Another personal borscht

On Friday night, I had another personal borscht. To refresh your memory, here's my definition (from the April 30, 2013 post):

There's a third kind of personal poker record that I also enjoy, but it's hard to come up with a name for it. It's neither a personal best nor a personal worst, yet shares features of both. At first I thought I'd call it a bestworst, then a worstbest, but neither of those really fit the bill. I eventually came up with personal borscht. Of course, that's a nonsensical name, but it has the merit that phonetically it reminds one of both best and worst. Also, borscht is a kind of soup, and this new kind of record is like soup in that it combines disparate elements.

This time, the record was for the most times I've ever gone all in in an MTT-R NLHE where I failed to make the money - 9. Here are the hand details:

delta  hole cards  hand

 2745     Jc Jh       8
-5025     Ad As      12
 2080     8c Ah      14
 4780     6c 6s      40
 3125     Ah 5s      45
 6625     Ac Ks      56
 4052     Kh Td      66
 5954     7h Tc      74
-6858     Ah Kc      76

Of course, it's easy enough to set this record if one plays like a maniac (as many of my opponents do); simply go all in every hand, and rebuy whenever you hit the felt. Interestingly, I didn't hit the felt on hand 12; when I went all in, I had more chips than my callers, and also won a small side pot.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    76      59   12    16        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    24      71   15    42        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $32,192,500
2017 balance: $32,564,430
balance: $43,982,260

The 300 club

Very recently, I joined the 300 club for this year - that is, I reached 300 sessions played. In 9+ years of playing online poker, I've only managed this 3 times. 300 sessions represents a squeak over 82% of the nights in a year in a non leap year, and a squeak under 82% in a leap year. For quite a few years, I very rarely played on Sundays, and played less often on Saturdays than on weekdays. I now play more often on Sundays, but still play less often on Saturdays than on other days. Just for fun, here's my career session breakdown by weekday:

Sun:   200
Mon:   342
Tue:   392
Wed:   393
Thu:   398
Fri:   378
Sat:   255

Here's my 2017 session breakdown by weekday:

Sun:    39
Mon:    49
Tue:    51
Wed:    49
Thu:    46
Fri:    45
Sat:    23

So as you can see, I've already played more than a month of Sundays this year :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    80      71   15    13   311000

delta: $161,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $32,492,500
2017 balance: $32,864,430
balance: $44,282,260

My corrected gross

I realized after the fact that I'd used the wrong methodology to determine my gross profit for the year. No negative numbers should ever be included in a gross, but that's what I was doing. I was adding up the total of my profitable sessions, but profitable sessions often contain hidden losses embedded within the positive number. The calculation of the true gross for the year is simplicity itself - just sum up the tournament winnings, ignoring any outlay, such as buy ins, entry fees, rebuys, and add ons. My corrected gross for the year is ... drumroll please ... $96,297,950. I have an outside chance to hit $100,000,000 by the end of the year. I'll be gunning for it :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    50      80   18    22        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    28      77   18    38        0

delta: $-250,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $32,331,500
2017 balance: $32,703,430
balance: $44,121,260

Holy gross, Batman!

Before this year, my largest gross profit for a single year was last year's $28,227,937. It's a given that the bigger your gross profit is, the bigger your net profit may potentially be. Currently, my gross profit for 2017 is a whopping $74,789,100. Holy gross, Batman! :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    16      60   12    36        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    44      61   15    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    57      35    7    18        0

delta: $-500,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $32,581,500
2017 balance: $32,953,430
balance: $44,371,260

The Full Monty

A straight flush is the rarest of hands, and deserves a fitting nickname. I've come up with one I like, and which I think is apt - the Full Monty. Last night, I had a Full Monty on hand 71. It was my first in over four months. I raked in a 28,012 chip pot with it, putting me in great shape to make a deep run. 147 hands later, I was the top dog. I'm back in the blue, baby!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   218      69   15     1  3813000

delta: $3,713,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $33,081,500
2017 balance: $33,453,430
balance: $44,871,260

Under the lights

Good results in poker tend to come in bunches. Last night, for the second time in three tournaments, I made it under the lights. That brought my under the lights percentage up to 19.48. I'm going to make hay while the sun shines :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    23      43    9    27        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   149      49   12     3  1406000

delta: $1,006,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,368,500
2017 balance: $29,740,430
balance: $41,158,260

The invisible fatty

As you may know, my nickname for a full house is a fatty. What do you call it when you make a full house, but no one goes with you to showdown? The invisible fatty :-) I had one on hand 42 of the only tournament I played last night. I flopped aces full of sevens, checked the flop, called a $1,000 bet on the turn, and bet $3,350 on the river. No one called, and I collected a modest pot of $6,700. I made my first final table in an MTT-R NLHE since December 8, so I was quite happy.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   113      88   18     6  1070000

delta: $970,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,362,500
2017 balance: $28,734,430
balance: $40,152,260

Farewell, my shovely

This is the second time I've used this blog post title. Here's what I had to say the first time:

I've now played nearly 1,000 MTTs of one style or another, and I've only come in first twice. What this means in practical terms is that 99.8% of the time, I'm going to lose the final hand of a tournament. I'm going to get all my chips in the middle, and then go bust. I often go back to the archives to look at the final hand of a tournament, to see if I got my money in good. If I did, that's a "Farewell, my shovely" situation. This translates roughly to:

1. I had a hand good enough to shove with
2. I shoved accordingly
3. I ended up losing the hand, but have no regrets

Last night, the second MTT-R NLHE I played ended with a "Farewell, my shovely". I had a stealth two pair, but lost to an opponent who made a flush on the turn. Whatcha gonna do?

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    43      63   15    26        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    64      64   15    18        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,392,500
2017 balance: $27,764,430
balance: $39,182,260

Reward for a laydown

I've known for a long time that one of the things that separates the great players from the good ones is the ability to lay down strong hands. Even though I know this, I can't always find a fold when I should. The inescapable conclusion is that I'm not a great player, but I'll allow that I'm damn good :-)

Last night, I was able to lay down aces in a crucial spot, and that helped propel me into the money. After 14 straight out of the money finishes, it was nice to get two straight in the money.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    92      70   15    11   375000 

delta: $275,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,592,500
2017 balance: $27,964,430
balance: $39,382,260

Bonsai loss

Sometimes, it's as satisfying to sustain a minimal loss as it is to achieve a maximal gain. That was the case last night, when I wagered $400,000 and lost just $9,000, or 2.25%. I ran the numbers and that's my personal best minimal loss, percentage-wise, in MTT-R NLHEs. In other good news, I stopped my MTT-R NLHE losing streak at 14. My session losing streak is still alive at 10, but who's counting? :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    62      93   27    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    42      74   15    32        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    80      63   15    12   391000

delta: $-9,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,317,500
2017 balance: $27,689,430
balance: $39,107,260

Loss statistics

With last night's ninth straight losing session, I registered my fastest 2 million dollar loss - 9 sessions. The previous fastest had been 10. I've now failed to make the money in 12 straight MTT-R NLHEs, a new personal worst. My blue distance, $3,394,025, is now within spitting distance of another personal worst, $3,543,654. It's even money that it will soon top 4 million.

How are my poker spirits holding up under all this? Just fine, I'm happy to say :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    39      64   15    33        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    43      74   15    41        0

delta: $-350,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,326,500
2017 balance: $27,698,430
balance: $39,116,260

Worst eight bagger ever

The longer you play poker, the harder it gets to achieve a new personal best or personal worst. Their rarity makes even the personal worsts worth celebrating :-) Last night, I achieved my worst eight bagger ever. In the last eight sessions, I've lost 1.8 million play dollars. My blue distance has ballooned to over 3 million play dollars. Yet I'm able to say, with complete honesty, that I'm not fazed by this in the least. I'm going to ride this thing out, and come out on top again eventually.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    52      60   12    28        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,676,500
2017 balance: $28,048,430
balance: $39,466,260

Nine and counting

Counting last night's session, I've now failed to make the money in nine straight MTT-R NLHEs. My all-time record is eleven straight, which appears to be in some jeopardy :-) The good news, such as there is, is that I've come very close to making the money several times during the streak, registering one bubble and two bubble bubbles.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    89      59   12    14        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,976,500
2017 balance: $28,348,430
balance: $39,766,260

Third worst six bagger ever

Just ten days after recording my second worst six bagger ever, I recorded my third worst. That was on Friday night. I've lost $1,400,000 in my last six sessions. My blue distance is now north of 2.5 million. Despite this massive downswing, I'm not discouraged at all. I know my ship will come in soon.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    37      50   12    29        0

delta: $-350,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,076,500
2017 balance: $28,448,430
balance: $39,866,260

Gone, rockets, gone

When I first mentioned in this blog the scenario where you hit the rail in a tournament while holding pocket aces, I dubbed it "aces out". That now seems too pedestrian a name for this catastrophe. My new name for it is "Gone, rockets, gone". Last night, my session ended with a "Gone, rockets, gone". It was the sixth time in my MTT-R NLHE career that that's happened to me. Let me just say, it's never fun.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    93      71   15    17        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,426,500
2017 balance: $28,798,430
balance: $40,216,260

Third worst 18 tournament run

Last night, my blue distance grew to over $2,000,000 again. I've only made the money in 3 of the last 18 MTT-R NLHEs I've played, which ties for my 3rd worst 18 tournament run ever. There are several possible explanations; here are the two which immediately spring to mind:

1. I'm finally emerging from a months-long profit bubble, into a harsh reality I was blissfully ignorant of before
2. I'm overdue for a hugely profitable session

You won't be surprised to hear that my money is on the second one :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    20      64   12    35        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    80      69   15    21        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,626,500
2017 balance: $28,998,430
balance: $40,416,260

Bubble outlier

I was the bubble boy in the first tournament I played last night. It was my 11th MTT-R NLHE bubble, and 5th in MTT-R NLHEs with 12 money places. I decided to look at all my finishes in 12 money place tournaments, and discovered  that for me, the bubble place (13th) is an outlier. It's currently my most common finish. In contrast, I've only come in 12th once, and only come in 14th once. Of course, my sample size (74) is too small to draw any real conclusions from that, but it sure seems suggestive.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    74      55   12    13        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    44      55   12    27        0 

delta: $-250,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,776,500
2017 balance: $29,198,430
balance: $40,616,260

Freefall from the peak

Whenever I'm at a loss for what to write about my previous night's session, I fall back on the handy expedient of looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the night for inspiration. I almost never fail to see something I can use. What I saw in last night's chart is quite unusual. Once my stack hit its peak, I didn't win a single pot; my stack was in freefall for 29 hands, until finally I crashed out of the tournament. You don't see that every day, for sure.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    71      65   15    22        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,026,500
2017 balance: $29,448,430
balance: $40,866,260

Two nice numbers

Last night, I achieved two nice numbers: .586 and 59,900,000. The first is an all-time low, and the second is an all-time high. .586 is the cumulative rate at which I add on in MTT-R NLHEs. I aim to get this number below .500 one day. 59,900,000 is the amount of play dollars I've wagered this calendar year. That means I'll hit $60,000,000 wagered this calendar year tonight, which was one of my goals for this year.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    57      64   15    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    67      51   12    17        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,226,500
2017 balance: $29,648,430
balance: $41,066,260

Pokereading, take 2

I used to be able to play poker and read a novel (using the Kindle for PC reader) at the same time. Sadly, that ability disappeared when Kindle "improved" its app by hogging the window focus 24/7, making it impossible for the PokerStars app to inform me when it was my turn to act. Lately, I've been playing poker and reading comic books at the same time, since the comic book reading app I'm using isn't as "helpful" as the Kindle app :-) So let's call what I'm doing now pokereading, take 2.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    86      63   15    14   252000

delta: $52,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,426,500
2017 balance: $29,848,430
balance: $41,266,260

Premium bigs

I had my second straight winning session last night, on the strength of a sixth place finish in the second MTT-R NLHE I played. I'd been a little trigger happy in the first one, firing 7 bullets in a losing cause. One thing that really struck me about the second tournament was that the deck was hitting me in the face when I was in the big blind. That luck propelled me into the money; I might not have made it there without it. You can't expect premium bigs like that every tournament, but they sure are nice :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    34      69   15    39        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   147      61   15     6  1039000

delta: $489,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,374,500
2017 balance: $29,796,430
balance: $41,214,260

Stopping the bitch

Last night, I stopped the bitch. After seven straight losing sessions, I finally had a winning one. I made a $200,000 rebound, and dropped my blue distance below $2,000,000. There's no guarantee I'm out of my slump, but at least I broke the losing streak :-)

I made a disciplined laydown when I was getting close to the money and I had a suspicion a big stack was bullying me. It left me severely short-stacked, and I lucked my way into the money from there, just making the landing on the first foot of runway.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   118      44    9     9   337000

delta: $237,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,885,500
2017 balance: $29,307,430
balance: $40,725,260

The unheavenly seven

Last night, I had a seventh straight losing session. It was my worst seven bagger ever; my overall balance has taken a whopping $1,740,625 hit. The unheavenly seven, indeed :-) My blue distance is now $2,022,025. The one bright spot of the session was another quirk - I played the same number of hands as the place where I finished.

 style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    40      55   12    40        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,648,500
2017 balance: $29,070,430
balance: $40,488,260

Second worst six bagger ever

In my last six sessions, I've lost $1,540,625. That clocks in as my second worst six bagger ever. My blue distance is currently $1,822,025. The good news is, that's not the largest it's been this year. On September 20, it was $2,391,125.

In other news, I managed to finish in the same place in both tournaments I played last night. Just a quirk, but I like quirks :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    47      64   15    32        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    61      62   15    32        0

delta: $-600,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $28,848,500
2017 balance: $29,270,430
balance: $40,688,260

Dialed in

In the last three MTT-R NLHEs I've played, I've really been dialed in. Here are the percentiles:

percentile  entries  paid  place  winnings     date

    0.6818       66    15     21         0  2017-12-02a
    0.6667       36     8     12         0  2017-12-03b
    0.7241       58    12     16         0  2017-12-04a

It bodes well that I've been lasting so long, even though I haven't been making the money. I can feel the profit on the horizon :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    81      58   12    16        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,448,500
2017 balance: $29,870,430
balance: $41,288,260

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.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    17       9    3     5        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    62      36    8    12        0

delta: $-278,750
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,598,500
2017 balance: $30,020,430
balance: $41,438,260

Runner runner

The most memorable hand of last night's session was one where I should have hit the rail, but miraculously didn't. On hand 65, I was dealt T4o (ten four offsuit). I was in the small blind, and started the hand with just 480 in chips. Since at that point the ante was 75, and the small blind was 400, I had just 5 chips behind after the forced bets. I put those last 5 in, to discover I was up against an opponent with aces. The flop came 6 8 J rainbow, which meant my only way to win was to hit a runner runner. I proceeded to do just that, with a 5 on the turn and a 7 on the river, completing a straight. Alas, that wasn't enough to ensure that I made the money; I hit the rail in 21st place, 22 hands later.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    87      66   15    21        0 

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,848,500
2017 balance: $30,299,180
balance: $41,717,010

Getting it in bad

Poker players always like to get their money in good. What this means is that when they go all in, they want the odds of winning to be heavily in their favor. Sometimes, it works out that way. Other times, not so much :-) Last night, I got it in bad on my final hand of the night. Almost as bad as it gets. I was dealt KQs (king queen suited) and went all in against two opponents. You never want to go all in against more than one opponent if you can help it, because your odds of winning decrease dramatically with every additional opponent. In this case, my odds of winning were an anemic 11.40%. One opponent hit a king high flush - and lost. The other hit a full house. All I had was a measly pair of sixes. Hitting the rail was a blessing in disguise, as it was quite late at night and I was nodding off anyway.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    41       9    3     1   138125
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    45      41    9    31        0

delta: $-61,875
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,948,500
2017 balance: $30,399,180
balance: $41,817,010

Shove count

When you play a tournament, you're going to have to go all in at times; it's unavoidable if you want to succeed. Of course, if you go all in too often, you'll likely to be out of the tournament in a New York minute. So there's a dynamic tension between going all in and not going all in. In MTT-R tournaments, this tension is reduced by the ability to rebuy during the late registration period; however, it's foolish to get "rebuy happy". A lot of the usual suspects I play against are rebuy happy; this leads me to conclude that they must be losing scads of money at MTT-Rs over the long term. In contrast, I'm making money hand over fist at MTT-Rs in the long term :-)

One statistic I look at occasionally is what I'm calling shove count; it's the number of times you were all in during a tournament. My average shove count in MTT-R NLHE is currently 3.61; my shove count in Thursday night's tournament was nearly double that, at a hefty 7.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    88      58   12    17        0

delta: $-350,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,098,500
2017 balance: $30,461,055
balance: $41,878,885

The optimal number of bullets

I decided to take a look at my MTT-R NLHE data in terms of bullets fired. The results are eye-opening:

bullets   sum(delta)  count        avg

      2  $25,630,500     65   $394,315
      4   $8,864,000     37   $239,567
      3   $2,057,000     75    $27,426
      5     $173,000     30     $5,766
      1     $-50,000      1   $-50,000
      6    $-686,000      6  $-114,333
      7  $-3,186,000     14  $-227,571
      9  $-1,054,000      4  $-263,500
      8    $-800,000      2  $-400,000
     10    $-500,000      1  $-500,000

The conclusions seem clear - never add on, and never rebuy more than three times.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   117      74   15     6   714000

delta: $614,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,448,500
2017 balance: $30,811,055
balance: $42,228,885

$250,000 rebound

Last night, on the strength of a fifth place finish, I made a $250,000 rebound. That clocks in as the 13th best I've ever had. My best so far was for $650,000, back on June 24th of this year. It would be pretty cool to have a $1,000,000 rebound some day. The bad part about that is, you have to lose at least a million first :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   118      46   12     5   621000

delta: $421,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,834,500
2017 balance: $30,197,055
balance: $41,614,885

Almost another futile century

On Monday night, I failed to make the money, but still played well. I lost only half as much money as I had the session before, since I fired only half the bullets. Funny how that works :-) I just missed achieving a second MTT-R NLHE futile century. I'm glad I did, since I want 100 hands to be as good a guarantee of making the money as there can be.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    98      52   12    16        0

delta: $-250,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,413,500
2017 balance: $29,776,055
balance: $41,193,885

10 bullets

Last night, I fired 10 bullets in the only tournament I entered. That's a ridiculous number, the most I've ever fired in a single tournament. I lost a cool half million play dollars. The reason I fired so many is that there were several players at my table who were routinely going all in. I waited for premium hands, but even premium hands don't do so well when you're all in against more than one opponent. I really wish some of the usual suspects didn't habitually play in such a brain-dead way.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    53      59   12    33        0

delta: $-500,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,663,500
2017 balance: $30,026,055
balance: $41,443,885

.593

The title of this post is my current lifetime adding on percentage in MTT-R NLHE; as I've come to believe, you want to keep this number as low as possible. I started out my MTT-R NLHE career by adding on every single time. On Friday night, I didn't add on and just missed the money; however, I don't think adding on would have substantially increased my chances of turning a profit. When I get my adding on percentage below .500, I'll do a little dance to celebrate :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    85      58   12    13        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,163,500
2017 balance: $30,526,055
balance: $41,943,885

.373

The title of this post is my current lifetime batting average in MTT-R NLHE; that is, the rate at which I make the money. One of my long-term goals, as I've mentioned before, is to have a lifetime batting average over .400 in MTT-R NLHE. It's a stretch, but not impossible. I helped the cause last night by going 1 for 1 :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   100      56   12     9   327000

delta: $177,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,263,500
2017 balance: $30,626,055
balance: $42,043,885

Bubbling the bubble

Last night, I came in 14th in a tournament where 12 places were paid. So you could say I bubbled the bubble :-) Any time you bubble, or bubble the bubble, you're playing well. Playing well bodes well for your long term prospects, whether or not you make the money in the short term. This is all a long-winded way of saying I played well; I'll shut up now :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    49      58   12    14        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,086,500
2017 balance: $30,449,055
balance: $41,866,885

Crybaby

I first used this blog post title on February 12, 2016. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

There are certain universal truths:

1. no one wants to see your vacation pictures
2. no one wants to read your blog
3. no one wants to listen to your bad beat sob stories

In general, I've been very good about not running counter to these truths. Although I'd like people to read my blog, I don't beg them to, and I write it for myself anyway. I very rarely tell bad beat sob stories. I think people who do are just crybabies. I'm going to step out of character briefly, and inhabit the role of crybaby.

Here are my bad beat sob stories from last night's tournament:

sob story 1: on hand 24, I was dealt pocket kings, and went all in preflop against two opponents. After the turn, I was a 66.67% favorite, but hit the felt when one of my opponents spiked a straight on the river.

sob story 2: on hand 30, I was dealt ATo (ace ten offsuit), and went all in preflop against two opponents. After the flop, I was an 85.94% favorite, but hit the felt when one of my opponents spiked a straight on the turn.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    54      41    9    20        0

delta: $-350,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,236,500
2017 balance: $30,599,055
balance: $42,016,885

Blue counts by year

Nothing too interesting happened in last night's session, so I decided I'd write about a poker statistic instead. The one I picked is blue count. Within any particular window of observation, the blue count is the number of sessions where one's overall balance reaches a new all-time high. Here are my blue counts by year:

2009: 14 of 128 (0.109375)
2010: 29 of 208 (0.139423)
2011: 79 of 253 (0.312253)
2012: 67 of 298 (0.224832)
2013: 25 of 311 (0.080386)
2014: 31 of 280 (0.110714)
2015:  5 of 275 (0.018182)
2016: 19 of 303 (0.062706)
2017: 34 of 266 (0.127820)

Anything over 10% is pretty darn good.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000  6000       9    44     168   36    17   106600
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    74      51   12    20        0

delta: $-143,400
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,586,500
2017 balance: $30,949,055
balance: $42,366,885

5 new personal bests

Last night, I set at least 5 new personal bests, which is a good haul. Here they are:

- best 3 bagger: $6,959,000
- longest MTT-R NLHE streak making the money: 4 tournaments (and counting)
- longest MTT-R NLHE streak getting under the lights: 4 tournaments (and counting)
- largest profit in a calendar year: $31,092,455
- largest overall balance: $42,510,285

Once again, I'm speechless.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    64      59   12    34        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   169      54   12     4  1330000

delta: $1,080,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $30,786,500
2017 balance: $31,092,455
balance: $42,510,285

Best two bagger ever

On Friday night, I picked up where I'd left off the night before. Once again, I made it super deep in an MTT-R NLHE. I came within an ace of coming in first again. When I got to heads up, I had just over a quarter of the chips in play. 57 hands later, I'd fought back to where I had just over half the chips in play. I felt certain I was going to win, but it wasn't meant to be. On my final hand, I was an 86.36% favorite to win the hand after the turn, but my pocket eights got counterfeited on the river, and that was all she wrote. My back to back deep runs gave me my best two bagger ever; I won an aggregate $5,879,000.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   196      59   12     2  2559000

delta: $2,459,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $29,656,500
2017 balance: $30,012,455
balance: $41,430,285

Lord High Everything Else

Last night, I was Lord High Everything Else. For the third time in my career, I came in first in an MTT-R NLHE. It's a lot of fun being the lord, even though it has little to do with you. It mostly has to do with being annointed by the poker gods. They taketh away, but they also giveth. Last night, they gaveth until it hurt :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    22      27    5     -        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   130      50   12     1  3570000

delta: $3,420,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $27,197,500
2017 balance: $27,553,455
balance: $38,971,285

Revisiting an old friend

I revisited an old friend last night. For the first time in nearly half a year, I played an MTT 8-game tournament. Although I didn't make the money, I came within shouting distance of it. I had a lot of fun playing poker flavors other than hold'em. You can't make a lot of money playing 8-game, but you sure can have fun. I'll keep that in mind :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    43500  6500       9     5     128   27    39        0
MTT-B NLHE    87000 13000       9    16     221   45   111        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    88      62   12    18        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT 8-game balance: $-317,830
2017 balance: $24,133,455
balance: $35,551,285

Second best one session rebound ever

This is the second time I've used this blog post title; the first was on November 26, 2011. Back then, I thought a rebound of $70,500 was big news. It turns out that's puppy food :-) My $550,000 rebound last night brought my overall balance back into the blue once again. All's right in my poker world.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    99      59   12     6   758000

delta: $658,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $23,727,500
2017 balance: $24,333,455
balance: $35,751,285

Too frisky by half

For the first time in a long time, I played friskily last night. I was too frisky by half :-) I know why - the huge cash infusion of the night before made me feel like the world was my oyster. That's always a dangerous feeling. I lost a whopping $550,000, which made it my ninth worst session ever, worse than 99.61% of all the sessions I've played. Tonight, I aim to play a lot tighter.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    29      59   12    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    50      53   12    32        0

delta: $-550,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $23,069,500
2017 balance: $23,675,455
balance: $35,093,285

Ridiculous ladder up

I got back into the blue last night in a big way, and in rather a ridiculous fashion. When the final table of nine players began, I was in seventh place, with just 6.29% of the chips in play. When it came down to six handed play, I was in sixth place, with just 2.63% of the chips in play. When it came down to five handed play, I was in fifth place, with just .16% of the chips in play. When it came down to four handed play, I was in fourth place, with just .58% of the chips in play. Finally, when it came down to three handed play, I was in third place, with just .36% of the chips in play. That's as far as I got. Now that's what I call laddering up :-) There's no way I could have done this without the active participation of my opponents. I should have ended up in sixth place at best; all they had to do was silently collude to make constant small bets which wouldn't affect their stacks materially, but which would force me to go all in to stay in a hand. My 2.63% of the chips would not have been long for the world, and they would all have guaranteed themselves a slightly bigger payday. However, they failed to do this. Even worse, some of them committed the cardinal sin no big stack should ever commit in this situation - they went all in against a bigger stack. Not just one opponent did this, and hit the rail. Not just two. Fully three opponents did. By virtue of this foolish behavior, I made $1,458,000 more in profit than I had any reason to expect. I understand why they did it, however. They were playing to win it all, not to ladder up. That's completely honorable, if somewhat misguided. I had no illusion that I could ever win it all, so I was more than happy to ladder up :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   116      59   12     3  2332000

delta: $2,232,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $23,619,500
2017 balance: $24,225,455
balance: $35,643,285

A turn for the worse

I never like hitting the rail in a tournament, but I really dislike hitting it when I was a favorite after the flop. That's what happened to me last night. I was a 66.26% favorite to win after the flop, but was a 22.73% dog when the turn gave my opponent a straight. I ended up two places shy of the money. In other words, I bubbled the bubble :-) Thankfully, I'd only fired two bullets.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    58      66   15    17        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,387,500
2017 balance: $21,993,455
balance: $33,411,285

A stampede of cowboys

Baby cowboys (aka pocket jacks) are very nice, but cowboys (pocket kings) are much nicer. It stands to reason that a stampede of baby cowboys can't hold a candle to a stampede of cowboys. Last night, I had a stampede of cowboys in the final tournament I played, receiving them three times in 109 hands, for a freq factor of 6.08. They essentially ensured that I was going to make the money. My blue distance is now just $345,375 - a mere bagatelle :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    22      67   15    40        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   109      66   15    11   473000

delta: $223,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,487,500
2017 balance: $22,093,455
balance: $33,511,285

Milestone

Last night I achieved a milestone - I made the final table of an MTT-R NLHE for the 40th time in my career. I started the final table in sixth place, and finished in fifth. It's always a good feeling to ladder up at the final table, even if it's only one spot :-) I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but have a feeling that I've finished higher than where I started at the final table more often than the reverse. If I'm as successful tonight as I was last night, I'll be back in the blue again.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid  place winnings

SNG   NLHE    42500  7500       6    17       6    2      3        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    65      77   18     34        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   123      43    9      5   913000

delta: $663,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,264,500
2017 balance: $21,870,455
balance: $33,288,285

A stampede of baby cowboys

I first used this blog post title on May 4th of this year. As you know, I'm never shy about reusing titles. Last night, I got baby cowboys (pocket jacks) twice in 67 hands, for a whopping frequency factor of 6.597 (topping the May 4th frequency factor of 4.093). They helped me make the money almost on their lonesome, since I won big both times :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    67      71   15     9   398000

delta: $198,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,551,500
2017 balance: $21,207,455
balance: $32,625,285

A rare occurrence

As I've said before, I get used to seeing the usual suspects when I play MTT-R NLHEs. It's always a pleasure to last longer in a tournament than many of them, even if I don't make the money. The night before last, one of the usual suspects bubbled the final tournament I played, while I finished in the final money spot. Last night, I finished one spot ahead of this same usual suspect in the only MTT-R NLHE I played, though neither of us made the money. Finishing one spot ahead of the same opponent in two tournaments in a row (where each tournament has a healthy number of entries) is quite a rarity. In this particular case, there was a 1 in 3,294 chance of it happening. That's rarer than being dealt the same hand twice in a row (1 in 1,326). It's also rarer than being dealt the same hand twice in a row, where the cards have been dealt in the same order (1 in 2,652). It's not quite as rare as getting dealt four of a kind in five card draw (1 in 4,165), but you get the idea :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    60      62   15    19        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    14       9    3     4        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9     5       9    3     7        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    14       9    3     4        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,353,500
2017 balance: $21,009,455
balance: $32,427,285

"Never going broke" hands

On September 10, 2013, I had this to say about "always going broke" hands:

Certain hands are good enough in the context in which they arise that they're known as "always going broke" hands. This doesn't mean that you'll always go broke with them; not by a long shot! It simply means you'll always be willing to go broke with them, since the odds against that happening are heavily in your favor. When you go broke with an "always going broke" hand, you'll have run into a cooler.

The flip side of "always going broke" hands are "never going broke" hands. There's more than one kind of "never going broke" hand. In all cases, however, the reason you never go broke is because you fold the hand before the flop. The most obvious "never going broke" hand is deuce seven offsuit, affectionately known as a hammer. The least obvious one is pocket aces. Last night, in the one tournament I played, I would have saved myself $100,000 if I'd only recognized that my best play was to fold my aces pre-flop the only time I was dealt them. Why in the world would anyone ever do that? Five people acting before me had gone all in, that's why :-) My chances of winning the pot were just slightly better than 50%, which are not the correct odds.

Actually, come to think of it, I made the correct play after all. The odds were actually super juicy; I was laboring in the fog of innumeracy for a while, but I'm all better now :-) The reason the play is correct is that if I did the same play twice, and won once and lost once, the aggregate result would have been highly profitable. The conclusion is that you should never fold pocket aces pre-flop, ever, no matter the number of opponents you're up against.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings
 
SNG   NLHE    17000  3000       9     8      18    4    14        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   100      55   12    12   448000

delta: $228,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,503,500
2017 balance: $21,309,455
balance: $32,727,285

52 million wagered

Last night, I topped 52 million wagered for 2017. This is over 10 million more than the amount I wagered last year, which was the former record-holder. If I keep up this pace, I will have wagered over 61.5 million by the end of the year. If I keep ramping up the volume, one year I may be able to wager a cool 100 million :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    19      52   12    36        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    33       9    3     4        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   107      48   12    11   286000

delta: $-114,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,255,500
2017 balance: $21,081,455
balance: $32,499,285

Twelfth worst seven bagger

In my last seven sessions, I've lost $1,243,375. That clocks in as the twelfth worst seven bagger of my career. All but six of the top twenty occurred in 2017. Although I failed to make the money in both tournaments I played on Friday night, I played well. Once again, I feel I'm due for a big payday. Time will tell :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    65      75   15    36        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    83      51   12    16        0

delta: $-250,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,319,500
2017 balance: $21,195,455
balance: $32,613,285

Flushed away

I've mentioned how much I hate magic flushes. I hate uberflushes almost as much. Last night, on the final hand of the last tournament I played, I ran into an uberflush, and was flushed away. My queen high flush lost to a king high. Ouch! The good news about bad luck like this is, I'm banking up some future good luck :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    22       9    3     3    38250
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    18      83   18    62        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    60      75   15    31        0

delta: $-461,750
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,569,500
2017 balance: $21,445,455
balance: $32,863,285

Identical twins

My original title for this post was "A silly statistic". When I saw that my percentile for the MTT-R NLHE I played last night was exactly 50, I knew that was a rarity, so I decided to look into how many times that's happened. It turns out the answer is just five times, in 205 tournaments. It's silly to look for percentiles of exactly 50, since that immediately cuts out all the tournaments with an odd number of entrants. When you look at stat lines of the five tournaments, it's pretty clear why I changed the title:

percentile entries place paid hands     date

    0.5000      80    40   18   67  2017-06-02b
    0.5000      68    34   15   26  2017-07-11a
    0.5000      60    30   12   61  2017-08-29d
    0.5000      62    31   15   57  2017-10-17a
    0.5000      62    31   15   56  2017-11-01b

The last two on the list are close enough to each other statistically to qualify as identical twins :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    21       9    3     3    38250
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    56      62   15    31        0

delta: $-211,750
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,019,500
2017 balance: $21,907,205
balance: $33,325,035

The magic flush

There's a hand I've been meaning to write about for some time, and now's the time. I call this hand the magic flush, and I really hate it. I hate it so much I don't even want to be on the winning end of it. Here's how a magic flush typically goes down:

- player A (the hero) has a premium holding
- player B (the villain) has a mediocre holding
- neither player's holding is suited, and player B has a least one suit that player A does not; let's call this suit the magic flush suit
- four of the five community cards dealt are of the magic flush suit, giving player B a flush, which beats player A's hand

Last night, in the one MTT-R NLHE I played, I hit the felt when I ran into a magic flush. Luckily for me, I still ended up making the money.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   105      29    6     6   392000

delta: $192,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,219,500
2017 balance: $22,118,955
balance: $33,536,785

The perils of divided attention

I go back and forth on the desirability / advisability of adding on in an MTT-R NHLE tournament. At the moment, my belief that it's generally a good thing is back in the ascendancy. That's what made my failure to add on in last night's tournament regrettable. Why didn't I add on? For the simple reason that my attention was focused elsewhere. I was surfing the net for the whole two minutes of the add on period. Oops!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    39      65   15    45        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,027,500
2017 balance: $21,926,955
balance: $33,344,785

Putting in the time

Like no other poker style/flavor combination I know, MTT-R NLHE richly rewards putting in the time. You're going to fail to make the money roughly 63% of the time, but when you do make it, you'll have a chance to make a real killing. Your window of observation should be large enough so that you only see profit in it :-) You just need to get used to losing a million or two in swings here and there, since you'll win multiple millions in other swings elsewhere. I'd say I'm pretty used to all the swings by now :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    77      62   15    20        0

delta: $-250,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,227,500
2017 balance: $22,126,955
balance: $33,544,785

Interlude

I couldn't play any MTT-R NLHEs last night, since I wouldn't have been able to save the hand histories. Instead, I played some KOs. The reason why I wouldn't have been able to save the hand histories? The new PokerStars client I downloaded was conspicuously missing that feature. The reason I had to download a new PokerStars client? The old client stopped working. Will I be able to save the hand histories tonight? Yes. Why? I downloaded yet another PokerStars client, and this latest one has that feature :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9     -       9    3     3    59500
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9     -       9    3     2    78625
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9     -       9    3     4        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    10       9    3     6        0

delta: $-61,875
KO no limit hold'em balance: $-68,689
balance: $33,794,785

Competing against yourself

When you do something really well, you're creating a worthy future opponent. To be more precise, this opponent will eventually be a worthy past opponent; he'll be someone you measure yourself against in the future, but his accomplishments will have occurred in the past. In the last five sessions, I've made a packet of play money - $3,653,375 to be exact. However, since I've done so well this year, this latest five bagger doesn't crack my all-time top ten; it falls just outside, in 11th place. Amazingly enough, the top 39 spots on my career five bagger list all fall in 2017. The year of the rebuy :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    46       9    3     1    95625
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    71      64   15    26        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   125      49   12     3  1735000

delta: $1,365,625
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $21,477,500
2017 balance: $22,438,830
balance: $33,856,660

My blue heaven

Last night, I got most of what I was aiming for:

- back in the blue? yes ($32,491,035)
- three straight MTT-R NLHE final tables? no :-(
- most final tables in a 5 MTT-R NLHE stretch? no :-(
- most final tables in a 6 MTT-R NLHE stretch? yes (4)
- largest profit for a calendar year? yes ($21,073,205)

This continues to be a career year. These are the good old days :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    40      82   18    47        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   163      68   15     6   915000

delta: $565,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $20,242,500
2017 balance: $21,073,205
balance: $32,491,035

Blue proximity

The last time my overall balance was in the blue was on August 6th. On August 7th, I lost $158,800. With last night's profit, my overall balance has come the closest to being back in the blue since August 7th; my blue distance is now $193,070. If I play a single tournament tonight and make the final table, I'll achieve all of the following:

1. my overall balance will be back in the blue
2. I'll set a new personal record of three straight tournaments under the lights
3. I'll set a new personal record of four out of five tournaments under the lights

I have a lot to play for, and I'm going for it :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   115      57   12     6   694000

delta: $494,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,677,500
2017 balance: $20,508,205
balance: $31,926,035

The delicious dozen

When I started this blog, I never imagined it would be possible for me to make a profit of a million play dollars in a single session. I wasn't entirely sure I'd even ever be able to make a profit of a million play dollars, regardless of the number of sessions. Last night, I made a single session profit of a million play dollars for the twelfth time in my career. I'm calling those sessions the delicious dozen :-)

Making such a massive profit took most of the sting out of how my second tournament ended - I hit the rail with pocket aces, when my opponent hit a two outer on the river. Had I won that hand, I think the odds are better than 50 50 that I would have won it all.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    43      71   15    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   123      63   15     4  1376000

delta: $1,076,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,183,500
2017 balance: $20,014,205
balance: $31,432,035

A fine way to end a losing streak

Last night, I got under the lights again. It was a fine way to end my MTT-R NLHE losing streak. Notice I'm not claiming that I ended my slump, just my losing streak :-) Through the quirk of a double knockout, only 8 players made it to the final table. I was the short stack and also the first to hit the rail, after just 4 hands. However, I wasn't about to complain, as I'd been the beneficiary of a goodly amount of luck along the way.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   105      52   12     8   424000

delta: $174,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $18,107,500
2017 balance: $18,938,205
balance: $30,356,035

Powerless before the will of the poker gods

Sometimes, the poker gods like to rub it in. On Saturday night, they ensured I'd set a new personal worst for consecutive MTT-R NLHEs missing the money by throwing two outlier events at me. The first was dropping my network connection just as I hit the felt in the first MTT-R I entered, causing me to get timed out during the rebuy interval. The second was throwing a bad beat on me in the second MTT-R when I appeared to be heading toward the money. I hit the rail losing to a 4 outer. My new all-time record is 11 consecutive MTT-R NLHEs missing the money - and counting.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    14      62   15     0        0
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    13       9    3     3    38250
KO    NLHE    42500  7500       9    28       9    3     2    57375
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    59      47   12    23        0

delta: $-204,375
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $17,933,500
2017 balance: $18,764,205
balance: $30,182,035

Second worst six bagger ever

Let's face it, to have a session finish in the top 2 all-time for any category is an achievement, whether or not it's a positive one or a negative one. Last night, I completed my second worst six bagger ever. Here are the top ten:

 $-1,819,525 2017-08-13 2017-08-18 (1)
 $-1,374,770 2017-10-14 2017-10-20 (0)
 $-1,330,147 2015-08-19 2015-08-24 (1)
 $-1,315,400 2017-08-29 2017-09-04 (2)
 $-1,295,500 2015-08-20 2015-08-25 (1)
 $-1,265,700 2017-08-28 2017-09-03 (2)
 $-1,228,525 2017-08-14 2017-08-20 (2)
 $-1,216,000 2017-08-08 2017-08-15 (2)
 $-1,203,812 2015-08-21 2015-08-26 (1)
 $-1,191,608 2012-07-17 2012-07-22 (2)

I've now failed to make the money in 9 straight MTT-R NLHEs. My career record losing streak in MTT-R NLHEs is 10 straight. If I don't get on my horse, I'm going to set a new all-time negative record.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    43500  6500       9    24     105   27     0        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    60      56   12    22        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    30      52   12    34        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $18,133,500
2017 balance: $18,968,580
balance: $30,386,410

Twelfth worst session ever

When you've played over 2,000 sessions of poker, as I now have, it's a pretty big deal to have a session which is within the top 20 in a category, since that represents the top 1%. Last night, I had my 12th worst session ever, losing half a million play dollars. Despite that cold hard fact, I was actually playing quite well. I feel like I'm due for a big win one of these days.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    36      85   18    48        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    44      71   15    43        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    70      61   15    17        0

delta: $-500,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $18,383,500
2017 balance: $19,268,580
balance: $30,686,410

Never say never

Last night, for the first time in over a year, I played a cash game. It was a very unusual situation; I was essentially forced into it. For the first time in my nine years of playing on PokerStars, they had some sort of software problem with the play money tournaments, and none were available. If I wanted to play any poker at all, it would have to be a cash game. I love poker too much not to play, so I bit the bullet. All my prejudices against cash games were reconfirmed, not too surprisingly. I'm happy to say the glitch has been fixed, and I'll be able to play tournaments again tonight. Yeehaw!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 58 hands and saw flop:
 - 6 out of 8 times while in big blind (75%)
 - 2 out of 8 times while in small blind (25%)
 - 16 out of 42 times in other positions (38%)
 - a total of 24 out of 58 (41%)
 Pots won at showdown - 2 of 7 (28%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $-24,770
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,673,317
balance: $31,186,410

Erroring out

In computer parlance, erroring out is when a program realizes it has reached a state from which it can't continue, and exits with an error condition. In a poker tournament context, erroring out is what I call it when I make a fatally bad decision, and hit the rail as a result. Last night, I errored out when I went all in after the flop, on a non-rainbow board. A non-rainbow flop is one where at least two of the three cards are of the same suit. You should never go all in on a non-rainbow board, since if you get called, there's a good chance your opponent will be on a flush draw, and you'll be flipping for your tournament life. Although I made this error last night, funnily enough, I didn't actually lose to a flush. But that's beside the point :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    57      62   15    31        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $18,883,500
2017 balance: $19,793,350
balance: $31,211,180

Loss portfolio

This poker year, in addition to building an impressive win portfolio, I've also built an impressive loss portfolio. I've lost more play money this year than in any previous year - $29,926,900, to be precise. Let's just round that up to 30 million. If I keep up this pace, I will have lost over $37.8 million by year's end. However, I will also have won over $63.6 million :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    61      65   15    39        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,033,500
2017 balance: $19,943,350
balance: $31,361,180

Thrown off the bus

Close to four years ago, firmly embedded in my lengthy cash game phase, I wrote a blog entry entitled "The middle of nowhere"; here's how it began:

Playing poker can be likened to being on a long bus ride. You want to stay on the bus, and go as far as you can. Sometimes, though, you're forced off the bus, dropped off essentially in the middle of nowhere.

Hitting the rail (i.e., exiting a tournament) is much worse than hitting the felt (i.e., losing your initial stake in a cash game), and the feeling you get is correspondingly stronger. Instead of feeling like you're being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, you feel like you're being thrown off a moving bus :-)

I got thrown off the bus in the second tournament I played last night, missing the money by one measly spot.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    22      65   15    39        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    95      47   12    13        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,233,500
2017 balance: $20,143,350
balance: $31,561,180

Poker trifecta

It's rare to get dealt the same hand twice in a row - this should happen only once every 1,326 hands. It's even rarer to get dealt the same hand twice in a row, where the cards have been dealt in the same order. This should happen only once every 2,652 hands. These odds are very similar to hitting a trifecta in a 14 horse race, which is 1 in 2,184. So let's call getting dealt the same hand in the same order twice in a row the poker trifecta. Last night, I hit the poker trifecta in style - I was dealt the hand As Ad twice in a row. I won the first time, and had a chopped pot the second, since my opponent had been dealt the other two aces.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   126      52   12     7   543000

delta: $393,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,433,500
2017 balance: $20,343,350
balance: $31,761,180

The pleasures of failing to make the money

When I don't make the money in a tournament, all is not for naught. In fact, there are multiple pleasures to be had; here are some of them:

- the joy of playing well
- the fun on seeing very rare events, even if they're not happening to you
- the schadenfreude of outlasting many of your "usual suspect" opponents

Last night, I experienced all of these. The rare event was when one of my opponents made quad jacks.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    65      78   18    40        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,040,500
2017 balance: $19,950,350
balance: $31,368,180

Evermore session

Last night, I had an evermore session - I lasted longer in each succeeding tournament. My final table finish in the third and final tournament enabled me to make a decent profit on the night. I'm now making the final table in MTT-R NLHEs at a 17.22% clip. I sense that I'll be back in the blue within the next week.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    29      71   15    28        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    51      59   12    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   129      46   12     6   545000

delta: $145,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $19,190,500
2017 balance: $20,100,350
balance: $31,518,180