Monday, November 15, 2010

Ballooning my Bankroll

I didn't want to do it, but I had to. I've had a difficult month. I seem
to go into a pattern of having multiple good sessions with modest gains,
but then I get hit with a single session with massive losses.

I rebought into Stars for an extra $90, and this subsequently dwindled
down to about $50. My Full Tilt balance has been obliterated - down from
$6'ish to zero.

At PokerStars, I was also going to convert my Frequent Player Points (FPP)
into cash, a conversion which requires 2500 points, and nets $25, for a
conversion rate of $0.01 per FPP. However, I was two hundred points
short.

Instead, I picked up a technique from the www.twoplustwo.com forums: Play
6-man hyper-turbo Sit and Go's which cost 280 FPP. Out of the 6
positions, the first 2 players get a buy-in to a weekly quarter million
dollar tournament, and third place gets their FPP back. You get nothing
for placing 4th through 6th. If you win a tournmanent entry, you can then
unregister for the tournament, and you will get $11.00 worth of tournament
dollars in your account.

Since 6 players contribute 1680 FPP minus one player who gets his 280 FPP
back, that means there are 1400 FPP for prizes totally $22.00. That pegs
the FPP value at 0.0157 if you do "average" over the long run at these Sit
and Go's.

I had enough FPP to join 8 of these. I did amazingly well. I placed 3rd
in one of them, regaining my FPP, which I reinvested in a 9th SnG. Of the
rest, I lost only 2, winning 1st place in 6 of them. That netted me
$66.00 in tournament dollars. That's roughly $0.03 per FPP, so I
essentially TRIPLED what I would have gotten with a cash bonus!

It was good fun to play Sit and Go's again. The winnings are tournament
dollars, which means they are only available to pay for subsequent Sit and
Go and Tournament entries. I don't mind, as I am a winning player at Sit
and Go's. In fact, going back to SnG's is probably good therapy after
getting trounced at 6-max cash games for the past year. As well, the
lessons I've learned from 6-max should enable me to play a little looser
in the early going with confidence. In fact, if I play well enough, I may
stick with Sit and Go's to rebuild my bankroll, as I'm confident that I
can do it.

As for my Full Tilt bankroll, it looks like I will have to do something
similar. I have 4000+ player points. Time to look into what I can do
with those to rebuild there (although using them will impact subsequent
rakeback). Or I could possibly wait for a reload bonus while I work on
Pokerstars.

Current FT Balance : $0.00
Current PS Balance : $107.93
Current Owing: $700.00
Current Bankroll: -$592.07

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The $5.50 tournament

I had the day off today, so I played the $5.50 tournament for the donation. Unfortunately, I did not get in the money this time.

Out of a field of 5004 players, the top 720 players are in the money. I was busted out in 1215th place.

The hand that busted me was my QQ versus an AK holding.

This player was getting quite aggressive, and I'd seen him try to bully a number of pots prior. His aggression factor is 3.5 and his 3bet percentage is just over 10%. Here I thought he was simply bullying the initial raiser and I was going to squeeze.

Poker Stars $5.00+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t150/t300 Blinds + t25 - 9 players - View hand 1020234

Hand History Converter



BTN: t5685 M = 8.42

SB: t24804 M = 36.75

Hero (BB): t11105 M = 16.45

UTG: t1925 M = 2.85

UTG+1: t4520 M = 6.70

UTG+2: t12000 M = 17.78

MP1: t14230 M = 21.08

MP2: t16030 M = 23.75

CO: t8040 M = 11.91



Pre Flop: (t675) Hero is BB with Q of clubs Q of spades

1 fold, UTG+1 calls t300, 5 folds, SB raises to t2100, Hero raises to t11080 all in, UTG+1 calls t4195 all in, SB calls t8980



Flop: (t26880) A of hearts T of clubs 9 of clubs (3 players - 2 are all in)



Turn: (t26880) K of spades (3 players - 2 are all in)



River: (t26880) 6 of spades (3 players - 2 are all in)



Final Pot: t26880

SB shows A of spades K of hearts (two pair, Aces and Kings)

Hero shows Q of clubs Q of spades (a pair of Queens)

UTG+1 shows A of diamonds 4 of diamonds (a pair of Aces)

SB wins t13170

SB wins t13710




Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Another tough night

After losing three buy-ins... this happens.

My opponent has played roughly every other hand, and I've been playing back at him by reraising his limps and until now he's been backing down. I've actually had the goods each time! Unfortunately, he hits his breaking point and won't take it anymore and calls his way into a lucky break:

Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1006337

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter



CO: $7.63

BTN: $5.05

SB: $5.16

BB: $4.39

UTG: $3.19

Hero (MP): $14.01



Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is MP with K of clubs Q of hearts

UTG calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.15, 4 folds, UTG calls $0.10



Flop: ($0.37) 9 of spades Q of spades 6 of diamonds (2 players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $0.25, UTG calls $0.25



Turn: ($0.87) 4 of clubs (2 players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $0.70, UTG calls $0.70



River: ($2.27) 3 of hearts (2 players)

UTG bets $1, Hero raises to $4.45, UTG calls $1.09 all in



Final Pot: $6.45

UTG shows 4 of spades 3 of spades (two pair, Fours and Threes)

Hero shows K of clubs Q of hearts (a pair of Queens)

UTG wins $6.14

(Rake: $0.31)


Monday, November 1, 2010

The $5 MTT

Just an update - No, I haven't played the $5 MTT yet. I haven't had time, but I will this coming weekend! Rawr! I can't wait.