Thursday 30 August 2007

Day 22+23

As seems to be usual, after a good day I have a bad day. Was annoying too, amassed a top 5 stack in a $3 rebuy with 50 left, 36 pay, pretty much gauranteed FT, but had to leave! Still, blinded out in 14th for a whopping $36. Thankfully, today was much better, earning back the $287 loss and a little more, so all's well. Took my first shot at the $65+6 sngs, seem fairly similar, though a few more regulars. Ooh, I'm 170th on the monthly tournament leaderboard! Havent been playing any mtts there either really, so not bad.

tbh, I've probably made it to my $2500-2600 goal; the rakeback is about $230 i think. I'm on $2350.5. Yay!

Sngs: 25
29-30th total: 66
Time(hrs): 8.5
Old Online Bankroll: $5103
New Online Bankroll: $5169
Total since 01/03/07: $17624
Total time(hrs): 475.5
Total $/hr: $37.1

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Day 21 - update

Another good day today. Started off not so great, being down ~$100 after a few hours in the afternoon, but just played for 3hrs this evening and today turned out to be my best day for sngs: ~$500 profit. Down $115 on mtts, but still a good day. I think the competition is definately softer in the evening, more regulars in the afternoon, and if I'm not playing my A/B game then I don't think I can beat the games.(then again my C game is terrible) But tonight I was 7 tabling at some points and it just seemed to go well...but perhaps I just had a good run of cards, who knows :)

Good time to post a stat update, as they are looking pretty nice at the moment!
sng mission so far (all stats since 09/08/07):
Played: 204
Result: +$1409.5
ROI: 19.5% (not including bonus and rakeback)
Bonus: $185
Rakeback: tbc. (probably ~$185)

So a much better result for this 100 sngs...though most of that was literally today's result.

Mtts:
Played: 37
Result: $731
ROI: 69.4%

Not so good on the mtt front, actually lost ~$100 since last time.

Total profit: $2284.5 (+rakeback)
Total hours played: 63.5
$/hr: $36

So only 300-400$ left to go and I've made back my holiday spending. Not that I'll be stopping there! But that was a target and it'll feel good to reach it.


Sngs today: 18
Daily total: 392
Time(hrs): 5.5
Old Online Bankroll: $4711
New Online Bankroll: $5103
Total since 01/03/07: $17558
Total time(hrs): 467
Total $/hr: $37.6

Monday 27 August 2007

Days 19+20

Not a good day yesterday, played for 3 hours and ended up down ~200$. Started off today badly too, losing another quick $200, but played a longish session this evening which brought the sng total for the day up to +$50 and had a decent mtt FT for ~$400, which was nice, seeing as my BR had dropped to lower than it was a week ago.

I've decided to not count the ~$400 I have at sunpoker and the $130 at titan as my overall bankroll, since I wont/cant/cant be bothered to cash out/redeposit at them, so I may well regard them as sort of fun money. Maybe i'll have a go at some more expensive mtts at sun. I'm not going to waste it, I'm just not going to record the progress on those sites, since I wont be playing much. So new BR is -$530.

Sngs: 32
19-20th total: 259.5
Time(hrs): 10.5
Old Online Bankroll: --
New OnlineBankroll: $4711
Total since 01/03/07: $17166
Total time(hrs): 461.5
Total $/hr: $37.2

Sunday 26 August 2007

Days 15-18

Been a bit busy lately. Was my birthday yesterday, yay! Also my laptop came, which I'm using right now, and it's great.

Haven't played a great deal. Been playing a bit of cash, taking a LAG approach and has been great fun, at bootcamp there was a talk from Neil Channing which made me realise what proper LAG play is. AP has 200bb max buyin NL cash tables so its great for deepstacked lag play. Had 3 or 4 quick winning sessions, and then lost a $50 buyin calling allin HU thinking I had A5 on a A5T flop, when actually I had A3, grrrrrrrr. But still, am going to carry on experimenting.

Also, i checked my various online accounts and I have slightly less than I thought (the numbers I used at the beginning were approx.) so i've updated the new bankroll section.

Sngs: 15
15-18th total: -44
Time(hrs): 7
Old Online Bankroll: --
New OnlineBankroll: $4981.6
Total since 01/03/07: $16906.5
Total time(hrs): 451
Total $/hr: $37.5

Wednesday 22 August 2007

Day 14

Played 3, won 2. Woot.

Sngs today: 3
Daily total: 178
Time(hrs): 1.5
Old Online Bankroll: $4949.5
New OnlineBankroll: $5127.5
Total since 01/03/07: $16950.5
Total time(hrs): 444
Total $/hr: $38.2

Monday 20 August 2007

Bootcamp report/Day 13

What bootcamp report? you ask. I'll tell you.

Played a satellite to the 888.com bootcamp, down to final 4, 3 seats paid, I lose AIPF with AKs vs A5. BOOOOO! Was gutted, $1500 package, 'twas brutal. However, an amazingly generous forum memeber gave me their seat as they couldn't go - (thanks again dave!) It was at the hilton (I got free accommodation, yay) so lots of fancy free stuff to steal. The bootcamp itself...I enjoyed it, but I didn't learn anything. Well, a few things about live tells, and how to calculate my confidence interval, but thats about it. I think it was too simplistic for more experienced/advanced players, but it seemed alittle too advanced for beginners. But hey, what am I complaining about, I didn't pay a penny! And I had a good time.

Bust out early from the $2000 seat freeroll(ie winner takes all) they held, with AK vs KT, he hit 2 pair. 'He' called a 3xbb raise from utg, then I reraised, and got a caller. Original raiser folded, and 'he' called. With KT. Was he listening at all to the lectures during the day?!?! There was one specifically on position and how calling big bets OOP is a big leak. Surprise surprise, he went on to win the whole thing. 3 handed it was Mr. donkeyfish and 2 other good players I know and respect. But what's skill in the face of classless luck? Twice HU 'he' caught a miracle river (once calling an allin with 86) Was sickening. He later said he thought he played 'really well'. Guess you just can't teach some people anything.

Maybe I learnt lots without realising anyway, because I had my 2nd best day (since i started the sng mission 10 days ago) and played the 2nd least amount of sngs, despite being rivered with 2 and 3 outers several times at crucial points.

Sngs today: 17
Daily total: 116
Time(hrs): 7
Old Online Bankroll: $4833.5
New OnlineBankroll: $4949.5
Total since 01/03/07: $16772.5
Total time(hrs): 442.5
Total $/hr: $37.9

EDIT: OH MAN I SUCK SO BADLY. 8 sngs and 3 mtts later with only 1 cash and 3/4 of my winnings are gone. Dear god, how the hell did that happen? I BOOOOOOurned my money.

Thursday 16 August 2007

Day 12 - 1st week summary

Had a good start, up $200 in 2 hours. Then it all went down hill and I had 7/8 sngs in a row with only 1 cash. BOOOOurns. Made a little with a small mtt cash. Reached 100 sngs today since I got back from france (on 119) and if i'd stopped this morning would've had an ROI of about 18%, but now it's ~11.5%, I need to enter some numbers to get the exact %. Still, happy with that, read a post from the 2+2 forums saying...

"...a very good player could probably expect to have the following ROIs:
$3.40s - 18%
$6s - 16%
$16s - 14%
$27s - 12%
$60s - 10%
$114s - 8%
$225s - 6%
$335s+ - 4%

...These are based on Stars turbos. If you play a non-turbo structure, generally your ROI might increase a few points (due to the slower structure), but at the expense of your hourly rate (again, due to the slower structure)..."

So a longterm ROI of 10-12% would be great if I can maintain it. 117 sngs isnt much of a sample size by any means, so we'll see. A 40+4 sng is also worth 1$ of bonus and ~$1.3 of rakeback, which is nearly 6% roi in itself, so just breaking even wouldn't be bad.

So... sng mission so far (all stats since 09/08/07):
Played: 119
Result: +$464.5
ROI: ~11.5% (not including bonus and rakeback)
Bonus: $100
Rakeback: tbc. (probably ~$100)

So on track pretty much.

Mtts:
Played: 19
Result: $821.5
ROI: 163.79% (sustainable?!)

Total profit: $1386 (+rakeback)
Total hours played: 35
$/hr: $40.5

So passed the 1/2 way mark to making back my holiday spending. Yay!


Sngs today: 20
Daily total: -34
Time(hrs): 5.5
Old Online Bankroll: $4867.5
New OnlineBankroll: $4833.5
Total since 01/03/07: $16656.5
Total time(hrs): 435.5
Total $/hr: $38.3

Wednesday 15 August 2007

Day 11

BOOM! My mtt slump comes to an end.

Buyin: 25+2
runners: 145
position:1st
payout: $1200

Been a while since I won one, so nice to get another under my belt. Opponent HU was disconnected so I had the easiest win ever!

Not so good on the sng front...the games were so juicy this evening! I've not played much in the evening and I had no idea the standard in play differed so much. Unfortunately I couldn't take advantage of it and ended down about $80, but I'm definately going to be playing more at this time. The standard during the day tends to be quite good, with lots of regulars, but it was a proper fish tank tonight.

Anyway, I need sleep.

Sngs today: 11
Daily total: 1116
Time(hrs): 4.5
Old Online Bankroll: $3751.5
New OnlineBankroll: $4867.5
Total since 01/03/07: $16690.5
Total time(hrs): 430
Total $/hr: $38.8

Tuesday 14 August 2007

Day 10

Another good but short day. I can't cash in a bloomin mtt to save my life at the moment.

Got to stop now (11am...) had to make an appointment to get my student account, and then dont have access to a computer. Though I'll probably get sucked in and play an unbelievably stressful sng on the mac and then go shoot myself.

Sngs today: 8
Daily total: 141.5
Time(hrs): 2
Old Online Bankroll: $3610
New OnlineBankroll: $3751.5
Total since 01/03/07: $15574.5
Total time(hrs): 425.5
Total $/hr: $36.6

Monday 13 August 2007

Day 9

Didn't play much, but felt I played well, and there weren't too many beats. Yay! Played in 11, cashed in 6, won 3. Not bad going.

It's only 2pm, but I don't think I'll be able to play any more today. Going into town to sort out my student bank account, which includes a 1500pound interest free overdraft ----> laptop ahoy! I think I've decided on this Looks kinda crazy but has loads of good reviews, it's fast which was my main concern and it's exactly how much I was intending to spend.

Portable poker FTW!

Sngs today: 17
Daily total: 173
Time(hrs): 6
Old Online Bankroll: $3437
New OnlineBankroll: $3610
Total since 01/03/07: $15433
Total time(hrs): 423.5
Total $/hr: $36.6

EDIT: Was able to play more than I thought. My mtt rubbishness continues, down nearly $150 in them in the last 2 hours. Luckily, some good sng results mean I'm up a whopping $6 on the session. hooray.

OH WAIT!!!! + $5 bonus. I rock.

Day 8 (yesterday)

Didn't play on saturday as I was visiting family. Did my first proper 6 tabling which went fine, though several times I was doing well in 4 of them, only to bubble in 3 and just cash in 1, which was frustrating, Felt I was playing well but had some fairly bad luck. I ended up about 70$ after 5 hours, which wasnt great, but at least I was up. Then came back at 1am for the 70k at AP that I had a free seat for. That tourney seems to be cursed for me. Quickly lost 700ish on various hands, got KK, riased and took the blinds, then QQ< KK (guy slowplayed the kings) What was worse though was the other games i was playing at the time. Didn't play great, guess I was tired, but ran pretty badly too. My mtt record has been poor the last few days, played 10 and only 1 tiny cash. Anyway, I ended down $70 on the day. Sigh.

Started using a great spreadsheet that was made by a member of a forum I read, the spreadsheet can be found here. I had to change it a bit but its very useful.

Anyway, not going to play much tomorrow, but lets hope it goes a bit better.

Sngs today: 24
Daily total: -70.5
Time(hrs): 7
Old Online Bankroll: $3507.5
New OnlineBankroll: $3437
Total since 01/03/07: $15260
Total time(hrs): 417.5
Total $/hr: $36.5

Friday 10 August 2007

Day 7 - booooooo.

BOOOOOO

Today sucked. Didn't play well, but didnt run well either. I played for 3-4 hrs in the morning and saw I wasnt playing well so took a big break, and came back fresh and ready to play. That was good. Then lost a load more. That was bad. Felt like I was playing my B or C game most of the time, coupled with a few unlucky hands - bubbled 3 sngs in 5 mins at one point.

Byebye yesterday's profit.

Sngs played today: 22 (total since 10/08: 38)

Daily total: -270.5
Time(hrs): 5.5

Old Online Bankroll: $3778
New OnlineBankroll: $3507.5
Total since 01/03/07: $15330.5
Total time(hrs): 410.5
Total $/hr: $37.3

*10$ bonus from yesterday and $20 from today added.

Note to self: Play MORE when winning and LESS when losing, not the other way around!

Thursday 9 August 2007

Day 6

Got up early and went straight into 5/6 tabling sngs for an hour. I ran gooood and was up nearly $300. Played 3 more hours since then and made a tiny bit, few unlucky hands, but mainly im running ok. Only released $10 bonus, but towards the end I was playing more $20 games because they were the only ones filling up (so i was paying less rake, therefore less bonus). I'm stopping for the day now and its 3pm, so when I get my laptop I'll be able to play more. 20+ should be easy.

Happy with my play for the most part, although in the 2nd hour i got kind of confused with the tables and made a few silly plays. Mainly though im finding 5 tabling easy - i used to be 2/3 tabling whilst checking forums/talking on msn, etc, and just focusing on poker is much better. This every day for a week or 2 would do just fine :)

Sngs today: 16
Daily total: 307.5
Time(hrs): 4.5

Old Online Bankroll: $3470.5
New OnlineBankroll: $3778

Total since 01/03/07: $15601
Total time(hrs): 405
Total $/hr: $38.5

Wednesday 8 August 2007

Day 5

Had a halarious trip back, including me mistaking the start of check-in for the end of check-in, getting off the bus to the airport 3 stops early and having to walk the rest of the way over several dual carraigeways, and then going to the wrong terminal due to terrible signposts. Still, got here in one piece.

My computer has officially exploded (was hoping it might work after 6 weeks off, alas) so I'm not going to be able to play as much as I thought, at least until I get my laptop.

Thought I'd try and play a few games on the mac, with pacific's online client. Can't be that bad, right? WRONG! Worst. Thing.

Ever.

Disconnected literally every other hand. Somehow managed to come 2nd, but with an M of 5 and missing half the hands I didnt have much of a chance HU. So much for 10 sngs a day.

Sngs today: 1

Daily total: 28

Time(hrs): 0.5

Old Online Bankroll: $2042.5

New OnlineBankroll: $3470.5

Total since 01/03/07: $15293.5

Total time(hrs): 400.5

Total $/hr: $38.2

EDIT: Forgot to add the $1400 I deposited. Will add to new bankroll (though obv not profit)

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Bonjour!

Salut, tout le monde!

I'm in Nice and have a few hours to kill before my flight home.
--->Blogaments!
Had a great time, and very useful; was scary how much french I'd forgotten at the beginning, but it's come back slowly, and yesterday 2 different people thought I was french until I told them I was english, so that was nice :) Arrived in Bordeaux, then went to a vineyard near bergerac (was super cheap because I knew them kind of) with a swimming pool, then carcassonne, nimes, marseille and then here. Been good fun, but looking forward to coming home.

All this fun-having hasn't been cheap though, total cost for france and spain is ~£1300. eek! So, onto the poker...

Deposited $1400 onto absolute just before I left to take advantage of a special deposit bonus they offered me (70$ free, 420$ bonus, VIP freeroll invitational and entry to the weekly $70k worth $170) which i'm not going to withdraw quite yet. My plan is to play a TON of sngs for a week or 2. I'll be 4-6 tabling 30/40$ games. Mostly 9 and 6-man, but a few multitable sngs too. I have about 2k$ at absolute, so am rolled to play higher, but am going to be cautious, partly because I haven't done all that much 3+tabling (never more than 4 or 5, so we'll have to see how it goes) but also because I think I've realised I need to be overrolled in games to feel confortable. 10 games minimum a day, but really aiming for 20+. So if I can maintain a modest ROI of 10-15%, plus the 15-20$ of bonus I'll clear, that should be an average of ~$100 a day. I'll also be getting rakeback, at 30%. I'll still be playing some mtts too.

So yeah, sngs for a week or two, and then once I've made $500+/cleared a decent amount of the bonus, I'll use my jugdement to decide when to...

Withdraw about $1500 from Absolute and set up an account with fulltilt or pokerstars(any comments on which is better are welcome...) Mainly there for the the mtts, no site I play on offers a decent mtt schedule. It'll be a big change, with 2000+ fields in most tournaments, so I expect the variance is much higher. At pacific I was happy playing mtts that cost a 20th of my bankroll because they were just large sngs really. But I'll be starting with 10$ tourneys (ie. a 150th of my bankroll there) and see how things go. Both of the sites have 180man sngs if I don't fancy massive fields at some point, and I've heard good things about them. I'll continue to play sngs at AP too, until the bonus is cleared/expires.

So thats my grand scheme! Mainly its geared towards playing more mtts, and bigger ones hopefully. I think I could be a fairly good mtt player but with so few of them to play I don't get as much practise as I need. Ideally I'd just like to make back the $2500 I spent on travelling by the time I go to uni in mid-september. Should be fairly doable - I start tomorrow.

Also reading a few blogs has inspired me to get better at cash games...so if I have the time/can be bothered I might try 4-6 tabling 10$ or 25$NL. Meh, I'll see.

Congrats to PFUers, been some great successes whilst I've been away! Idi0 winning an 888.com uk open seat, peeko the poker idol seat (possibly will be the uk open aswell) and a string of $1-4K cashes. Well done all!