Value for money

One of the features of the 8-game tournaments I'm really enjoying is the relaxed pace. These tournaments are taking much longer on average to complete than the no limit hold'em ones, and consequently they're much better value for money. On Saturday night, although I came in fourth in both tournaments I entered, I played 59 hands in each one. Another feature I'm really enjoying is the variety; here are the 8 poker flavors played in these tournaments:

Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit
Hold'em Limit
Omaha Hi/Lo Limit
Razz Limit
7 Card Stud Limit
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit
Hold'em No Limit
Omaha Pot Limit

I'm liking the Hi/Lo flavors a lot. I also like deuce and razz, but they're a riskier proposition since they're low only.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        59     4        0
 45000      5000           6        59     4        0

delta: $-100,000
tournament balance: $1,719,090
balance: $8,601,789

The fellowship of the felt

Last night, I sought out another 8-game tournament. Again, I played a no limit hold'em tournament while waiting for the 8-game to fill up. Again, I was at a crucial point in the hold'em tournament when the 8-game started, and had to divide my attention between the two. This time, I bubbled the hold'em instead of making the money. After an even lengthier 8-game tournament than my first one, I ended up making the money again, although this time I came in second instead of first. The winner, who was from Spain, was very complimentary of how well I'd played, and called me "my friend". This was a great example of the fellowship of the felt :-) Those of us who love poker can recognize this love in others, and it's a great feeling. We speak the same language, dream the same dreams, and have the utmost respect for one another.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        40     3        0
 45000      5000           6       186     2    94500

delta: $-5,500
tournament balance: $1,819,090
balance: $8,701,789

Two happy accidents

I had my best session ever last night, but it was due to the first of two happy accidents. I always pick the $50,000 buy in tournaments, since they're my sweet spot. However, I slipped a digit without realizing it, and selected a $500,000 tournament instead. I actually did this two times in a row. I never would have done that intentionally. Mirabile dictu, I made the money in both those super high roller tournaments! When it came time to pick a third tournament, I thought the lobby had somehow scrolled on me, since it was in the $500,000 buy in section; I scrolled down to the $50,000 tournaments and chose one. I hadn't realized my mistake yet. Finally, after playing my fourth tournament, I looked at my results for the session up to that point. I realized what a bone-headed thing I'd done, and how lucky I'd been not to drop a million play dollars in a matter of minutes!

The second happy accident was mistakenly selecting an 8-game tournament instead of a no limit hold'em one, then thinking I'd successfully cancelled my registration when I hadn't. It took a long time for that 8-game table to fill up, but it finally did. When it did, I was in the crucial final stage of a hold'em tournament, heads up, and was taken completely by surprise when another tournament window appeared on the screen. I had to divide my attention between the two tournaments for about 5 minutes, and ended up coming in second in the no limit hold'em one. For the next hour, I played the 8-game tournament, had a blast, and ended up winning it. I actually had to quickly look up how to play some of the games on Wikipedia, while I was playing!

I was very pleasantly surprised by two huge advantages the 8-game tournaments have over the no limit hold'em ones:

1. the starting stack is $1,500, triple the starting stack of the hold'em tournaments
2. the blinds don't escalate, for whatever reason

A nice bonus is that it's fun to play flavors other than hold'em once in a while. The two advantages taken together lead to longer tournaments, and to a higher premium on skill. The 8-game is my new favorite tournament type!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

450000     50000           6        24     2   945000
450000     50000           6        46     2   945000
 45000      5000           6        22     3        0
 45000      5000           6         6     6        0
 45000      5000           6        34     1   175500
 45000      5000           6         5     5        0
 45000      5000           6        56     2    94500
 45000      5000           6       175     1   175500

delta: $1,035,500
tournament balance: $1,824,590
balance: $8,707,289

Feast or famine

Last night, each tournament I entered was feast or famine; either I made the money, or I didn't come anywhere close. I discovered it was much easier to claim I was going to avoid early exits than it was to back up that claim. However, this difficulty reminded me of something I'd forgotten about tournaments. You have to play them bravely; when you do, a fair amount of the time you're going to hit the felt early. Tournaments are definitely not for the meek, yet neither are they for the foolhardy. The trick is to be neither meek nor foolhardy; it's a tall order!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        38     1   175500
 45000      5000           6         6     6        0
 45000      5000           6        13     5        0
 45000      5000           6         4     6        0
 45000      5000           6        22     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        77     2    94500

delta: $145,500
tournament balance: $789,090
balance: $7,671,789

The lower 48

I set a new personal worst last night. I had the worst eight tournament stretch of my tournament career. When you're playing 6-max, the worst you can do in such a stretch is to come in sixth all eight times. I didn't do that, but wasn't far off. The sum of my places came out to a gaudy 38 out of the worst possible total of 48. I call that the lower 48 :-)

The only way to do so poorly is to bet too big, too early, and too often. When you do that, you don't give other players the chance to make donkey moves. In effect, you're the one who's being the donkey! There's no excuse for playing that friskily in tournaments. I promise not to fall into that trap tonight.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6         2     6        0
 45000      5000           6        15     3        0
 45000      5000           6         5     6        0
 45000      5000           6         8     6        0
 45000      5000           6        30     3        0
 45000      5000           6         9     5        0
 45000      5000           6        14     5        0
 45000      5000           6        14     4        0

delta: $-400,000
tournament balance: $643,590
balance: $7,526,289

The upper half of 6-max

Though there are several different table sizes to choose from when playing sit and gos, I've played 6-max almost exclusively in my tournament career. I'm discovering that playing sit and go 6-max again after over a year off is like renewing an acquaintanceship with an old friend. You just pick up where you left off :-)

When playing sit and go 6-max, I've found that a great goal to set yourself is to finish in the top three, the upper half. The fact that only the top two places are paid shouldn't have any bearing; if you land in the upper half of 6-max often enough, you'll get your share of firsts and seconds. With this goal, you put less pressure on yourself than you would if the goal was to finish in the top two every time. The less pressure you feel, the better you do.

Last night, I hit the upper half in all three of the tournaments I entered.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        35     2    94500
 45000      5000           6        42     3        0
 45000      5000           6        54     1   175500

delta: $120,000
tournament balance: $1,043,590
balance: $7,926,289

The insanity of sit and gos

Trying to be successful at sit and gos is a form of insanity. It's a losing proposition on its very face. However, the only way to be successful at them is first to believe that you can be successful at them. Since only someone who's a little insane would believe this, the inescapable conclusion is that you actually must be a little insane in order to beat the insane odds :-) It a variation on Joseph Heller's Catch-22.

In case you missed it, I just admitted that I think I can be successful at sit and gos. This proves two things:

1. I believe in myself
2. I'm a little insane :-)

Here's how I did on Saturday night:

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        26     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        37     2    94500
 45000      5000           6        21     3        0
 45000      5000           6         9     5        0
 45000      5000           6        11     5        0
 45000      5000           6        27     2    94500
 45000      5000           6        22     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        20     3        0

delta: $140,000
tournament balance: $923,590
balance: $7,806,289