On pace for 323 sessions

If I keep playing poker at my current pace, I'll end up having played 323 sessions by the end of the year. How does that stack up to previous years? It beats them all :-) Here are the numbers:

128  2009
208  2010
253  2011
298  2012
311  2013
280  2014
275  2015
303  2016
304  2017
319  2018
118  2019 (so far)

I'm not playing poker this often to try to set a record, though; I'm playing purely for fun and relaxation. Playing poker feels as natural to me as breathing.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    60      50   12    28        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $42,510,000
2019 balance: $8,506,250
balance: $55,090,510

45th million plus session

Last night, for the 45th time in my career, I made a profit of at least a million play dollars in a single session. That's a feeling that never gets old :-) I almost made it all the way back into the blue; I'm just $103,000 shy. When the poker gods are smiling on you, you can't help but feel invincible. I'm going for #46 tonight!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   147      53   12     3  1924000

delta: $1,824,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $42,710,000
2019 balance: $8,706,250
balance: $55,290,510

140th MTT-R NLHE century

Last night, I achieved the 140th century of my MTT-R NLHE career in the second tournament I entered. Centuries almost guarantee that you'll make the money. I've only missed the money in 2 of the 140 centuries. Some other numbers from last night's second tournament:

 4 high chaparral count
 6 all-ins
21 hand tailfall (a freefall from the peak)

I missed making the final table by two spots.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    44      73   15    53        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9   109      64   15    11   345000

delta: $45,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $40,886,000
2019 balance: $6,882,250
balance: $53,466,510

Nothing burger session

Some sessions defy all my attempts to find something interesting to say about them. They even defy my tried and true method of looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the session to come up with ideas. These sessions are true nothing burgers :-) I had another one last night. Thankfully, they're few and far between.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    32      51   12    30        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $40,841,000
2019 balance: $6,837,250
balance: $53,421,510

The cruelest game

I first used this blog post title last October 2. Here's an excerpt of what I had to say:

Decades ago, I was interested in backgammon, and bought a book called "Backgammon: The Cruelest Game". Its awesome title has stayed with me all these years. I'm here to tell you that there are moments when poker usurps the mantle of cruelest game. I experienced such a moment last night.

Poker was cruel to me again last night. On the final hand, I flopped a flush and was officially drawing dead. I had the king high and one of my opponents had the ace high. This marked just the fifth time I've ever hit the rail in an MTT-R NLHE where I was drawing dead after the flop. Whatcha gonna do?

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    61      71   15    26        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $41,041,000
2019 balance: $7,037,250
balance: $53,621,510

A downward trend

I've been noticing that I'm making the money in rebuy tournaments less frequently than before. Here are the numbers:

itm_pct  itm  tournaments  year

  35.48   99          279  2017
  28.60  127          444  2018
  21.09   31          147  2019

It's a steady downward trend. However, since I'm still making a healthy profit on rebuy tournaments, I'm not going to worry about it :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    64      62   15    18        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $41,241,000
2019 balance: $7,237,250
balance: $53,821,510

Went big and went home

Many people, in many walks of life, espouse the maxim "Go big or go home". In the poker world, however, what that often results in is "Went big and went home" :-) "big goodbye" and "went big and went home" are nearly the same thing; the only difference is, some scenarios which qualify as "went big and went home" don't qualify as "big goodbye" since the absolute value of the hand delta isn't quite big enough to be the largest of the absolute values of the hand deltas. For the record, no fall in could ever qualify for "went big and went home", but it's sort of an open question how big the delta should be to qualify.

Last night, I had two more big goodbyes, running my streak of big goodbyes to four. I'm hoping to end that streak tonight.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    15      64   15    61        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    40      52   12    24        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $41,441,000
2019 balance: $7,437,250
balance: $54,021,510