Bubble boy

I had a sit and go binge last night. I played more sit and gos in a single session than I ever had before - 14 in all. I was the bubble boy in five of them. That is, I came in one spot out of the money five times. When you bubble that many times, you know you're doing something right, and you also know you're not doing enough right :-)

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        27     3        0
 45000      5000           6         4     5        0
 45000      5000           6         2     6        0
 45000      5000           6        28     3        0
 45000      5000           6        27     3        0
 45000      5000           6         9     5        0
 45000      5000           6         3     5        0
 45000      5000           6         6     3        0
 45000      5000           6        26     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        18     2    94500
 45000      5000           6        10     3        0
 45000      5000           6        14     4        0
 45000      5000           6        27     2    94500
 45000      5000           6         6     4        0

delta: $-335,500
tournament balance: $783,590
balance: $7,666,289

The high chaparral

I never watched the western T.V. show "The High Chaparral", but I've always liked the name; it resonates with me. Playing sit and gos with the intention of making a long-term profit is an extremely ambitious undertaking; one might more appropriately call it a fool's errand :-) I hereby dub this quest my high chaparral! Last night, I played eight sit and gos, and came in first twice. My heads up skills were in full working order, but I didn't get to heads up enough times in order to make a profit on the night. I noticed two big differences from the last time I played $50,000 sit and gos:

1. each player is now allotted a starting stack of just $500, instead of the previous amount of $1,000; that's dramatically less "oxygen" to work with
2. strictly speaking, the new $50,000 sit and gos are actually $45,000 sit and gos, since that's the new buy in; the entry fees have shot up dramatically, from $800 to $5,000

Here's how I did:

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        15     3        0
 45000      5000           6        72     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        16     5        0
 45000      5000           6        23     4        0
 45000      5000           6        15     3        0
 45000      5000           6         2     6        0
 45000      5000           6         8     4        0
 45000      5000           6        38     1   175500

If I'd been playing under the old conditions, my loss on the night would have been considerably less - $16,400 instead of $49,000. What all this boils down to is that it will be even harder to make a profit playing these sit and gos than it was before, which was plenty hard. I relish the challenge!

delta: $-49,000
tournament balance: $1,119,090
balance: $8,001,789

Eight feels great

Last night, I finally hit the eight million play dollar plateau. It was a long time coming - 379 sessions after I hit the seven million play dollar plateau, to be precise. I have to say, eight feels great! I will now allow myself the excitement of returning to tournament poker. I'm going to give myself a pretty long leash - two million play dollars. That is to say, I'll allow myself to lose that much before cutting myself off and returning to cash games. If everything goes well, I won't have to cut myself off at all. I'm going to play the $50,000 buy in tournaments exclusively, since they were my sweet spot before. Yahoo!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 18 hands and saw flop:
 - 0 out of 2 times while in big blind (0%)
 - 0 out of 1 times while in small blind (0%)
 - 10 out of 15 times in other positions (66%)
 - a total of 10 out of 18 (55%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 4 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 0

delta: $144,816
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,693,836
balance: $8,050,789

Big night

I always like it when I can repurpose the title of a favorite song or movie as the title of a post. "Big Night" was a comedy that came out in 1996, starring Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci as two brothers trying to save their restaurant from financial ruin. Last night was a big night for me, poker-wise; I had my second best cash game no limit hold'em session ever. It put me back into the blue, topping 7,900,000 play dollars for the first time. I'm so close to 8 million I can taste it!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 79 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 15 times while in big blind (73%)
 - 13 out of 17 times while in small blind (76%)
 - 29 out of 47 times in other positions (61%)
 - a total of 53 out of 79 (67%)
 Pots won at showdown - 7 of 11 (63%)
 Pots won without showdown - 12

delta: $155,069
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,549,020
balance: $7,905,973

Chips enough, and time

Some successful sessions have very inauspicious beginnings. Such was the case last night. At the start of hand 81, I'd already lost $83,418. In the next 31 hands, I turned my night around. In a nod to Andrew Marvell, I had chips enough, and time, to do it. I used to be wary of long sessions; I used to think that I was asking for nothing but trouble if I played too long. Now I've come to believe that if I run into trouble, I just haven't played long enough :-)

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 111 hands and saw flop:
 - 15 out of 18 times while in big blind (83%)
 - 12 out of 18 times while in small blind (66%)
 - 45 out of 75 times in other positions (60%)
 - a total of 72 out of 111 (64%)
 Pots won at showdown - 12 of 19 (63%)
 Pots won without showdown - 14

delta: $39,952
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,393,951
balance: $7,750,904

A deadly turn

The deadliest cards in poker are the ones which give you a very strong hand, but give an opponent an even stronger one. That's a recipe for losing a ton of chips, up to and including all of them. That's what happened to me on hand 115 on Saturday night. I was dealt 8c Ad, and the flop came 3c 4s 8h. I bet $3,500 and got two callers. The turn was the ace of clubs. I bet $7,500 and got one caller. The river was the three of diamonds, and my opponent, who had me covered, bet $22,000. I snap called, and he turned over aces for a full house. As it turned out, I was actually drawing dead on the river. Only the fact that my opponent refrained from going all in saved me from hitting the felt. He slow-played the hand masterfully. Back to the drawing board!

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 121 hands and saw flop:
 - 16 out of 18 times while in big blind (88%)
 - 14 out of 17 times while in small blind (82%)
 - 48 out of 86 times in other positions (55%)
 - a total of 78 out of 121 (64%)
 Pots won at showdown - 10 of 21 (47%)
 Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $-42,393
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,353,999
balance: $7,710,952

Getting it in semi-good

Last night's session, though a losing one, closed out my third most successful month ever playing cash game no limit hold'em. I made just a squeak under 600,000 play dollars. On the final hand of the session, I was dealt a suited big slick, and flopped a flush draw. I ended up going all in on the flop, but didn't hit my flush. It turns out I got it in semi-good; I had a 44.52% chance of winning the pot, one opponent had a 41.86% chance, and another had a 13.62% chance. It's funny how memory can play tricks on you; until I reviewed the hand, I thought I'd gotten it in really bad, since I thought I'd gone all in preflop.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 99 hands and saw flop:
 - 13 out of 15 times while in big blind (86%)
 - 6 out of 14 times while in small blind (42%)
 - 38 out of 70 times in other positions (54%)
 - a total of 57 out of 99 (57%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 19 (47%)
 Pots won without showdown - 7

delta: $-50,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $5,396,392
balance: $7,753,345