My Personal lead up to the CPT challenge
Okay i have to deal with reality.
As of late i haven't been doing well in NL situations online. I know that in general the CPT event is going to be a big outlay for me so i need to ensure that i have the tools to compete when the tournament comes around.
The example that was sitting in my mind was this. If in basketball you're the leagues premier three point shooter, it doesn't mean you have any business in a slam dunk contest. That's what i feel like right now, i'm doing okay in ring limit games and actually even in limit sng and heads up (been practicing), but my NL is just off.
So while in theory you should never play for short term results, i find the added pressure helps you to focus.
So in the next 15-16 days before the CPT event, i have to meet a personal target or i will not play in the tournament. To make the challenge meaningful, it has to serve a purpose and that is to be running well in NL in tournament scenarios, which help to guarantee the ability to bring an 'A' game to the CPT event.
The CPT buy-in is $240 plus a $200 add-on and re-buys at $100 (for half the initial, so really $200 re-buys). So ignoring the re-buys that may be needed the tournament will cost at least $440. I'll assume the rebuys come out of my bankroll.
SO THE CHALLENGE
So before Monday March 7 ... i must book a NET profit of no less than $450 ($10 for gas) in no limit tournaments (MTT, SNG, heads-up) and i must show a net profit in at least 2 of those three categories. This means i'll be doing well in all three theoretical stages of tournaments, the progression to the final table, final table and heads up.
The dollar number isn't sky high, but the overall criteria mean i have to play disciplined poker. I also won't let myself go overboard to get to it, meaning if i'm down i'm not going to play $100 SNG etc... to get back above.
i'm going to take a very slow approach which will consist mostly of, low limit SNG and heads-up with my MTT being limited mostly to the stars $215 super satellites (i find when my game is running well, these use to be so easy), the stars 10:15 re-buys and i'll look for other $5, $10 or $20 buy-in events on other sites.
I'll try to keep a sincere posting of my progress, towards this challenge and hopefully show the discipline towards my poker game that has been lacking. With any luck by the time the CPT rolls around i'll be dunking like a maniac and with any luck i'll see you you at the final table.
As of late i haven't been doing well in NL situations online. I know that in general the CPT event is going to be a big outlay for me so i need to ensure that i have the tools to compete when the tournament comes around.
The example that was sitting in my mind was this. If in basketball you're the leagues premier three point shooter, it doesn't mean you have any business in a slam dunk contest. That's what i feel like right now, i'm doing okay in ring limit games and actually even in limit sng and heads up (been practicing), but my NL is just off.
So while in theory you should never play for short term results, i find the added pressure helps you to focus.
So in the next 15-16 days before the CPT event, i have to meet a personal target or i will not play in the tournament. To make the challenge meaningful, it has to serve a purpose and that is to be running well in NL in tournament scenarios, which help to guarantee the ability to bring an 'A' game to the CPT event.
The CPT buy-in is $240 plus a $200 add-on and re-buys at $100 (for half the initial, so really $200 re-buys). So ignoring the re-buys that may be needed the tournament will cost at least $440. I'll assume the rebuys come out of my bankroll.
SO THE CHALLENGE
So before Monday March 7 ... i must book a NET profit of no less than $450 ($10 for gas) in no limit tournaments (MTT, SNG, heads-up) and i must show a net profit in at least 2 of those three categories. This means i'll be doing well in all three theoretical stages of tournaments, the progression to the final table, final table and heads up.
The dollar number isn't sky high, but the overall criteria mean i have to play disciplined poker. I also won't let myself go overboard to get to it, meaning if i'm down i'm not going to play $100 SNG etc... to get back above.
i'm going to take a very slow approach which will consist mostly of, low limit SNG and heads-up with my MTT being limited mostly to the stars $215 super satellites (i find when my game is running well, these use to be so easy), the stars 10:15 re-buys and i'll look for other $5, $10 or $20 buy-in events on other sites.
I'll try to keep a sincere posting of my progress, towards this challenge and hopefully show the discipline towards my poker game that has been lacking. With any luck by the time the CPT rolls around i'll be dunking like a maniac and with any luck i'll see you you at the final table.
Comments
Sounds like a plan. It's good to set realistic goals for yourself, and to have the discipline to 'punish' yourself if you fail to meet them. Discipline, discipline, discipline... that word keeps coming up when people talk about good poker players. Guess there's a reason for it!
Best of luck to you. I'll see you on March 9th.
First of all, good luck.
but..
I wonder if using $$ as your measure of good play isn't going to make your run up to the tourney near impossible.. You are looking for +$450 Net over a bunch of type of poker which have very high variance. MTT's? That'll be a net loss unless you get pretty lucky. I'll guess that an awesome MTT player makes the money in 20% of their tournaments.. Heads up, a great player versus an idiot will only win 70-30 at best, so theres s'more variance.. SNG's (I think) a great player can expect a 70% ROI (Im making that one up, I think Im wrong)... so the SNG will be the bread and butter of your profit... You've only got 17ish days..
I'd say toss out the requirement to be profitable in 2 of the 3 and use the gross profit from MTT to get to 450..
Of course, you don't specify what level you actually will be playing at.. So you could get there pretty easily at the $50 SNG level but I dont think thats what you intended to do..
I think at the end of your run, if you have lost money then no play. If you've made it to profit then you've got you ducks in a row assuming you meet some arbitrary minimum play requirement..
This post sounds a lot like the joke I spread around work.. that when I play poker online, I pick the money tree until my arms grow tired.. but the wins don't actually bank that way..
Not much time. Gotta focus. Discipline and poker. What a concept.
The MTT's will be difficult to show a profit and they are time consuming. I wouldn't play more than a couple.
Heads-up you are the champ but there isn't much of an overlay. I guess you can move up in stakes and show a decent profit.
Try the 9- or 18-seat SnGs. Games over in 1-2 hours and the dual-table tourneys kinda simulate the stages of a real tourney only faster. Usually at least half the field is weak so you shouldn't lose money in any of them (unless you hit some bad luck) and chances are good to double or better your money every tourney.
I'm not sure how the CPT registration is set up. Have you already paid? Then it wouldn't be prudent (i.e it would be stupid if I wasn't being PC) to not go. In addition, since you have a side bet, you'd be increasing your risk of loss by not participating. One other way you could increase your risk of losing that bet would be to lay a big hurt on all_aces' stack during the early rounds. Keep that in mind.
BBC i agree that i'm putting myself at the bottom of a mountain when it comes to the goal that i've set, but it wouldn't be much of a challenge if it wasn't challenging i guess. I realize that i'm forcing myself to try and get results immediatly and that isn't ideal, but i think the pressure will do me good.
pkrface, i am going to do the two table formats because i find they suit my game well. In terms of registration, i'm technically at the top of the waiting list so i haven't paid the money yet, but would pay on the day of ... that's what the informed me.
Note: Some of this is rough, i'm just working from some notes i took to keep track of the challenge
Day 1 Update
SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $68.25
Total Return: $41.40
Net: -$25.85
Event: Midnite, $3 pokerstars Satellite to $215
Type: MTT
Cost: $9 ($3 + $3 rebuy at start + $3 addon)
Return: $0
Net: -$9
Notes: Running well into the second hour with a 3 avg stack. Get kings and then aces busted in the course of 5 hands, am short stacked (4000 chips with 200/400 blinds) ... rebuild but get blinded down, on the short stack go out with AJs in the cutoff when i have 5BB about thirty minutes later, the button had QQ ... i don't suck out but i never gave up.
Event: 1am, $11 turbo pokerstars Satellite to $215
Type: MTT
Cost: $22 ($11 + $11 re-buy at start)
Return: $0
Net: -$22
Notes: Busted out on the last hand of the rebuy with AQ, compared to table would have been utterly short stacked even with a double re-buy and add-on decided to save $33 for a better oppurtunity
Event: 2:30am, $6 + 0.50 turbo two table SNG
Type: SNG
Cost: $6.50
Return: $32.40
Net: +$25.90
Notes: took only 35 mintues to get heads-up but heads-up lasted for nearly 20 minutes. Don't recall how it ended, but i'll edit this and add it if i can find the summary.
Event: 7:00pm, $5 + 0.25 Heads-up
Type: HU
Cost: $5.25
Return: $0
Net: -$5.25
Notes: standard heads-up lots of back and forth. final hand we end up all-in on the turn. i have top pair, open ended and a flush draw. he has no pair, a gutshot and the other flush draw on a double suite board. he hits a queen on the river to make the straight and ironically give me two pair.
Event: 7:45, $10 + 1 Stars NL tourney
Type: MTT
Cost: $11
Return: $0
Net: -$11
Notes: Busted out after second break, 99 vs k8 all-in pre-flop with me on the short stack with 99. he flopped a king and an eight.
Event: 8:30, $5 SNG
Type: SNG
Cost: $5.50
Return: $9.00
Net: +4.50
Notes: Once heads up the chip leader had been really agressive. He called my raise (i had JJ) flop came ten high all clubs. I had the J of clubs. I go all-in he calls with KQ of diamonds, and flops a king on the river.
Event: 9:00pm, $3 pokerstars Satellite to $215
Type: MTT
Cost: $9 ($3 + $3 rebuy at start + $3 addon)
Return: $0
Net: -$9
Notes: Double average stack after three hours. I actually also had to leave for a full 30 minutes to deal with a mini family emerg. Busted out all-in pre-flop with KK vs AK, i had the KK. Could have called and taken a flop, but the math was working such that even with an ace on the flop i may not have been able to get away from the hand. Was running really well, made only one stupid mistake entire tourney which was a complete blind steal (against two blinds who never defend, and got minimum re-raised by the cutoff (next to act) ... he flopped quads and it cost me about 20% of my stack)
So far the challenge isn't going great. I'm actually overall not unhappy with my play, i've been avoiding some common mistakes and generally speaking i've always gotten my money in with the best of it the whole day. even made some great laydowns, in multi way pots with big hands. if i get my money in with aces or kings and i get beat, that's life since I know that my skill level is never so good that i'm a 4-1 advantage to out playing my opponents.
Well with some skill and luck, day two should go better.
I wandered back to Pacific to try some of their tourneys. They have 10- and 20-seat tourneys so the prizes are slightly better than pokerstars. The competition isn't nearly as good but I haven't played there in a while. For building your bankroll quickly, I recommend you give them a shot.
Here's my results in 3 hrs. I hadn't played a $10+1 tourney there since forever so I gave a 10-seater a shot. I won it. +$39. Feeling brave, I tried the 16+1.60 20-seater for the first time. Played poorly but won pots when I needed them. On a brutal short stack, I waited for others to bust out and I squeaked into the money. +$46.40.
Good luck. Let me know how you do on Pacific if you try it. I'm curious if you think the tourneys there are easier competition.
Those MTTs are a long shot. Anyone has to be pretty lucky to get into the cash so if you are trying to show results quickly, I don't think this is the way to go. I put this down as more of a longer term thing where you might make some cash once every 10-20 tries. Your bankroll will drop a lot along the way before you hit the money. I'd pursue that as a separate project.
PokerStars Game #1237395446: Tournament #5285640, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/02/19 - 01:06:23 (ET)
Table '5285640 50' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: radsky (11520 in chips)
Seat 2: DaBearMan (20892 in chips)
Seat 3: turtlewax (14065 in chips)
Seat 4: waltpsu (5000 in chips)
Seat 5: hacke (3600 in chips)
Seat 6: rata (3500 in chips)
Seat 7: jpg777 (4300 in chips)
Seat 8: chugs (13980 in chips)
Seat 9: Golden4Ever (4270 in chips)
waltpsu: posts small blind 75
hacke: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to chugs [Ac Ad]
rata: raises 150 to 300
jpg777: folds
chugs: raises 600 to 900
Golden4Ever: folds
radsky: folds
DaBearMan: folds
turtlewax: folds
waltpsu: calls 825
hacke: folds
rata: calls 600
*** FLOP *** [Qs Jc Td]
DaBearMan said, "Chugs at 11k you added on?"
waltpsu: bets 1350
rata: calls 1350
chugs: raises 2250 to 3600
waltpsu: folds
rata: calls 1250 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Qs Jc Td] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [Qs Jc Td Ks] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rata: shows [3s As] (a flush, Ace high)
chugs: shows [Ac Ad] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
chugs said, "in case that happens"
rata collected 9400 from pot
DaBearMan said, "now that's a shame"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9400 | Rake 0
Board [Qs Jc Td Ks 5s]
Seat 1: radsky folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: DaBearMan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: turtlewax (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: waltpsu (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: hacke (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: rata showed [3s As] and won (9400) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 7: jpg777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: chugs showed [Ac Ad] and lost with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 9: Golden4Ever folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Another Pacific tip for your quest:
I tried the $30+3(?) 20-seat SnG for the first time. This is the biggest tourney entry fee I've played there. The competition was very weak. I played my cautious tight game and just watched everyone around me bust out quickly. I was the short stack throughout the final table. I think I only won about 3 hands when I needed it and I finished in 3rd for $120. I actually had a legitimate shot at 2nd with my bust out hand. I had the kicker advantage over the other player but he hit the miracle runner-runner flush to knock me out. I don't feel too bad about it, though. If I played a bit more aggressively, I'm confident I'd have a better shot at winning it. Sure I'd bust out occassionaly, too...
I think this is the most expensive SnG they have. It only took about 1hr15. Give it a shot.
Really didn't play much today, since i was at work and then had company over.
Before i get into the details i actually did some rough math and realized that playing the tiny buy-ins i'm playing it'll take forever for me to actually achieve my goal. Haven't actually done SNGs etc... regularly in a long while. Also i'm not going to do detail write-ups like day one, i want to spend time playing not writing, just quick details
DAY TWO SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $58.05
Total Return: $84.80
Net: +$26.75
CUMULATIVE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $125.30
Total Return: $126.20
Net: +$0.90
$10 SNG on UB @ 1am: Came in first for $50 showing a net $39
$8 two table SNG on Pacifi @ 2am: Came in 4th for $24 showing a net $15.20
$5 stars HU @ 12pm: Lost showing a net -$5.25
$11 Stars turbo satellite to $215 @ 1:30pm: busted out showing a net -$21.00 (with add-on, missed opening rebuy and won small first pot
$5 two-table SNG on Stars @ 6pm: Lost showing a net -$5.50
$6 two-table turbo SNG on Stars @ 6:30: Came in fourth showing a net $4.30
While my goal was just to do this in tiny buy-ins: i'll likely need to move my buy-in levels to a more comfortable $20-30 level. Not sure why buy mentally i've always had more difficulty playing something like a $50 SNG, but would have no problem playing 10/20 or 15/30 and investing $150 or more into a single pot. the money is less but i think psycologically it is different.
I also deviated out of bordom from one facet of my challenge, which was in my mind but never written. I want to try and avoid playing limit hold'em during this challenge and focus on NL tournies. But i had about 1.5 hours to kill so i went to a 4/8 game near where i was and booked a quick +$150 in about an hours play. I found not playing limit holdem online for the last few days, and playing the tournies and started to bring back my patience at the table. Not panicing or getting into spots i don't need to.
Just kidding. Interesting point about the psychology of buying into a tourney for $50 vs playing 10/20 ring game. I suppose with ring, you control how much you throw away but with the tourney it is all in one shot.
Make sure you set aside time each day to reflect on the day's experience.
I didn't think Pacific paid 4th place in the SnGs anymore. The ones I've been in lately only paid 3 places. I'll have to check that out. For sure Pacific's $30 20-seater pays 300/180/120. Or else I was dreaming.
Good luck.
next challenge is to stop using poker tracker while playing on UB, i find the real time table info to be an almost unfair edge.
Funny that you are concerned about an unfair advantage. I guess when preparing for a live event, you should be using only the tools that will be available to you there. Interesting dilemma between trying to qualify (i.e. your winnings target) and being qualified.
Either way I've assumed the buy-in against me, but obviously the tourney is still running so i won't know if i have any moeny from it. Day three went well with me showing a profit of nearly $100 through a number of consistent low buy-ins. The troubling part is i have ZERO cashes in MTT so far, and have no won any of my heads-up matches. My results have been due to a good run in SNG (1 and 2 table variety) cashing in 9 out of 11
DAY THREE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $109.25
Total Return: $224.00
Net: +$94.75
CUMULATIVE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $254.55
Total Return: $350.20
Net: +$95.65
Type Site Event Cost Return Net
SNG UB $20 SNG 22.00 100.00 78.00
SNG UB $10 SNG 11.00 50.00 39.00
SNG UB $20 SNG 22.00 (22.00)
HU PS $5 HU SNG 5.25 (5.25)
MTT GC $10 rebuy 31.00 (31.00)
SNG PS $15 2 table SNG 16.00 54.00 38.00
SNG UB $10 SNG 11.00 20.00 9.00
MTT PS $11 re-buy 11.00 (11.00)
I was lucky to get a lot of play in today. I was out at one of the stores, and because of the weather had a total of two customers in the entire day. So i just fired up a dial-up and played away.
I haven't played a tournament in gaming club in a long time, but that's where i started my poker and i can say i know why i loved that site before. While i didn't do well in the tourneyi know i had great oppurtunities, just couldn't handle this one Maniac. Honestly the guy lost chips to everyone at the table but kept replenishing them from me. No word of a lie, he hit three gutshots on me, twice calling big raises. While you love playing against total maniacs in a live game, in a tournament they can hurt themselves and hurt you also. Still i think i'm going to have to go back and make a few more attempts on the prima network (gaming club)
So three days down and about $350 to go
Total Buy-ins: $115.00
Total Return: $164.24
Net: +$49.24
CUMULATIVE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $369.55
Total Return: $514.44
Net: +$144.89
date type site event COST RETURN NET
22-Feb SNG PS $15 turbo 2 table SNG 16.00 (16.00)
22-Feb HU PS $5 heads up SNG 5.25 10.00 4.75
22-Feb SNG PS $20 two-table SNG 22.00 (22.00)
22-Feb HU PS $10 heads up SNG 10.50 (10.50)
22-Feb HU UB $5 heads up SNG 5.25 (5.25)
22-Feb SNG PS $6 turbo Two-table SNG 6.50 (6.50)
22-Feb SNG UB $20 SNG 22.00 100.00 78.00
22-Feb SNG UB $5 SNG 7:00pm 5.50 (5.50)
22-Feb MTT UB $10 6-handed 11.00 13.74 2.74
22-Feb HU PS Pokerforum.ca Mano-a-Mano 11.00 40.50 29.50
The $10 6-handed tourney was actually a bit odd. I was trying to register for another tourney at the same time but accidentily registered for this one. It's a 6 seated limit tourney, my god everyone was a maniac ... myself included. I actually was doing really well, but shortly after making it into the money, i busted out on a set over set. Basicly all-in on the flop with him having a set of kings and me having eights. plus i was already in the pokerforum heads-up tourney. you can't imagine how tough it is playing a shorthanded limit tourney and a heads-up NL tourney at the same time.
I actually did really badly in my first SNGs mainly because i got away from MY style of play. I was trying to push up my agression level, but i've found that for consistent results in these SNG you need to be forceful but agressive. For example a guy who raiss one pot per round, may never get called on his raise and pick up the blinds and antes. the problem is the guy who does it twice a round, will get played back more often and risk more chips, in a situation where generally everyone is short stacked. i guess maybe tight agressive isn't the right term, i'm selective agressive. my agression is less dictated by my cards, than the situations in context to the cards.
I wanted to share two other interesting tid bits, my breakdown by site
Pokerstars Net: $-(52.30)
Ultimate Bet Net: $212.99
Pacific Net: $15.20
Gaming Club Net: $-(31.00)
as is still the case, pokerstars is kicking my ass
Keep it up.
After missing the heads up tourney last night, I punished myself by playing in 2 SNGs on Stars, a $10 one and after bubbling there, a $20 one. Bubbled that one too. Enough punishment. Decided to call it a night.
Tonight I thought I'd take it easy and moved back to Pacific. Ahhhhh, where the air is fresh and the fishing is easy.
Played a $16 20-seater. First hand, 7 guys in. Flop comes down 69T with 2 spades. First guy, all in. I figure him for the straight. Another guy, all-in. Hmmm? Last guy, all in. Have they all got straights? Turns out the second guy had Q9 spades and called an all in with 2nd pair and a flush draw. I don't get it. It seemed obvious to me he'd have to hit the flush to take that pot. So he got lucky. I ended up in the final 4 and we battled for more than an hour to see who would get into the money. I finally knocked the short stack out when I slowplayed my aces in the BB. I didn't last much longer and finished 3rd for $64. I need more practice short-handed. I thoroughly enjoyed the play, though.
Seeing as it was still early, I thought I'd try a quick $10 10-seater. First hand, pre-flop big raise, big re-raise, call, call. 3 in for the flop. I'm figuring aces and kings and ??? Flop comes with an Ace. First guy goes all-in, 2nd guy calls, 3rd guy folds. Turns out first guy has A9o, 2nd guy has T5s. I'm not sure what they were thinking but most likely they weren't. Not much later we are down to 5 guys already. Blinds at 15/30, Mr Any Ace UTG raises to 250. I'm sitting with AA so I re-raise to 500. He calls. Figure he's got ace with a high card or a high pair to be willing to put that many chips in. Flop comes down 9 high. He checks. I bet a couple hundred to 'keep the line taut'. He raises all-in. Naturally I call. He's holding 99. That's one fish that got away. Oh well, still up 35+ for the night.
Good luck, Chugs. I'm looking forward to your update. Keep hitting Pacific. Probably good simulation for 3/4 of the guys you'll face in the tourney coming up. Except no rebuys. :-(
No full update today because i basicly didn't play. I played in one SNG on UB for $20 and finished in 5th. Nothing to interesting, i'll try to play some more tomorrow.
I still gotta put some time in on the MTT, since i've still yet to show any significant progress in that field, outside of 1 barely moneying in a tourney on UB, and that too it was a limit tourney so i'm basicly not going to worry about the whopping $2.74 profit i made on it.
I was hoping to play one of the $5 re-buy satellites on stars, but got home a few seconds after midnight and missed the registration. Before going to bed i may try the stars $22 re-buy, only question is if i'll try to play it like a freezout or if i'll play with full re-buys etc..., which may break the limited budget i'm trying to do this challenge on.
Ok, I blew the first one. Played weak. Got sucked out on numerous rivers. Still finished in 5th. Knew I could do better, so I entered another one. My notes on the various players 'idiot', 'stupid', 'overvalues hands', 'complete moron'. You get the picture. Ya, I won it. $150. EZ money.
I don't buy the stuff about it not being good practice in the run-up to GBH. Just how good do you think the players will be. I expect at least half the field is at about the same level as Pacific players.
Go get 'em.
Total Buy-ins: $107.00
Total Return: $195.48
Net: +$88.48
CUMULATIVE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $498.55
Total Return: $ 709.92
Net: +$211.37
ROI: 42%
Type Site Event Cost Return Net
SNG UB $10 SNG 11.00 20.00 9.00
MTT PS $20 Turbo Satellite 42.00 (42.00)
SNG PS $10 SNG 11.00 (11.00)
SNG PS $6 turbo Two-table SNG 6.50 21.60 15.10
MTT UB $5 turbo 5:00pm 5.50 (5.50)
MTT PS $11 re-buy 31.00 153.88 122.88
THE NEGATIVES: I still have a lot to deal with when it come to tilt but i mean tilt off the table not on the table. The first three events listed were played late last nite, just after midnight. I had an absolutely horrible day, without getting into details ... what i do is a family business and when things aren't ideal in both usually the weight of the world pounds down from both. Still i felt i needed to put some time in on the tables and i think that was a mistake, because i wasn't in the mindset to allow me to do well.
THE POSITIVES: I finally made a breakthrough on the MTT front. Wasn't a win or a final table but it was an achievement so far in this challenge. In the Pokerstars (btw BBC_Z thanks for pointing out this is where i have to play to improve) 10:15 $10 re-buy tourney i placed 34th. I had about 95,000 chips left and the blinds were at 6000/12000. The blinds were going to be 10000/20000 by the time they got to me, and after another set of blinds my all-ins would no long have the same value. I find JJ and decide that i simply didn't have the room to make a standard raise, because i couldn't see any likely chance that i could fold JJ in that spot. Called by a guy with KK, who was just a bit shorter stacked than me, and had just posted his blinds. He actually took a long while to call, and got into his timer. I think he was considering the fact that if he sat tight he would likely be able to make the next money jump at 27 people, and get another $50 or so. it goes without saying i didn't improve and got eaten by the blinds the next hand, with my small rump of chips, although even then i went out with 4s full of kings ... only problem is the other guy made kings full of fours.
I was happy with my play overall, i wish i had stole a few more blinds, but i was selective and precise in making moves on blinds, and only got called once or twice, and even then was able to take the pot. I only had one bad hand where i lost 30-35% of my stack in a battle of the SB & BB. Basicly i made middle pair, turned a set and put out a sizable bet but not the size of the pot, didn't want to lose my customer, especially since he was pushing back at me (figured top pair or pp) ... turns out he was betting back at me with a flush draw, that hit on the river.i stupidely paid it off for a few thousand chips. To be honest when i can point at only one hand where i was just disappointed in my play, i think i can take comfort.
So 5 days into this challenge and i'm making progress. Tomorrow i'm going to a home game through aces, so lets see ... either i'll have made my goal ... or i'll be back at square one.
Just a quick update, couldn't really play during the day but i did play in two small SNG on pokerstars. I played one $5 and one $6 turbo ... didn't money in either.
But i did play in all_aces home tourney, and came in third. so monied in that and really and feeling better and better about my play as things go on. really THE hand that makes or breaks people was AK. I was basicly crippled three handed with AK running into KK. still i had a $115 net to show for the effort, and i'm basicly up $315 for the purposes of the challenge now.
2. CPT Status
3. Stats
4. write-up
A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH
DAY SEVEN UPDATE (FEB 24)
Total Buy-ins: $188.00
Total Return: $530.00
Net: +$342.00
CUMULATIVE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $798.55
Total Return: $ 1454.92
Net: +$656.37
ROI: 82%
CPT Status
I have officially cleared my challenge on day 7. Tehnically speaking i need to stay above the $450 mark between now and the CPT, but i'm glad to see my head is above water for now.
I'm also currently amazingly above water in all three criteria, MTT, SNG and heads-up ... but i'm only above water in the heads-up by virtue of the pokerforum.ca heads-up tourney. if that's classified as a MTT instead, then i'm below water in that area.
I also wanted to remind anyone going to the CPT about possibly working on a pool of 10-15% total, with other members of the forum.
Stats
Total SNG Cost $360.30
Total SNG Return 706.80
Net SNG 346.50
Total Number of SNG 23
ROI: 96%
Total MTT Cost $390.50
Total MTT Return 697.62
Net MTT 307.12
Total Number of MTT 13
79%
Total HU Cost $47.75
Total HU Return 50.50
Net HU 2.75
Total Number of HU 7
ROI 6%
Details about the events.
Today involved only two events, both of the MTT.
Event 1
A three table live tournament at a local club. Absolutely the most god awful blind structure i've ever seen. If it wasn't for the fact that i was already there, no way in hell i play.
Starting: 1000 chips ($60)
Re-buys: 2000 chips ($20 yah $20 for double starting) ... can only re-buy on bust out
Add-on: 4000 chips ($30) ... after 30 minutes ... blinds at 25/50 for first 30 minutes.
I made it to the final 12 or 13, and was basicly nursing a short stack, not being able to connect on anything during the bingo bongo period at the start.
I was in for the buy-in, 2 re-buys and the add-on.
So i leave the event pissed off, that i essentially couldn't do anything during the re-buy and was short stacked, i just wanted to play a freezout. So i leave, and stop in the parking lot of the Mr. Greek at Dufferin & Finch, and grab my laptop. For anyone in the area, they have free wifi. I pop open pokerstars and register for the $53+5 frezzout satellite to the $530. simply put you make the top 10% you get paid, that works for me. so i got 25 minutes to get home. get home having missed the first 2 minutes and away we go.
Event 2: Stars $53+5 satellite
First if you read the summary, you can guess ... i won a seat (which i've cashed out and will consider to be cash for the challenge).
I should have kept notes but i'll be honest i just played really patiently, and then on a bit of a short stack, pocked around and managed to double up with an AJ on a J high flop against an under pair. Then double and a bit again up when i got called after going all-in on a flop of J42 (or something similar) with two spades. so i had tptk and the nut flush draw (made the nut flush). i was ahead on that hand, pre-flop on the flop and the whole way. not usually the case with AJ
*********** # 9 **************
PokerStars Game #1275994499: Tournament #5468880, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/02/26 - 23:23:47 (ET)
Table '5468880 11' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: DeuceBuster (1835 in chips)
Seat 2: ElmerFudd (1990 in chips)
Seat 3: stakha (2025 in chips)
Seat 4: chugs (3339 in chips)
Seat 6: And1 (1580 in chips)
Seat 7: notaclue (7292 in chips)
Seat 8: Diggzy Brown (4327 in chips)
Seat 9: MadHattter (1390 in chips)
Diggzy Brown: posts small blind 50
MadHattter: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to chugs [6h 7h]
DeuceBuster: folds
ElmerFudd: folds
stakha: folds
chugs: raises 200 to 300
And1: folds
notaclue: raises 300 to 600
Diggzy Brown: folds
MadHattter: folds
chugs: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [5h Kh Th]
chugs: checks
notaclue: bets 500
chugs: raises 2239 to 2739 and is all-in
notaclue: calls 2239
*** TURN *** [5h Kh Th] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kh Th 8c] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
chugs: shows [6h 7h] (a flush, King high)
notaclue: shows [Jc Jd] (two pair, Jacks and Fives)
chugs collected 6828 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6828 | Rake 0
Board [5h Kh Th 8c 5c]
Seat 1: DeuceBuster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ElmerFudd folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stakha folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: chugs showed [6h 7h] and won (6828) with a flush, King high
Seat 6: And1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: notaclue (button) showed [Jc Jd] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 8: Diggzy Brown (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: MadHattter (big blind) folded before Flop
I basicly got a bit out of line and tryed to pick up chips from some tight blinds. button min. raises me. i'm like shit. but i felt i couldn't not call either in that spot. needless to say i hit a DREAM flop, and was shocked i got paid off, by a hand that had no heart in it, for a re-draw.
way to many hands, way to many comebacks, but honestly only once in the whole tourney did i get most of my money in as a dog (AJ vs JJ) and suckout, be it on the flop, turn or river. Which was me re-raising back a guy who had been constantly leaning on my blinds. He came back over top of me, but the price for calling at that point was right.
I was happy with my play, and i'm really starting to feel more comfortable with my NL, which is the key to this challenge. I'm thrilled to know if this keeps up, i'll be paying for that tourney with proceeds earned entirely from NL tournies.
One hand with 11 or 12 left, you were in 11th in BB. The guy a couple seats to your right does the standard 3xBB raise. You really thought about that one for a long time and pushed all-in with a hand that was probably behind but the other player didn't want to risk having his stack crippled so he folded.
Another hand on the final table where 8 of 9 get seats. Your stack was in serious trouble and you were close to the cutoff. Your hand was not that strong but you had a perfect opportunity to get all-in. The blinds folded and your stack was in a much more healthy spot.
To me, those were 2 spots where you moved up from the brink of extinction and put pressure on the other short stacks to move. Soon, thereafter, the 2 short-stacks went to war with each other. AJ vs JJ, I believe. I'd like to see a couple of those hand histories.
Great tourney. Very well played. Congrats. Based on the way you played, I'd say you are more than ready for GBH.
I'm sort of turning this thread into my own personal poker blog it seems, but this challenge has brought the stats junkie in me out. I've been seeing achange in my game (still not sure if it's evolving or de-evolving ... but changing for sure)
Seperating out my heads-up, i've divided my MTT and SNG into essentially Turbo and Regular blind structures. There is a bit of judgement involved in putting them in various categories. I'm essentially considering any blind structure similar to Stars and UB regular blinds. Anything faster, or labelled as a turbo i consider turbo.
Regular Style: $831.62 Turbo Style: $(223.00)
It appears when i really break-down the numbers even furthur, even extracting my one big win from the numbers that my results in Regular, less agressive blind structures are much better.
I use to do very very well in the stars $11 turbo satellites, but of late simply don't do well in them. I'm wondering, well actually i'm kinda sure that as my game has changed i am better able to compete in less agressive blind situations.
The question is why? I understand that in theory higher blinds create more luck, but i also consider playing on the short stack (often the case in turbos, in terms of BB) ... to be a very very important skill.
I think while not an official requirement, i'm going to try to bring my standing in turbo events up to break-even at the least. Some people have indicated that the blind structure at the CPT, may be some what agressive so it will be important to be able to play in those situations.
I'm also looking at setting some sort of target in re-buy events, since so far all my cashes have been in strictly freezout situations (except aces home game, which i never rebought in) ... and the CPT is a re-buy event, a re-buy event with a screwed up re-buy structure but a re-buy event none the less
Total Buy-ins: $102.00
Total Return: $0.00
Net: -$-0.00
CUMULATIVE SUMMARY
Total Buy-ins: $900.55
Total Return: $ 1454.92
Net: +$554.37
ROI: 62%
A major setback, three MTT and no money. But that's bound to happen in a MTT enviornment.
Played 1 $22 Stars satellite to the $530, and then a $3 regular satellite to the $215.
Last played the 10:15 was running really really well top 30 stack getting near the bubble, maybe 30 spots left. Then this happens.
PokerStars Game #1281879825: Tournament #5472431, Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII (1500/3000) - 2005/02/28 - 01:37:08 (ET)
Table '5472431 112' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: E_Z drow (38548 in chips)
Seat 2: daring (46108 in chips)
Seat 3: RBC* (29652 in chips)
Seat 4: Flushtrated (23120 in chips)
Seat 5: recyellow (65337 in chips)
Seat 6: chugs (71737 in chips)
Seat 7: JUUUICE (58134 in chips)
Seat 8: NodasgaWink (16750 in chips)
Seat 9: ben456 (18020 in chips)
E_Z drow: posts the ante 150
daring: posts the ante 150
RBC*: posts the ante 150
Flushtrated: posts the ante 150
recyellow: posts the ante 150
chugs: posts the ante 150
JUUUICE: posts the ante 150
NodasgaWink: posts the ante 150
ben456: posts the ante 150
chugs: posts small blind 1500
JUUUICE: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to chugs [Qh Ac]
Eric82 [observer] said, "ur funny"
NodasgaWink: folds
ben456: folds
E_Z drow: folds
daring: folds
RBC*: folds
Flushtrated: folds
recyellow: folds
chugs: raises 6000 to 9000
JUUUICE: raises 6000 to 15000
chugs: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [6d 4h Td]
chugs: bets 9000
JUUUICE: calls 9000
*** TURN *** [6d 4h Td] [Ad]
chugs: checks
JUUUICE: bets 18000
chugs: raises 18000 to 36000
JUUUICE: calls 15984 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [6d 4h Td Ad] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
chugs: shows [Qh Ac] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
JUUUICE: shows [4d Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
JUUUICE collected 117318 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 117318 | Rake 0
Board [6d 4h Td Ad Qd]
Seat 1: E_Z drow folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: daring folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: RBC* folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Flushtrated folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: recyellow (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: chugs (small blind) showed [Qh Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 7: JUUUICE (big blind) showed [4d Ah] and won (117318) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 8: NodasgaWink folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: ben456 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
I really can't speak enough about how badly i played this hand out. Especially because the guy could have had a flush at that point. After that hand i was crippled, and really didn't have enough chips to try to eek into the money, so i played agressive actually almost re-built. Other short stack in the BB, calls me on a steal. He had AQo to my KJs, i didn't improve and lost on the next hand with my last 1000 chips (0.5BB)
Just wondering in my head if i should have re-raised all-in pre-flop. I generally don't like doing it, i really prefer if i have the ability to see a flop and go from there. I also could have just checked the flop and left it at that, or even check raised the flop, or moved in. I just feel my 9000 bet into that pot was horrible.
But essentially betting that flop feels like the worst move i could make.
In my last two MTT i've basicly busted out of the tourney just shy of the money after having one of the largest stacks in play.
In the Star 10:15 re-buy with 150 left i was in 20th chip position. I ended up losing my entire stack on a battle on the blinds (see post above for details)
Today in a $30 frezzout on UB, 180ish entrants. Essentially since the 2nd hand of the tourney, i've been no lower than 5th or 6th in chips. Down to 30 people (top 20 pay) ... i make a play on the blinds with K9 and bet the pot. Get called in both spots, flop comes down king high ... checked around to me ... i bet it. Then it happens, the bb goes all-in on me. other times maybe i fold, but i had a solid read on this guy, he was real obvious milked his good hands, and huge bets his bluffs and draws. I call him and he shows AT. No pair ace high ... till the river when he spikes an Ace.
My stack is severly damaged but at this point i could still coast into the money. But a short one orbit later i've busted out. I realize suckouts happen, and it's not like i didn't build my stack in part on suckouts also. Not sure why, but actually being at the point where i had a read on a guy, my read was right and i still lost ... just got to me.
The $50 from making it into the money isn't life changing, but at the same time for a person who was aiming to show results in the short term, should it have been a consideration. I really in my heart felt i could win this tournament, so i pushed and tried to re-build a stack to do battle with. In the end i was the one who got played, when someone else slow played aces on me and busted me on the river.
Funny thing is i'm not unhappy with my play in either tournaments. I just find myself disappointed that in both occasions i bubbled just out of the money after running a big stack for a long time. i'll be honest most of my poker life i've always been playing from behind. This last week, i've been tweaking my game, actually getting and accumulating chips, understanding how to use a big stack really seeing how to take advantage of it, but the second i lose that power ... it's seems like i don't know how to play the short stack, something that use to be my speciality.
Last kick in the nuts with these recent loses, i'm barely above water now on my CPT challenge.
I've officially gone into the tank ... everything i touch goes bust.
Simply put, every single tournament, SNG i played i lost. Heck i even lost playing a session of Omaha on Pacific, first time that's happened in weeks and at a live game. For all my efforts at being consistent, days like today just show i'm not there.
Specific to the challenge: For the day buyins of $143 ... less total winnings of 0 for a loss of $143 (and don't even ask about the ROI)
I think i may take tomorrow entirely off from poker and refresh my mind.
Leaving me up $411 for the challenge. Which is short of the goal of $450. I really felt like in the last days i took 1 step forward, and today i took two steps back
28-Feb SNG UB Regular $20 SNG 2:00pm 22.00 22.00 (22.00)
28-Feb MTT UB Regular $30 Guaranteed $4500 3:00pm 33.00 33.00 (33.00)
26-Feb MTT PS Regular $36 Freezout Satellite 10:30pm 39.00 39.00 (39.00)
26-Feb SNG PS Turbo $25 turbo Two-table SNG 11:10pm 27.00 27.00 (27.00)
28-Feb SNG UB Regular $20 SNG 11:40pm 22.00 22.00 (22.00)
Do it, do it.
Sometimes a break is the best thing we can do for our selves. Take a day or two and just relax. It seems like you are trying to force the game at this point. Remember the games that you kicked ass on and do not worry about the losses. Reread your favorite poker material and get your focus back. Relax. Deep breaths.