A short-lived fling

Last night, I went on a KO jag and got it out of my system. KO is too hard to beat to play on a regular basis. The reason is that there just aren't enough fish who play it. The only way to win in poker is to have a steady diet of fish :-) It's back to MTT NLHE for me tonight.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    19       9    3     4        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    11       9    3     5        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    19       9    3     2    57375
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    36       9    3     4        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    10       9    3     5        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    26       9    3     4        0
MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       9    65     160   45    44    79000

delta: $-171,125
MTT NLHE balance: $2,594,668
2019 balance: $635,250
balance: $47,219,510

Bountiful poker

One of the things I periodically rediscover about poker is how fun it is to play a flavor you haven't played in a while :-) Last night, I played some KO poker, and had a blast. The last time I played KO before last night was on December 3, 2017. Last night, I made the biggest profit I've ever made in a KO tournament - $173,125. This was largely due to winning 6 of the 9 available bounties. I'll be playing some more KO tonight :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid  place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       9    40     160   45     81        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    14       9    3      3    38250
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    42       9    3      1    95625

delta: $111,375
KO NLHE balance: $-71,439
2019 balance: $806,375
balance: $47,390,635

A rash of straight flushes

A straight flush is the rarest hand in poker. When you play no limit hold'em, you can only expect to hit one once every 3,217 hands. In both of my most recent sessions, including last night's, I hit one; the second was just 130 hands after the first. Given their rarity, that qualifies as a rash of straight flushes :-) What made last night's even more spectacular is that I hit it on the flop. Super sweet!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       9    87     241   63    29   113000

delta: $63,000
MTT NLHE balance: $2,615,668
2019 balance: $695,000
balance: $47,279,260

A respite from rebuys

One feature of MTT-R NLHEs on PokerStars that's really starting to bug me is that there are quite a few bad players who think nothing of rebuying umpteen times per tournament. There's no way in hell they're making a long term profit with their kamikaze style of play, but they just don't care. These players can make life pretty rough for skilled players. Last night, by mistake I joined an MTT NLHE instead of an MTT-R NLHE, and it was a breath of fresh air. When bad players join a tournament without rebuys, their days are truly numbered :-) I'm going to join an MTT NLHE on purpose tonight.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    70      69   18    24        0
MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       9    95     244   63    32   115000

delta: $15,000
MTT NLHE balance: $2,552,668
2019 balance: $632,000
balance: $47,216,260

How to lose half your stack without really trying

Here's how to lose half your stack without really trying:

1. be on the button
2. be dealt a halfway decent hand (i.e., a hand good enough to call the big blind with)
3. make a pair on the flop
4. make two pair on the turn
5. whiff on the river, which pairs the board
6. face a river bet which puts you all in

The right thing to do in this scenario is to fold. It isn't pretty, and it isn't fun, but it's the right thing to do. That's just what I did last night, when I was dealt 8s Jd and the board ran out Jc 5h 4s Qs 4c.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    58      71   18    16    41000
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    54      77   18    23        0

delta: $-109,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,657,500
2019 balance: $617,000
balance: $47,201,260

Quadrified

Last night, I got quadrified. That's my neo neo for what has befallen you when you lose to a four of a kind. This hurt for multiple reasons:

- I had a full house
- my opponent hit a one outer on the river
- I hit the rail

Out of curiosity, I ran the numbers to see how many times in my MTT-NLHE career I've hit the rail upon quadrification. The answer: 6. Somehow the first five didn't register with me, but the sixth sure did.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    52      83   18    44        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   106      83   18     8   485000
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    18      74   18     -        0

delta: $235,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,757,500
2019 balance: $726,000
balance: $47,310,260

Honorable or foolish?

The difficult questions in life don't have universal answers. The same is true of the difficult questions in poker :-) Last night, I bubbled the final tournament I entered. The way I played my final hand can be considered either honorable or foolish, depending on how you look at it. I was in the big blind, with 5,025 chips. The blinds were 500 and 1,000 at that point. I had the third shortest stack at my table; there were 17 players left in the tournament, and 15 places were paid. I was dealt ATo (ace ten offsuit). There was a good chance I would min cash if I folded that hand and every other hand for the next orbit; there was also a chance I could win the hand if I stayed in it. I didn't feel like being a wimp, so I stayed in the hand. I hit the rail when I got beaten by a player with AJo (ace jack offsuit). Was my play honorable or foolish? There's no right answer. I prefer to think I was honorably foolish :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    31      81   18    33        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9     6      98   27    71        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    73      63   15    16        0

delta: $-400,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,422,500
2019 balance: $491,000
balance: $47,075,260

Poker interruptus

I've used this title several times before. Last night, I experienced poker interruptus once again. It's never fun. This time, instead of being due to a power outage, it was due to my internet connection going down. This happened at a most inopportune time - when there were just 13 players, including me, left in a tournament which paid 12 places. I think I was in seventh place when the plug got pulled. Mirabile dictu, even though I was automatically sat out, I finished in seventh, for a healthy chunk of change. What this means is that the remaining players kept fighting each other, instead of silently colluding to share my dead chips amongst themselves. When players fight, knockouts happen much more frequently than they otherwise would. Those knockouts gave me my nice payday :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    64      78   18    47        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    57      61   15    31        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    99      57   12     7   628000

delta: $328,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,772,500
2019 balance: $891,000
balance: $47,475,260

Frisky late

It's okay to play friskily in a tournament sometimes, but the closer you get to the money, the less frisky you should be. To my detriment, I failed to follow that advice last night, in the final tournament I played. A contributing factor to my friskiness was that it was late, and I couldn't fully commit to the mental energy which would have been required to grind it out. Shame on me :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    47      52   12    26        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    48      90   18    43        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    25      30    6     -        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    54      56   12    19        0

delta: $-600,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,394,500
2019 balance: $563,000
balance: $47,147,260

MTT 8-game milestone

Last night, I reached an MTT 8-game milestone - I made the money for the 100th time. As this happened in my 287th tournament, I'm making the money in MTT 8-games at a 34.84% clip. Not too shabby :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    45000  5000       6   121      65   12     8   109000
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    39      63   15    53        0

delta: $-141,000
MTT 8-game balance: $606,170
2019 balance: $1,163,000
balance: $47,747,260

A postcard from the edge

Tournament poker players live on the edge of an abyss. It's an exhilarating experience. There's no better feeling than making the money when you had no reason to believe you would. Actually, that's not strictly true; there is one better feeling - the feeling you get when you come in first after having had no reason to believe you'd even make the money :-) That's the feeling I had last night.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6   237      71   18     1   841000
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   105      55   12    11   322000

delta: $863,000
MTT 8-game balance: $547,170
2019 balance: $1,304,000
balance: $47,888,260

Ever less and ever worse

I first used this blog post title on September 22nd of last year. Here's what I had to say:

Last night, I had an ever less and ever worse session; each succeeding tournament, I lasted fewer hands than the previous one, and also had a lower percentile. My blue distance ratio increased to 13.9%, which is the highest it's ever been since I started playing MTT-R NLHEs. If it ever reaches 20%, I'll start to worry, but not until then :-)

This very nearly applies verbatim to last night's session; the only difference is that my blue distance ratio increased to 13.8%. For the record, the highest it's ever been since I started playing MTT-R NLHEs is 21.2%, on December 21st of last year.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    66      98   18    20        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    40      95   27    37        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    25      69   15    47        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,022,500
2019 balance: $441,000
balance: $47,025,260

$25,000,000 tournament

The six biggest tournaments I've ever played in on PokerStars have all been MTT-R NLHEs. Last night, I played in my fifth biggest; it had a massive prize pool of $24,925,500. Let's just round that up to $25,000,000. First place paid $5,370,500. 27 places were paid, and a min cash was good for $249,000. I min cashed, and decided to call it a night.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    18      86   18    51        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    67     104   27    25   249000

delta: $49,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,272,500
2019 balance: $741,000
balance: $47,325,260

Lights out

I've really been enjoying playing 8-game. I've always enjoyed it. I'll never make a ton of money playing 8-game, but it provides the most pleasure, dollar for dollar, of any poker flavor I've ever tried. Last night, I made the money in my third straight 8-game. I'm dubbing the outcome "lights out", since I made it under the lights, but then was the first player at the final table to hit the rail. In other news, I was the bubble boy in the MTT-R NLHE I entered.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    66      56   12    13        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6   156      82   18     6   166000

delta: $-34,000
MTT 8-game balance: $-143,830
2019 balance: $692,000
balance: $47,276,260

yas

This is the second time I've used this blog post title; the first was on June 21st of last year. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

Last night, I suffered yas - yet another slickout - in the first tournament I entered. I just ran the numbers on my hole cards on the final hand of every MTT-R NLHE I've ever played, and wasn't surprised to see that the holding with the biggest freq factor is none other than AKs (aka ace king suited (aka a slickout)). AKo (ace king offsuit, also a slickout) clocks in at number 6.

Almost everything applies equally well to last night's session; the only difference is that AKo now clocks in at number 4. I made life rough on myself by joining the first tournament too late. I'll try to avoid that tonight.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    11      70   15    43        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6   128      58   12    11    65000

delta: $-85,000
MTT 8-game balance: $-259,830
2019 balance: $726,000
balance: $47,310,260

The hateful eight

I've never seen Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight", but that won't stop me from appropriating its title :-) In this case, the hateful eight are the hands I played in the first MTT 8-game I entered last night. I joined towards the end of the late registration period; that was my first mistake. On top of that, I ran into a cooler on the very first hand, which removed over half my stack in a New York minute. I made up for this sorry performance by lasting 17 times as long in the next MTT 8-game I played, and getting under the lights.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6     8      80   18     0        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6   136      60   12     5   189000
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    90      60   12    15        0

delta: $-61,000
MTT 8-game balance: $-274,830
2019 balance: $811,000
balance: $47,395,260

Overlapping centuries

Lately, I've been double-tabling, playing an MTT 8-game tournament and an MTT-R NLHE tournament at the same time. As I've mentioned before, I think I actually play better when I play multiple tournaments simultaneously. Last night, I made the money in both, and also lasted over 100 hands in both. In other words, I experienced overlapping centuries :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6   132      53   12     4   226000
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   116      65   15    10   361000

delta: $287,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,573,500
2019 balance: $872,000
balance: $47,456,260

A bullet and a shell casing

My bullet of choice for a poker tournament is $50,000. I fire $50,000 bullets at MTT 8-games as well as MTT-R NLHEs. Of course, I can only ever fire one bullet at a tournament without rebuys. Last night, I made a profit of just over one bullet. Call it a bullet and a shell casing :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    51      80   18    38        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    87      95   27    23   201000

delta: $51,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,462,500
2019 balance: $585,000
balance: $47,169,260

yab

On Friday night, I had yab - yet another bubble. It was only the third one I've ever had in MTT 8-Game, but also the second in my last three MTT 8-Games. A mini-cluster, if you will :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    97      54   12    13        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,361,500
2019 balance: $534,000
balance: $47,118,260

yaw

This is the third time I've used this blog post title. The first was on April 6 of last year; here's what I had to say:

Last night, I had yaw - yet another whaleback. I missed the money by three places. I played well, had fun, and outlasted a bunch of the usual suspects. I feel a big payday heading my way :-)

Everything applies equally well to last night's session - to a T.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    65      58   12    15        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,361,500
2019 balance: $584,000
balance: $47,168,260

Classic cooler goodbye

AA vs. KK is the classic cooler. The aces crush the kings by more than 4 to 1. That's a hell of a way to exit a tournament, but it happens, and happened to me again last night. I just checked the archives, and found that this is the third time this has happened to me in my MTT-R NLHE career.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    50      65   15    21        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    73      59   12    26        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,461,500
2019 balance: $684,000
balance: $47,268,260

Rockets to the rescue

The most memorable hand of last night's session came in the second tournament I played. Nearing the bubble, I was short-stacked and had been card dead for most of the tournament. Mirabile dictu, I picked up aces when I needed them the most, and more than tripled up. Alas, my good fortune didn't last, and I ended up missing the money by two spots. On the hand where I hit the rail, I was drawing dead on the river, and my opponent had the effrontery to improve his hand from a straight to a flush anyway :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    10      73   15    47        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    50      48   12    14        0

delta: $-500,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $35,611,500
2019 balance: $884,000
balance: $47,468,260

1.76 million ladder up

Last night, I had my first Full Monty of 2019. As a reminder, that's a session where I make a profit of at least 1 million play dollars. When the final table started, only eight players were left, and I was the short stack. My 10,890 chips represented just 1.59% of the chips in play. The payouts were as follows:

1  $4,429,000
2  $3,076,000
3  $2,336,000
4  $1,730,000
5  $1,153,000
6    $961,000
7    $769,000
8    $576,000

I got lucky and laddered up 5 spots, ending in 3rd place - a money jump of 1.76 million. Sweet!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   111      81   18     3  2336000

delta: $2,186,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $36,111,500
2019 balance: $1,384,000
balance: $47,968,260

Stopping the bitch

On Friday night, I stopped my out-of-the-gate 2019 losing streak at 3. Along the way, I bubbled an MTT 8-game tournament. Bubbling is always bittersweet; it's the ultimate signal that you played well but have nothing to show for it. That's poker for you :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   117      81   18    10   375000
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    63      81   18    19        0

delta: $125,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $33,925,500
2019 balance: $-802,000
balance: $45,782,260

Worst start to a year

I've never lost a million play dollars straight out of the gate to start a poker year. This may be the year I achieve that dubious honor :-) Here are the aggregate numbers for the first three sessions of every full poker year I've played, sorted in ascending order:

$-927,000 2019-01-01 2019-01-03 (0)
$-116,150 2012-01-03 2012-01-05 (0)
 $-36,073 2011-01-05 2011-01-07 (1)
     $200 2015-01-01 2015-01-03 (1)
   $5,005 2010-01-02 2010-01-05 (3)
  $23,900 2013-01-01 2013-01-03 (2)
 $137,818 2014-01-02 2014-01-06 (3)
 $150,000 2018-01-01 2018-01-03 (1)
 $267,400 2017-01-01 2017-01-03 (3)
 $484,140 2016-01-01 2016-01-04 (3)

The final column shows the number of winning sessions. If I don't have a winning session tonight, I'll surely surpass a million play dollar loss to start the year.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    35      75   15    36        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    19      55   12    32        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    53      62   15    26        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    38      67   18     -        0

delta: $-400,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $33,750,500
2019 balance: $-927,000
balance: $45,657,260

Rebuy tournament laydown

I've talked about the fractal nature of poker before. You can take actions at different levels of magnification. One such is the laydown. The common magnification level for a laydown is the hand. However, due to the nature of rebuy tournaments, it's possible to perform a laydown at the tournament level also. That's one of the choices you have after hitting the felt within the late registration period. You have three options:

1. do a single rebuy
2. do a double rebuy
3. quit the tournament

99.99% of the time, I go for option 2. However, in keeping with my modified 2019 poker goals, last night I went for option 3 in the first MTT-R NLHE I entered. It felt strangely right :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paidplace winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    27      59   12    -        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6   132      50    9    6   123000
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    85      54   12   18        0

delta: $-227,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,050,500
2019 balance: $-527,000
balance: $46,057,260

2019 poker goals recalibration

Thinking some more about my goals for the coming poker year, I realized I had my priorities all wrong. I somehow got seduced by the notion that wagering more play money was the path to increased profits, but that's just not true. The true path to increased profits is through playing smarter, not harder. You don't need to play as many tournaments if any or all of the following is true:

1. you fire less bullets per tournament
2. you have a higher itm (in the money) percentage
3. you finish higher up the money ladder when you make the money

Here are my revised 2019 poker goals:

1. fire no more than 3 bullets per tournament
2. keep my itm percentage north of 30
3. keep my min cash percentage south of 45

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    48      89   18    36        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    35      65   15    42        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,350,500
2019 balance: $-300,000
balance: $46,284,260

My 2018 poker year in review

Exactly one year ago today, I set myself the following goals for 2018:

- wager $100,000,000
- win $150,0000,000
- make a profit of $50,000,000

Here's how I did:

- I wagered $86,450,000
- I won $87,521,000
- I made a profit of $1,071,000

So I give myself a C- on the year; I came close on the first goal, but failed miserably on the other two. Last year I had an A++, but you certainly can't expect that every year. Importantly to me, I kept my streak of profitable years going, which is probably the greatest achievement of my 2018 poker year.

This year, I'll set more modest goals:

- wager $90,000,000
- win $100,0000,000
- make a profit of $10,000,000 

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   109      59   12     5   928000

delta: $828,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $34,650,500
2018 balance: $1,071,000
balance: $46,584,260