The end of an era

Nearly 14 years after joining the PokerStars site, I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that it's time for me to say goodbye to it. They no longer offer the tournaments I love to play, and I can't stomach any of the alternatives. It's been a good long run, and I had a lot of fun along the way. It's no longer fun, and that's why I have to leave.

I'll periodically check back in to see if PokerStars has reinstated my favorite tournaments, but I won't hold my breath. What does that mean for this blog? It's not dead yet, but it's clearly on life support :-) I'm going to take a hiatus from poker for a while, then see if I can find a play money site that offers the tournaments I want. If I find one, this blog will awaken from its cryogenic sleep.

delta: $-800,000
Cash game NLHE balance: $3,462,117
2022 balance: $-2,814,000
blue distance: $4,915,990
balance: $92,029,953

The poker tide

In poker, luck flows in and out like the tide. If you attune yourself to the rhythm, playing well comes as naturally and easily as breathing. When you play a tournament, you often don't have the time to wait for the tide to come in. When you play a cash game, though, you have nothing but time. Not only do you know that the tide will always come back in, you also know that the best time to leave a game is immediately after the tide has come back in. Last night, I reached a profit of over $100,000 three separate times, falling back to just above my starting stack after the first two. I knew enough to quit after the third.

delta: $139,070
Cash game NLHE balance: $4,262,117
2022 balance: $-2,014,000
blue distance: $4,115,990
balance: $92,829,953

Running out of options

As I predicted, the blast from the past was short-lived. Last night on PokerStars, there were no 6-max tournaments to be had. If I wanted to play tournament poker, there was nothing for it but to play 9-max. I played two $50k Bankroll Builders, fired two bullets in each, and failed to make the money in either. To make matters worse, I couldn't even outlast the late registration period in the second one, registering a 0th place. I feel like I'm running out of options on PokerStars; I may have to switch to a different site. For now, I've decided to return to cash games; this time around, I'll play at tables with the same blind structure as before, but will buy in for the minimum instead of the maximum.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     188   54    93        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     165   45     -        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,619,468
2022 balance: $-2,153,070
blue distance: $4,255,060
balance: $92,690,883

A blast from the past

Last night, for a brief window of time, old-style tournaments were available on PokerStars again. Not when I logged on, but after I'd played one new-style Bankroll Builder. It was a welcome blast from the past, but I knew it very likely wouldn't last. I jumped on a $100,000 buy in 6max, and min cashed.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     278   72   129        0
MTT   NLHE    87000  13000       6     151   42    40   137000

delta: $-63,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,819,468
2022 balance: $-1,953,070
blue distance: $4,055,060
balance: $92,890,883

Cooler twofer

A cooler is a hand where two or more players are dealt a premium holding. Neither (or none) of the players will be likely to fold, so at least one player will be in for a world of hurt. Different players may have different ideas about what constitutes the most hurtful cooler. My cooler #1 is when one player has been dealt rockets (pocket aces) and another has been dealt cowboys (pocket kings). The player with the aces is an 81.06% favorite to win the hand, and stands to make a killing.

This is an excerpt from my October 9, 2020 post. My cooler #2 is set over set. Last night, I suffered both  a cooler #1 and a cooler #2. A cooler twofer, if you will (or even if you won't). I hit the felt on both of them. The cooler #2 hurt more in this instance, since I was in the money when disaster struck.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     274   72    96        0
MTT   NLHE    88000  12000       9     187   54    28   197000
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     236   63   173        0

delta: $-203,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,882,468
2022 balance: $-1,890,070
blue distance: $3,992,060
balance: $92,953,883

Bankroll Builders have bigger bigs

I'm starting to get the hang of Bankroll Builders. If I hit the felt while still in the late registration period, I allow myself one re-entry. So the most bullets I'll ever fire on a single Bankroll Builder is two. That's in stark contrast with the way I used to play MTT-R tournaments, when I got trigger happy fairly frequently. Last night, I fired two bullets in the second Bankroll Builder I entered, and made the money. The payout more than covered those two bullets, but it wasn't enough also to cover the one bullet I fired in the first Bankroll Builder I entered. One thing I've noticed recently about Bankroll Builders is that as the blinds escalate, the big blinds become more than twice the size of the small blinds. In other words, Bankroll Builders have bigger bigs :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     304   72   120        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     211   54    21   125000

delta: $-25,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,085,468
2022 balance: $-1,687,070
blue distance: $3,789,060
balance: $93,156,883

Rain on me

I've mentioned before that PokerStars provides some nice visuals when you do well in tournaments. The first one I noticed was when they added spotlights above the final table. A more recent one was when they added an explosion of chips raining down on the table as soon as the money bubble burst, followed by a more sedate but steady rainfall of chips for the remainder of the tournament. Last night, I played three tournaments simultaneously, and made the money in all three. In the third one, I hit the felt but bought in again, and still made a profit. Multi-tabling is working out very well for me, and I'm gonna let it ride :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     268   72    15   165000
MTT   NLHE    88000  12000       9     266   72    12   374000
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     263   72    32   121000

delta: $410,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,110,468
2022 balance: $-1,662,070
blue distance: $3,764,060
balance: $93,181,883

Serial vs. parallel tournaments

Last night, I played three tournaments, one after another. I made the money in the final one. Tonight, I'll return to double tabling, since that often improves my results. I should've thought of this sooner :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    88000  12000       9     308   81   146        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     329   81   170        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     281   72    40   117000

delta: $-83,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,700,468
2022 balance: $-2,072,070
blue distance: $4,174,060
balance: $92,771,883

Back to the Bankroll Builders

Last night, luckily for me, no Hot 50K was on offer when I logged onto PokerStars, so I played a Bankroll Builder instead. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to go back to Hot 50Ks; their paid percentile is simply too rich for my blood. In round numbers, you need to outlast 83% of the field to make the money in a Hot 50K, whereas you only need to outlast 73% of the field to make the money in a Bankroll Builder. That extra 10% kills my profit potential in Hot 50Ks stone cold dead. If I never play another Hot 50K again, it will be far, far too soon.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    88000  12000       9     230   63    27   232000

delta: $132,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,783,468
2022 balance: $-1,989,070
blue distance: $4,091,060
balance: $92,854,883

Doppelsession

Wednesday night's session was almost a carbon copy of Tuesday night's. Once again, I played a Hot 50K.  Once again, I fired two bullets. Once again, I outlasted over 74% of the field. Once again, I failed to make the money. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     427   71   107        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,651,468
2022 balance: $-2,121,070
blue distance: $4,223,060
balance: $92,722,883

Last-minute reentry

I've figured something out about the Hot 50K tournaments I'm essentially being forced to play - I should try to pre-register for them whenever possible. It doesn't pay to min cash in them; what I should always be aiming for is the top of their pay tables, even if that means I hit the felt. The earlier I join them, the more time I have to spin up a stack. Unlimited re-entries are available during the late registration period, which means that quite often, I'll have another shot at the brass ring. This leads to an ironic situation - when the late registration period is almost over, and I have a small stack, my best play is to shove, no matter what my holding is. If it's a decent one, and I win, I'll double or triple or quadruple up, depending on how many opponents call. No matter what my holding is, I'll have the opportunity to reenter if I hit the felt. Very often in this scenario, I'll be praying to get called and actually to lose :-) That's the irony. Last night, I hit the felt in the final minute of the late registration period, and reentered forthwith, considering myself lucky indeed.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     407   71   101        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,751,468
2022 balance: $-2,021,070
blue distance: $4,123,060
balance: $92,822,883

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

There were three things I really loved about midnight trains:

1. it was pretty easy to make the money playing them

2. their min cashes gave you a very decent profit

3. the money up top was enormous

The tournaments I'm playing now have only one thing going for them - the money up top is truly obscene. It's harder to make the money playing them, and their min cashes are nothing to write home about. The reason? PokerStars is robbing Peter to pay Paul; they're stealing from the lower place payouts to inflate the upper place ones.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     431   71   147        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,851,468
2022 balance: $-1,921,070
blue distance: $4,023,060
balance: $92,922,883

Photo finish

The MTT 8-game tournament I entered last night ended in a humorous way. I was shedding chips, but the tournament was shedding players at the same time. Would the tournament shed me before the money bubble burst, or would I make the money by the skin of my teeth? I'm happy to say it was the latter :-)

This is an excerpt from my October 1, 2019 post. I had another photo finish last night. On my final orbit, on my penultimate hand, I was Caboose Boy, and we were on the money bubble. I was so short-stacked, I was going to fall in the very next hand, as I'd be the big blind and had less than a big blind's worth of chips left. Luckily for me, someone at another table hit the rail before that next hand, and I fell in knowing I'd already min cashed :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     376   63    62    80800

delta: $30,800
MTT NLHE balance: $43,901,468
2022 balance: $-1,871,070
blue distance: $3,973,060
balance: $92,972,883

Long gone and hard to find

I played well last night. Well enough to win. However, it wasn't to be. Although I outlasted over 80% of my opponents, that wasn't good enough to make the money. Had I been playing a midnight train, I would have been in like Flynn. But, as the late great Boston Red Sox sportscaster Ned Martin used to say about home runs, midnight trains are "long gone and hard to find" :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     455   79    89        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,870,668
2022 balance: $-1,901,870
blue distance: $4,003,860
balance: $92,942,083