S.O.S.

One of the hardest hands to lay down is a set, especially when the board doesn't support a straight, doesn't support a flush, and doesn't support a full house. In such a case, the only hand that can beat yours is a better set. That boils down to someone having been dealt a better pocket pair than yours. That situation is called "set over set". I call it S.O.S. for short :-)

This is an excerpt from my February 3, 2017 post.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - for me, the most memorable hands are ones I lost.

This is an excerpt from my April 13, 2017 post. Tonight, the most memorable hand was my final one of the first tournament I entered. I'd been dealt pocket sixes, and hit a set of sixes on the flop. I got all my chips into the middle, but lost to a player who'd been dealt pocket queens, and had hit a set of queens on the flop. S.O.S.! Whatcha gonna do?

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     422   99   139        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     315   81    57    97000

delta: $-3,000
2024 balance: $2,755,000
2024 blue distance: $3,000
balance: $15,564,303
MTT NLHE ITM pct: 41.44 (1206 of 2910)

S.O.S.

Last night I failed to outlast the late registration period again. I came closer this time - I hit the rail when there were six minutes left. It was a brutal zexit - I flopped a set of deuces, and lost to a set of fives. A classic S.O.S. (set over set) scenario. The silver lining? It was a toy train again, not the midnight train, so I saved myself $150,000.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000   5000       6      79   21     -        0

delta: $-50,000
MTT NLHE balance: $26,033,768
2021 balance: $2,662,000
blue distance: $1,010,000
balance: $80,327,453

S.O.S.

This is the third time I've used this blog post title. The first was on February 3, 2017. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

One of the hardest hands to lay down is a set, especially when the board doesn't support a straight, doesn't support a flush, and doesn't support a full house. In such a case, the only hand that can beat yours is a better set. That boils down to someone having been dealt a better pocket pair than yours. That situation is called "set over set". I call it S.O.S. for short :-)

Last night, I hit the rail on my final hand of the night on an S.O.S. I was dealt pocket nines and hit a set on the flop. I had an opponent who'd been dealt pocket tens dominated, but he spiked a ten on the river. Whatcha gonna do?

In other news, I've lost $925,000 in my last 5 sessions. Time to right the ship :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       6     126   30    38        0
MTT   NLHE   174000 26000       6      62   18    24        0

delta: $-250,000
MTT NLHE balance: $8,736,668
2020 balance: $1,919,000
balance: $63,727,010

S.O.S.

Last night, I was lucky enough to get under the lights in the second tournament I entered, and unlucky enough to hit the rail with a full house. I was the short stack at the table when my last hand began. On the flop, it was an S.O.S. (set over set) situation. I'd been dealt a pair of fives, and an opponent had been dealt a pair of kings. The flop came Kh 5h 7s. I went all in and got insta-called. The turn card was an eight and the river card was another seven; that gave me fives full and my opponent kings full. On the strength of my fifth place finish, I made a profit of over half a million play dollars on the night. I'm headed for the blue, baby :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    74      81   18    19        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   120      63   15     5   896000

delta: $546,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $42,027,500
2018 balance: $8,343,000
balance: $53,856,260

S.O.S.

One of the hardest hands to lay down is a set, especially when the board doesn't support a straight, doesn't support a flush, and doesn't support a full house. In such a case, the only hand that can beat yours is a better set. That boils down to someone having been dealt a better pocket pair than yours. That situation is called "set over set". I call it S.O.S. for short :-)

Last night, I was on the wrong end of an S.O.S. on just the second hand of the first MTT I joined. All my chips went into the middle, and I was out of the tournament in a New York minute. There's no use complaining about S.O.S.'s, though; they happen, and they happen to everyone. I'm sure I've been on the right end of just as many as I've been on the wrong end of.

I joined my second MTT with just a minute left in the late registration period, and ended up making the money. I have enough confidence in my poker abilities to believe I can join an MTT at any time and still have a decent chance to make the money.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    17500  2500       6     2     234   60     0        0
MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       6    78     114   30     9   153000

delta: $83,000
MTT NLHE balance: $2,828,148
2017 balance: $911,000
balance: $12,328,830