Solid Session, Solid Month

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So I played two out of the last three days. On Tuesday (July 28th) I had a session wrought with potential. I finished 5th in the afternoon $27.50 3K Turbo, bubbled the FTs of the $33 10K and one of the late night $16.50 3K Turbos. The whole day was exactly -$6 bucks for 29 MTTs. All the potential left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I didn't run on Weds the 29th. Then last night (Thurs the 30th) I finally broke through and shipped that afternoon $27.50 3K Turbo for $753.31. I just think the recent time line on this particular tourney is fun... 7th on 7/24, 5th on 7/28, knocked down on 7/30. Like chopping at a tree.

Last night also saw a 3rd place in the $22 1.5K for $207.48 and 4th in the $16.50 3K for $262.50. All pics are below. There wasn't much I could do in the $22 but I'm not quite happy with 4th in the $16.50. I was 4/4 in chips but was in a borderline situation where I'm not sure I had to go broke. I think my play was fine and the villain just barely had me but I think I could have found a better spot...tough to say. It may just be me being hard on myself.

I also had several other cashes last night, including busting the final 3 tables of the $33 10K (AK < QQ obv) and stone bubbling the FT the late night $5r turbo. I was sure last night was going to turn into my second multi-tourney win session on the month but it just wasn't quite in the cards. I also got 4th in the late night $11 Turbo Super KO with like 89 players for $42-something but I didn't bother with a screenshot of that.

All-in-all the session was good with 9 cashes, 4 final tables, and a win. +$994.05 on the day (32 MTTs). This brings my July profit to just shy of 4.9K over 526 MTTs. This is pretty incredible with an ABI of $16.15. All charts and data above are updated.

I know that in a previous post I had mentioned my goal for the year was 25K profit, which is a nice clean, "fun" number. I realize though that a more measurable, appropriate, focused, and professional goal is a concentration on volume.

Because goals should be A) Specific, B) Attainable, but C) Challenging, I believe aiming for a minimum of 600 MTTs/month is the best thing I can do. Because of the nature of variance, volume is the key to long-term profit in the game. I know if I can be hitting that 600+ monthly quota then good things will definitely be happening.

The hardest part about this game is playing through the negative variance. But if you can manage to play through it and not give in to the seemingly endless string of 2 and 3-outers and runner-runners, it always turns around. Oh yea, and never forget the importance of proper bankroll management and ABIs/Scheduling. This really can not be stressed enough. Readers of this blog should know all about that.

No Lobby Shot Available - Lobby had disappeared from client by the time I could go back and grad a shot - I had at least 12 other MTTs up while I was finishing up the heads-up match in this

A Collection of Little Things

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The title of this post will likely be the first in a series like it. On nights like tonight (32 MTTs and a sattelite) where nothing substantial materialized, there are typically some smaller positive things to take away.

Shipped the $5.50 6max for the second time this month (also a 2nd place in it). Only 52 players (not even a hundo for first), but it's super soft and so easy to dominate at the last two tables.

Won the $55 (30K Guarantee) seat in the $7.70 satellite (20-seat Guarantee). The sixth one of these I've won this month (6/18). I play the 30K whether I satty in or not.

When the numbers are run, the $7.70 satellite has saved me $191.40 in total buyins to that tourney this month. If you wanted to dig further (and I always do) you can essentially recalculate the buyin of the $55 30K Guarantee as $44.37..make sense?

These little things, in aggregate, add up to pretty substantial profit in the long run, For example, if I hold the same margin for a full year, playing the quick turbo $7.70 satellite ADDS $2,296.80 to my annual profit margin.

Speaking of other little things, I hit my third $7.70 "Hundredaire" score. Typically the top 10 or 11 spots turn $7.70 into $100.00 (weak field of ~150 players). Again, another example of consistently picking up small things here and there that add up when you calculate your bottom line. Like the above example, if I hold my current margin in the Hundredaire from an annual perspective, I add $1,936.80 to my bottom line.

So by simply running the nightly $7.70 satellite and $7.70 Hundredaire (in addition to the "meat" of my schedule), I can expect to see ~4K profit added annually.

Ugh, and then I bubbled the FT of the $27.50 KO 6max tonight. Two nights ago I got 3-outed at the FT of this tourney and busted in 6th. On July 16th I won this tourney. Seems to be the MTT I consistently do the best in right now (could just be variance, coupled with the fact the field is typically 135-155 players.. small but not too small). 1st always pays over $600.00, topping out at $700+ on good nights. Great tourney with a great structure, and because the buyin is a little higher than the $11s and $15s, players don't go too crazy in forcing showdowns that should generally be avoided if possible..this increases the skill level of the game and reduces variance (something I may talk more on later).

6max has always been a strength of mine. I'm very comfortable with 6max ranges and it's easier to figure out your competition's weaknesses for two very simple reasons:

1) When there are less opponents at the table, there are less individual player dynamics to process and work around
2) Those opponents have to play more hands by virtue of more button orbits thus revealing more of their thought process, which you will bank and exploit at the right time.

Okay so, circling back to the beginning, I'll probably try to make posts like these when it's a "here and there" kind of night like tonight (if I have the energy..please don't expect quite daily postings). I think it's good for me to reflect on the positives (no matter how small) and I know readers like to see any kind of success.

These small-prize portions of my schedule also help to offset the often nasty toll MTT variance can have on your bankroll, in addition to keeping you sharp in late-game situations. Tonight being a great example of this..

My schedule had me in for 32 MTTs and one sattelite (sum of buyins = $500.01). Though no "substantial" FTs/scores were made (where true profit creation occurs), I was still able to offset the total buyins by $382.01 (76% of daily expenses recovered). Again, the bulk of that 76% recovery was the satellite, the Hundredaire, and the win in the weak 52-runner $5 6max no guarantee.

So if you're looking to keep variance in check and stay sharp for late game situations, I've always been an advocate of mixing in a pretty healthy dose of what I like to call "variance control tourneys". I can talk more on this later, or feel free to shoot me any questions you might have on this and I'll be happy to share more details of this process if it interests you.

Good luck out there.

Score!

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So I finally hit a score worthy of all the time and effort I've been putting in lately, brutal ending though..story of the month it seems.

Finished 4/955 in the bloated Sunday Turbo version of the $55 Nightly 30K for $3.4K. I was in prime shape to ship this thing (8.6K to first).

I was CL 5-handed, pretty much running over the table. The button shoved 15BBs w/A5o, I snapped in the BB w/AQo, the board fell a ridiculous xxx5x. That pot would have brought us to 4 players with me having just over 50% of chips in play against 3 predictable/weak players - an ideal situation.

I had the chip lead at the time I lost the above 70/30, so that knocked me down to 3/5. We lost a player, blinds crept up (turbo style), and I shipped my 11 BBs w/AJo utg. The eventual winner (go figure) iso'd w/A10cc. He flopped 2 clubs and completed on the turn. No problem. GG me. Ugh. A hold in that spot puts me back 1/4. So sick right now the frequency of 3-outers and 70/30s hitting on me late game.

Last night I finished 6th in the $27.50 KO 6max tourney that I won a couple weeks ago. I 3bet shoved AJo, got the call from A8o, and watched the 8xx8x board fall. Pretty frustrating.

Keeping perspective though.. I'm up 4.5K in just over a month since returning to MTTs. Pretty good for an ABI of just $15.67.  I feel like I am definitely running below expectation and with more volume will come a correction in variance.

As per usual my consistency in MTTs remains strong, even in the face of an evolved, overly aggressive MTT world where UTG is literally the new button and light 3-bets are the rule - not the exception.

Stay tuned, more to come of course.

Grinding Away..

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Been playing some heavy volume, the kind of volume I need to be putting in. Between 25 and 30 MTTs/night. This volume will generate pretty good profit, even at a ~$16 ABI.

Deep runs, FTs, but can't catch any significant scores. My late-game run-bad is turned up high.

Lot's of crazy stuff I could complain about but I'm too tired. Below are 2 FTs from  tonight, finishing 7th and 4th.

The 4th place finish was super bitter, Min-open the button w/AA, SB has been very aggro. Sure enough he jams his ~25 BBs w/K10hh into my 24 BBs. I snap and watch the board fall 78JJ9. Pretty ridic obv. That was for the CL 3-handed against one marginal and one terrible player. That's how it goes though. Just gotta keep grindin', stay positive. Good things to come.

Graph/data at top updated.

First 4-figure Score Since Returning to Online/2015 Goal Set

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As promised in the below post just 3 days ago, big things are coming. Not sure I'd call tonight "big", but I took a good step in the right direction by hitting my first 4-figure score on Bovada since "officially" starting back up online 3 weeks ago (after a 4+ year hiatus). It came in the form of 4/435 in the nightly $33 - 10K Guarantee.

1st place was worth >$2.7K but I couldn't get anything going 4-handed and ultimately got my 10 BBs in w/99 only to lose a flip to AKdd (board: xxxDxDxD).

It does come as a relief though, having been putting in substantial volume and hitting scores under 1K. I actually finished 7th in this same tourney just 5 nights ago, in an identical situation, just switched. Bricked out with AKhh to JJ on and xHxHx flop.

Below are the Lobby and Table Message screenshots for tonight's score.

Tonight actually had the potential to be quite big. I finished 39/731 in the $55 Nightly 30K (~$7K for 1st) and finished 23/1216 in the $11 10K.

Coolered in both unfortunately.. ran JJ into KK in the 30K and got in a nasty spot w/77 in the 10K on a x7x all-Club flop, Villian holding A10cc of course. Couldn't fill up, was a huge pot, If he flops a flush there and fades the boat then good for him. Otherwise, I'm huge and poised for a deep run.

Both those lobbys are at the bottom of this posting.

So I'm going to be actively blogging with high frequency again and using Twitter going forward. So be sure to keep up with the latest and follow me @Adamsapple19 (easy link on the right). I'll be posting my schedule pretty soon and freshening up the blog a bit here in the days to come.

As mentioned in the title of this post, I've decided to set my goal for the year at minimum of 25K profit. In later posts I'll get more in depth on my thought process but for now just know that I have the remaining part of July and then five full months to reach the goal. Gonna be exciting so stay tuned!

I'm Back!

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The game has changed.

Hi folks.. seems strange saying that after not posting in quite some time. A quick look below reveals my last post was over 4 years ago on 4/16/11 in the immediate aftermath of Black Friday. Feel free to read all about that below or online somewhere. This post (and posts going forward) start a new chapter.

First, some background/updates about me. Whether you were ever a reader of this blog (or if you've just found it) some things have changed with me.

Following BF, I took a "9-5" job and enrolled in community college. I completed my Associates Degree in Business Management. Through discipline, I saved up money, continued building my credit, and ultimately bought a house here in my hometown in Colorado.

Without going into a crazy long post here, suffice to say I've been a homeowner for nearly 2 years now, have a wonderful, supportive girlfriend, and hold a higher education degree (continuing on to get my Bachelors).

Getting somewhat back on track with the opening line above: what role does poker play in my life these days? Well, seeing as how I stayed in the United States after Black Friday, my options for playing in any kind of serious "midstakes" capacity, naturally, are limited.

Late last month I stumbled onto Bovada. After looking closer at the site, it turns out their payouts are incredibly reliable and their volume and MTT schedule is far more robust than I imagined was still available to US players.

So after scoping it out for awhile and following threads in some online forums regarding the site, I decided to make a marginal deposit and take up some small stakes MTTs.

I immediately had success and started getting serious about forming an evening MTT schedule. In just 12 days, I've played 244 MTTs (since July 5th) with six outright 1st place wins (2 last night) and 15 total final tables.

Due to Bovada's "anonymity policy", the only way to verify my results is by taking screenshots of the tourney lobbys. Readers of this blog know that this is something I've always done anyway so, no big deal! Below are the lobbys of each of the six MTTs I've won in the last 12 days.

7/5:   1st in $2.20 - 204 Players
7/6:   1st in $11 - 304 Players
7/9:   1st in $5.50 6max -  65 players
7/15: 1st in $11 KO - 77 Players
7/16: 1st in $27.50 KO 6max - 141 Players
7/16: 1st in $5.50 - 408 Players

Stay tuned for more folks, lots more fun stuff to come.. guaranteed. 

Hey follow me on Twitter @Adamsapple19 - I'll probably give you a follow in return.