Week of 2/17-2/23

I said in an earlier post that I'm not going to mention weekly results very often, and I stand by that.  A week is way too small a sample size to worry about.  But last week went well, was interesting, and is worth mentioning.

I always try to get in at least 40 hours a week, and I seldom succeed.  Last week I was close, with 36.5 hours.  The hours were proportioned pretty close to what I shoot for, which is 25 hours playing poker and 15 hours studying.  I was a bit under in both categories.

Financially it was a good week.  I was up $29.37.  If I can have more weeks like that while only playing $1, one-table tournments, it should set me up for bigger and better things down the road when I have a reasonable bankroll to work with.

I'm playing two tables most of the time, and my brain isn't fried yet.  Despite having good results so far, it's going to be a big adjustment, and there are things that I have to work on.

The big problem is that I'm too busy watching the action, and figuring out how much to bet, to take many notes.  Long-term, that's not a good thing.  If someone is a particularly good or bad player, I need to know that, along with the details about what I saw.

I had an opponent today that was very tricky. I had trouble figuring out what his bets meant, and he twice caught me with much better hands than I expected.  Now that I have that note, I'll be on guard the next time, and probably avoid playing pots against him with marginal hands.  Part of being a good poker player is figuring out who the good and bad players are, then trying to play more and bigger hands against the weak players, and fewer hands (and seldom out of position) against strong players.

If I don't have time to take notes, that's a problem, but it should (I hope) get easier after after a while.  I don't react, I analyze.  Making faster decisions will be very difficult.  I can't imagine what goes on in the head of someone who is playing 24 or more simultaneous tables.

I remember an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Data was listening to and analyzing nine symphonies at once.  When Riker walked in, his reaction to the cacophony was priceless.  That would be me trying to play 24 tables.  If you've seen the movie Scanners, my head would probably explode just like that.

I'm A Multitabler Now

It's only two tables at a time, but you have to walk before you can run, right?

I decided that I had no choice, and that it was the logical solution to a problem.  That problem is that I never know how long it is going to take a SNG to fill up and start.  If I am the first player to register, I might wait five mintues, or twenty.

I had been trying to find other things to do during the indeterminate wait time, but the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it was.  I would join a SNG that was half-full, start working on something else, and then three minutes later the SNG would start.  The next time, I would be first to enter, and it would take ten minutes.  It's hard to do something useful with time frames that are both so short and so uncertain.

Yesterday I committed to sessions of several hours, playing two tables at a time.  Whenever I was down to one table, I started another one.  At one point yesteday, in 4.25 hours I finished 8 SNGs.  That's a big increase in volume, compared to single-tabling with an average SNG playing time of 51 minutes.

I was concenered about how much my profit per SNG might fall off, and I wasn't sure whether playing more of them would make up for it, which is the general idea of multitabling--less profit per table, but more tables, equals more profit.  I need not have worried.  I've been on a great run since I committed to 2-tabling, and I have a decent shot at getting my bankroll back over $100 by the end of the month.

I think it might have something to do with ADD.  A lot of 24-tabling online pros say that playing one table is just too boring, and some of them in fact do have ADD.  Maybe that's why I did so well, but then again, about 20 SNGs over two days (so far, the night isn't over yet) isn't much of a sample size. Maybe variance was on my side.  I think that both are true--I managed continuous two-tabling better than I expected, but I also ran very well.

SNG Cheat Sheet

SNGs and MTTs require very different playing styles. Nine-player SNGs are about making it into the top 1/3 of the field.  There are nine players, and the first three places are paid.

MTTs are a different animal.  There can be hundreds, or even thousands of players.  Usually somewhere between the top 10% and the top 20% make the money, and getting a minimum cash barely covers the tournament buy-in.  For example, in a $10 MTT with 1,000 players and paying 150 places, places 150-140 might win $12 after playing for three hours.

The real money in MTTs is at the final table.  That same 1,000-player $10 tournament would pay something like $3,500 for first place and $2,100 for second.  The serious players aren't trying to get in the top 10% of the field.  They are trying to get into the top 1%, even if it only happens a few times a year.

I am a former SNG specialist, and I've been studying two of Johnathan Little's Books so that I can learn how to play the looser game that works best for MTTs.  I got to the point where I couldn't think about playing any other way, at least as my default style.  When I switched to playing SNGs full time,  I was trying to play a hybrid style that some MTT specialists use when they play SNGs.  A few of those players make it work, but not many.  I certainly didn't.

I knew what I had to do to change back to a good SNG style--play fewer hands, especially in early position (first or second to act in the hand.)  So I started looking at hand ranges and percentages, and fooled around with it for a while.  For example, if I decided that I should play about 20% of my hands from the cutoff (second-to-last to act), I took a look at how Poker Stove quantified the top 20% of hands, which are: 66+, A4s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s, A9o+, KT0+, QTo+, JTo.  ("+" means that the lowest card is that high or better, "s" means suited, and "o" means offsuit.)

So, I tried different hand ranges, seeing not only if the hands from each position made sense, but if they worked together. For example, was I adding too many, or too few, hands when I figured out my requirements when betting in second position compared to first?

It took me an hour to get something that I thought would work.  I was sure it would need some adjusting, but after working on it for an hour, then playing a few SNGs, I think I nailed it.  I'm sticking pretty close to what's on the paper, and it's been working well.  A month from now I hope to have my bankroll back above $100.

Once I'm there, I can consider some other options, such as mixing in some 2-tabling, or moving up to $3 SNGs.  I very badly want to play MTTs.  There is nothing like the excitement of getting close to the final table, knowing that a first prize of around 100 buy-ins is waiting.

I have to keep my head in the game and know what the goal is, and why.  It's about using SNGs to build my bankroll so that I have at least 100 buy-ins for MTTs.  Then it's not a big deal when (not if) I fail to cash ten straight times.  In his book Treat Your Poker Like A Business, Dusty Schmidt explains that every business needs inventory.  For poker players, money is our invertory, and we have to keep plenty of inventory in stock.

The Month So Far

I thought that I would have most of Saturday to play, as stated in my previous post, but most of the day got blown away.  Even so, I put 44.25 hours in last week, so I'm not too upset about Saturday.  I was very upset at the time, but I'm over it.

I'm about breakeven for the month and the year.  That doesn't sound like I'm getting anywhere, but I've fought through a lot of problems in the last few weeks, and  I've solved some of them and mitigated the others.  There should be much clearer sailing ahead.  Here are some of the changes:

I waa able to go to church yesterday.

I've largely adapted to being online when SNGs are most likely to be running.

I typed a "cheat sheet" of what hands to play in a SNG, which is much different than in an MTT.

I've decided to play only SNGs (no MTTs) for the rest of February, and maybe longer.

I'm rereading Sit 'n Go Strategy: Expert Advice For Beating One-Table Poker Tournaments,  by Collin Moshman.

I'm getting more comfortable with watching a lot less television.

I'll talk about at least some of these adjustments in future posts, and unless something important happens, my next post will be about designing my cheat sheet.

Watching Television

I'm fascinated by television, more than I ever have been.  With the choice of cable channels, and all the informative and educational programming available, there are usually several shows that are, in my opinion, worth watching every day.  If our package included the Science Channel, I could easily become a TV zombie.  But I don't have time for that.

My work week has been based on working about six hours a day, seven days a week, so I will get at least 40 hours.  But it almost never happens.  Entire days somehow get blown away.  As long as my wife is making most of the money, my plan isn't going to work, and it has to be that way.  I am Available Guy, and I have to deal with that.

Recently we had a weather forecast for almost a foot of snow over 24 hours.  My wife had to be at work at 6 A.M., and there was a good chance that our road would not be plowed in time (it wasn't.)  That night and the next morning, I spent a lot of time shoveling snow.  I played poker in between shoveling sessions.

I stayed up until my wife got to work, then I couldn't get to sleep for a couple hours.  I had been getting up every morning so that I would be on the "church schedule," but as often happens, my schedule and sleep patterns were completely disrupted.

It's not the pre-Black Friday world any more.  I can't play online whenever I want.  There isn't something worth playing 24 hours a day.  I tried to do a little studying but I was too tired to make sense of anything, and I'm not going to record hours when I'm not doing anything useful.

I can't control my schedule, and that's very frustrating.  We have one car, my wife usually has it, and I can't do what I want, where I want, when I want.  I'm Available Guy at home while she takes care of business (including checking on her 90-year old mother who lives alone), and it has to be that way.

The situation isn't going to change until I contribute enough to the family income to pay cash for a second car and/or pay someone else to do things like snow shoveling and/or buy the technology (such as a new snowblower) to do things more quickly and easily.

What I can control is how much televison I watch.  One by one, I've stopped following my favorite shows.  I've dropped more than half of those shows, while only adding a couple shows that are new this season.  It's making a big difference.

As I type this, it's Friday night and I have already worked 42 hours this week.  I'm going to do some studying tonight, and I still have most of Saturday free, as far as I know.  I'm considering completely giving up television for a while.*  I would love to get some 200-hour months in and really get things going.

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*Except for poker shows where I can learn something by watching them.  But a lot of those shows, at least when shown from start to finish, are moving online.  Most TV poker shows are highlights, but online I can watch live streaming of a tournament final table and see every hand, even if takes 12 hours.  That makes it much easier to follow the flow of a tournament and understand how the players adjust to each other and to changing tournament conditions.

Update On The Legal Status of Poker

Things are finally starting to move.  Getting online poker licensed and regulated has been a long tough road.  We aren't there yet, but things are happening.

The first site licensed by the state of Nevada (for intrastate poker) is scheduled to roll out in March, with a few others close behind.  New Jersey has been working on it for a while.  Both states have a good poker infrastructure and expertise in their casinos, so I expect the sites to roll out without too many problems (unlike the site on which I currently play.)

All that has been in the pipeline for a while, but there are new developements.  Most important for most US players, the Nevada governor has announced that he wants the state legislature to act on regulations for online poker, including interstate games, within 30 days.

Finally, officials in Iowa have expressed interest in online poker, including interstate games.  This is really big news, and could lead to better sites, more players, and ultimately a second poker boom and a much larger player pool.  I know that it's going to take some time, but it's exciting to see things finally starting to happen.


http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/05/nevada-governor-urges-state-lawmakers-clear-way-on/

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/14885-iowa-retrieves-online-poker-bill-from-muck

Conversations in 2 different forums--Holdem Manager and America's Cardroom

I complain a lot on here, but some of it,  especially when it regards Americas Cardroom, is certainly justified.

I haven't been able to use Holdem Manager, my database and tracking program that keeps track of every hand I play and every hand that my opponents play against me.  It also has hundreds (literally) of statistics that I can use to keep track of very specific things, for example:

How often does this opponent fold to continuation bets?
Playing from middle position, with what cards am I winning (or losing) the most money?

It's great software, but there's one big problem.  I haven't been able to use that program on America's Cardroom.  ACR has been saying for at least six months that it will be the next site that they support, but they still can not even estimate when that will happen.

As I do in all of my posts, when I am quoting multiple people, for clarity I will use a different color for each. My questions or comments are in black.

About a week ago, a representative from one of America's Cardroom's sister sites on the Winning Poker Network started it out with this:

HEM compatibility: I don't have an ETA on this but I don't expect it will be ready for at least another 3-4 months, minimum.

[Posted in the Holdem Manager thread]:  I currently play on Americas Cardroom (Winning Poker Network.) BlackChipRep recently posted that Winning and HEM wouldn't work together for "3-4 months minimum." Is that the estimate from your end as well?

This information has just come from them earlier this week. We will be evaluating the next step. Their hand history files are a complete mess.  

[Posted by me in the Americas Cardroom Support thread]: A Holdem Manager update for everyone:

In the Holdem Manager thread I asked if they agree with the estimate of BlackChipRep that it would be "3-4 months minimum" before HEM works with the Winning Poker Network. One of their reps responded with this:

"This information has just come from them earlier this week. We will be evaluating the next step. Their hand history files are a complete mess."

 

[Finally, responses in the Americas Cardroom thread to all this]:

 

Yeah it's like they decided to make the most retarded and difficult hand history files they could. Completely different than anything anyone else is doing. Seems pretty typical on WPN, since their programmers can't seem to get much of anything right.

 

Yes, the hand histories being an abortion is why ACR hands don't compute perfectly in PT3 and PT4, too.

 

Well, there you have it.  Poker players, along with one of the best companies in the business of player support, agree that I play on a horrible site.  I'm hoping that there will be better options soon.  If I can keep my head above water dealing with this mess, I should do very well when I play on a site that actually works.  There is a chance that it will happen sooner rather than later.  See my next post for an update.

Playing Online SNGs--Time Management Issues

I'm playing only SNGs now, so that I can reduce variance and live within my bankroll.  I'm having to change the way that I manage my time, including when I play.

I don't want to wait 15 minutes or more for a SNG to fill up, and the times where there isn't a long wait present a small window of opportunity.  SNGs don't start filling up quickly (in Black Friday time) until after 6 P.M., and on weekdays, they slow down around 8 or 9 P.M.  On weekends they might or might not be fairly steady until around midnight.

When I was playing MTTs the selection wasn't great, but at least I knew when I could play.  MTTs are almost always scheduled tournaments, so I didn't have to wait, or guess, to find out when I can get a game started.

I'm a natural night person, and it has been said that being serious about poker means that you're going to be working nights and weekends, so that fine with me.  But for now the MTTs that I used to play starting at 10 or 11 P.M. aren't a good option, and it's almost impossible to find a SNG running that late on a weeknight.

Before this it was already complicated enough figuring out when to play, because the busiest times on a poker site are usually late Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon.  So sometimes I go to church on Sunday morning, and sometimes I don't.  Part of me thinks that I should be going to church more often.  The other part says that I have to work when I can make the most money, just like anyone else, and I shouldn't feel guilty about it.  Either way I have to sleep sometime during the weekend.

I'm going to church about half the time right now, but since even on Saturday the SNGs usually don't run much past midnight, I might start attending more often.  I'm already making other adjustments.

I was never a good multitabler.  I know I could be decent if I worked at  it, but there would definitely be a learning curve.  When I'm trying to build a bankroll is not the time to learn a new skill.  [break here to play a SNG which took 18 minutes to get all nine players.]  But it's better to register for the next one before the one I'm playing finishes, and be playing two tables part of the time,  rather than having ten or more minutes of down time.

The first state-regulated poker site is scheduled for Nevada sometime in March.  The sites that are available now definitely need some serious competition.