Overpocks to the board

It's nice to have overcards to the board, but it's even nicer to have overpocks to the board. Of course, both of these advantages are null and void if the board has paired. Last night, I hit the rail when my top pair with a good kicker ran into overpocks to the board. I was dealt KJo (king jack offsuit), and paired my jack on the flop. The board never paired, and the jack stayed the high board card; that was enough encouragement for me to get all my chips in the middle. I lost to an opponent who'd been dealt pocket queens. That smarts.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      83   21    40        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,591,768
2021 balance: $2,220,000
blue distance: $1,452,000
balance: $79,885,453

A brutal zexit

My latest neo neo is zexit, short for zero exit; in other words, a hand where I hit the rail before the late registration period has expired, securing (if that's the right word) myself a 0th place. Last night, I suffered a brutal zexit. I was dealt a big slick, paired my ace on the flop, and hit trip aces on the turn. I was up against an opponent who'd been dealt baby cowboys (pocket jacks). After the turn, I was a 95% favorite to win, but my opponent spiked a jack on the river, giving him a full house and me the gate. That ended a streak of 29 straight tournaments where I registered an official place.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      48   12     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,791,768
2021 balance: $2,420,000
blue distance: $1,252,000
balance: $80,085,453

IG;WS

IG;WS is my shorthand for "In Good; Went South", which in turn is short for "I got my money in good, but the hand went south on me" :-)

This is an excerpt from my January 13, 2015 post. Last night, I hit the rail on an IG;WS hand. I was severely short-stacked and was dealt ace small. When I flopped a pair of aces, I shoved. I got one caller, who turned over a pair of sevens. I was an 80% favorite after the turn, but my opponent rivered a set. Whatcha gonna do?

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     100   24    27        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,991,768
2021 balance: $2,620,000
blue distance: $1,052,000
balance: $80,285,453

Two action-killing rivers

The longer you've stayed with a hand, the harder it is to lay down. The most painful time to lay down a hand is when the river card is face up. Circumstances may require it, however. One such circumstance is when the river puts four cards to a flush on the board, and you didn't hit a flush. More likely than not, someone else did. That's what you call an action killer. Last night, I was on both sides of that situation. On one hand, I didn't have the flush and had to fold. On another, I'd made my flush on the turn and knew it was highly unlikely my opponent would call my river bet. He didn't. The good news is I made the money anyway.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     106   30    22   331000

delta: $131,000
MTT NLHE balance: $26,191,768
2021 balance: $2,820,000
blue distance: $852,000
balance: $80,485,453

Cabooxit

My preferred way of making the money is simply to outlast opponents. I like flying under the radar, which you can only do with a mediocre stack. I like being able to fold more frequently than most of my competition. I like getting dealt cocktail napkins which I can get rid of without exercising a single poker brain cell. I don't mind being Caboose Boy, in other words the player with the shortest stack. My latest neo neo is shorthand for what has befallen you when you're in the caboose position at the start of the hand where you hit the rail - that's a cabooxit, a portmanteau of caboose and exit. Last night, I had a cabooxit at the end of a deep run. The good thing about cabooxits is that generally speaking, you gave your opponents more opportunities to hit the rail before you :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      72   18     9   501000

delta: $301,000
MTT NLHE balance: $26,060,768
2021 balance: $2,689,000
blue distance: $983,000
balance: $80,354,453

Cowboys into the sunset

Last night, I hit the rail in the one MTT-R NLHE I played on a hand where I'd been dealt pocket kings. You could say my cowboys rode off into the sunset :-) They ran into a set of eights. Sets are one of the most disguised hands in hold'em. I wasn't too far away from the money when this happened, but have no regrets. If you can't bet your big pocket pairs big, you might as well not play.

This what I had to say the first time I used this blog post title, on December 4, 2017. It applies to last night's session quite well, with several minor differences:

- I was playing an MTT NLHE

- I ran into a set of tens

- I wasn't as near to the money

As you might expect, I have no regrets.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      88   21    38        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,759,768
2021 balance: $2,388,000
blue distance: $1,284,000
balance: $80,053,453

Flopping the sun, moon, and stars

On the most memorable hand of last night's session, I flopped the sun, moon, and stars. I was dealt K4o (king four offsuit), and flopped a full house of kings full of fours. I just called until the river, when I check raised. My opponent folded, so I never got to show my hand, more's the pity. Unfortunately, I couldn't transform that good luck into a cash.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      79   21    25        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,959,768
2021 balance: $2,588,000
blue distance: $1,084,000
balance: $80,253,453

Under the lights

To my relief, I wasn't forced to play a deepstack last night. What's more, I got hit by the good luck stick. On the strength of receiving way more than my fair share of premium hands, I got all the way under the lights, for the first time in 35 tournaments. I narrowly missed registering another Full Monty. I could get used to this :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      84   21     4  1140000

delta: $940,000
MTT NLHE balance: $26,159,768
2021 balance: $2,788,000
blue distance: $884,000
balance: $80,453,453

Caboose boy

Last night, playing another deepstack was my only option. I made a profit, but just barely. I was Caboose Boy several times before making the money. I'm really hoping I won't be forced to play another deepstack tonight.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    87000  13000       6     123   24    21   101000

delta: $1,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,219,768
2021 balance: $1,848,000
blue distance: $1,824,000
balance: $79,513,453

How to play a deepstack

Most nights, the train before the midnight train has the same particulars as the midnight train; the buy in, the entry fee, the starting stack, and the blind structure are all the same. Some nights, however, the earlier train is a deepstack instead. That was the case last night. The buy in and entry fee were half what they are in the midnight train. The starting stack was 5000 chips instead of 1500. The blinds escalated quite a bit faster. Finally, the payout table stole money from the lower places to inflate the money up top, to the extent that the lowest paying rung didn't fully cover the buy in and entry fee. Deepstacks generally attract more players due to the insane top prizes. The problem with deepstacks is that if you don't play them very often, you forget that you can't play them the way you'd play regular tournaments. So how should you play them? Ironically, you should play them as if you're short-stacked from the get-go. The range of hands you're willing to play should be much narrower than it normally is. In other words, you should be folding a lot. You need more luck in a deepstack than you do in a regular tournament. I don't like deepstacks very much, but I don't like not playing even more. If a deepstack is the only tournament on offer when I want to play, I'm definitely going to play it.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    87000  13000       6     118   24    10   179000

delta: $79,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,218,768
2021 balance: $1,847,000
blue distance: $1,825,000
balance: $79,512,453

Forty minutes and counting

The midnight train, and the earlier train I've gravitated to, both have a 44 minute late registration period. I can count on one hand the number of times I've pre-registered for one of these tournaments. That said, I've discovered that, for me, there's no bad time to join. Last night, I joined 4 minutes after the tournament started, meaning there were 40 minutes left in the late registration period. I porpoised a bit early on, but ended up making the money. I even got to the second money jump in the payout table. The most memorable hand was the one where I flopped Broadway (an ace high straight) and extracted the most value I could from it.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      76   21    15   370000

delta: $170,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,139,768
2021 balance: $1,768,000
blue distance: $1,904,000
balance: $79,433,453

Three minutes and counting

Several James Bond movies have classic countdown sequences. I think the best of the bunch is the one in "You Only Live Twice". The suspense ratchets up as the countdown winds down. A robotic, disembodied voice over a loudspeaker periodically intones "T minus [some number] minutes and counting", as mayhem is breaking out all over the enemy compound. The contrast between the chaos of the fighting and the regularity of the countdown is amusing. I used to try to imitate that voice, especially the quirky pronunciation of the final word - something akin to Khan-ting :-)

This is an excerpt from my March 12 post of last year. Last night, I hopped aboard the midnight train with just three minutes left in the late registration period. I didn't get to the end of the line, but did make it to Station 3. Joining tournaments with eight minutes or less remaining in their late registration periods is my new favorite strategy :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     103   30    24   322000

delta: $122,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,969,768
2021 balance: $1,598,000
blue distance: $2,074,000
balance: $79,263,453

A quick ride on the midnight train

Last night, I played chess longer than usual, which meant that if I wanted to play poker, I'd have to take the midnight train. Of course, I did want :-) I didn't miss much sleep, though; it was a quick ride. I don't recall winning a single hand. On my final hand, my pair of kings lost to a rivered trip tens. Whatcha gonna do?

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      64   18    36        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,847,768
2021 balance: $1,476,000
blue distance: $2,196,000
balance: $79,141,453

Non-showdown perfection

I've written about showdown perfection quite a few times in this space over the years. Thanks to what happened to me in last night's session, it's time to write about non-showdown perfection. Astonishingly, I only went to showdown once last night, on my final hand of the tournament. Since the final hand any player plays in a tournament is guaranteed to have a showdown, that means I achieved non-showdown perfection :-) I won six hands without a showdown, which was good enough to get me into the money.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     110   30    21   344000

delta: $144,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,047,768
2021 balance: $1,676,000
blue distance: $1,996,000
balance: $79,341,453

The best quad eights

The most memorable hand of last night's session was the one where I had the best quad eights. The best quad of any denomination is when two of them are in your hand. In this situation, you have virtually a mortal lock on the hand; only a higher denomination quad, a straight flush, or a royal flush can beat you. I actually hope that some day I'll see a best quad lose; I don't even care if it's me on the losing end. Why? Because I'm a rarity junky :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      83   21    18   361000

delta: $161,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,903,768
2021 balance: $1,532,000
blue distance: $2,140,000
balance: $79,197,453

The best three kings

The most memorable hand of last night's session was the one where I had the best three kings. The best three of any denomination is when two of them are in your hand. The worst is when none of them are. I had high hopes of making the money for the second night in a row, but it wasn't meant to be. At the end, it felt like my chips were being sucked down a whirlpool :-(

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     100   24    30        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,742,768
2021 balance: $1,371,000
blue distance: $2,301,000
balance: $79,036,453

Stopping the bitch

Last night, I stopped the bitch, ending a five session losing streak in which I lost one million play dollars (aka "How to Lose a Million in Five Easy Lessons" :-)) . I didn't have as deep a run as I would've liked, but did better than a min cash. My blue distance is still too corpulent at over 2 million; I aim to trim it down some more tonight.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      83   21    10   462000

delta: $262,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,942,768
2021 balance: $1,571,000
blue distance: $2,101,000
balance: $79,236,453

The one that got away?

The most memorable hand of last night's session was one that I laid down, which would have won had I held onto it. So at first glance, it seems to have been the one that got away. But was it? Here are the details: I was dealt AJo (ace jack offsuit) and flopped a pair of jacks. I had top pair, top kicker. However, an opponent bet big enough for me to put him on two pair, so the right thing to do, given my read, was to fold. I got to see his hole cards, since he and another player went to showdown. He won the hand with a pair of jacks with a worse kicker than mine. My verdict? I made the right play. If you can't trust your reads, you shouldn't be making them to begin with.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     106   30    33        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,680,768
2021 balance: $1,309,000
blue distance: $2,363,000
balance: $78,974,453

IG;WS

The title of this post is a snowclone instance. The snowclone template it uses is XX;YY. The canonical instance which uses this template is TL;DR. TL;DR is shorthand for "Too Long; Didn't Read". IG;WS is my shorthand for "In Good; Went South", which in turn is short for "I got my money in good, but the hand went south on me" :-)

This is an excerpt from my January 13, 2015 post. Last night, I hit the rail on an IG;WS hand. The only detail I remember was that I was an 80% favorite after the turn. If I had to guess, I'd guess that I had a set and lost to a straight. Ugh.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      82   21    28        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $24,880,768
2021 balance: $1,509,000
blue distance: $2,163,000
balance: $79,174,453

Uberflushed and magic flushed

My streak of tournaments where I got at least to Station 2 came to a crashing halt last night. I was thrown off the train in no uncertain fashion well before the field had been winnowed by half. First, I lost a big chunk of my stack when my queen high flush lost to a king high; both of my hole cards were hearts (the flush suit) and both of my opponent's were too. Only a couple of hands later, the same opponent magic flushed me out of the tournament. Cruel and unusual treatment!

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      63   18    40        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,080,768
2021 balance: $1,709,000
blue distance: $1,963,000
balance: $79,374,453

95% vs 30%

In the last 20 tournaments, I've made it to Station 2 19 times, which is 95%. However, I've only made the money 6 times, which is 30%. I wouldn't mind a worse Station 2 percentage, if it translated into a better making the money percentage. You might have noticed I'm not talking about last night's session. There's an excellent reason for that - I can't remember any salient details.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      68   18    28        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,280,768
2021 balance: $1,909,000
blue distance: $1,763,000
balance: $79,574,453

yaagbh

Last night, I recorded yet another 0th place when I hit the rail with yaagbh - yet another always going broke hand. ... The great thing about an always going broke hand is that you never feel bad about playing it the way you did :-)

This is an excerpt from my December 11, 2020 post. Last night, I hit the rail with yaagbh, but instead of a 0th place, I narrowly missed the money, bubbling the bubble. I was dealt baby cowboys (pocket jacks), hit a set on the flop, and was a heavy favorite; however, my opponent hit a straight on the river, and I was gone in a New York minute.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      78   21    23        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,480,768
2021 balance: $2,109,000
blue distance: $1,563,000
balance: $79,774,453

Innumeracy correction

I realized after writing last night's post that I was almost certainly wrong in my belief that it was the first time I'd ever been dealt rockets to start out a tournament. Since there are 1,326 unique starting hands in hold'em, of which 6 are rockets, we can expect to see rockets on the first hand once every 221 (1326 / 6) tournaments. Since I've now played 1,293 MTT NLHE tournaments, we can expect this to have happened 5.85 (1293 / 221) times. For whatever reason, the prior instances didn't set off my rarity radar. In other news, I made the money again. I could get used to this :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      65   18    10   395000

delta: $195,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,680,768
2021 balance: $2,309,000
blue distance: $1,363,000
balance: $79,974,453

Tournament first

Last night, I was dealt rockets on the very first hand of the tournament. You don't see that every day! As far as I know, that was a tournament first for me. I just called instead of raising on every street until the river, when I was forced to fold when the fourth card to a straight showed up. I got to see that I'd made the right play since there was a showdown between two other players. I made the money for a change :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      72   18    14   375000

delta: $175,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,485,768
2021 balance: $2,114,000
blue distance: $1,558,000
balance: $79,779,453

Putting in the losses

Losing sessions aren't much fun, but learning to accept them is essential. Like death and taxes, they'll always be there. To become proficient at anything, you've got to put in the time; to become proficient at poker, you've got to put in the losses. I've been doing a lot of that lately :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6     109   30    49        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,310,768
2021 balance: $1,939,000
blue distance: $1,733,000
balance: $79,604,453

The wrong train

Last night, my normal train went missing, so I had to settle for an inferior one. It had two things going against it:

1. its buy in was only half that of my normal train

2. it was a deepstack I was joining late, which is a no-no

I only lasted 15 hands, only saw the flop twice, only went to showdown once, and didn't win a single hand. I played an 8-game after that, and did much better, but still missed the money. I'm definitely in a slump. On a brighter note, I've been doing great in online chess lately :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    87000  13000       6     106   24    44        0
MTT   8-Game  45000   5000       6      72   18    22        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,510,768
2021 balance: $2,139,000
blue distance: $1,533,000
balance: $79,804,453

Station 2 master

Over the many years of writing this blog, I've developed a foolproof formula for finding something positive to write about. If the session was a winning one, write about some of its interesting details. If the session was a losing one, don't write about it at all; instead, write about some positive trend apparent in your aggregate numbers over time. Last night, although I failed to make the money, I made it to Station 2 for the 25th time in my last 27 sessions. Just call me a Station 2 master :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      81   21    37        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,610,768
2021 balance: $2,289,000
blue distance: $1,383,000
balance: $79,954,453

Turbulence

Generally speaking, poker tournaments increase in turbulence as the number of remaining players decreases. There may be pockets of calm here and there, but they get fewer and further between. If you're short-stacked when the money bubble is about to burst, you're at the mercy of the turbulence; it's going to take its victims, and you can only hope you won't be one of them. Last night, I was in just such a situation, and fortune smiled on me. The turbulence fell on players at other tables, and on other players at my table, leaving me in calm waters until the bubble burst. I'll take it :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      85   21    13   414000

delta: $214,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,810,768
2021 balance: $2,489,000
blue distance: $1,183,000
balance: $80,154,453

Too far to go

Last night, even though I wasn't close to making the money, my finishing place makes it look like I was closer than I really was. Well before I hit the rail, I knew my cause was doomed. I had to fade upwards of twenty players, and that was about ten too many. The potentially good thing about premonitions of failure is that they can be an indication that your probability radar is in good working order, which bodes well for your future poker decisions.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      93   24    34        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,596,768
2021 balance: $2,275,000
blue distance: $1,397,000
balance: $79,940,453

Station 2.5

In my poker train analogy, I've decided to add another station. Since it comes after station 3 and before station 4, I've decided to name it station 3.5 :-)

This is an excerpt from my December 13, 2020 post. Once again, I've decided to add another station. Since it comes after station 2 and before station 3, I've decided to name it station 2.5 :-) This station is hit whenever you've outlasted at least 70% of the field, regardless of whether you make the money. Last night, I made it to station 2.5, but missed the money by five spots.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      88   21    26        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $25,796,768
2021 balance: $2,475,000
blue distance: $1,197,000
balance: $80,140,453