A shortage of bullets

Last night, for just the sixth time ever, I had a funny funny money MTT-R NLHE. In other words, I "made the money", but still had a net loss. The root cause was a shortage of bullets. There were fewer players than normal, and therefore fewer rebuys and fewer add ons. All this added up to a much smaller prize pool, with the inevitable result that all the prizes were smaller. One reason there were fewer players was that I started playing poker later than I usually do; I'll try to correct that tonight.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    89      47   12     9   214000

delta: $-36,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $36,996,500
2018 balance: $3,615,000
balance: $49,128,260

Two selfie-worthy tournaments

I consider a tournament to be selfie-worthy any time I hit the top 10. Of course, I don't always stay there, but that doesn't stop me from snapping selfies while I'm there :-) Last night, two of the three tournaments I played were selfie-worthy. In the first one, I was 9th of 73 players after 14 hands. In the second, I was 2nd of 33 after 2 hands. I actually ended up taking a selfie in the third tournament also, but it wasn't officially selfie-worthy - I was only 14th of 37. Unfortunately, I didn't make the money in any of them.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    40      78   18    34        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    74      76   18    23        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    51      49   12    17        0

delta: $-300,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $37,032,500
2018 balance: $3,651,000
balance: $49,164,260

Respiration rate

Every now and then I like to come up with a new poker statistic. My latest one is respiration rate. This refers to the average amount of play money I "breathe" in or out per session, observed over some longer interval. For the purposes of this new statistic, it doesn't matter whether the money came in or out; all that matters are the amounts respired. Here's my respiration rate per session, observed on a yearly basis:

  $9,232  2009
 $25,051  2010
 $30,913  2011
 $65,327  2012
 $32,944  2013
 $56,703  2014
 $44,214  2015
 $47,356  2016
$177,149  2017
$256,171  2018

Of course, no respiration rate would be sustainable without some sort of balance between the inhalations and the exhalations.

In other news, my porpoising continued; I registered the fourth largest reverse rebound of my career last night.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    57      76   18    43        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    43      74   15    43        0

delta: $-600,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $37,332,500
2018 balance: $3,951,000
balance: $49,464,260

Ladder up luck

I love it when I run into luck when I've already made the money :-) That's the best time to get lucky. In a tournament, skill can only take you so far. Leave it to luck to ladder you up! That's what happened to me last night. I got under the lights, but was the short stack when the final table started. I had only 1.2% of the chips in play. Luck laddered me up two spots; sweet!

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    88      73   15     7   639000

delta: $539,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $37,932,500
2018 balance: $4,551,000
balance: $50,064,260

Showdown futility

Some nights in poker, you can't win for losing. That's what happened to me in the first tournament I played last night. I went to showdown 5 times, and lost all 5 hands. My holdings weren't chopped liver, either. The one that hurt the most was the one where I hit the rail; I was a 95.45% favorite after the turn, but my opponent hit a two outer on the river.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    19      88   18    56        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    57      58   12    29        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    31      48   12    35        0

delta: $-750,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $37,393,500
2018 balance: $4,012,000
balance: $49,525,260

Magic flushed on the final table bubble

I've griped before about magic flushes. Last night, I was magic flushed on the final table bubble. It was a brutal way to go, but not as brutal as it would have been had I gotten magic flushed on the money bubble. Technically speaking, it wasn't a pure magic flush since I was an underdog pre-flop. My chances of winning the hand pre-flop, post-flop, and post-turn were 34.57%, 70.20%, and 79.55%, respectively. I wish magic flushes could be banned :-)

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    85      83   18    10   384000

delta: $184,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $38,143,500
2018 balance: $4,762,000
balance: $50,275,260

Buried success

Success and failure can only be measured through an aperture. Increasing or decreasing the width of the aperture may well change our evaluation of what we perceive. Last night, using an aperture width of a single session, I failed. Using an aperture width of a single tournament, I failed in the first one I played and succeeded in the second. Since the session was a losing one, the success I had in the second tournament was buried. Buried success is still success, however. This made me curious to find out where last night's second tournament stands in my career list of buried successes. The answer was heartening - it clocked in as my fourth best.

style flavor buy_in entry players hands entries paid place winnings

MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    67      70   15    25        0
MTT-R NLHE    43500  6500       9    72      85   18    11   404000

delta: $-296,000
MTT with rebuys NLHE balance: $37,959,500
2018 balance: $4,578,000
balance: $50,091,260