Back to zero

The last time I recorded a 0th place in an MTT NLHE was on October 5. The next time I'll register a 0th place is - drumroll please - never.

This is an excerpt from my December 10, 2024 post. Famous last words :-) Yesterday, I registered a 0th place in the first MTT NLHE I entered. How could this happen? It was supposed to be impossible! There's a simple explanation - I entered a tournament whose late registration period ended before its first five minute break began. The $50,000 tournaments on PokerStars have the first five minute break start with five minutes left in their late registration period, but the $100,000 tournaments don't. That means a player can guarantee an official place in a $50,000 tournament by entering it within the first five minute break, but there's no such guarantee for $100,000 tournaments. Upshot: I won't enter any more $100,000 tournaments.

In other news, I played in my first limit deuce (2-7 Triple Draw Lowball) tournament in over 8 years. These tournaments have longer late registration periods than MTT NLHE tournaments do, so there's less shame in recording 0th places in them. I pre-registered, and lasted 42 of the 49 minutes in the late registration period before hitting the rail, recording a 0th place. Deuce is a lot of fun, and I'll be playing more of it.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    88000  12000       9     278   72     0        0
MTT   L27Lo   22000   3000       6      72   18     0        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     332   81   149        0

delta: $-175,000
2025 balance: $-450,000
2025 blue distance: $450,000
balance: $15,847,303
MTT NLHE ITM pct: 41.55 (1284 of 3090)