Sunday, January 31, 2016

Two meats, one veg

On Friday night, I had a two meats, one veg session. When you're playing sit and go no limit hold'em, the more meats in your diet, the better :-) However, my most memorable hand of the night was neither a sit and go hand nor a no limit hold'em hand. Instead, it was an MTT 8-game hand of the deuce variety. As you may have guessed, it was memorable due to the fact that I came out on the losing end, in an especially painful fashion. In deuce, there are many different ways to lose a hand. The most brutal way to lose is when you have a very fine low, but your opponent has a low which is infinitesimally better. That's what happened to me. My low was an 8 7 5 4 3, and the winning hand was an 8 7 5 4 2. I'm sure such nearly identical deuce hands at showdown can happen no more than one time in a hundred.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    31      82   18    46        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    65       6    2     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    28       6    2     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    55       6    2     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    54       6    2     1   175500


delta: $240,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $4,321,300
balance: $12,371,794

Friday, January 29, 2016

The once and final first

A once and final first session is one in which you failed to make the money in every sit and go you played except for the final one, where you came in first. Last night I had such a session. It felt familiar, and for good reason - I'd had just such a session two nights previously. Last night's was a bit worse, however, since it took me an extra sit and go to get to the first. Along the way, I suffered two sixth places in a row. Just for fun, here are the hole cards I had in the final hand of each tournament, along with their associated hand deltas:

-1328 Kh Ts
 -865 7d Ad
 -165 5d 7d
 -940 Ts Qh
 -880 Ts Th
 -675 As Js
 1075 Kh 9s


style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    20     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    17     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    30     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6     3     6        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6     9     6        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    25     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    71     1   175500


delta: $-174,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $4,080,800
balance: $12,131,294

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Meat and two veg session

Last night, I had a meat and two veg session - one first and two second places. That's definitely a nice result, whether you played three, four, five, or even six sit and gos. Here are the different profit amounts for meat and two veg sessions, playing $45,000 buy in sit and gos:

3 sit and gos: $214,500
4 sit and gos: $164,500
5 sit and gos: $114,500
6 sit and gos:  $64,500

Last night, I played 5 sit and gos. Winning the final one was a great quit signal, and I heeded it.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6     9     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   113     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    25     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    22     6        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   121     1   175500


delta: $114,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $4,255,300
balance: $12,305,794

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Classic cooler

Last night's session was about as different from the one before it as it's possible for two sessions to be. I was headed for an ofer, but managed to pull out a first place finish in my final sit and go. That halved my losses in one fell swoop :-) The most memorable hand of the session was a classic cooler. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong end of it. I was dealt pocket kings, and one of my opponents was dealt pocket rockets. He got all his money in, I called, and lost 670 in chips in a New York minute. Luckily for me, I had more chips at the start of the hand than my opponent, so I didn't hit the felt right then. It took another 27 hands for that to happen :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    20     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    32     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    35     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    31     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    36     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    48     1   175500


delta: $-124,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $4,140,800
balance: $12,191,294

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

In the sweetness

Last night, I was in the sweetness for the whole session. I finally had to quit due to the lateness of the hour. It was the second time in my career that I made the money in all six sit and gos that I entered. This time was actually sweeter than before, since I came in first four times, which is one more than in the other session. It was the seventh session of my career where I made a profit of over half a million play dollars. Poker life is super good right now :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    36     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    57     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    77     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    96     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    66     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    64     1   175500


delta: $591,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $4,265,300
balance: $12,315,794

Monday, January 25, 2016

A long time between fifths

In 1,042 sit and go no limit hold'em tournaments, I've come in fifth 145 times. Last night, in 5 sit and gos, I came in fifth twice. However, before last night, I hadn't come in fifth for 27 straight sit and gos. Granted, one of those non-fifths was a sixth, but still :-)

I think I have enough sit and go skill now to be able virtually to eliminate fifth and sixth place finishes. Of course, this is assuming that the percentage of less skilled and/or less patient players remains constant :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    14     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    72     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    27     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    67     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    76     1   175500


delta: $20,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,674,300
balance: $11,724,794

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Señor Cuatro

When I have the time, I like to play six sit and gos per session. On Friday night, I had the time. Since I came in fourth in four of them, an appropriate moniker for me might be Señor Cuatro :-) I checked the archives to see if this had ever happened to me before, and it had - twice. This made me curious to see how many times I'd had the same finishing place four times out of six in a session. It turns out this has only happened to me five times - once for first places, once for third places, and three times for fourth places. I'm still waiting to have a Señor Cuatro night with second places, but can give Señor Cuatro nights with fifth places or sixth places a pass :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    45     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    29     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   107     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    32     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    30     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    70     3        0


delta: $-124,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,654,300
balance: $11,704,794

Friday, January 22, 2016

Two memorable hands

I had two memorable hands last night. I lost one, and won the other. On the hand I lost, I was a big favorite, but it wasn't meant to be. My opponent didn't have the right odds to bet the way he did, but bet anyway. Let me check the archives ... ah, yes. I'd been dealt a pair of jacks, and my opponent had been dealt Qc 5c. The flop came 2c 3d 6s. He went all in, and I called. I was a 68.48% favorite, but he hit a straight on the turn, winning the hand right there, then had the effrontery to hit an unnecessary flush on the river :-)

On the hand I won, I hit an ace on the river. I think that hand was a see-saw battle where I was a favorite on the flop, a dog on the turn, then won on the river. Let me check the archives ... hmm. As it turns out, my memory was wrong. I was a 36.87% dog on the flop, and an even bigger dog, 22.73%, on the turn. I guess this hand made up for the earlier one, even though they were in different sit and gos.

In other news, I'm back in the blue :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    54     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    65     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    77     1   175500


delta: $201,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,778,800
balance: $11,829,294

Thursday, January 21, 2016

An audacious goal

I've decided to set myself an audacious goal for the 2016 poker year. Simply stated, I want to wager 60 million play dollars this year playing sit and go no limit hold'em. The most I've ever wagered on this style and flavor in a year before is 22.8 million in 2012. That was the first year I played sit and gos, but I played a lot of cash game no limit hold'em that year also. To reach the 60 million goal, I'll need to devote all my time to sit and gos. This is no hardship, since I'm really down on the cash game right now.

Since I don't have 60 million play dollars in my bankroll, I'm not going to be able to reach the goal without making the money a fair percentage of the time. It breaks down to wagering 5 million play dollars a month. I'm definitely on track for this month, having wagered 3.5 million so far.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    75     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    18     6        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    61     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    42     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    49     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    58     2    94500


delta: $-16,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,577,800
balance: $11,628,294

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

150,000 hands

Last night, I reached another milestone - I officially topped 150,000 hands played. Unofficially, I've played many more hands than that on PokerStars, but I didn't start recording the number of hands played per session right away. Here's how the hands break out by style and flavor:

  Hands    Winnings  Count  Style       Flavor

 66,141  $5,912,523    853  Cash game   No Limit Hold'em
 46,221  $3,594,300  1,071  Sit & Go    No Limit Hold'em
  9,663    $67,5210     85  Sit & Go    8-Game
  7,842    $297,480     99  MTT         8-Game
  6,283    $333,115    108  Cash game   Pot Limit Hold'em
  3,145     $76,093     43  Cash game   Limit 7 Card Stud
  3,113      $4,842     69  MTT         No Limit Hold'em
  2,311     $15,027     36  Cash game   No Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball
  2,195     $10,000     79  Spin & Go   No Limit Hold'em
  1,586    $-71,775     35  Cash game   Pot Limit Omaha
    949    $-64,160     25  MTT         HORSE
    200       $-500      1  Cash game   Limit 5 Card Draw
    147      $2,600      1  Sit & Go    HORSE
     99     $-1,260      2  Sit & Go    Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball
     69       $-897      1  Cash game   Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball
     37    $-50,800      1  Sit & Go    Limit Hold'em
     33      $1,155      2  Cash game   Pot Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball

150,034


I played six $45,000 buy in sit and gos last night and earned the second smallest profit possible. I'll take it, though; a profit is a profit :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    78     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    47     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    48     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    61     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    23     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    78     2    94500


delta: $64,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,594,300
balance: $11,644,794

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Top 10 tide swap counts

In keeping with my tidal theme, I came up with yaps (yet another poker statistic) - tide swap count. A single tide swap is what happens when you start out a hand at low tide and end it at high tide, or vice-versa. A tide swap count is the number of tide swaps which occurred during a specific interval. I decided to focus on heads up play again. Here are my top 10 tide swap counts during heads up sit and go no limit hold'em play:

16 (72) 2015/0608/c
15 (45) 2012/0821/c
13 (67) 2012/1102/a
12 (54) 2015/0526/c
12 (50) 2015/0617/f
11 (82) 2016/0112/b
11 (78) 2016/0113/b
10 (57) 2016/0114/a
10 (38) 2015/0531/e
10 (34) 2014/0206/b


The numbers in parentheses are heads up hands. Last night, I only got to heads up play once, and there were no tide swaps.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    68     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    28     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    61     2    94500


delta: $-55,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,529,800
balance: $11,580,294

Monday, January 18, 2016

High tide percentage

In poker, fortunes shift like the tides. That's especially true when you get to heads up play in a tournament. When you're heads up, your stack will generally either be at low tide (under half the chips in play) or high tide (over half the chips in play). Tonight I was inspired to come up with yaps (yet another poker statistic), which I'm calling high tide percentage. It's the percentage of heads up hands where you begin the hand with your stack at high tide. Coming in second place especially hurts when you have a high high tide percentage. That's what happened to me last night, in the final sit and go I played. My high tide percentage was 75.67. I thought that might be a record high for a second place finish, but when I ran the numbers, I discovered that it only clocked it at number 12. My highest high tide percentage for a second place finish is a whopping 94.82.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6     4      87   18    58        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    57       6    2     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    32       6    2     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   105       6    2     2    94500


delta: $115,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,585,300
balance: $11,635,794

Sunday, January 17, 2016

The bubble train

Right now, I'm on the bubble train. That is, I keep bubbling tournaments, just missing the money. This tells me that although I'm not playing really well, I'm still playing decently, so there's no need to panic. I've now missed the money in six straight sit and gos. This got me curious about my longest missing the money streak, so I looked it up. Back in April of 2014, I missed the money in ten straight sit and gos.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    27     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    25     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    11     5        0


delta: $-150,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,465,300
balance: $11,520,794

P.S. Once again, I found some miscategorized data in my poker database. I corrected it, but won't be going back to correct incorrect balances I publicized in previous posts.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

My post cash world

The last time I played a cash game was on October 1st, 2015. I may never play another. For better or for worse, I'm a tournament player now. Here's how I've done so far in my post cash world:

sessions: 99
tournaments: 396
number of hands: 20,113
delta: $4,469,040

To be successful at tournament poker, you need to have a strong belief in your abilities. To have a strong belief in your abilities, you need to be successful. This seems like a chicken or egg scenario, but what it boils down to is that you must initially believe in yourself before you have any reason to. Once that has translated into tournament success, then you can believe in yourself more legitimately :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    50      94   18    35        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    75       6    2     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    39       6    2     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    25       6    2     4        0


delta: $-155,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,676,300
balance: $11,670,794

Friday, January 15, 2016

High and dry

This is the second time I've used this blog post title. The first time, I was referring to a cash game session where your balance is never underwater. This time, I'm referring to a sit and go tournament where your balance is never underwater. That's what I had last night. It's much harder to have a high and dry sit and go tournament than it is to have a high and dry cash game session, since a necessary but not sufficient condition in the former case is that you come in first place.

Out of curiosity, I ran the numbers to see how many high and dry sit and go no limit hold'em tournaments I've achieved. Drum roll, please ... The answer: 17 (out of 999).

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    89     1   175500


delta: $125,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,826,300
balance: $11,825,794

Thursday, January 14, 2016

The dreaded one-hander

Every now and then, you hit the rail on the very first hand of a sit and go. Unless you were being super frisky, often you will have gotten your money in good, only to have the deck turn cold on you. Sometimes, ice cold! That's what happened to me in the second sit and go I played last night. On the first hand, I flopped a set of threes, and called an all-in bet made on the flop. Another player acting behind me also called. I was a 77.19% favorite, but the player whose all-in bet I called, who was an 5.76% underdog, made a full house with running cards, and I was out in a New York minute. There was nothing to regret; I'd play that hand the same way every time. You have to expect such frigid treatment from the cards from time to time :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    48      87   18    24        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   113       6    2     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6     1       6    2     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    45       6    2     2    94500

delta: $34,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,700,800
balance: $11,700,294

P.S. I just discovered that I'd entered several MTT 8-games into my poker database incorrectly as sit and go no limit hold'em tournaments. I've corrected the errors in the database, but I'm not going to bother going back to correct the incorrect sit and go no limit hold'em balances given in previous posts.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Triple first

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - one of the most wonderful things about poker is that you can still achieve personal records years after you started playing. Last night, I did something I'd never done before, in over 1,000 sit and go tournaments played - 1 won three tournaments in a row within a single session. My first triple first! Such a feat requires both luck and skill; neither on its own is enough to get you there :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    60     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   109     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    82     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    42     3        0


delta: $326,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,651,800
balance: $11,666,294

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Double first

This is the third time I've used this blog post title. It's actually the 16th time in my career I've had two first place finishes in a row, in the same session. Needless to say, it's a great feeling! There's not much more to say about it. In other news, I broke a rung again in the MTT 8-game I entered, instead of trying to ladder up.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    47      78   18    22        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   115       6    2     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    44       6    2     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    43       6    2     3        0


delta: $196,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,325,300
balance: $11,339,794

Monday, January 11, 2016

Drawing dead

It's never a good feeling to be drawing dead. Usually, this will be on the river. It's worse when it's on the turn. It's even worse when it's on the turn, and you were virtually guaranteed to chop the pot before the flop. That's what happened to me on hand 30 of the third sit and go I played last night. I'd been dealt ace ten offsuit, and an opponent who'd been dealt ace ten suited went all in. I called. He flopped a flush, and I was officially drawing dead on the turn. I'm pretty sure that's never happened to me before. Looked at in the right way, it's actually cause for celebration :-) It means I've demonstrated the longevity to have crazy things like this happen to me without crushing me.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    40     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    45     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    63     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    36     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    71     2    94500


delta: $-61,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,129,300
balance: $11,143,794

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Another lonesome deuce

Last night, I had another lonesome deuce - that is, a session where I played multiple sit and gos, but only managed to make the money in one of them, coming in second place. It was the 32nd lonesome deuce of my sit and go no limit hold'em career, and the 11th where I played six sit and gos. When signing up for the sixth sit and go, I was hoping to salvage the session the way I'd salvaged the one on Thursday night, but it wasn't meant to be.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    13     6        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    74     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    19     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    10     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    37     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    42     4        0


delta: $-205,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,129,300
balance: $11,204,794

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Fifth best month ever

I've only played 7 sessions so far this month. Despite that small number, it currently qualifies as my fifth best ever. Here are the current top 5:

$2,738,400  2015-11
$1,953,014  2012-08
$1,306,444  2014-02
  $771,357  2012-03
  $709,930  2016-01


This month has all been within my comfort zone, playing sit and gos at the $45,000 buy in level. During that banner month last November, I was playing one notch above my comfort zone, at the $90,000 buy in level. I did that in semi-desperation, in my burning desire to bring my 2015 poker year back into the black. I achieved my objective, but gambling in that fashion is not something I want to do all the time. I think if I can stay within my comfort zone, I can make 2016 my most profitable poker year ever. I'm definitely off to a great start :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    45      98   18    38        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    19       6    2     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    58       6    2     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    39       6    2     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    20       6    2     3        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    85       6    2     1   175500


delta: $96,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,334,800
balance: $11,410,294

Friday, January 8, 2016

Salvaging a session

It goes without saying that no player can avoid losing sessions. They're an integral part of the game. Last night, my streak of nine straight winning sessions came to an end. Even though I ended up in the red, I consider that I salvaged the session by coming in first in the last sit and go I played. If I hadn't played it, I would have lost $155,500 on the night. If I'd lost it, I would have lost $205,500 on the night. However, since I both played and won it, I lost only $30,000 on the night. Puppy food :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    26     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    70     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    26     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6     9     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    21     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    55     1   175500


delta: $-30,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,238,800
balance: $11,314,294

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Breaking a rung

I love the variety of 8-game, and the challenge, and the fun. The only thing I don't like is the difficulty of making large sums of money playing it :-) Last night, after making the money in an MTT 8-game, I made a strategic mistake. Instead of trying to ladder up, I broke a rung instead. I was on the bubble of the first money jump, and instead of playing super cautiously, I went for it. I jammed my foot down on the rung I was standing on, and hit the rail (to mix metaphors :-)). Since only two places are paid in six seat sit and gos, there's no such thing as laddering up in them; I think I played that last MTT 8-game hand as if I were playing a six seat sit and go. I'll try to keep that in mind the next time I'm in a position to ladder up.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    83      99   18    13     5790
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6   107       6    2     2    94500


delta: $45,290
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,268,800
balance: $11,344,294

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Sweetness is fractal

Most of the time when I talk about being in the sweetness, I mean at the tournament level. However, I realize that sweetness has a fractal nature. This means that being in the sweetness can occur at any level. Lately, I've been in the sweetness at the session level. Stepping even further back, I've been in the sweetness at the annual level ever since I started playing online poker more than 7 years ago.

Last night, it took me a while to get into the sweetness at the tournament level. That fact, and the lateness of the hour, convinced me to quit while I was ahead :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    45     4        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    10     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    68     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    37     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    59     2    94500


delta: $114,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,224,300
balance: $11,299,004

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The first rule of sweetness

Last night, I broke the first rule of sweetness, which can briefly be stated thus:

When you're in the sweetness, as soon as you fall out of it, stop playing.

Don't get me wrong, being in a position to break this rule is a great place to be :-) I made the money in the first four sit and gos I entered last night, failed in the fifth, then played one final sit and go (one too many), failing again.

The crazy thing about being in the sweetness (and this happens to me every time) is that you honestly believe you'll never fall out of it. You feel like Iron Man - in other words, invincible :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    45     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    91     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    66     1   175500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    51     2    94500
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    12     5        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6     9     6        0


delta: $240,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $3,109,800
balance: $11,184,504

Monday, January 4, 2016

Fast big money

As I've noted before, poker is addictive. Given this fact, it's not too surprising that certain styles and flavors of poker are more addictive than others. For me, the most addictive form of poker of them all is sit and go no limit hold'em. It has two unbeatable attributes:

1. you can make tons of money
2. you can make it really fast

These can be combined into a single phrase - fast big money. Of course, both of these attributes have their "evil twin" flip sides:

1. you can lose tons of money
2. you can lose it really fast

Having now played over a thousand sit and go no limit hold'em tournaments, for a profit of nearly 3 million play dollars, I've proven to myself that I make fast big money considerably more quickly than I lose it :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    20      99   18    62        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    80       6    2     1   175500


delta: $120,500
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $2,869,800
balance: $10,944,504

Sunday, January 3, 2016

A great start

On Friday night, I made a great start to my 2016 poker year. For the first time ever, I came in first in an MTT. It took a whopping 271 hands and 2 1/2 hours, but I finally got there. Even though it was gratifying, I feel there's much more luck involved in an MTT than in a sit and go. Therefore, I wasn't able to feel as elated as I otherwise would. Maybe I've been spoiled by success :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6   271     119   24     1   128640


delta: $123,640
MTT 8-game balance: $327,480
balance: $10,824,004

Friday, January 1, 2016

My favorite poker year

Now that it's over, I can unequivocally state that 2015 was my favorite poker year. That may seem strange, since I struggled mightily for most of it, and had little hope of making it back to the black as late as the beginning of November. However, not only did I make it back to the black, I ended up making a profit of over a million play dollars. That was so far better an outcome than I'd expected, my heart couldn't help but warm to the year as a whole, warts and all :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    82       6    2     2    94500
MTT   8-Game   4500   500       6    29      67   18    37        0
SNG   NLHE    45000  5000       6    51       6    2     1   175500


delta: $165,000
Sit and go no limit hold'em balance: $2,744,300
balance: $10,700,364