A fat one on seventh street

I played two MTT 8-games and two MTT NLHEs last night. The most memorable hand of the night came in the second MTT 8-game, when the poker flavor was 7 card stud and I was drawing thin on seventh street. My opponent had made a flush on sixth street, eclipsing my set of eights. I made a full house on seventh to take down the pot.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6    21      96   18    43        0
MTT   NLHE      870   130       6    49     836  216   176     1563
MTT   NLHE      870   130       9    19     675  162   190        0
MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6    45      61   12    34        0

delta: $-10,437
MTT NLHE massive balance: $24,113
balance: $10,045,377

Stud busted

Last night, I made the money in an MTT 8-game again, but was stud busted. That is, I hit the rail during a stud rotation. I was a three to one favorite after sixth street, but my opponent hit a straight on seventh street, and that was all she wrote. I'm curious to see what flavor of poker I've busted with the most in MTT 8-games; let me check the archives ...

Here are my busted counts by poker flavor, in descending order:

17 Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit
12 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit
 8 Razz Limit
 8 Omaha Pot Limit
 8 Omaha Hi/Lo Limit
 5 7 Card Stud Limit
 5 Hold'em Limit
 2 Hold'em No Limit

Despite this evidence of the dangers of deuce (aka triple draw 2-7 lowball limit), it's one of my favorite 8-game flavors.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6    90      76   18    13     4290

delta: $-710
MTT 8-game balance: $309,220
balance: $10,055,814

A hole in my razz game

Way back on March 10, 2011, I wrote about CHEEP, which stands for Creeping Hold'Em Evaluation Prejudice. CHEEP can make a big hole in your Omaha game; I've learned that the hard way, many times. Tonight I'm here to talk about CDEP, which stands for Creeping Deuce Evaluation Prejudice. CDEP can make a big hole in your razz game. That's what happened to me last night, in the MTT 8-game I entered. In deuce, an 8 6 low is a really decent hand. In razz, it's really pretty crappy. Your deuce experience can cause you to overvalue 8 6 lows in razz, and that can be very costly. Last night, I lost 4,750 in chips when I ran my 8 6 into a 5 low (the nut low in razz). My stack was on life support after that, and I hit the rail just nine hands later.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   NHLE      870   130       9    28     567  135   188        0
MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6   111      64   12    10     6960

delta: $960
MTT 8-game balance: $309,930
balance: $10,056,524

Aced out

I call it "aces out" when I hit the rail in a tournament with a holding of pocket rockets. Last night, in the MTT NLHE I played, I was aced out instead; that is, I lost to an opponent who had rockets. I'd already made the money, so I didn't feel too bad. You need to play super cautiously when you're on the money bubble, but once you've made the money, it behooves you to throw caution to the wind. The reason? You need lots of chips, in a hurry, to be able to make it to the final table.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6    44      97   18    27        0
MTT   NLHE      870   130       9    71     926  243   194     1595

delta: $-4,405
MTT NLHE massive balance: $25,550
balance: $10,055,564

Sleeping out

It's never a good idea to sit out when playing a tournament. It's fine to sit out when playing a cash game game, since there's no penalty. The penalty for sitting out during a tournament is that you automatically lose the amounts of your antes and blinds. Last night, I started playing when it was late, and I was tired. Not a very good decision, but there it is. I nodded off three times, and it resulted in the PokerStars software automatically sitting me out each time. All in all, I sat out (or more accurately, slept out) for 11 of 55 hands, and missed making the money by a considerable margin. I had the good sense to call it a night after that :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6    55      64   12    25        0

delta: $-5,000
MTT 8-game balance: $312,970
balance: $10,059,969

Evermore and ever better session

On Friday night, I had an evermore and ever better session, provided that the ever better part is determined by percentile rather than place. My first percentile was the 53rd, my second was the 63rd, and my final was the 78th.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6    25      82   18    38        0
MTT   NLHE      870   130       9    34     982  243   362        0
MTT   NLHE      870   130       6    43     755  192   161     1576

delta: $-5,424
MTT NLHE massive balance: $24,955
balance: $10,064,969

.500

So far in my online poker career, I've played 88 MTT NLHE tournaments. Having made the money in 44 of them, I'm batting a perfect .500. Looking only at massives, I'm doing even better - 39 of 76, for .513. Last night, I had a rare double - I made the money in both an MTT 8-game and an MTT NLHE.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating - the reason I do well in MTT NLHE is that there are so many bad players out there. I don't have to be especially good myself. This is a bit humbling, but I can put up with it :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT   8-Game   4350   650       6   122      94   18     8    13280
MTT   NLHE      870   130       6    62     718  192    84     2436

delta: $9,716
MTT NLHE massive balance: $25,379
balance: $10,070,393