Swinging for the fences

It makes little sense to swing for the fences in a cash game, since there's no limit to the amount of money you could lose by doing so. It may make sense to swing for the fences in a tournament, however; the difference is that in a tournament, the most you can lose is your buy in. That may be an acceptable risk when weighed against the upside potential of reaching the huge payouts at the top of the pay table.

This is an excerpt from my November 15, 2019 post. Last night, in the first tournament I entered (a Valueraptor), I swung for the fences just after the money bubble had burst. I called all in with a flush draw, but whiffed. Since I'd fired two bullets, and only min cashed, I had a net loss on the tournament. I don't regret going for it, though.

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     139   23    18   7900000
MTT-B NLHE   2200000   300000       8     317   47    23   4525000

delta: $-75,000
MTT NLHE balance: $363,111,468
2022 balance: $284,522,000
blue distance: $72,465,000
balance: $379,365,953

Swinging for the fences

It makes little sense to swing for the fences in a cash game, since there's no limit to the amount of money you could lose by doing so. It may make sense to swing for the fences in a tournament, however; the difference is that in a tournament, the most you can lose is your buy in. That may be an acceptable risk when weighed against the upside potential of reaching the huge payouts at the top of the pay table. Last night, nearing the money in the MTT-R NLHE I was playing, I decided to swing for the fences with a flush draw. I could have folded and had a chance to min cash, but I didn't want a min cash; I wanted big bucks :-) It didn't pan out for me, but I don't regret my decision. I made it with the full knowledge that hitting my flush was a long shot.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    45000  5000       6    56     100   24    47        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    79      39    8    14        0

delta: $-150,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $45,413,000
2019 balance: $11,337,850
balance: $57,872,110