A tale of two ace rags

The two most memorable hands from last night's tournament both featured ace rags. In the earlier one, I was dealt A7o (ace seven offsuit), and paired both of my hole cards on the flop. I got all my chips into the middle and more than doubled up. That set me up nicely to make the money, which I did. I then got all the way to the final table in great shape - I was second in chips at the time. Unfortunately, I was the first of the final six to hit the rail. On my final hand, I was dealt pocket threes, shoved, and got one caller. He turned over A8o (ace eight offsuit), making me a slight favorite to win the hand. However, he paired his eight on the flop and I was drawing thin. The river gave us both a magic flush, but his was better - an ace high. I'd had high hopes of registering another Full Monty, but it wasn't meant to be.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      62   18     6   647000

delta: $447,000
MTT NLHE balance: $33,984,768
2021 balance: $10,563,000
blue distance: $424,000
balance: $88,228,453

999? nein

Last night, I ran into a cooler on the final hand of the session. On the money bubble, I was dealt pocket nines, and hit a set on the flop. I went all in and got one caller. It was a set over set scenario; the caller had been dealt pocket kings, and had hit a set on the flop.

This is an excerpt from my March 4, 2020 post. Last night, nearly the same scenario occurred; the crucial difference was that I'd already made the money. A less significant difference was that this time, the caller had been dealt pocket aces, and had hit a set on the flop. My set of nines still got the "Nein!" treatment :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      71   18    16   308000

delta: $108,000
MTT NLHE balance: $33,537,768
2021 balance: $10,116,000
blue distance: $871,000
balance: $87,781,453

Not a believer

Last night, I made it to station 2.125 again, but no further. The reason? I just wasn't a believer. Specifically, I didn't believe that a big stack who had been bullying the table had hit top pair on a flop where I'd hit middle pair. The top card of the flop was a king, and the middle card was a queen. I had a pair of queens and thought it unlikely that he had a king. I was wrong, but glad that I had the gumption to go with my read :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      73   21    30        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $33,429,768
2021 balance: $10,008,000
blue distance: $979,000
balance: $87,673,453

A presentiment of zero

In poker, whenever no more betting is possible, the hole cards of all the players who are still in the hand are turned face up. There are two ways no more betting is possible:

1. all four betting rounds have already occurred

2. at least one of the four betting rounds has not occurred, but there's only one player left who has chips left to bet with

In the second scenario, the PokerStars software displays the odds each live player has of winning the hand, each time a new community card (or cards, in the case of the flop) shows up. When a bad beat occurs, the player who had the best odds of winning earlier on in the hand sees his percentage drop like a rock to zero. That's what happened to me on my final hand of last night's tournament. I had a presentiment this would happen, and was sorry to be proven right. After the turn I was nearly a 90% favorite with an ace high and four cards to a flush, but my opponent paired his lower hole card (a four) on the river, and that was all she wrote.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      62   18    38        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $33,629,768
2021 balance: $10,208,000
blue distance: $779,000
balance: $87,873,453

19th MTT NLHE Full Monty

Last night, I registered the 19th MTT NLHE Full Monty of my career, and 6th of 2021. That got me wondering what percentage of my MTT NLHE profit is due to Full Montys. The answer? A whopping 72.55. Full Montys don't happen often, but when they do, they make a gigantic splash :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      64   18     2  1369000

delta: $1,169,000
MTT NLHE balance: $33,829,768
2021 balance: $10,408,000
blue distance: $579,000
balance: $88,073,453

Station 2.125

Once again, I've decided to add another station. Since it comes after station 2 and before station 2.5, I've decided to name it station 2.25 :-) This station is hit whenever you've outlasted at least 60% of the field, regardless of whether you make the money.

This is an excerpt from my April 16 post; I'll use it as a template. Once again, I've decided to add another station. Since it comes after station 2 and before station 2.25, I've decided to name it station 2.125 :-) This station is hit whenever you've registered an official place which is less than double the number of paid places. Last night, I made it to station 2.125, but missed the money by twelve spots.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      89   21    33        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $32,660,768
2021 balance: $9,239,000
blue distance: $1,748,000
balance: $86,904,453

A horrendous poker fortnight

A fortnight is 14 days. A poker fortnight is 14 sessions, however long that takes. I've had a horrendous poker fortnight; in the last 14 sessions, I've only had 3 profitable ones, and have lost nearly one and a half million play dollars. I feel like I'm overdue for a bust-out session.

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE   174000  26000       6      61   18    44        0

delta: $-200,000
MTT NLHE balance: $32,860,768
2021 balance: $9,439,000
blue distance: $1,548,000
balance: $87,104,453