Back to cash games

For the first four years of my online poker career, I played cash games exclusively. I swore off them when I became a specialist at tournaments. I found many things I liked about tournament poker, and quite a few things I disliked about cash games. I thought I'd never go back to cash games, but now I find I must. I love poker too much ever to give it up, but I have certain requirements which must be met for me to play. First and foremost, I require 6max. As I've mentioned before, PokerStars recently reduced its 6max tournament offerings drastically. My next requirement is that I refuse to play against superdonks. That means that rebuy/re-entry tournaments are out. Lately, PokerStars has only offered tournaments which allow unlimited re-entries during the late registration period. The practical upshot of these changes is that unless and until PokerStars brings back 6max no-re-entry tournaments, I can't play tournaments on PokerStars. That leaves sit and gos and cash games. I long ago swore off sit and gos since the increased entry fees made them unprofitable for me. So the only thing left is cash games. I'm actually kind of looking forward to them :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    88000  12000       9     182   54    87        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT NLHE balance: $43,878,968
2022 balance: $-343,300
blue distance: $600,000
balance: $94,500,653

A losing proposition

After playing just seven "Hot 50K, 10M Chips GTD" tournaments, I realize I never want to play another. They're a losing proposition, plain and simple. The percentile required to make the money is exorbitant. I can stomach 72. I can even stomach 76. There's no way in hell I can stomach 80 and above. I'd be a fool to continue playing them, and I won't. The Bankroll Builder tournaments aren't ideal, but at least they require a lower percentile to make the money. Bankroll Builders, here I come :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     470   79   117        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,178,968
2022 balance: $-43,300
blue distance: $300,000
balance: $94,800,653

Another personal borscht

Whenever I fail to have a winning session, any or all of the following being true is bound to cheer me up:

1. I played well
2. I got my money in good
3. I achieved a personal borscht of some sort

Check, check, and check.

This is an excerpt from my September 9, 2019 post. Last night, I checked all three boxes as well. On my final hand, I was dealt ATo (ace ten offsuit), paired my ace on the flop, and got all my chips into the middle. I lost to an opponent who'd been dealt A3o (ace three offsuit) and paired both his hole cards on the flop. Whatcha gonna do? The personal borscht was that I registered my highest percentile (82) ever in an MTT NLHE where I failed to make the money.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     411   71    74        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,228,968
2022 balance: $6,700
blue distance: $250,000
balance: $94,850,653

Baby cowboys into the sunset

"Baby cowboys" is my nickname for pocket jacks. Last night, my baby cowboys rode off into the sunset. Although that makes for a good movie ending, it's not what you're hoping for when playing poker. I lost to a rivered magic flush. As a reminder, a magic flush is when the board has four cards to a flush, and a player with one card of the magic flush suit wins the hand. It always hurts to get magic flushed. It hurts even more when you get magic flushed straight out of a tournament. Having failed to make the money in 4 of the 5 "Hot 50K, 10M Chips Gtd" tournaments I've played, I'm going to play a Bankroll Builder tonight for a change of pace.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     463   79   122        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,278,968
2022 balance: $56,700
blue distance: $200,000
balance: $94,900,653

Enumerating my unhappiness

There are several reasons why I dislike the tournaments I'm now essentially being forced to play, if I want to play tournament poker on PokerStars at all. Let me enumerate them:

1. the buy ins are too low, which translates to the bottom rungs of the pay ladder not being juicy enough

2. the maximum table size is 8, whereas 6 is what I prefer

3. unlimited re-entries are available during the late registration period, which means superdonks will eventually get wind of this and will then pollute these tournaments with their asinine play (this hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will)

4. these tournaments require a higher percentile to make the money; all four of the ones I've played so far have required a percentile above 80, whereas the midnight trains I loved so much (and fear are gone forever) typically required percentiles ranging from 72 to 75

I'll probably have to give Bankroll Builder tournaments another try at some point, but I'm not ready to do that yet.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     552   95   111        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,328,968
2022 balance: $106,700
blue distance: $150,000
balance: $94,950,653

Cowboys into the sunset

As is so often the case, the most memorable hand of last night's session was the final one. I'd been dealt cowboys (pocket kings) and got all my chips into the middle. I got one caller, who turned over A3o (ace three offsuit). That made me a 70.59% favorite before the flop. Unfortunately, my opponent paired his ace on the flop, and his aces held up. I had nothing to complain about, however, since on the way to that final hand I'd hit a magic flush when I was a decided underdog.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     529   87   104        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,378,968
2022 balance: $156,700
blue distance: $100,000
balance: $95,000,653

Sleepybye

Last night, my session ended with a sleepybye. That's what I call it when I fall asleep near the end of a tournament, and don't wake up until it's over. In such a situation, the PokerStars software automatically sits me out, and the blinds and antes eventually eat up the remainder of my stack.

This is an excerpt from my June 4, 2018 post. Last night, I registered another sleepybye.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       8     423   71   102        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $44,428,968
2022 balance: $206,700
blue distance: $50,000
balance: $95,050,653