The golden 2

Last night, for the third session in a row, I made the money in the first three tournaments I entered. Of those nine tournaments, I only won two, but came in second a hefty seven times. These recent results suggested to me an alternate profit path, which I'll call the golden 2. Briefly stated: to achieve the golden 2, you must come in second in four of every six tournaments you play. At the $50,000 buy in level, that amounts to a $115,200 profit. Of course, that's a ridiculous, unrealistic goal, but it's fun to think about.

I've been wondering why my first place finishes have been tapering off lately, and have a theory. I think it's because I'm getting better at avoiding 4th, 5th, and 6th place finishes. To really set yourself up for a first place finish, you need to have the lion's share of the chips when you get to heads up. To achieve that, you have to play more riskily than you otherwise would. The style which can assure you a big chip lead if you make it to heads up is the same style which assures that you'll have a good number of 4th, 5th, and 6th place finishes. I'm starting to perfect the art of tournament survival; one of the consequences of this is that I often have a significant chip disadvantage when I get to heads up. So the question is: do I prefer to get more first places, but significantly fewer second places, or do I prefer to get fewer first places, but significantly more second places? Right now, I'm opting for the latter.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        55     2   105000
 50000       800           6        55     2   105000
 50000       800           6        84     2   105000

delta: $162,600
tournament balance: $1,705,490
balance: $6,836,221