Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Once again, I'm using the title of a novel I've never read as the title of a blog post. As before, it's written by an author I greatly admire (Philip K. Dick in this instance), whose work I've read widely. That title was what sprung to mind when I looked at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session. All the blue bars hanging below the zero line are like the tracks of so many tears.

This is an excerpt from my November 4, 2014 post. I haven't been able to look at a bar chart of my stack size over the course of a session since November of 2019, when I got a new computer and discovered that the PokerStars play money client no longer provided hand histories. However, I can always look at bar charts of my balance over the course of a poker year, and looking at the three data points I have for the current year, I see three tears. I have no doubt the flow will stop before long :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     326   81    92        0
MTT   NLHE    44000   6000       9     400   99   117        0

delta: $-100,000
2025 balance: $-177,000
2025 blue distance: $177,000
balance: $16,120,303
MTT NLHE ITM pct: 41.56 (1280 of 3080)

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

I couldn't resist; last night, I played another bounty tournament. It was nearly an official "Flow My Tears" tournament, since it came close to meeting all of the following criteria:

1. I was never above water
2. I had a high chaparral count of 0
3. I lost over 90% of the hands

The criterion it narrowly missed was the third one; in this case, I "only" lost 88% of the hands :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    17      49   12    31        0
MTT   8-Game  45000  5000       6    41      51   12    16        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $48,685,000
2019 balance: $17,049,850
balance: $63,584,110

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

By my count, this is the fourth time I've used this blog post title. I've decided that an official "Flow My Tears" session has to meet the following criteria:

1. I played one and only one tournament
2. I was never above water
3. I had a high chaparral count of 0
4. I lost over 90% of the hands

Check, check, check, and check :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    29      67   15    49        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $49,120,000
2019 balance: $15,742,150
balance: $62,326,410

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

This is the third time I've used this blog post title. I'm referring to two things:

1. the title of a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick
2. the appearance of the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's tournament

Although I was never above water, I came very close to making the money. Maybe tonight :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    56      62   15    18        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $39,556,000
2019 balance: $5,552,250
balance: $52,136,510

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

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

Once again, I'm using the title of a novel I've never read as the title of a blog post. As before, it's written by an author I greatly admire (Philip K. Dick in this instance), whose work I've read widely. That title was what sprung to mind when I looked at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session. All the blue bars hanging below the zero line are like the tracks of so many tears.

One difference is, in the interim I've actually read that book. Another is that the first time I was still in my cash game phase. The blue bars hanging below the zero line are just the same, however :-) I was a model of futility last night; I was never above water for even a single one of the 124 hands I played. Ouch!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    66     104   27    46        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    58      79   18    25        0

delta: $-350,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $41,311,500
2018 balance: $7,627,000
balance: $53,140,260

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Once again, I'm using the title of a novel I've never read as the title of a blog post. As before, it's written by an author I greatly admire (Philip K. Dick in this instance), whose work I've read widely. That title was what sprung to mind when I looked at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of last night's session. All the blue bars hanging below the zero line are like the tracks of so many tears. As you might have guessed, the session ended with another crash to the felt. I've now hit the felt six times in the last six sessions, only two shy of my all-time six session record. I set a new all-time record for a 17 session cash game no limit hold'em stretch, losing more money in such a stretch than ever before - a whopping $464,644. I'm really kind of curious to see just how bad this slump might get :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 97 hands and saw flop:
 - 9 out of 13 times while in big blind (69%)
 - 11 out of 14 times while in small blind (78%)
 - 36 out of 70 times in other positions (51%)
 - a total of 56 out of 97 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 5 of 15 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,492,470
balance: $9,397,569