August Results/September

Tweet

Been a bit since my last post. I've really been putting in heavy volume and the results weren't such that I felt much like posting.

As stated in my last post, I continue to decipher the evolution of the online game since Black Friday. It's been an incredible couple of months, a period of time where I could have pretty easily thrown in the towel on more than one occasion.

I have been struggling slightly with updating my techniques to adapt to this new "crazy" MTT environment. There are a lot more players out there who understand the game incredibly well and a lot of players who think they do but in reality they are just spewy.

Regardless of which player type, the result is higher variance and a realization that very few of the strategies that brought me much success and consistency pre-Black Friday are consistently successful now. Couple that with the fact I'm limited to playing on a site with anonymous screen names, thus complicating the decision making process hand by hand. I can't even put a simple note on a player for when I run into them again in another tourney. Substantial handicap to say the least.

Well, I spent the overwhelming majority of August digging a ridiculous hole it seemed I would never get out of. On top of the above adjustments, I have been running ridiculously below expectation. Without complaining too much about bad beats/variance, I'll just say I have literally never run worse in my poker career in +EV situations.

I was approx. -4.5K for August going into Sunday the 30th. I was 700 MTTs deep into the month and running horribly, even beginning to question Bovada's legitimacy (I've only been on the site for 2 months). My confidence was low. I chose to play anyway and, thankfully, pulled out a 4th in the $22 10K guarantee and 2nd in the Sunday $44 25k Guarantee for 4.8K. In one fell swoop I was able to finish the month in the black somehow. Incredibly relieving. The graph up top clearly illustrates my frustrations. The month-to-month data is updated as well, just click the graph.

September has thus far started out more promising, though I know I am still running below expectation. At some point variance will correct itself and I'll go on a nice run. In Real Estate, it's "Location, Location, Location". In MTTs, it's "Volume, Volume, Volume".

Last night I finished 3rd (again) in the $33 Turbo 5K guarantee (gonna have to win that one one of these days...) and also won the $44 6max 3K guarantee for 1.3K (got 2nd in this tourney 11 days ago on August 22nd). Below are some screenshots of some recent tourneys, including the 2nd place score in the 25K.

So here's hoping September yields results closer to expectation as I continue to reintegrate myself back into the online MTT scene, handicapped as it may be for my situation. Still looking to accumulate a lot more data to determine long-term expectations in this limiting environment.

Good luck out there guys and remember.. Perseverance is Paramount.

August Update

Tweet

So I've been putting in an obscene amount of volume. I've played 407 MTTs so far in August.

Volume = Good.

Downswing = Bad.

Unfortunately I've been losing a ridiculous frequency of key situations late in tourneys resulting in finishing at the final two tables or making the FT and busting 9th, 7th, 4th, or making a 3rd if I'm lucky.

My spots are being picked well, the money is consistently going in ahead (65+%) but my opponent finds whatever they need to find and the chips move away from me when it counts. The updated graph at the top is a great visual of how August has been going so far.

I have made several FTs and won several of the smaller tourneys on my schedule (not substantial payouts) but overall its clearly been rough.

Some things I'm thinking:

1) Players are obviously better, have a better understanding of situations. Thus, it is not as easy as it used to be to accumulate chips late-tourney without showdowns. This increases variance.

2) About 40% of my schedule are Turbos. By nature, variance is higher in turbos, and, in a world where a decent % of the field has a pretty solid understanding of correct push/fold strategy, that variance will unfortunately be enhanced further.

3) I absolutely hate Bovada's anonymous player policy. Nearly every situation is cold. Additionally, their Hand History feature is so "cryptic" I don't have time to go back through and see how a person has been playing when faced with a marginal situation.

4) Given all of the above, I feel strongly it's time to reevaluate what a proper bankroll is and what a "typical" downswing looks like. This isn't 2008 anymore and I'm not playing on a site where I can track (using the simple Note feature) the tendencies of players.

I am still 100% certain I'm running well below expectation at final tables - time/volume will bring this back on track. The thing is, I'm not too sure what "back on track" looks like under these circumstances in 2015. Undoubtedly the game is still highly profitable, but ROI can never be as high as it once was. I just don't know what hit that ROI takes as a result of the above factors.

Anyway, so here's another FT from last night where I finished 3rd in the $33 turbo. As per usual, I was CL (slightly, obscene blinds) and called the SB's shove w A5o in the BB against his Q8o. Board: xxxxQ. A hold in that 60/40 spot puts me heads up with a 4:1 chip lead over a player with obvious tendencies.

Just gotta keep grinding until variance corrects itself.

Solid Session, Solid Month

Tweet

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

Tweet

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!

Tweet

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..

Tweet

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

Tweet

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!

Tweet

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. 

Black Friday

The day has finally come. Since 2006 when the UIGEA was passed and my tiny poker world flashed before my eyes I always knew this day would come.

It appears to be over folks. If you live in the US Pokerstars is gone and Full Tilt will shut its doors in the next 36 hours or so. They will likely never return in the capacity we knew them, or ever.

One thing I need to stress is for no one to blame the US Dept. of Justice. They did their job and enforced the laws as they are on the books. Clearly the masses are not against playing poker online. Please reserve your anger for those forces within our society who would seek the passage of legislation effectively forcing their way of life on everyone.

Social conservatives (religious and "family-oriented" groups) in this country focused their energy in 2006 to see to it the UIGEA was passed. And the UIGEA is why the events of this day took place. We should seek to ensure there is ALWAYS a voice on the other end to defend against the strong voices of those who would tell us how we can or should live our lives.

What does the future hold? I don't know. It is more than likely sensible regulation of online poker will be passed and US-based sites will be up and running within the next year or two. But it will never be the same. We will always think back fondly on "the good 'ol days".

As for me I am not sure. While this day is a shock to me it isn't exactly unexpected. Sadly I don't have the savings I would like to have and it's unclear at this point when I'll be able to get my online funds returned. This is a pretty dark day for me as I've basically devoted the last six or so years of my life to studying and honing my skills in this game.

As of right now I'm unemployed and basically looking for work. I may return to college now and take it more seriously than before. Poker is certainly not out of my life but I doubt it will ever occupy my day-to-day functioning as it has for so long now.

So for now I say goodbye my friends. For those who have been reading this blog diligently through all my moaning and complaining I tip my hat to you and thank you. I may come back and post updates on what's going on with me or with online poker. I do enjoy writing.

Good luck out there and please remember what I said about always making your voice heard even if you think it won't matter or there is no point. Because if you don't speak up and say how you feel then someone else will... and you may not like what they have to say.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edit: Please let your voice be heard and join The Poker Player's Alliance here. They have ways for you to spend just 60 seconds and send emails to The White House, Congressmen/Senators, and State Representatives. We only win this fight when we the people make our voices loud enough so MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.

Edit: Today, Monday, April 18th, The PPA released new emails to be sent to the Attorney General, President Obama, and members of Congress and the Senate. These new letters call for the immediate return of player funds and continue to demand that sensible poker legislation be passed. Please take a few moments and read the letters and send them off.

A Momentumless Year

The title sums it up. What a lackluster year it's been. Everyday on the grind is a frustrating one. In years past I would never go so long between results. Sure, there were bad times. But nothing to match the longevity of this year. And really it extends into the last half of last year as well. I basically blame it on a sharp increase in opponent skill and a turn for the worse in the variance chapter.

Yesterday I got 2nd in the $15 SS on UB that I won like a month ago. It was worth like $580. Thank God too or else I would have needed to drop down. Then today I get 11th in a $22 360cap on Stars and 9th in the 13:00 $22 (15K) for a pathetic $250. First was worth just under 4K. These are the scores I'm supposed to be hitting but are completely alluding me.

I can just never get momentum. Every time it seems like a heater is finally coming things cool off just as quickly as they warmed up. I've never had so few top-three cashes in this number of games. I feel like perhaps it's time I started to change my expectations toward poker. Perhaps in this new ultra-aggro world, where more people than ever understand correct push/fold strategy, people just aren't making enough mistakes for me to crush midstakes tourneys like I used to.

I'll probably let this year finish out before I start to truly accept that possible new reality. I seriously hope I don't have to do that.

April (3rd) Fools

It's a dumb name for a post but I couldn't come up with anything else ha.

I got 5th today in the Sunday $55 (25k Guarantee) on UB for about 1.5k. First was worth 6.3k. It was a tough FT battle and as usual I got it in pretty far ahead and as the story of the year goes I couldn't hold.

It folded to the SB (who mentioned he is a reader of this blog earlier in the FT) who shoved into my BB with about 15bb (I can't remember but I think we both had roughly 15bb to start the hand) and I snapped w/ A10o. He showed 89o (making me a 2:1 favorite) and I watched the board fall Q788x. It was quite reminiscent of my 5th place finish in the $10 1r1a on FT a couple weeks ago when my AQo lost to A9o (xxxx9).

I've been stuck in this rut for what feels like eternity now. Even though the game has gotten tougher I'm still getting my money in ahead. At the end of the day that's all I can do.

A Little Something At Least

I guess I got real lucky and shipped a $15 tourney on UB for 1k. Wins like these seem to be all I can muster up these days.

Yesterday I finished 5th in the morning $10 1r1a on Full Tilt for about $800. First was 3k. I played my heart out. I got the money in consistently ahead but couldn't hold, including a big AQ < A9o (xxxx9) to put the dagger in me.

I used to win tourneys like that on the reg. I used to ship midstakes tourneys left and right and these days it's not that simple. I feel like it's a combination of me running under expectation + people making less mistakes late.

Anyway I'm just marching on. I've been playing during the day for the last few weeks and so far I pretty much love it. It's 7pm here and I'm done for the day and usually I'm done a lot sooner.

Good things happening soon... they have to.

Two Wins Today/Announcing Sunday Packages

Won two tourneys today. They were both variance control tourneys I talk about so much.

Again, these tourneys not only help to keep the bankroll stabilized but they keep confidence high, something very important to being successful in poker.

Starting today I'm going to be selling pieces of packages I put together for Sunday MTTs.

The package for this Sunday (March 13th) is as follows:

Currently this package is sold out. However, when I have pieces of a package for sale (prbly most Sundays) I will have a page here on my blog with a listing similar to the one above. Typically, I think I'll be selling 50% of my action. I'll post my contact information when I have a package for sale.

Update

Had some real-life stuff going on there for a few days and ended up not playing for like the last five days of Feb. It's working out for the best cuz now I'm on a sleep cycle where I'm awake during the day.

I'm getting sick of being awake all night and sleeping all day. I don't feel like I'm part of the world ha. So anyway I'm gonna try out this daytime schedule and see how I like it. I might even join a gym and start getting some exercise. Doubt anything bad can come from that.

New Schedule

I withdrew a little bit and took a day off following the 3r win.

Over the last few days I struggled a bit to find a schedule I'm comfortable with. I think I've finally come up with something I'm very happy with (you'll find it on the Schedule Page if you're interested).

I'm excited to keep going. I love playing on all three sites. There are certain things I love about each site that makes the variety perfect.

As a tip, if you're trying to make a go of it in poker and are starting with a small roll and trying to build it up I highly recommend playing exclusively on UB. The fields are perfect in size and the players are just unbelievably awful. When you want to make more money you def will need to expand out to Stars or FT but starting on UB is prbly your best option imo.

GL out there.

I LOVE Making These Posts

The night started off at 6pm for me as usual. The first two tourneys I load are the $11 KO non-guarantee on Full Tilt and the $3r 40K Guaranteed on Stars. About four hours later the $11 KO ended with a good result.

Finally, ten hours later at 4am, the $3r on Stars ended.

Three-handed I had 58% of the chips in play. My two opponents were good players who knew what they were doing. We made an ICM chop whereby I ended up losing only 7.3% from first-place money. It was definitely worth it to me to virtually lock up first place money w/o having to beat the other two players (who collectively controlled 42% of the chips and weren't going to make many mistakes). I walked away w/ $5,800 from a $9 investment.

All I can say right now is IT'S ABOUT GOD-DAMN TIME!!!!

Sorry but I needed to get that out of my system ha. If you've been reading my blog for the last couple months you know I've been playing my ass off since the start of the year to rebuild my roll. It was forty-six days of pure frustration until tonight.

Okay so my roll is just shy of 10K right now so obv I'll be moving up in stakes as I've been talking about so much. I may withdraw some money so I'm not sure what my schedule will be yet but w/e it is it's gonna be good.

2011 Here I Come!

Update

Haven't posted in a week. I took a couple days off. I'm feeling a little burned out. Still on pace for 500 MTTs this month. I really can't wait for this nonsense to turn around.

4th in DD A

On the last day of January I got 4th in the FT 3r for $800ish (First was 2.6K, sigh). My 4th in the DD A tonight was almost identical to that. It paid like $750 for 4th (First was 2.3K, sigh again) and I busted in 4th losing another damn coin flip.

I lost a CL pot when I opened my 1010 utg and the CL in the SB shoved. I couldn't get my money in fast enough as he showed AQhh. The flop came down AAQ as if to laugh in my face and say "you ain't neva gonna win no tourney boy!"

Anyway, the $750 def helps. It puts my roll just a touch under 4K. I'm not going to make any dramatic changes to my current sched. I might add in the $22 6max on UB @ 23:00. I could prbly move up a little but I'm plenty comfortable where I'm at right now. I have 275 buyins in my roll and I'm thinking this year I'm gonna change up the old 200 buyin rule and try to aim for 250+.

I mean, there's just no question that the game has gotten tougher and it will continue to. The edges are getting smaller and it seems like the average player understands correct push/fold strategy late in tourneys (which creates higher variance). With that in mind, I feel like aiming for 250+ buyins makes a lot of sense.

Well I'm proud to say that after the first thirty-eight days of this year I'm finally enjoying my first day in the black ha. I really didn't expect that after about 600 MTTs my profit would only be $109 bucks but that's the name of game. Here's hoping my next 600 games are a lot different...

Last Couple Nights...

I've come real close to hitting the kind of score I'm playing for.

Friday night saw me finish 8th in the $27.50 (10K) on UB for just $344. First place was worth 2.8K
Tonight saw me finish 17th in the $5 2r1a on Stars for just $82. First was worth 2.5K
Tonight saw me finish 13th in the $10 1r1a on Stars for just $110. First was worth 2.1K

It's been a week full of plenty of potential. Even though I know there will be plenty more potential in the future I can't help but feel like I didn't take advantage of this week. I mean, I feel like I made every play by-the-book. I just couldn't hold my 60/40s when I was ahead, couldn't hit my 60/40s when I was behind, and couldn't win a key flip.

It's crazy cause sometimes you'll have a period of time (anywhere from like a week to four weeks) where there is all kinds of potential and deep runs are plentiful. When you run good during those periods (which we call heaters) it feels like you're shipping top-three scores one after another. But then sometimes you have a period like I'm in right now where I've been playing catch-up for 550 tourneys.

But it's okay. It's okay because I know my heater is out there. There will be plenty of run-good for me. All I have to do is keep my roll stabilized and the growth will come. 

Of noteworthy interest, within the last twenty-six days I've played twenty-four of them. Also, since the year began thirty-six days ago, I've played 554 MTTs. I can't think of a time within the last few years where I've played that many MTTs in that period of time or taken so few days off. What this tells me is that I'm focused, more serious about the game, and ready to have my best year.

Grrrrr Flips

It's been said many times that winning coin flips is vital to winning tourneys. I couldn't agree more.

I generally try to avoid flips if possible and look for spots where I can slowly accumulate chips w/o a showdown. But sometimes you just gotta flip.

On Jan 31st I lost a big flip five-handed that caused me to bust in 4th in the 3r on FT, rather than being CL three-handed. Tonight I busted in 11th while six-handed in the $10 2r1a on Stars... losing a flip. I shoved my 13bb with QJo from the cutoff and the button flatted w/ 77. Board bricked out.

Okay, whatever. Losing these flips is costing me the 2Kish score that I need to bump my roll up to the next level. Just gotta keep the grind on. I love my schedule and eventually I'll win an important flip and hit the score I need.

Speaking of schedules, I modified my schedule so I'll update it on the Schedule Page for those who are curious. At some point in the future I'm gonna make a post where I breakdown all the components of building and executing a proper schedule (as it relates to your bankroll).

In semi-poker related news, it turns out the motorcycle-riding, gun wielding thief who robbed the Bellagio in Vegas in December was a friend of mine from childhood. We went to the same middle school and high school and graduated in 2000 in Pueblo, CO.

We both had an interest in the "Magic: The Gathering" card game but I didn't really know him outside the MTG circle in school.

I remember when this national story broke in December and I remember thinking how bizarre it was. It's just unreal to me the masked motorcyclist turned out to be someone I had ties to in my quiet childhood.

What a small, crazy world we live in.