Stalking the wild sure thing

Every now and then, I come across a tournament in a delightful state, when there's oodles and oodles of dead money and not much time remaining in the late registration period.

This is an excerpt from my February 12 post of this year. Last night, I came close to encountering this mythical beast again, in the first tournament I entered. The proof? Even though I only lasted 3 hands, I still managed to hit the 42nd percentile :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      52   15    30        0
MTT   NLHE    45000   5000       6      90   21    21    89000

delta: $-161,000
MTT NLHE balance: $23,484,668
2020 balance: $16,062,343
blue distance: $1,311,000
balance: $77,870,353

Tripped up

Big stacks always have the option to play more loosely than small stacks, and often do. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I hit the rail on a bad beat, losing to a loose big stack. However, that's poker, and I accept it. It happened to me again last night. On my final hand of the tournament, I hit trip jacks on the turn, but lost to a big stack who rivered a straight. At least I got to station 2 :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      89   21    34        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $23,645,668
2020 balance: $16,223,343
blue distance: $1,150,000
balance: $78,031,353

Aqueous humor not so funny to me

The poker gods were in an aqueous humor again last night, but I was the butt of their jokes this time. I started off the session with two quick 0th places. In the first tournament I entered, I hit the rail on a hand where I was dealt AQo (ace queen offsuit)  and made two pair (aces and queens) on the river, but lost to an opponent who'd flopped a diamond flush. In the second tournament, I hit the rail with the same holding, this time making the two pair on the flop, but losing to an opponent who rivered a straight. I played a third tournament and did much better, earning an official place, but still failed to make the money. How to lose nearly a million in four easy lessons :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      53   15     -        0
MTT   NLHE    45000   5000       6      19    6     -        0
MTT   NLHE    87000  13000       6      43   12    19        0

delta: $-350,000
MTT NLHE balance: $23,845,668
2020 balance: $16,423,343
blue distance: $950,000
balance: $78,231,353

Doppelsession

The most memorable thing about last night's session was that it was almost a carbon copy of the one before it. I hit the 67th percentile in both, and was within shouting distance of making the money. Not much to shout about, unfortunately :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      90   21    29        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,195,668
2020 balance: $16,773,343
blue distance: $600,000
balance: $78,581,353

My endless poker summer

"The Endless Summer" was a documentary movie about surfing made in 1965. I've always loved the title. My endless poker summer is my lifetime average percentile for MTT NLHE tournaments; it quickly stabilized to 72, and has remained there ever since. No matter what I do, I can't budge it :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      82   21    27        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,395,668
2020 balance: $16,973,343
blue distance: $400,000
balance: $78,781,353

AQ < Q5

The most memorable hand of last night's session was the one where my stack was gutted like a fish, leaving me with just 17 chips. I'd been dealt ace queen, and paired my queen on the flop. I had top pair top kicker, and that stayed true through the turn and the river. I lost to a queen five, who'd paired his five on the turn for two pair. Can I just say, "Ouch"? :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      92   24    54        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,595,668
2020 balance: $17,173,343
blue distance: $200,000
balance: $78,981,353

Lightning strikes twice

I made it under the lights again last night, and just missed being Lord High Everything Else again. I also just missed getting a Full Monty again. On the strength of my second straight deep run, my overall balance returned to the blue. All is right once more in my poker world :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      60   15     3  1179000

delta: $979,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,795,668
2020 balance: $17,373,343
blue distance: $0
balance: $79,181,353

Lord High Everything Else

On Saturday night, I achieved a Full Monty, finishing in second place as Lord High Everything Else. I nearly achieved a double century, lasting 198 hands. I had an epic heads up battle; it must have lasted at least 40 hands. I started heads up play with roughly 40,000 chips to my opponent's 130,000. On my final hand, I was dealt A8o (ace eight offsuit), and shoved. My opponent called, and turned over A7o (ace seven offsuit). I had him dominated, but he spiked a 7 on the river. At least I got my money in good :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      94   24     2  1701000

delta: $1,501,000
MTT NLHE balance: $23,816,668
2020 balance: $16,394,343
blue distance: $875,000
balance: $78,202,353

When the buy in is right but the style is wrong

I've grown so accustomed to $200,000 buy ins that it's hard to stomach playing for lower stakes. This is a problem when the midnight train goes missing, since the only $200,000 buy in tournament that's likely to be available in that case is a bounty tournament. I try to avoid bounties like the plague. Last night, the midnight train went missing again, and I couldn't stop myself from jumping into the $200,000 buy in bounty that was on offer at the time. Bad move. I should have just settled for a $50,000 buy in MTT NLHE. A favorite poker style should trump a favorite buy in every single time.

style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT-B NLHE   174000 26000       9     149   36     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with bounties NLHE balance: $-2,183,820
2020 balance: $14,893,343
blue distance: $2,376,000
balance: $76,701,353

A tale of two pocks

Last night, I made it to station 2, outlasting over half of the field. Two hands stand out in my mind. I was dealt pocks in both. In the first, I was dealt pocket threes, and folded them before the flop, not willing to call a reasonably sized bet. Of course, a third three showed up in the flop :-) In the second, incidentally my final hand of the night, I was dealt pocket sevens. Since I was short-stacked, I went all in with them. I navigated the flop and turn successfully, but was done in by the river. If I lose again tonight, I will have completed yet another "How to lose a million in five easy lessons" crash course :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      69   18    32        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,315,668
2020 balance: $15,093,343
blue distance: $2,176,000
balance: $76,901,353

Pockmarked

Pocket pairs, aka "pocks", are funny things. They're strong holdings, but they don't always hold up. Last night, all three of my pocks bit the dust. They definitely caused my session to be pockmarked :-) 

This is an excerpt from my June 17, 2014 post, back in my cash game days. Last night, I had pocket royalty twice (pocket kings once, pocket queens once), and lost both times to split aces. To add insult to injury, I missed outlasting the late registration period by less than a minute, earning me another 0th place.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      60   15     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,515,668
2020 balance: $15,293,343
blue distance: $1,976,000
balance: $77,101,353

Bubble boy

On Saturday night I was the bubble boy, missing the money by a single spot. It was the 5th MTT NLHE I've bubbled this year, and 13th of my career. Bubbling is never fun, but you have to expect it to happen to you now and again. Looked at in a certain way, bubbling is actually quite a lucky occurrence :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      96   24    25        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,715,668
2020 balance: $15,493,343
blue distance: $1,776,000
balance: $77,301,353

Disappearing into the year

The deeper you play into a poker year, the more the accumulated data of the year outweighs whatever your current results are. In effect, you disappear into the year, and it takes a search party to find you. 

This is an excerpt from my November 2, 2019 post, which I also appropriated for my July 27 post of this year. In the July post, I thought I was destined to make a profit of 25 million this year; I have to lower that projection to 18 million. Still not a bad haul :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      71   18    26        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,915,668
2020 balance: $15,693,343
blue distance: $1,576,000
balance: $77,501,353

Lightning strikes twice

When you make the final table of an MTT, it feels like capturing lightning in a bottle. When you do that two tournaments in a row, it feels like lightning striking twice :-)

This is an excerpt from my May 1, 2020 post, and applies equally well to last night's session. Even though the prize pool was less than the one from the session before, I made a slightly bigger profit via the expedient of finishing one place better :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      75   21     5  887000

delta: $687,000
MTT NLHE balance: $23,115,668
2020 balance: $15,893,343
blue distance: $1,376,000
balance: $77,701,353

Under the lights

It's quite possible I achieved another personal first last night. Before making the money, I survived a fall in. As a refresher, a fall in is when you have such a short stack that the combination of ante and small or big blind puts you all in. After making the money, I lasted long enough to get under the lights. I've survived fall ins before, and made it under the lights before, but believe this is the first time I've ever survived a fall in and gone on to get under the lights. Quite the "chip and a chair" scenario :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      86   21     6   867000

delta: $667,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,428,668
2020 balance: $15,206,343
blue distance: $2,063,000
balance: $77,014,353

Knocking on the door

Although I again failed to make the money last night, I came mighty close. Any time you have a percentile north of 70, you're doing well. On the final hand of the night, I suffered a bad beat. I'd been dealt ATo (ace ten offsuit), was short-stacked, and decided to shove. I got one caller; he'd been dealt A7o (ace seven offsuit), making me a healthy favorite. He paired both of his hole cards on the flop, however, and that was all she wrote.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      72   18    21        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $21,761,668
2020 balance: $14,539,343
blue distance: $2,730,000
balance: $76,347,353

How to lose a million in five easy lessons

This is the second time I've used this blog post title; the first was on July 8 of this year. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

The title of this post is tongue in cheek, of course. No one wants to take a course in how to lose money. For that matter, anyone who wants to lose money can easily do it, without need of instruction. I simply wanted to come up with a humorous way to summarize my last five sessions. Like clockwork, I lost $200,000 each time.

I made it to station 2 last night, largely due to winning a huge pot early on with a set of jacks. I'm hoping to make it to station 3 tonight.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      55   15    27        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $21,961,668
2020 balance: $14,739,343
blue distance: $2,530,000
balance: $76,547,353

Rushed decision

There's an old adage in poker that "long is wrong". In other words, if you take an exorbitant amount of time to make a decision, its quality is likely to be poor. Of course, there's a lower bound on how long you should spend on a decision as well - fall below it at your peril. That's what happened to me last night; I exited the tournament due to a rushed decision. A little background is necessary here. Due to the fact that MTT NLHE tournaments on PokerStars can last two hours or more, periodic five minute breaks every 45 minutes or so are built in. I typically use one of these breaks to relieve my bladder and floss and brush my teeth. I usually get back to my laptop before the break is over, but sometimes I don't. Last night, I didn't. When I returned, I saw that I'd been dealt KQo (king queen offsuit), but was in danger of being auto sat out, as the action was on me and my time was ticking down. I panicked, and called a bet without even looking at how many opponents were still in the hand, how big the bet was, or how many chips I had left. Idiotic behavior, to be sure. My call put me all in against two opponents, and I got what I deserved - I was gone in a New York minute. One consolation - in an earlier hand, I hit quad threes for a welcome, if brief, chip infusion.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      48   12     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,161,668
2020 balance: $14,939,343
blue distance: $2,330,000
balance: $76,747,353

Another station 0

On Thursday night, I registered another station 0, the third in my last five tournaments. I don't remember any details, just the unsatisfactory result. It's safe to say I'm in a slump, but I know it won't last forever.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      80   21     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,361,668
2020 balance: $15,139,343
blue distance: $2,130,000
balance: $76,947,353

Brexit

Latest neo neo: brexit. It's my poker shorthand for brutal exit. Last night, I hit the rail in a very brutal way. I was short-stacked, was dealt the ace of hearts and another heart, and shoved when two of the flop cards came up hearts.. I hit my flush on the turn, but lost to an opponent who made quad queens on the river. The silver lining? I made it to station 2, which was my minimum goal.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      77   21    34        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,561,668
2020 balance: $15,339,343
blue distance: $1,930,000
balance: $77,147,353

Slicked out

I first used this blog post title on August 18 of this year; here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

I call it a slickout when I hit the rail with a big slick (ace king). I call it being slicked out when I hit the rail and my opponent is the one with a big slick.

Last night, I got slicked out when I was all in with AQo (ace queen offsuit). It was yet another 0th place, my second in the last three tournaments. Tonight I hope to make it to station 2 at least.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      54   15     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,761,668
2020 balance: $15,539,343
blue distance: $1,730,000
balance: $77,347,353

Jackpot

Last night, I received pocket jacks four times. One of those hands matured into quad jacks. It was a good thing, too, since I'd flopped a set of jacks, called all in with them, and found out to my dismay that I was a 28% underdog after the turn. I don't know what my opponent had, but it was either a straight or a flush. I needed either the board to pair, which would give me a full house, or to river the case jack for quads. That shot me to the top of the leaderboard, and I promptly took a poker selfie :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      67   18     4   979000

delta: $779,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,961,668
2020 balance: $15,739,343
blue distance: $1,530,000
balance: $77,547,353

Station 0

I really hate it when I can't outlast the late registration period of a tournament. Thankfully, it doesn't happen too often. When it does, I record it in my poker database as a 0th place. In the midnight train metaphor, it's a station 0. After 17 straight tournaments without one, I had a station 0 last night. I only won a few hands, and one of them was a chop. Whatcha gonna do?

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      61   18     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $22,182,668
2020 balance: $14,960,343
blue distance: $2,309,000
balance: $76,768,353