 outer from a shortish stack (~1/3 of my stack) after getting him all in on the flop.
I had chipped up to an average size stack when I got crippled when my all in preflop pair over pair lost on the river to a set. I was left with a chip and a chair. Even after doubling up 4 times, I was knocked out about 2 orbits later. That's tournament poker.
I am pleased to have gotten my chips into the pot in such great shape so many times, but in some ways this was just luck as well. I simply recognized that several of the geniuses at my table were willing to put their entire stack into the middle with a huge range of hands after calling a preflop raise and catching any part of the flop.
Anyways, it was a pretty crappy day, but it is just as well to get knocked out early than to get knocked out on the bubble.
By the way, I was wrong about how loose the action would be during the first hour. The action was not significantly looser than a regular Saturday rebuy tournament first hour. I'm certain that many of the participants simply did not understand the overlay involved in the tournament (there was even a player at my table who did not do double rebuys, but did take ~4-5 single rebuys each time he went broke.)
Okay, I've got the bad feelings all out of my system. I want to be in a positive frame of mind for the next two big tournaments coming up next Saturday and Sunday.
Today was a somewhat reflective example of my last couple of weeks.
During the first hour (3 levels) of the huge overlay ($87k overlay) rebuy tournament, I would have been perfectly content to get all my chips into the pot in even money or better situations to build a big stack. My starting chips were $800T, and I naturally elected to do a rebuy on the first hand for $1kT (for $40).
During the rebuy period I was able to get my chips all in on the flop twice where my opponent had 3 outs. Lost the first one, won the second one. I had about 3rd chip stack at my table with both big stacks on my right, so I limped on almost every hand that they did (which granted was no more than 3 occasions), but didn't encounter any interesting situations.
At the break, I had only a slightly larger than average chip stack. I took another 3 outer from a shortish stack (~1/3 of my stack) after getting him all in on the flop.
I had chipped up to an average size stack when I got crippled when my all in preflop pair over pair lost on the river to a set. I was left with a chip and a chair. Even after doubling up 4 times, I was knocked out about 2 orbits later. That's tournament poker.
I am pleased to have gotten my chips into the pot in such great shape so many times, but in some ways this was just luck as well. I simply recognized that several of the geniuses at my table were willing to put their entire stack into the middle with a huge range of hands after calling a preflop raise and catching any part of the flop.
Anyways, it was a pretty crappy day, but it is just as well to get knocked out early than to get knocked out on the bubble.
By the way, I was wrong about how loose the action would be during the first hour. The action was not significantly looser than a regular Saturday rebuy tournament first hour. I'm certain that many of the participants simply did not understand the overlay involved in the tournament (there was even a player at my table who did not do double rebuys, but did take ~4-5 single rebuys each time he went broke.)
Okay, I've got the bad feelings all out of my system. I want to be in a positive frame of mind for the next two big tournaments coming up next Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Triple Draw 2-7
For some new variety, I took at shot at some micro limit 2-7 triple draw. I have very little idea what I am doing.
I read D. Negreanu's chapter in SS2 a while back, and I tried playing with the book open. It is very entertaining to try and learn a completely new game.
I'm not even sure how to interpret the likely hand ranges for betting actions.
e.g.
In a 6 handed game, 4 players call a bet on the 3rd round from the player on button. Everyone draws at least 1 card on the last draw. I make a number 2 in the 2nd position (BB). It is checked to the button who bets, SB check raises. What do I do? What is the liklihood I'm facing a wheel? I mean, is this the equivalent in Hold'em of having the best possible full house when an opponent has quads? I'm not sure if I should only be going for an overcall here. Anyway, I three bet and was 4 bet by the nuts.
Gotta live and learn.
The nice thing about this game is that it is always short handed. I like the environment where you need to make frequent and meaningful decisions.
I read D. Negreanu's chapter in SS2 a while back, and I tried playing with the book open. It is very entertaining to try and learn a completely new game.
I'm not even sure how to interpret the likely hand ranges for betting actions.
e.g.
In a 6 handed game, 4 players call a bet on the 3rd round from the player on button. Everyone draws at least 1 card on the last draw. I make a number 2 in the 2nd position (BB). It is checked to the button who bets, SB check raises. What do I do? What is the liklihood I'm facing a wheel? I mean, is this the equivalent in Hold'em of having the best possible full house when an opponent has quads? I'm not sure if I should only be going for an overcall here. Anyway, I three bet and was 4 bet by the nuts.
Gotta live and learn.
The nice thing about this game is that it is always short handed. I like the environment where you need to make frequent and meaningful decisions.
finally, time for a break
Whew, someone just hit the bad beat jackpot. I can finally stop playing at Party with no rakeback. I think I'll get to work on my Stars or UB bonuses later today. For now, I need some rest....
nice jackpot action
Wow, the games are absolutely amazing right now with the Party jackpot exceeding 2/3 of a million $. I actually skipped my regular live tournament to put in more online hours.
The games are so great that I just dropped 73BB in 1.5 hours. Any pair, any back door draw are great reasons to stay in the hand. Whew, it was my 2nd session of the day. I'll take a short break before heading back. I've said before that it is hard to keep track of how you are doing when 8 tabling, but it wasn't hard to guess when I was only rebuying and had almost no tables with a stack larger than the buy in.
Hopefully, it won't be more of the junk kicking....
The games are so great that I just dropped 73BB in 1.5 hours. Any pair, any back door draw are great reasons to stay in the hand. Whew, it was my 2nd session of the day. I'll take a short break before heading back. I've said before that it is hard to keep track of how you are doing when 8 tabling, but it wasn't hard to guess when I was only rebuying and had almost no tables with a stack larger than the buy in.
Hopefully, it won't be more of the junk kicking....
Friday, October 14, 2005
8 tabling
The Party Bad Beat Jackpot has still not been hit, and has climbed to close to $550k. Hence, I gave another go at 8 tabling $3/$6 10 max.
All in all, I would say that 8 tabling is quite busy, but noticibly less stressful than 6 tabling 6 max (or perhaps even 4 tabling 6 max). I think I contradict myself sometimes where I say I like all the decisions that need to be made in shorthanded play, and then the very next day I'll say how much I like the more relaxed situations in full table play. I guess I just need some variety.
I was pretty pleased with myself in the last session. I think I only "tsk'd" once, and the dreaded "I can't believe it" didn't make an appearance (even when pocket deuces made a set on the river to my overpair, waah waah).
I had a moment of (false) excitment in the middle of the session. I turned quad Qs when the rainbow board had no overcards and was check raised by a calling station! I three bet him and chanted to myself, "pair the board, pair the board, pair...the...board". He check folded the river, so I guess he was just bluffing with a PP. Surprising behavior for a classified calling station. I think I had over 200 hands on him. That is not a huge number of hands, but was still fairly out of character. He got me all excited for nothing.
For those of you who don't know, the bad beat jackpot is awarded whenever a player with a hand at least as good as four of a kind (8's) is beaten. Assuming a 10 seated table, the loser gets 35% of the total jackpot. The winner gets 17.5%. The other 8 players get ~2%. Here's an article on bad beat jackpots.
I'm sure I could have found a good use for $94k.....
Actually, the $100k bad beat jackpot at a local poker room was hit during my last tournament there. It was at a $3/$6 table where a lady's quad 4s were whomped by quad 7s (there is a lower qualification standard for bad beat; just any quads beaten). Surprisingly the cheering was not that long in duration. I have seen retards celebrate more after winning an all in coin flip in the middle of a tournament (long before being close to the money). I guess all those players were just so stunned. The lady got a check for ~$26k after IRS withholding. I can only imagine how many people asked her for a "loan" on her way out....
All in all, I would say that 8 tabling is quite busy, but noticibly less stressful than 6 tabling 6 max (or perhaps even 4 tabling 6 max). I think I contradict myself sometimes where I say I like all the decisions that need to be made in shorthanded play, and then the very next day I'll say how much I like the more relaxed situations in full table play. I guess I just need some variety.
I was pretty pleased with myself in the last session. I think I only "tsk'd" once, and the dreaded "I can't believe it" didn't make an appearance (even when pocket deuces made a set on the river to my overpair, waah waah).
I had a moment of (false) excitment in the middle of the session. I turned quad Qs when the rainbow board had no overcards and was check raised by a calling station! I three bet him and chanted to myself, "pair the board, pair the board, pair...the...board". He check folded the river, so I guess he was just bluffing with a PP. Surprising behavior for a classified calling station. I think I had over 200 hands on him. That is not a huge number of hands, but was still fairly out of character. He got me all excited for nothing.
For those of you who don't know, the bad beat jackpot is awarded whenever a player with a hand at least as good as four of a kind (8's) is beaten. Assuming a 10 seated table, the loser gets 35% of the total jackpot. The winner gets 17.5%. The other 8 players get ~2%. Here's an article on bad beat jackpots.
I'm sure I could have found a good use for $94k.....
Actually, the $100k bad beat jackpot at a local poker room was hit during my last tournament there. It was at a $3/$6 table where a lady's quad 4s were whomped by quad 7s (there is a lower qualification standard for bad beat; just any quads beaten). Surprisingly the cheering was not that long in duration. I have seen retards celebrate more after winning an all in coin flip in the middle of a tournament (long before being close to the money). I guess all those players were just so stunned. The lady got a check for ~$26k after IRS withholding. I can only imagine how many people asked her for a "loan" on her way out....
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