My bounty habit

I know I shouldn't play bounties; I've lost more than 40 million on them. However, I play them anyway. Why? Several reasons:

1. they're fun to play

2. when I've hit the rail in a Valueraptor, and still want to play poker, bounties are commonly what's on offer

3. I make enough money on Valueraptors to subsidize my bounty habit :-)

This is an excerpt from my August 5 post. I'll add another reason:

4. when I've missed the midnight train Valueraptor due to playing online chess, I still need to get my poker fix :-)

That's what happened to me last night. For the first time in a long time, I bagged a bounty but missed the money.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT-B NLHE    880000   120000       8     336   47    98    220000

delta: $-780,000
MTT with bounties NLHE balance: $-40,961,820
2022 balance: $202,472,000
blue distance: $154,515,000
balance: $297,315,953

Tournaments: 2; re-entries: 0; money finishes: 2

Lately, I've been re-entering tournaments frequently, and making the money rarely. That's a recipe for disaster. Last night, I turned things around, with no re-entries and two money finishes in two tournaments. Here's hoping this is the start of a hot streak :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     135   23    21   7670000
MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     141   23     5  41870000

delta: $39,540,000
MTT NLHE balance: $284,161,468
2022 balance: $203,252,000
blue distance: $153,735,000
balance: $298,095,953

Two wagering milestones

Last night, I hit two wagering milestones:

1. I wagered the most I ever have on a single tournament - $25,000,000

2. for the first time in my career, my extrapolated total wagered for a poker year topped one billion play dollars

It truly is the year of living wagerously :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     137   23    26         0
MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     141   23    17   9420000

delta: $-20,580,000
MTT NLHE balance: $244,621,468
2022 balance: $163,712,000
blue distance: $193,275,000
balance: $258,555,953

New personal worst

The longer you've played poker, the harder it gets to set either a new personal best or a new personal worst. I've mentioned before that I get almost as much of a thrill from setting a personal worst as I do from setting a personal best. That may seem strange, but it's the truth. I love setting records of any kind :-)

This is an excerpt from my April 9, 2015 post. My new personal worst: the most money I've lost in a single session. I lost $22,320,000 last night, besting my previous record of $21,700,000, set on June 29th. For the sixth session in a row, I set a new all-time blue distance. I swear I haven't been playing badly; I'm just in a massive downswing.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     148   23    67         0
MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8      72   11    25         0
MTT-B NLHE   2200000   300000       8     250   34    29   2680000

delta: $-22,320,000
MTT NLHE balance: $265,201,468
2022 balance: $184,292,000
blue distance: $172,695,000
balance: $279,135,953

Uberflushed

An uberflush is what I call it when two players were both dealt two cards of the same suit, and three cards of that suit show up in the community cards. That means both players have hit their flush, neither will fold, and one will be in for a world of hurt. When you're on the wrong end of an uberflush, that's what I call being uberflushed. Last night, I was uberflushed early on, and hit the rail a short time later. I re-entered, and lasted much longer on my second bullet, but still missed the money by a country mile.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     113   17    36        0

delta: $-10,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $285,201,468
2022 balance: $206,612,000
blue distance: $150,375,000
balance: $301,455,953

Poxit near the bubble

Last night, I hit the rail early, and re-entered. I was making great headway on my second bullet, and nearing the money bubble, when a situation arose where I had to decide whether I could be content with a min cash. If so, I knew I'd very probably be able to fold my way into the money. If not, it was mandatory to get all my chips into the middle. I'd been dealt pocket tens, and chose the latter course. I was a favorite all the way through the turn, but the river did me in. No regrets :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     131   20    24         0

delta: $-10,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $295,201,468
2022 balance: $216,612,000
blue distance: $140,375,000
balance: $311,455,953

Due for a deep run

I've missed the money in the last four tournaments, and feel like I'm due for a deep run. Time to make a killing :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     105   17    24         0

delta: $-5,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $305,201,468
2022 balance: $226,612,000
blue distance: $130,375,000
balance: $321,455,953

The argument for re-entering a tournament

On Friday night, I hit the rail early on and re-entered the tournament. There are multiple reasons why it makes sense to re-enter:

1. you're betting on yourself, which not only shows confidence but even instills it

2. you're frequently re-starting in a better position than you had the first time around

3. having hit the rail once, you're almost guaranteed to play more cautiously than before

4. the payouts will certainly be larger than they were before

5. if you reach the final table, your extra buy-in will essentially be a rounding error

For the record, the biggest profit of my career came from a tournament I re-entered.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     124   20    26         0

?delta: $-10,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $310,201,468
2022 balance: $231,612,000
blue distance: $125,375,000
balance: $326,455,953

Wombat vs. Valueraptor

My current favorite tournament on PokerStars is called "The Valueraptor 5M, 250M Chips GTD". There's another tournament I also like which is called "The Wild Wombat 5M, 250M Chips GTD". The only difference that I can detect between them is that the Valueraptor has a 1 hour and 4 minutes late registration period, whereas the Wild Wombat has a 1 hour and 54 minutes late registration period. It may be that their pay structures differ slightly; I'll have to look into that at some point. The longer a tournament's late registration period, the more important it is to join it very late, in my opinion. Last night, I played both of these types of tournament, and narrowly missed making the money in the Wild Wombat.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8      96   15    36         0
MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     108   17    21         0

delta: $-10,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $320,201,468
2022 balance: $241,612,000
blue distance: $115,375,000
balance: $336,455,953

A perfect min cash

Perfection is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in any pursuit, and poker is no exception. For poker perfection in a positive context, the clearest (and perhaps only) example is the scenario where you win 100% of the hands where you go to showdown. For poker perfection in a negative context, the clearest example is the scenario where you fail to win a single hand before hitting the rail. For poker perfection in a borscht context, an excellent example is a perfect min cash. This is the scenario where you make the money with a severely short stack, fall in on the first hand after the money bubble bursts, and hit the rail on that very hand. That's what happened to me on Tuesday night, and it was kind of fun :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     118   20    20   7730000

delta: $2,730,000
MTT NLHE balance: $330,201,468
2022 balance: $251,612,000
blue distance: $105,375,000
balance: $346,455,953

Two memorable hands

Whenever I have two memorable hands in a session, odds are that one of them was my final hand of the night, and I hit the rail with it. That was the case again last night. On the first memorable hand, I was dealt a pair of nines, and hit quad nines on the flop. I merely had to call bets from that point on, ultimately getting all in. That huge pot shot me up the leaderboard, and I had high hopes of making the money. On the second memorable hand, I was dealt a big slick, and faced a preflop bet which would put me all in if I called. I'll put all my chips in the middle in that scenario every day of the week, and twice on Sundays :-) Unfortunately, my opponent turned over pocket jacks, and they held up.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     114   17    32         0

delta: $-5,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $327,471,468
2022 balance: $248,882,000
blue distance: $108,105,000
balance: $343,725,953

Stopping the bitch

Last night, I stopped the bitch, registering a profitable session after three straight losing ones. I'd been hoping for a really big score, but had to settle for a modest one. I made the first money jump up from a min cash. On my final hand, I flopped top pair, but a second three showed up in the community cards on the turn. I just didn't believe that someone with a three in their hand would have called my half pot bet on the flop, but that didn't make it any less true :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     146   23    16   9750000

delta: $4,750,000
MTT NLHE balance: $332,471,468
2022 balance: $253,882,000
blue distance: $103,105,000
balance: $348,725,953

Run over by a wheel

I think I'm due for some big bucks. I've been playing well, but just missing the money. Last night, my second tournament came to a screeching halt when I was run over by a wheel. I'd been dealt pocket queens, shoved, and got one caller. One of his hole cards was an ace; I forget what the other one was. I needed to fade an ace, and managed to do that. Unfortunately, the river gave my opponent a five high straight (aka a wheel), and I was left flattened on the highway.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     118   20    23         0
MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8      58    9    12         0

delta: $-15,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $327,721,468
2022 balance: $249,132,000
blue distance: $107,855,000
balance: $343,975,953

A different zip code

It took me 13 years, and 3,622 poker sessions, to amass just under 95 million play dollars. That brought me to the beginning of this poker year. In the last 18 sessions, I've lost just under 93 million play dollars. Should I be worried? Somewhat surprisingly, the answer is no. How can this be? It's because I'm in a different poker zip code now. I routinely wager 10 million play dollars a session. I'm still more profitable this year than all the other years combined. I have a legitimate shot at winning a billion play dollars this year, and making a profit of half a billion. If that means recurring 100 million play dollar blue distances along the way, so be it :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     129   20    28         0

delta: $-10,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $342,721,468
2022 balance: $264,132,000
blue distance: $92,855,000
balance: $358,975,953

A more realistic goal

Last month, I announced an audacious goal - to make a profit of one billion play dollars this year. I'm going to dial that back, and aim for a more realistic goal - namely, to win one billion play dollars this year. Winnings don't have the buy ins and re-entries deducted, so they're not accurate as a measure of how well you're playing, but it's still fun to rack up huge numbers :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     140   23    19   7950000

delta: $-2,050,000
MTT NLHE balance: $352,721,468
2022 balance: $274,132,000
blue distance: $82,855,000
balance: $368,975,953

When a min cash isn't miniature

The higher the buy in of a tournament with a guaranteed prize pool, the higher the payouts on every rung of the payout ladder, including the bottom rung. At the stakes I'm playing tournaments at these days, I'm making more of a profit with a min cash than I used to make when I made the final table. I'll take it :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8      94   15    15   8290000

delta: $3,290,000
MTT NLHE balance: $354,771,468
2022 balance: $276,182,000
blue distance: $80,805,000
balance: $371,025,953

One billion more to wager

In the first 102 sessions of this year, I wagered a total of $19,030,000. In the 103rd session alone, I wagered $20,000,000. This poker year therefore has a very clear inflection point :-) If I play every day for the rest of the year, and wager on average what I've wagered on average since the inflection point, that means I'll be wagering over a billion play dollars more than what I've already wagered this year. And that's exactly what I intend to do :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     141   23    34         0

delta: $-15,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $351,481,468
2022 balance: $272,892,000
blue distance: $84,095,000
balance: $367,735,953

The skin of my teeth

Last night, I made the money by the skin of my teeth. I survived two hands I had no right to survive. Sometimes, you need a little help like that :-)

This is an excerpt from my May 15, 2019 post. It applies equally well to last night's session. Nearing the money bubble, I was Caboose Boy, and folding every chance I got. Of course, it's impossible to fold when you fall in, and I fell in not once but twice. Mirabile dictu, I was lucky enough to win one and chop the pot on the other. That was just enough to allow me to survive until the money bubble burst.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     108   17    17   8370000

delta: $3,370,000
MTT NLHE balance: $366,481,468
2022 balance: $287,892,000
blue distance: $69,095,000
balance: $382,735,953

Swinging for the fences

It makes little sense to swing for the fences in a cash game, since there's no limit to the amount of money you could lose by doing so. It may make sense to swing for the fences in a tournament, however; the difference is that in a tournament, the most you can lose is your buy in. That may be an acceptable risk when weighed against the upside potential of reaching the huge payouts at the top of the pay table.

This is an excerpt from my November 15, 2019 post. Last night, in the first tournament I entered (a Valueraptor), I swung for the fences just after the money bubble had burst. I called all in with a flush draw, but whiffed. Since I'd fired two bullets, and only min cashed, I had a net loss on the tournament. I don't regret going for it, though.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     139   23    18   7900000
MTT-B NLHE   2200000   300000       8     317   47    23   4525000

delta: $-75,000
MTT NLHE balance: $363,111,468
2022 balance: $284,522,000
blue distance: $72,465,000
balance: $379,365,953

100 tournamontys

Last night, I achieved another poker milestone. For the 100th time in my career, I made a profit of at least one million play dollars in a tournament. I hereby dub such tournaments "tournamontys" :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     158   27    60         0
MTT-B NLHE   2200000   300000       8     255   34    12   6010000

delta: $-3,990,000
MTT NLHE balance: $365,211,468
2022 balance: $284,597,000
blue distance: $72,390,000
balance: $379,440,953

My bounty habit

I know I shouldn't play bounties; I've lost more than 40 million on them. However, I play them anyway. Why? Several reasons:

1. they're fun to play

2. when I've hit the rail in a Valueraptor, and still want to play poker, bounties are commonly what's on offer

3. I make enough money on Valueraptors to subsidize my bounty habit :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     122   20    42         0
MTT-B NLHE   2200000   300000       8     249   34    18   3120000

delta: $-11,880,000
MTT NLHE balance: $370,211,468
2022 balance: $288,587,000
blue distance: $68,400,000
balance: $383,430,953

$6,420,000 ladder up

Laddering up is so important in tournaments. It can mean the difference between profit and loss, or between a ho-hum profit and a tidy one.

This is an excerpt from my December 27, 2018 post. Last night, I got under the lights, but was the short stack. By hook and by crook, I was able to ladder up two spots, giving me an extra $6,420,000 in profit. Ka-ching!

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     108   17     7  18650000

delta: $13,650,000
MTT NLHE balance: $380,211,468
2022 balance: $300,467,000
blue distance: $56,520,000
balance: $395,310,953

Padding my loss portfolio

I take pride in my colossal losses as well as in my colossal gains. Why? For the simple reason that the more losses I'm able to sustain without going broke, the more I prove that I'm a resilient player and will always bounce back. Last night, my blue distance broke the 70 million play dollar barrier for the very first time, and I'm still alive and kicking. What, me worry? :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8      60    9    19         0

delta: $-5,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $366,561,468
2022 balance: $286,817,000
blue distance: $70,170,000
balance: $381,660,953

Bad river money

There are times when it pays to bet big on the river, and there are other times when it makes no sense to bet a single chip. If you do happen to bet in those latter situations, that's what I call bad river money.

This is an excerpt from my September 13, 2013 post. On Monday night, I spent a ton of bad river money on a hand where I'd been dealt pocket queens. I failed to notice that the river card supported a straight. The only reason I didn't hit the rail was because I had more chips at the start of the hand than the opponent who hit the straight had. My stack was crippled, however, and I hit the rail shortly after. Served me right!

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     142   23    38         0

delta: $-5,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $371,561,468
2022 balance: $291,817,000
blue distance: $65,170,000
balance: $386,660,953

Bad players considered harmful

Bad players, as a general rule, are good to have at your table. This is especially true in cash games. However, in tournaments, bad players can sometimes cripple your stack with their inexplicable plays.

This is an excerpt from my September 28, 2012 post. Last night, a bad player took me to the felt. I'd been dealt a pair of queens, and put in a healthy pre-flop bet. An opponent with 43o (four three offsuit) called. The flop had two threes in it. I stayed with my queens to the bitter end. I just couldn't credit that someone would have paid to see the flop when one of his cards was a three. No good player with a hand like that would ever have called my pre-flop bet. If only bad players could be banned :-)

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     124   20    53         0

delta: $-10,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $376,561,468
2022 balance: $296,817,000
blue distance: $60,170,000
balance: $391,660,953