Insanity

Its been rough to say the least. This game is ridiculously deceptive. One minute you're on top of the world and the next you're scratching your head in total disbelief. I've been losing for nearly 900 games now after winning for over 1200. All I can say is WTF? A double downswing caught me off guard and I don't really know how many more times I can stand to see my KK get cracked by something completely retarded on another 45 man final table bubble. Heres how it looks right now:

























Its not all been bad news however. I made Platinum Star for the first time ever. Pretty crazy considering I'm only earning five VPPs at a time all month long. Also I had a nice +$600 upswing in the last thirty games of my last session. Its unreal how it can take 300 games to lose $1200 bucks then only 30 games to get half of it back. Things have been so crazy and these turbos are so swingy I have no idea whats in store for my next couple hundred games. All I know is that I'm playing exceptionally well, I'm not tilting at all, and I just need a couple good rushes to hit the $4,500 profit mark giving me my $5,000 roll so I can finally move on to Phase Two of this project.

I wanted to start Phase Two on Monday, June 1st but unless I hit a sick rush tomorrow (not impossible) I don't think thats gonna happen. But for certain sometime this coming week I'll have my 5K roll ready to start my insane daily schedule of MTTs. Also I've decided to up the ante on the target goal and make this a "$500 into $25,000" Project.

I have a strong feeling it won't take me too long to complete this project. I've been really focused on this and if I can get through 900 consecutive losing games in a six day period and still be determined to carry on then there really isn't anything that can get me down.

Nerd Alert...

Off topic, recently NASA sent the final shuttle mission to the legendary Hubble Telescope to make one last set of repairs and upgrades. Hubble is already twenty years old and only has another five or so years left of usage. If you're not familiar with The Hubble Telescope you're not alone. Most people know very little about it or about anything in the Universe. I'm kind of a science nerd and the brilliant images Hubble has captured throughout the Universe amaze me. I'm gonna start sharing some of them on my blog.

Ever since man could look up at the night sky we've wondered whats out there. We've wondered why we're here and if we're alone. Only since Hubble has been capturing images of the Universe since the early 1990s have we been able to actually see whats out there. Billions and billions of humans have lived and died with only their imaginations to wonder whats beyond the reach of our planet, our solar system, and even our galaxy. We are the first generation of humans to have that privilage.

One night in the year 1054, Chinese and Arab astronomers noticed a massive bright light in the night sky. It stayed for years and years. They had no idea what it was but recorded the event in their journals. Modern scientists long suspected that what the ancient astronomers saw was a massive star far, far away that went supernova (exploded, basically). Hubble captured this image of the 1,000 year-old event still in progress:



















This is no small astronomical event. Its diameter is eleven light years across (about 70 trillion miles round) and continues to expand out at a rate of about 930 miles per second. Its about 6,500 light years from Earth (an unmeasurable number of miles) and yet is so large that when the star first went supernova back in the year 1054 it was visible to naked human eyes here on Earth as a bright, white light in the night sky.

Its beauty is deceptive. Like most things in the Universe this is a violent event and the energy associated with it is far greater than humans could ever imagine.

When I think of things like this out in the Universe suddenly everything in my life seems less important and I feel centered and safe. Suddenly my downswing doesn't feel so harsh.

Anyway glglglglglglgllglgl out there!!

Project Criteria Post

Project Criteria

Project Goal:

To turn an initial $500 bankroll into a $25,000+ bankroll following proper bankroll management guidelines.

This project will be broken down into two main phases and loosely based on components of the three most popular Bankroll Guideline methods on the internet:

* The ever-popular and basic "100 buy-ins" Rule

* Chris Ferguson's "Two Percent" Rule

* Fox's classic "Basic Bankroll Management" article on Pocketfives

Following the main principles of these guidelines I will be able to turn a very modest $500 starting bankroll into a $25,000+ roll (playing tourneys only) without any chance of going broke. I believe bankroll management is the single most important aspect of being a winning poker player and that's why I'm stressing the fundamentals of it throughout this project.

Project History:

When Boku87 famously turned $100 into $10,000 in March playing only small stakes SNGs I was captivated. It reminded me of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's successful experiment of turning $0 into $10K a while back. It also reminded me of what I did with MTTs on Full Tilt. I had been playing midstakes tourneys on Full Tilt for six months with a lot of success. I started out last year with a modest bankroll on Full Tilt and grinded it up playing small stakes 45-mans and small stakes MTTs.

In mid-April I was presented with an opportunity to conduct a bankroll building project of my own. I decided I could "mix" my MTT success with Boku87's mass SNG success. I had $500 on Pokerstars and decided I was going to grind it up to a $4,000 bankroll playing only the same small stakes SNGs Boku87 played. Once I accomplished that I felt pretty good but decided to take it further.

Phase One: Turning $500 into $5,000

Getting from $500 to $5,000 must be done playing small stakes SNGs only. I can't play any buy-in higher than $16. This is exactly the same criteria as the Boku87 challenge; nothing too complex just a ton of grinding. Its a safe, reliable, and uncomplicated method of building a realistic bankroll to play MTTs with. Once the roll is at $5,000 I will move on to Phase Two.

Phase Two: Turning $5,000 into $25,000+

From here things get quite a bit more dynamic and interesting. Using proper bankroll guidelines (but being reasonably flexible) I will start playing scheduled daily MTTs in addition to grinding SNGs. Because there is so much variance in MTTs I like to grind SNGs on the side for a little consistency and bankroll boost.

I'll start out playing nothing higher than $55 buy-ins for freezeouts and nothing higher than $10 buy-ins for rebuys (except the $22 1r1a). As my bankroll grows or shrinks I will adjust my buy-ins accordingly to ensure there is absolutely zero risk of ruin.

Summary:

Being a successful MTT player requires a great deal of patience, discipline, and sound judgment. This is NOT a "speed" project. It won't be done overnight (though it will be done in a reasonable time frame). The goal is to turn $500 into $25,000 by following proper guidelines, not by taking shots.

Little Turnaround

I'm back to my peak in profit after four days and over 400 games of downswinging:
























I sure hope I don't run into another brick wall like that again. Its the kind of extended downswing that makes you question the game and makes you wanna throw your monitors right through a window. Finally after almost seven hundred games I've got my 45-man ROI up near where it should be long term at 15%. I know I can run 20% or better but I'm just happy for now I finally broke through. Feels like its been forever on those.

As of right now I just need to make another $905 in these baby SNGs and I can finally move on to Phase Two of the project I'm now calling the "$500 into $20,000 Project". Real original huh? Anyway Phase Two involves pivoting from small stakes 18 and 45-man SNGs to a large daily schedule of low and midstakes MTTs. I posted this schedule in my last post. I've also decided I will probably run 180-man SNGs and possibly 45-mans as well.

I'm getting excited about switching back to MTTs and I hope I can start Phase Two on June 1st. That gives me five days to make the $905 I need to have the roll at $5,000.

More updates soon!

Sick Game

Since my last post I've been really grinding out the SNGs at about 80 to 110 per day. Its been unbelievably awful. Almost 400 games of break even and losing poker in four straight days. I'm down over $600 and only at about 3K profit right now. The graph clearly illustrates how frustrating its been:
























The players at this level make so many mistakes. I'm there to take their money as they attempt to give it away. But for the last 400 games I've watched the money go in with me as a ridiculous favorite and somehow the fishes pull whatever miracle they need time and time again. Its so discouraging. I really just want to give up but there is no chance of that happening. I have finally decided on what to do with the Stars roll and I'm really excited about it!

As soon as I reach the 4.5K profit mark (giving me a full $5,000 roll) I'm going to switch to a full day's MTT schedule. I spent an hour last night pouring through the Stars daily schedule and coming up with a great low/mid stakes daily schedule that will be perfect for this 5K roll:
























You may be wondering why I need a 5K roll to play this schedule. Some might think it can be done with 4K or maybe even just 3K. But the reality is variance is ridiculous in poker (as my graph at the top shows) and the more players per tourney the more variance you'll have in the long run. Most of the tourneys on this schedule have between 1,000 and 3,000 players in them. Some even more. With this in mind its important to have plenty of cushioning in your roll to absorb the inevitable blows of variance.

Anyway the fascinating thing here (to me anyway) is that I'll be turning $500 into $5,000 playing small stakes SNGs and then switching to MTTs and turning that $5,000 into, well, pretty much whatever amount I want. I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on this or even placing some prop bets on what amount I can turn it into. No matter what I really enjoy starting small and building a mini-empire with expanding possibilities. Also I can't ever do shit on Sundays in a major anyway and its so discouraging I need something to keep me excited about poker.

More updates coming soon!

Stars Project Complete!

Thirty-five days ago I set out to turn $500 on Pokerstars into $4,000 by playing SNGs with a buy-in of no higher than $16. This means I needed to show $3,500 profit on Sharkscope from April 15th until today:
























It took me exactly five weeks from start to finish. I played an average of 35 SNGs per day with an average profit of $3 per game ($105 profit per day). I did this all while runing deep in two FTOPS events and missing the mini FTOPS Main Event Final Table by just two players (92K for first sigh).

Anyway I've thoroughly enjoyed 10-tabling these baby SNGs on Stars. I'm trying to figure out my next move for this Stars bankroll. I could easily stand continuing to do exactly what I've been doing. Its been a nice break (and far more exciting) from grinding boring scheduled MTTs and non-turbo 45-mans on Full Tilt all the time. But I'm not sure thats the best path financially. Maybe I should use the bankroll I've built to play scheduled MTTs on Stars. This would be more profitable in the long run. I can't make up my mind. What do you think? Feel free to answer in the poll at top.

Deep Mini FTOPS Run

Well FTOPS almost finished off with a huge bang for me. Up until the main events I had just one cash in FTOPS for $1250 and was -$1800 on the series. And after I busted the $535 main event I was ready to piss and moan about another crappy series of tourneys for me with huge payouts. But somehow I ended up playing for twelve hours in the $55 mini main event with just under 12,000 entrants and finishing in 11th place for like 4K. The money is neat and all and obvs puts me on the plus side for FTOPS but 1st place was worth 92K and I was close as fuck. I never really had my hopes high for the tourney until about 100 players were left. Just a sick tease. I ran my AJo into AKo five-handed and on the short stack. I don't feel like there was much I could have done about that.

Its a truly disgusting feeling. Being a midstakes player I have no clue when I'll ever be close to that kind of money again. I've been playing Sundays pretty hard since January with absolutely no results. In fact I've come to almost completely despise them. So to run so deep is exciting and motivates me but to go out with a whimper when I had dreams of 92K floating through my mind is devastating.

I've got to let this go and keep grinding away... my big day WILL come.

On the stars project I'm just $340 away from completing my goal:
























I need to hit the $3,500 profit mark to officially be there but I already consider it a success. I'm just wondering what to do with the money now ha. Its like "ok great I did it... now what?" Should I keep grinding it up to like 5K? Should I move up in stakes? Should I go back to MTTs (my original use for Stars money)?

A part of me kind of wants to keep on grinding as I'm finding the 10-tabling and steady results addicting yet I know grinding $12 and $16 SNGs is kind of a waste of my time. Without question its time to start hitting the daily MTTs on Full Tilt pretty hard again. I spent the last 35 days 10-tabling on stars and its been a nice change of pace and scenary and all but tonight's deep run in the mini FTOPS reminds me that I need to be back in MTTs where I've had so much success.

Oh well I'll get it all figured out. Glgl.

Btw thanks for all the support and railage in the FTOPS :)

Its Been One Month...

... since I set out to turn $500 on Stars into $4,000 by playing small stakes SNGs only. I've got $2,500 in profit right now at the 30-day mark which means I'm a little over 70% of the way to my goal. I've played just a few games under 1,000 SNGs and I'm right on track of where I predicted I'd be at this point. Its been fairly exhausting especially considering I've been trying to squeeze FTOPS events in there as well. Heres the details:
























Averaged out I've played 32 games per day for the last 30 days. This pales in comparison to Boku87 playing 700 per day over those fifteen days BUT the lower volume has yielded me a higher ROI. I've earned one-fourth his profit having played only one-eighth the games. No surprise there though. The only thing I'm surprised about is the fact I'm only running a 7% ROI in the $12 45-mans (over 321 games) yet somehow I'm running a staggering 34% ROI in the $16 18-mans (over 390 games). This just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. 83% of my profit has come from just the $16 18-mans. If anything it should be the opposite. I would have thought the majority of the profit would be coming from the 45-mans. I guess its just variance...? I'm about 99% sure these two ROIs will balance out to somewhere around 20% each over the next ~500 games based on the stats I've seen some of the long-term grinders on Stars produce.

I don't really know how much further I wanna take this Stars project. Over the last month I've been so focused on it that I've barely played any MTTs on Full Tilt (except FTOPS). Sure I've made $2.5K in profit grinding these baby SNGs but what kind of profit have I sacrificed on Full Tilt had I been playing there like I have for the last five months? Sometimes my mind just gets so focused on something that its very difficult for me to let it go until I see the results I want. I think as soon as FTOPS is over in a few days I'm gonna get back to focusing 90% of my energy to my usual MTT grind on Full Tilt and only spend a little bit of time grinding on Stars. I feel like I've proven my point over the last 30 days that its possible to take any amount of money and grind it up and that the sky is the limit with the right mindset.

Well over the next three days I have five more FTOPS events and four more mini-FTOPS events to play. I'd like to get something done in them as I'm in the hole so far with FTOPS. They start in about nine hours so I need to get some sleep.

Glglglgl with the rest of FTOPS everyone!!

Stars Project Going Well

I'm on a nice upswing in the 18-man and 45-mans on Stars right now. Heres my results over the last 27 days:

























I'm still running only marginally in the $12 45-mans, barely an 11% ROI. I know I can run prbly almost double that. However my $16 18-man ROI is ridiculously high at 33%. I know thats not maintainable but I'm confident it will balance out with the 45-man ROI.

FTOPS is going basically pretty shitty thus far. I've only cashed event #1 so far but I'm playing 15 more events before its over so things could easily turn.

Glgl

Stars Project and FTOPS Update

FTOPS Event #1 was bittersweet. I finished 74th out of about 4,400 players for like $1,250. While this may sound good its really quite disappointing to be 73 players away from 190K and have to settle for 1K.

I'm not happy with my bust hand. I had 22 BBs to start the hand and opened AQo UTG for 3x and was 3-betted by the guy to my direct left (who I thought was a little tilty). I should have folded here but I ended up 4-bet shoving cause I had been so card dead for so long and thought he was kinda tilty. Obv he snaps AKcc and holds. I think the fact that I was already six hours into the tourney (tired) and the fact I was like 62/75 or something I got impatient and shipped when I KNEW I should have stayed patient. Basically it comes down to the fact I wasn't ready for a twelve hour tourney and got impatient. I'm pretty upset with myself but I learned a huge lesson in this tourney for my next deep run in a massive tourney.

The Stars Project has been going well. I haven't been keeping up with my goal of playing fifty games per day but I have been playing consistently and the results have been good. On May 5th I played 30 games. On the 6th I played 18. On the 7th I played 31 and today I played 37 for a total of 116 SNGs since my last post. Heres my results since April 15th:























Looks like I'm pretty well on course to complete my goal by the end of May but who knows. If I hit a nasty downswing it could really set me back. So far I'm only running a 4% ROI in the $12 45-mans and its really driving me nuts. I feel like I should be killing these things and even Boku87 ran an 18% ROI in them while 30-tabling so I should be able to run at LEAST that while only 8-tabling. So I think with a little more time I'll get that 45-man ROI up there where it should be. More to come on this.

Sunday is a big FTOPS day for me as I'll be playing five events so hopefully something good happens there.

Gl folks!

FTOPS and my Stars Project

Its been a while since I've posted. Things have been a little weird w/ my sleep cycle and I've been awake in the mornings and asleep at night when I usually play MTTs on Full Tilt. As a result I have barely been playing on FT and mostly focusing on my little project on Stars. However all that will change with FTOPS on the horizon. More on that in a bit.

This "little project" on Stars involves grinding out small stakes SNGs from a $500 roll into a 4K roll. Since April 15th I've played a little over 600 SNGs with about 1K profit. I'm 8-tabling turbo 45-man and 18-man SNGs. I'm getting more comfortable too. This was inspired by Boku87 and his famous challenge a couple months back of turning $100 into 10K in 15 days playing small stakes only. I was pretty fascinated by it and now I'm doing my own less intense version.

Up until now, however, I haven't been playing daily with much consistency. I'm only averaging 28 games per day. I want to be playing at least fifty SNGs per day until I reach my goal of having 4K profit. Hopefully blogging about it will keep me motivated to keep up with this. Heres what my stats and graph look like since April 15th (about 3 weeks ago) when I started this:

























The players at these levels make so many mistakes its like playing a whole different game than I'm used to. I've had to adjust my style accordingly. Im hoping that if I can play at least fifty games every day I can reach my goal of 4K profit before the month of May is over. This will be my little self-challenge.

Also this month is FTOPS. Yup every three months Full Tilt throws up the circus tents and brings in the exotic animals to kick off another round of huge tourneys with huge fields and huge payouts. Up until now I never really have got caught up in the "FTOPS Fever" but I'm pretty excited this time around. I've gone over the schedule in great detail and at the moment I'm set to play at least 24 events for a total cost of about $3,300 in buy-ins. I determined what events I'll play based on my strength in those games and my bankroll of course. I hate PLO but I'm pretty good at the limit stud and razz games. I'm pretty good at HORSE (though for some reason its HEROS this time around???) Of course NLHE is my strongest game. I may end up playing more events depending on whats going on.

So hopefully by the time May is over I'll have an FTOPS jersey, a significantly larger bankroll, and completed my goal successfully on stars. If not thats ok too. I plan to blog more often (MUCH more often) hopefully daily in fact to keep track of my Stars progress and FTOPS. I feel pretty good about this month.

Glglglgllglgllglglglglglglgl out there everyone!!!