20r FT/End of Month Update

I FTd the $20 rebuy 6max tonight and got 3rd place. This is the one I finished 8th in on Xmas day a week ago. My AK lost to AQ on Xmas and my AK lost to AQ tonight... sigh. Oh well. $2K for 3rd isn't bad I suppose its just always a major disappointment not to win especially when you get the money in sick good too. Then I just missed the FT of the $10 rebuy tonight going out a disappointing 11th after being 2/14 in chips for the longest time. Oh well again.

December was a great month overall. I won the 32K on Dec 2nd for $8600 then practically had back-to-back FTs in the $75 40K a week later and now finishing 3rd in the $20 rebuy 6max is definitely a solid way to end the month. I even took 10 days off in there going to Michigan to visit friends. Another solid acheivement is my 45-man results. I can't believe I made 2.5K this month playing $26 45-mans. I'm definitely going to keep grinding these little puppies. Here are the results of those for the month:





And the graph:




















Overall I made $9,619 profit in scheduled MTTs and $3,067 in profit in 45 and 90-man SNGs for a total of $12,686 in profit this month. And I did this with an average tourney buy-in of only $28. I feel like I've worked hard this month setting a schedule and being consistent and getting in there and playing everyday no matter how awful I was running.






Also I will finish in the top 200 on the full tilt MTT leaderboard for the month and get entry into the leaderboard tourney in Jan. Thats not a great big deal but still pretty cool. I would have prbly finished top 50 if not for missing like 13 days of play this month.

Look out 2009... I'm here and I'm gonna crush you.

Back From Michigan, Back to the Grind

My trip to Michigan lasted a couple days longer due to some really nasty weather. I'm prbly gonna move up there pretty soon and live with my friends. Anyway My first full day back was today, Christmas. I had an interesting session. 2/22 in the 45 mans and ran -$248. Only pulled out a 2nd and a 6th. Bluh. Played my new schedule of MTTs that I came up with before I left for
Michigan. This is it:













I only cashed the 6 max $20r but I almost made the FT. I finished a pretty disappointing 8th. With 14 left I was 2nd in chips with ~60 BBs and pretty monstrous. But then this shove-monkey to my direct left kept moving all-in virtually EVERY time I opened. It was unreal. A lot of my opens were legit but I really couldn't call his shoves. I was opening 2.5x and he was shipping like 30x every time. It was brutal. Anyway I slipped in stack size and finally busted with 18 BBs (AK lost to AQhh). Holding there puts me back in the hunt. Oh well. Another Day Another Tourney.

I'm loving my nightly MTT schedule because it keeps me following proper BR guidelines while at the same time putting in some nice volume. This helps to keep my confidence high even when I have a bad run.

Here are my 45-man SNG results thus far this month:



Tonight's results really took a bite out of my monthly stats but oh well. If I could run this well in 45-mans all the time I'd be a happy camper. Judging by some of the 45-man regular's results I believe I can.

I'm gonna be out there everyday I can playing tourneys heavily and I expect I'm gonna make some noise. Watch out for me.

Disappointment

On Friday night I finished 15th in the 40K and missed out on the final table and the 11K 1st place money compliments of Annette15 and a nasty beat. Then on Saturday night I finished 9th in the same tourney compliments of my overaggressive tendencies. That was just the 3rd hand into the FT. Back to back deep runs in a large tourney and I couldn't pull out a top three finish in either. Puke. Whatever. I'm really hard on myself for some reason and I HATE when I don't capitalize on highly profitable opportunities.

Ok well time to move on.

The 45 mans have been a little rough the last few days though I've still managed to show a little bit of profit. The rest of the MTTs have been so-so with a few deep runs here and there. I satted into the 65K again tonight but busted in the 2nd hour with 1010 < JJ. I played the 20r 6 max tonight and cashed it. I think I'm going to add this tourney into my daily schedule for sure because all the other tourneys in my lineup have between 600 and 1800 players every night while this 20r 6 max only draws between 150 and 200 players daily. Also 6 max really suits my aggressive, liberal 3-betting game well.

I'm playing incredibly well right now and seeing situations for what they are very clearly. I'm hardly hesitant to follow my gut and make a move. I'm really looking forward to having a lot of success in tourneys soon.

I'm flying to Michigan for a week to visit friends and possibly look at moving up there with them for awhile. I'll be back before Xmas to finish out the month of December strong. I'm in the top 100 on the Full Tilt MTT leaderboard right now and I'd like to finish in the top 100 this month. Next month I'll finish top 50 for sure.

Sharkscope Update #2

I've played forty-two $26 45-man SNGs since my last post. They have been spread out over the last five days. I'm only playing an average of 8/day though it feels like more. Oh well. Here are the results:





The top stat is my overall sharkscope numbers including all my 9-mans. The middle stat is all my 45-mans, both the $10 and $26 buy-ins combined. The bottom stat is just the $26 45-mans that I switched to five days ago. Obvs I'm running sick good (though it doesn't feel like it) with a 66% ROI and I'm sure that will come down over time. Sixty-six tourneys is hardly a good sample size.

Here is my 45-man graph. You can clearly see how the first 130 or so games were $10 buy-ins and where the switch to the $26s were made:

















So while the 45-mans are going well I've been experiencing the usual frustration that comes with MTTs. I've cashed a couple MTTs but nothing worth mentioning. Standard.

I feel like I've got a great schedule of MTTs going and if I can get myself to play everyday and not stop early because I get so frustrated over consecutive bad beats then I can put up some solid MTT numbers. I have no clue how guys like sprstoner can play tourneys ALL DAY LONG and stay level headed and not get frustrated and burned out and want to stop playing before they go crazy. I envy these players and their mindsets.

Sharkscope Update #1

I take my poker stats very seriously. Keeping excellent numbers is one thing that motivates me to excel. Starting now I will be tracking my Sharkscope SNG numbers here on my blog with occasional updates as I get 50 or so new results in. I'm playing just 45-mans at the moment and I only have 100 or so under my belt. I will display a screen shot of my 45-man SNG results, my overall SNG results, and my SNG graph. This will certainly help keep me motivated to play and continue to put up good numbers. Also I would love to make a sharkscope leaderboard at some point but its no secret thats not an easy feat. We'll see. Heres my first Sharkscope Update:

$26 into $8,627... Tell me thats not sexy...

I won the 32K on Full Tilt last night and I decided its time for me to start my own poker blog. So, without further a due, here it is... its just amazing I know ha.

Here's the scoop: I love tournament poker. Its my passion. I'm not the best tournament player in the world but I think I'm pretty damn good. I play with a lot of emotion and I like to apply a lot of pressure to my opponents. I love SNGs and MTTs and lately I've been playing a lot of 45-man SNGs with a couple MTTs running simultaneously. Its frustrating to no end because most days I don't come out on top. But thats OK because I don't think you're supposed to come out on top most days in tournament poker. Its a sick trade-off: hours and days and weeks of agony for a brief day of pure joy when you hit a substantial score. I wouldn't have it any other way though.