I mentioned in my last post that I have been culling the nonperformers from my tournament schedule. I started out as a one-table specialist, and now I'm converting to being a multitable tournament player, which usually means hundreds, or thousands, of players.
That hasn't been a problem, but to but it bluntly, I looked over my records and discovered that I stink at the in-between sizes, from around 2 to 5 tables, that is, more than 9 or 10 players, but less than 100.
In fact, this month those "in between" tournaments killed me. I lost $60 (about half my bankroll). That happened in the first ten days of the month. I cut the nonperformers out, and in the next ten days I played only MTTs with a good structure (the smallest was 1,000 players), and satellites (where the fields are unusually weak, more about that in a future post). In the second ten days of the month I won back most of what I lost in the first ten days.
Between about the 10th and the 20th of the month I got small cashes in about 1/3 of my MTTs, which was enough to be up a little bit, and I tore through the satellites to win back most of what I had lost.
After that, not much happened. I've barely been able to play. I've had to go through a schedule change again, which always messes me up, and I'm now a daytime person for a while. I had to switch because there were a lot of things that had to be done during so-called normal working hours.
There are some family things coming up. I have a twice-a-year job delivering neighborhood association newsletters, and I did that this week, going door-to-door with about 900 of them. (The association is going to have to get someone else to do it next time). I have to go to the neighborhood "dumpster day" on May 8 (it only happens twice a year) and get rid of some of the junk in our basement.
There are other miscellaneous things going on, a day here and a day there, that pretty much commit me to being up during the day, and not playing many of the late tournaments. It's almost 3 A.M. as a I type this (these schedule switches aren't easy!) but I'll set my alarm to be up later this morning, and I'll try to keep myself on my daytime schedule. My wife even expects to go out for our 30th anniversary tomorrow--can you believe it? (Just kidding dear.)
Anyway, here are some of the numbers for this crazy month so far:
Start-of-month bankroll: $140.87
Bankroll ending 4/11: $85.37
Bankroll as of 4/25, 3 A.M.: $133.00
At least I won't be hitting the streets with the newsletters now, so that will give me a lot more time. But I'm really suprised at how hard it seems like it's going to be to set aside at least an 8-hour block of time every day to play MTTs, at least for the next month or two. There just seem to be so many things, like the dumpster day, that are going to cut a big piece out of the middle of my work day.
But it won't always be like this (I hope). I understand now why some authors sequester themselves in a cabin somewhere so they can get their books written!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
#21, 4/14/2010--Responding to a reader comment
I just read a comment on my previous post. It was thoughtful enough, and important enough, that I thought it should be addressed. I'm going to address the reader's comments in the order that they were written. This will get a bit long, there is a lot to address there, and for those of you who are not poker players, you might get lost in the weeds a little bit. But I'm sure you'll get the idea of what's being talked about, even if you don't understand all of the details.
jsren81 said...
I came across this while searching for something else poker-related.I think bankroll wise you are putting yourself in some dangerous territory. The bare minimum for playing large MTTs is 100 buyins. This would limit you to the $1 level. A lot of people (including myself) will not play with fewer than 200.
I agree with you, and I completely understand bankroll management. I have a plan in place to require extra buy-ins every time that I move up, so that I will eventually be playing with 100 buy-ins. I'll reevaluate then. The reason that I am not playing $1 MTTs has more to do with tournament structure than with dollar amounts.
The cheapest PokerStars tournament with a really good structure (3,000 chips and 15-minute blinds) is a $3.30 MTT on PokerStars. And honestly, it makes a huge difference when I play in that structure. I feel much more comfortable, I can comfortably play more hands in more situations--it just works better for me.
I played that tournament today, and when I have more chips and more time to work with, I am not that player you referred to who is playing too tight so that I can at least mincash. Just having a little more room to operate makes a huge difference.
Today I mincashed in the tournament and was about in the middle of the pack with just under 400 players left. I was prefop with QQ and an M of 9. Villian raised preflop, I reraised, he raised, I shoved my queens and was thinking about landing in the top 50 and going from there--and he showed aces.
That's going to happen from time to time (sometimes a lot of the time, my nut flush lost to a rivered straight flush in the same tournament yesterday, and I just missed the money). But I'm not results-oriented. I know it's about making the right plays and winning over time, and in a deep structure, I am MUCH more confident than I am playing anything else, even STTs--even though I had a 14% SNG ROI in 2008. Running into aces or rivered straight flushes isn't going to happen every day. The results, and the money, will come.
I've had to change my entire schedule so that I can play when the deep MTTs are running, and when it will be quiet enough, long enough that I can play. The computer is in the living room, and I have ADD--which means that having a quiet work environment matters a lot. I should be in my home office any day now, which will help an awful lot as well. So the MTT concentration really hasn't had a lot of time to show results yet.
The bottom line is that I would normally never play outside of a good bankroll structure, but the difference in my playing a deep structure is so great that I believe it justifies the risk. I will add that I've taken a hard look at my numbers a few days ago, and my choices when I'm not playing MTTs haven't been good. I've done well with $2.20 satellites and OK with SNG, but I've been spewing money with other tournaments that I thought would work well for me, so I'm making those adjustments as well.
Also, I have only played live a couple times this year. Even though I was up a few hundred last year in live tournaments, I know that I'm not really bankrolled for it, so that's on hold. I plan to eventually build a separate bankroll to play live. I am taking bankroll management very seriously.
Beyond the actual safety it gives you, it also puts you in a frame of mind where you are not afraid to bust out before the money, so you can gamble optimally. A comment you made in your tournament report post seems to betray the fact that you might be playing too tight in order to make it to the minimum cash. ("all cashes are welcome, even the small ones.") This is bad thinking for an MTT player. Plot a graph of the money in a 1000+ player MTT, it all goes to the final table.It cannot be emphasized enough how sick large field MTT variance is. As one person put it, "a single coin flip or 70/30 can mean end up meaning a 10 or 20% difference in your ROI". That's the difference between winning and losing to most players. Most people do not play solely large MTTs, they play things like 180s and 1000 caps and complement that with larger field tourneys.
I do plan to play more MTTs, but that's a work in progress. I started out as an STT specialist. But I'll never be one of those guys that can play a bunch of tables, so STT isn't the solution. I eventually realized that even a 14% ROI in $10 + $1 SNG is only an average of $1.54 per tournament. That means I would have to move up a lot, or add a lot of tables, to ever make serious money at it. MTTs clearly need to be the emphasis for me, but I'll still grind satellites and mix other things in, which will help with the bankroll issue.
Only those who can put in an absolutely insane amount of volume play only large tournaments (and win). I also think you need to evaluate whether you are really beating the game. Any guy who tells me he beat the $10 level at one point and had to start over after cashing out should be able to grind out a few hundred bucks a month playing at the <$5 level. The games are just that much easier. Either you aren't putting in enough volume, or more likely you are a breakeven/losing player.My recs: * Play $1 or $2 STTs or smaller MTT SNGs (18-45). You are not rolled yet for $2/180 or $4/180, or $2 or $3 large fields. Get a >5% ROI over at least 500 games (preferably 1000). Get confident that you are truly beating the game and earn at least $100 in a month.When you hit $400 BR you can branch out a bit more and you'll have more options.PS Did not mean to sound harsh at all.
Again, thanks for the advice. Not putting in enough volume is an issue, one that I hadn't really considered--I have no idea why. The changes that I continue to make to my work situation should help a lot with that.
I'm not easily offended, and I'm always willing to take advice. I spend a lot of time on the 2+2 forums.
Thanks again,
Clif
jsren81 said...
I came across this while searching for something else poker-related.I think bankroll wise you are putting yourself in some dangerous territory. The bare minimum for playing large MTTs is 100 buyins. This would limit you to the $1 level. A lot of people (including myself) will not play with fewer than 200.
I agree with you, and I completely understand bankroll management. I have a plan in place to require extra buy-ins every time that I move up, so that I will eventually be playing with 100 buy-ins. I'll reevaluate then. The reason that I am not playing $1 MTTs has more to do with tournament structure than with dollar amounts.
The cheapest PokerStars tournament with a really good structure (3,000 chips and 15-minute blinds) is a $3.30 MTT on PokerStars. And honestly, it makes a huge difference when I play in that structure. I feel much more comfortable, I can comfortably play more hands in more situations--it just works better for me.
I played that tournament today, and when I have more chips and more time to work with, I am not that player you referred to who is playing too tight so that I can at least mincash. Just having a little more room to operate makes a huge difference.
Today I mincashed in the tournament and was about in the middle of the pack with just under 400 players left. I was prefop with QQ and an M of 9. Villian raised preflop, I reraised, he raised, I shoved my queens and was thinking about landing in the top 50 and going from there--and he showed aces.
That's going to happen from time to time (sometimes a lot of the time, my nut flush lost to a rivered straight flush in the same tournament yesterday, and I just missed the money). But I'm not results-oriented. I know it's about making the right plays and winning over time, and in a deep structure, I am MUCH more confident than I am playing anything else, even STTs--even though I had a 14% SNG ROI in 2008. Running into aces or rivered straight flushes isn't going to happen every day. The results, and the money, will come.
I've had to change my entire schedule so that I can play when the deep MTTs are running, and when it will be quiet enough, long enough that I can play. The computer is in the living room, and I have ADD--which means that having a quiet work environment matters a lot. I should be in my home office any day now, which will help an awful lot as well. So the MTT concentration really hasn't had a lot of time to show results yet.
The bottom line is that I would normally never play outside of a good bankroll structure, but the difference in my playing a deep structure is so great that I believe it justifies the risk. I will add that I've taken a hard look at my numbers a few days ago, and my choices when I'm not playing MTTs haven't been good. I've done well with $2.20 satellites and OK with SNG, but I've been spewing money with other tournaments that I thought would work well for me, so I'm making those adjustments as well.
Also, I have only played live a couple times this year. Even though I was up a few hundred last year in live tournaments, I know that I'm not really bankrolled for it, so that's on hold. I plan to eventually build a separate bankroll to play live. I am taking bankroll management very seriously.
Beyond the actual safety it gives you, it also puts you in a frame of mind where you are not afraid to bust out before the money, so you can gamble optimally. A comment you made in your tournament report post seems to betray the fact that you might be playing too tight in order to make it to the minimum cash. ("all cashes are welcome, even the small ones.") This is bad thinking for an MTT player. Plot a graph of the money in a 1000+ player MTT, it all goes to the final table.It cannot be emphasized enough how sick large field MTT variance is. As one person put it, "a single coin flip or 70/30 can mean end up meaning a 10 or 20% difference in your ROI". That's the difference between winning and losing to most players. Most people do not play solely large MTTs, they play things like 180s and 1000 caps and complement that with larger field tourneys.
I do plan to play more MTTs, but that's a work in progress. I started out as an STT specialist. But I'll never be one of those guys that can play a bunch of tables, so STT isn't the solution. I eventually realized that even a 14% ROI in $10 + $1 SNG is only an average of $1.54 per tournament. That means I would have to move up a lot, or add a lot of tables, to ever make serious money at it. MTTs clearly need to be the emphasis for me, but I'll still grind satellites and mix other things in, which will help with the bankroll issue.
Only those who can put in an absolutely insane amount of volume play only large tournaments (and win). I also think you need to evaluate whether you are really beating the game. Any guy who tells me he beat the $10 level at one point and had to start over after cashing out should be able to grind out a few hundred bucks a month playing at the <$5 level. The games are just that much easier. Either you aren't putting in enough volume, or more likely you are a breakeven/losing player.My recs: * Play $1 or $2 STTs or smaller MTT SNGs (18-45). You are not rolled yet for $2/180 or $4/180, or $2 or $3 large fields. Get a >5% ROI over at least 500 games (preferably 1000). Get confident that you are truly beating the game and earn at least $100 in a month.When you hit $400 BR you can branch out a bit more and you'll have more options.PS Did not mean to sound harsh at all.
Again, thanks for the advice. Not putting in enough volume is an issue, one that I hadn't really considered--I have no idea why. The changes that I continue to make to my work situation should help a lot with that.
I'm not easily offended, and I'm always willing to take advice. I spend a lot of time on the 2+2 forums.
Thanks again,
Clif
Thursday, April 1, 2010
#20, 4/2/2010 March, 2010 Results
Bankroll starting March 1, $122.40
Bankroll ending March 31, $140.87
March results, +$18.47
A profit is a profit, so I'll take it. I'm not exactly thrilled. It was a very volatile month, with some pretty big swings.
I learned a lot this month. The main thing I learned is that, in general, I can't try to force myself into a "normal" daytime schedule, for church or anything else. I was tired all the time, and because of minor illness and other things going on in the family I never made it to church anyway. In general, it just didn't work. Poker is not a first shift job.
There are online pros who make poker work as a first shift job, and someday I might be able to do that. But my biggest problem right now is that I am more convinced than ever, especially after looking at my Sharkcope profit graph, that most of my money is going to come from MTTs (multi-table tournaments) of a thousand players or more.
The tournaments with the best structures for me don't go every hour. They are at all different times, many of them starting at night, and I need to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. And, as I have mentioned in another post, the most US players are on Pokerstars (and other poker sites) during nights and weekends--which means that the most tournament choices are available then as well.
I recently had a 9 A.M. appointment. I slept most of the day before, got up in the evening and played poker all night into the day of the appointment, got a 2-hour nap, then got up and took care of the appoinment. That seemed to work pretty well.
So, the best approach to doing something during the might be to do it right after my work day (which would actually be starting about midway between normal second and third shifts), rather than starting my day with the appointment. If I leave more than eight hours between starting poker and my appointment, that will be enough make it to the final table of a large MTT. The times that I don't go deep into an MTT I can play a smaller tournament, or take some administrative time, or study. Or, if I have a daytime appointment later, or a chance to go to church, I can try to catch a nap first if I need it.
I am slowly but surely improving my playing situation. In 2009 I got a new computer and a 21-inch monitor. I hope to be moving into my home office very soon, maybe even this week. Eventually I will have a laptop, so I can play wherever and whenver I want.
The bottom line is that I'm disappointed about my meager profits this month, but I'm also optomistic. I'm learning what works and what doesn't, and that's not a small thing.
Bankroll ending March 31, $140.87
March results, +$18.47
A profit is a profit, so I'll take it. I'm not exactly thrilled. It was a very volatile month, with some pretty big swings.
I learned a lot this month. The main thing I learned is that, in general, I can't try to force myself into a "normal" daytime schedule, for church or anything else. I was tired all the time, and because of minor illness and other things going on in the family I never made it to church anyway. In general, it just didn't work. Poker is not a first shift job.
There are online pros who make poker work as a first shift job, and someday I might be able to do that. But my biggest problem right now is that I am more convinced than ever, especially after looking at my Sharkcope profit graph, that most of my money is going to come from MTTs (multi-table tournaments) of a thousand players or more.
The tournaments with the best structures for me don't go every hour. They are at all different times, many of them starting at night, and I need to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. And, as I have mentioned in another post, the most US players are on Pokerstars (and other poker sites) during nights and weekends--which means that the most tournament choices are available then as well.
I recently had a 9 A.M. appointment. I slept most of the day before, got up in the evening and played poker all night into the day of the appointment, got a 2-hour nap, then got up and took care of the appoinment. That seemed to work pretty well.
So, the best approach to doing something during the might be to do it right after my work day (which would actually be starting about midway between normal second and third shifts), rather than starting my day with the appointment. If I leave more than eight hours between starting poker and my appointment, that will be enough make it to the final table of a large MTT. The times that I don't go deep into an MTT I can play a smaller tournament, or take some administrative time, or study. Or, if I have a daytime appointment later, or a chance to go to church, I can try to catch a nap first if I need it.
I am slowly but surely improving my playing situation. In 2009 I got a new computer and a 21-inch monitor. I hope to be moving into my home office very soon, maybe even this week. Eventually I will have a laptop, so I can play wherever and whenver I want.
The bottom line is that I'm disappointed about my meager profits this month, but I'm also optomistic. I'm learning what works and what doesn't, and that's not a small thing.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
#18 3/25/2010--Tournament Report #1B (Translation of #17)
ALL EXPLANATIONS WILL BE IN THIS COLOR.
I know that for me it's fun to read tournament reports, and see what the top players are doing and thinking while they play. In fact, there is a book entitled Every Hand Revealed, by Gus Hansen, that is just what the title says it is.
He dissects every hand of a live tournament and tells you what he was thinking as he played every hand. That's one of the poker books that I want to get at some point, but I'm trying to be careful to spend very little money on poker until I've established a regular income.
I actually planned to do this earlier, but in the earlier tournament, I played two hands and was out. I played both hands against a very loose opponent that was playing more than half his hands--in other words, he was bluffing a lot. My average in an MTT is to play around 15% of my hands, so just about any hand I play is ahead of his range, that is, the majority of his hands are going to be behind whatever I play. Usually, even the best players don't know exactly what another player is holding. They are playing against a player's "range." The thought process goes something like this. . . "Joe is a very tight player who usually doesn't open when he is first to act unless he has a big hand. He is probably playing a pair of tens or better, or ace-king." Then, as the hand goes along, further action might allow him to narrow the opponents range. I happened to get in big hands with him twice, both times he happened to have very good hands, and that was that.
There is a problem with doing a tournament report for this blog. Poker players who are reading this will want to see something different than my non-poker playing friends. So I'm going to do this one for the poker players, who understand the abbreviations and want to know details that the rest of you don't understand and/or don't care about.
In my next post, I'll copy and paste this, then insert some explanations/translations for those who aren't members of the poker literati.
PokerStars Tournament #302010964, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $2.00/$0.20 USD
This is the tournament entry fee. $2 goes to the prize pool, and PokerStars gets 20 cents.
3191 players
Total Prize Pool: $6382.00 USD
Starting stack of 3,000 chips
Starting time 2015
2030--Player "jean666" (not her complete player name, I don't "out" bad players online) is rated as a fish by HEM. Holdem Manager is a database program that keeps statistics on your play and that of your opponents. After only 13 hands, she is 77/0/1.4. (She puts money in the pot 77% of the times that she has that option, and raises 0% of the time). No action from me yet, I've been folding bad hands. It's a bad idea to out other players for at least three reasons. First, I took the time and spent the money to play against that player, study her, and take notes. Why should I give that information away free? Second, you don't want to humiliate the bad player and chase them off. Third, a player who is better than I could do the same thing to me.
2036--I still haven't played a hand. In 3 of 15 hands, jean has pushed a player out of the hand with a pot-size bet. It's very unlikely that she has the goods that often. I hope that I get to play a big hand against her before one of us switches tables.
2042--jean called 2 all-ins with T3s (ten-3 suited) and lost about 1/3 of her stack. I would love to catch some cards when she makes a move like that.
2047--I finally played a hand. I called the big blind, flopped 15 outs (fd/gs/oc), and hit my overcard (ace) on the river. My stack is 3,390, and I am 704 of 1,758 players still in, with late registration open until 2130. "Outs" are available cards that could improve your hand. For example, if I have two pair, sixes and fives, there are 2 sixes and 2 fives that are still out there somewhere. And since either another 6 or 5 would give me a full house, I would have 4 outs to improve my hand.
In this case I had a lot of outs because various cards would complete my flush draw, complete my gutshot (aka inside straight draw) or pair one of my overcards (cards higher than any of the community cards that are face up on the table). Sometimes you can have a weaker hand than anyone at the table, but have so many outs to improve that you are a mathematical favorite to win that hand.
2051--Vanessa Rousso got up on the desk, sat on my papers, and had to be evicted. No, my cat, not the poker pro. http://vanessarousso.com/ We needed a name for our new kitten, I was listening to the 2+2 PokerCast, and they named Vanessa as their female player of the year.
2055--I was moved to another table, and never played a hand against jean. :(
2055--Tournament break (5 minutes every hour)
2102--During the break I watched the International Space Station fly overhead. I was able to see it for about 3 minutes. I'm seldom in awe of anything or anyone, but that was an amazing experience! I already have my tournament highlight, that was it! And thanks to my wife for reminding me that it was time to get outside.
2119--After winning a couple small pots, I just lost about half my chips, down to 2,115. Button (the last player to act on every betting round except the first) checked (passed) and I raised with A9s in the small blind, button reraised and I called. A9s (ace-nine suited) isn't a great hand against a reraise, but with so many players playing junk early in MTTs, I tanked ("went in the tank"--stopped and thought for a while), decided it was worth seeing the flop (the first 3 of 5 community cards, which are shared by all the players to make the best possible poker hand) against one opponent, and reluctantly called. The fact that I had already seen bad players push players out of pots several times probably figured in my call as well.
The flop was three undercards, (cards lower than the 2 cards in my hand) button raised. At that point all I had was two overcards (six outs), so I needed to be getting at least 3.14 to 1 odds to call. I folded, and mentally kicked myself for calling a reraise out of position (out of position--one of the first to act, having to make a decison before you see what the other players do) with a good-but-not-great hand. Registration is over. I am 1,765 of 2,000, with 495 places paid.
2122--5 hands later. With AKo UTG+2, ("under the gun" plus 2, the third player to act) there was a raise and a reraise. All of my chips are probably going to wind up in the pot anyway, so it's best to move first, and I shoved (shoved all my chips into the middle of the table, went all in). I am called by AQo and double up. I'm now 867 of 1,822 with a stack of 4,580.
I'm in the top half of the field and just a bit under the average stack size of 5,327. I'm always reasonably happy when I'm in the top half of the field. When I get to the money, I usually do pretty well against players who don't understand when to take chances as the prize money gets bigger.
2127--I looked up "jean666" and she went out in 1,839th place at right about the time I doubled up. One of the things about tournament play that frustrates me the most is when someone like that is throwing her chips away, and I don't get to be one of the beneficiaries.
2133--Another table change. I have not played any hands since I doubled up. I have 4,344 chips (930 of 1,536) with an average stack of 1,536. About 1,000 players to get rid of before we hit the money.
Blinds (forced bets that rotate around the table so that everyone has to put one of the blinds in the pot twice each time around the table) are at 75/150 so my M (the number of times you can go around the table, at the current blind levels, before you run out of chips) is down to 19. I might have to start getting more aggressive soon. At this point my M becomes as important as my place in the tournament. I didn't realize that my M had dropped that far. I might have to reconsider doing any more of these tournament reports, or at least not take so many notes while I'm playing. As I have ADD, it's hard enough to concentrate, and my notetaking probably threw me off as far as keeping track of the tournament situation.
2155--Second break. I've played one hand since my double up and split the pot when we both showed AJo. My M is already down to 6. Wow, this really snuck up on me! I might be looking for a spot to shove real soon. I have 3,535 chips (not many more than I started with). Average stack is 9,039 and my place is 855 of 1,059.
2210--I shoved AQo UTG and picked up the blinds. My M is 7, place is 781 of 953. 500 more players to go before I cash. Of course, as the poker wisdom goes, I "play to win, not to cash", but I need to pick up more chips soon for either to happen. Plus, although it may go against that conventional wisdom, when I'm trying to build a big enough bankroll to generate an income, all cashes are welcome, even the small ones.
2219--I flopped a flush draw and shoved, and I didn't hit. Out in 852nd place. Not much to say in summary. Except perhaps for not watching my stack size closely enough and not getting more aggressive a little earlier, I don't think that I did much wrong. Looking back, it's easy to see the "luck" factor in poker. There were so many places that just one hand playing out a little differently could have made the difference. I was thinking about jean666 playing with garbage and unable to let go of a hand. Just one big hand for me when she was playing could have made a huge difference. But, as another poker saying goes, "Don't be results-oriented." Poker is about making good decisions, and over time, the results will follow.
Some have estimated poker to be about 25% luck (mainly what cards you and your opponents get, and when you get them) and 75% skill. It has been proven mathematically that over time, the best players will win. I will get those pots from players like jean666, my bankroll will grow, and I'll make a good living from this crazy game.I'm really hoping for a big month in April, when I don't have to adjust my sleep schedule and I can basically play, and sleep, whenever I want.
Posted by Poker Clif at 11:53 AM
#18 3/25/2010--Tournament Report #1B (Translation of #17)
ALL EXPLANATIONS WILL BE IN THIS COLOR.
I know that for me it's fun to read tournament reports, and see what the top players are doing and thinking while they play. In fact, there is a book entitled Every Hand Revealed, by Gus Hansen, that is just what the title says it is.
He dissects every hand of a live tournament and tells you what he was thinking as he played every hand. That's one of the poker books that I want to get at some point, but I'm trying to be careful to spend very little money on poker until I've established a regular income.
I actually planned to do this earlier, but in the earlier tournament, I played two hands and was out. I played both hands against a very loose opponent that was playing more than half his hands--in other words, he was bluffing a lot. My average in an MTT is to play around 15% of my hands, so just about any hand I play is ahead of his range, that is, the majority of his hands are going to be behind whatever I play. Usually, even the best players don't know exactly what another player is holding. They are playing against a player's "range." The thought process goes something like this. . . "Joe is a very tight player who usually doesn't open when he is first to act unless he has a big hand. He is probably playing a pair of tens or better, or ace-king." Then, as the hand goes along, further action might allow him to narrow the opponents range. I happened to get in big hands with him twice, both times he happened to have very good hands, and that was that.
There is a problem with doing a tournament report for this blog. Poker players who are reading this will want to see something different than my non-poker playing friends. So I'm going to do this one for the poker players, who understand the abbreviations and want to know details that the rest of you don't understand and/or don't care about.
In my next post, I'll copy and paste this, then insert some explanations/translations for those who aren't members of the poker literati.
PokerStars Tournament #302010964, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $2.00/$0.20 USD
This is the tournament entry fee. $2 goes to the prize pool, and PokerStars gets 20 cents.
3191 players
Total Prize Pool: $6382.00 USD
Starting stack of 3,000 chips
Starting time 2015
2030--Player "jean666" (not her complete player name, I don't "out" bad players online) is rated as a fish by HEM. Holdem Manager is a database program that keeps statistics on your play and that of your opponents. After only 13 hands, she is 77/0/1.4. (She puts money in the pot 77% of the times that she has that option, and raises 0% of the time). No action from me yet, I've been folding bad hands. It's a bad idea to out other players for at least three reasons. First, I took the time and spent the money to play against that player, study her, and take notes. Why should I give that information away free? Second, you don't want to humiliate the bad player and chase them off. Third, a player who is better than I could do the same thing to me.
2036--I still haven't played a hand. In 3 of 15 hands, jean has pushed a player out of the hand with a pot-size bet. It's very unlikely that she has the goods that often. I hope that I get to play a big hand against her before one of us switches tables.
2042--jean called 2 all-ins with T3s (ten-3 suited) and lost about 1/3 of her stack. I would love to catch some cards when she makes a move like that.
2047--I finally played a hand. I called the big blind, flopped 15 outs (fd/gs/oc), and hit my overcard (ace) on the river. My stack is 3,390, and I am 704 of 1,758 players still in, with late registration open until 2130. "Outs" are available cards that could improve your hand. For example, if I have two pair, sixes and fives, there are 2 sixes and 2 fives that are still out there somewhere. And since either another 6 or 5 would give me a full house, I would have 4 outs to improve my hand.
In this case I had a lot of outs because various cards would complete my flush draw, complete my gutshot (aka inside straight draw) or pair one of my overcards (cards higher than any of the community cards that are face up on the table). Sometimes you can have a weaker hand than anyone at the table, but have so many outs to improve that you are a mathematical favorite to win that hand.
2051--Vanessa Rousso got up on the desk, sat on my papers, and had to be evicted. No, my cat, not the poker pro. http://vanessarousso.com/ We needed a name for our new kitten, I was listening to the 2+2 PokerCast, and they named Vanessa as their female player of the year.
2055--I was moved to another table, and never played a hand against jean. :(
2055--Tournament break (5 minutes every hour)
2102--During the break I watched the International Space Station fly overhead. I was able to see it for about 3 minutes. I'm seldom in awe of anything or anyone, but that was an amazing experience! I already have my tournament highlight, that was it! And thanks to my wife for reminding me that it was time to get outside.
2119--After winning a couple small pots, I just lost about half my chips, down to 2,115. Button (the last player to act on every betting round except the first) checked (passed) and I raised with A9s in the small blind, button reraised and I called. A9s (ace-nine suited) isn't a great hand against a reraise, but with so many players playing junk early in MTTs, I tanked ("went in the tank"--stopped and thought for a while), decided it was worth seeing the flop (the first 3 of 5 community cards, which are shared by all the players to make the best possible poker hand) against one opponent, and reluctantly called. The fact that I had already seen bad players push players out of pots several times probably figured in my call as well.
The flop was three undercards, (cards lower than the 2 cards in my hand) button raised. At that point all I had was two overcards (six outs), so I needed to be getting at least 3.14 to 1 odds to call. I folded, and mentally kicked myself for calling a reraise out of position (out of position--one of the first to act, having to make a decison before you see what the other players do) with a good-but-not-great hand. Registration is over. I am 1,765 of 2,000, with 495 places paid.
2122--5 hands later. With AKo UTG+2, ("under the gun" plus 2, the third player to act) there was a raise and a reraise. All of my chips are probably going to wind up in the pot anyway, so it's best to move first, and I shoved (shoved all my chips into the middle of the table, went all in). I am called by AQo and double up. I'm now 867 of 1,822 with a stack of 4,580.
I'm in the top half of the field and just a bit under the average stack size of 5,327. I'm always reasonably happy when I'm in the top half of the field. When I get to the money, I usually do pretty well against players who don't understand when to take chances as the prize money gets bigger.
2127--I looked up "jean666" and she went out in 1,839th place at right about the time I doubled up. One of the things about tournament play that frustrates me the most is when someone like that is throwing her chips away, and I don't get to be one of the beneficiaries.
2133--Another table change. I have not played any hands since I doubled up. I have 4,344 chips (930 of 1,536) with an average stack of 1,536. About 1,000 players to get rid of before we hit the money.
Blinds (forced bets that rotate around the table so that everyone has to put one of the blinds in the pot twice each time around the table) are at 75/150 so my M (the number of times you can go around the table, at the current blind levels, before you run out of chips) is down to 19. I might have to start getting more aggressive soon. At this point my M becomes as important as my place in the tournament. I didn't realize that my M had dropped that far. I might have to reconsider doing any more of these tournament reports, or at least not take so many notes while I'm playing. As I have ADD, it's hard enough to concentrate, and my notetaking probably threw me off as far as keeping track of the tournament situation.
2155--Second break. I've played one hand since my double up and split the pot when we both showed AJo. My M is already down to 6. Wow, this really snuck up on me! I might be looking for a spot to shove real soon. I have 3,535 chips (not many more than I started with). Average stack is 9,039 and my place is 855 of 1,059.
2210--I shoved AQo UTG and picked up the blinds. My M is 7, place is 781 of 953. 500 more players to go before I cash. Of course, as the poker wisdom goes, I "play to win, not to cash", but I need to pick up more chips soon for either to happen. Plus, although it may go against that conventional wisdom, when I'm trying to build a big enough bankroll to generate an income, all cashes are welcome, even the small ones.
2219--I flopped a flush draw and shoved, and I didn't hit. Out in 852nd place. Not much to say in summary. Except perhaps for not watching my stack size closely enough and not getting more aggressive a little earlier, I don't think that I did much wrong. Looking back, it's easy to see the "luck" factor in poker. There were so many places that just one hand playing out a little differently could have made the difference. I was thinking about jean666 playing with garbage and unable to let go of a hand. Just one big hand for me when she was playing could have made a huge difference. But, as another poker saying goes, "Don't be results-oriented." Poker is about making good decisions, and over time, the results will follow.
Some have estimated poker to be about 25% luck (mainly what cards you and your opponents get, and when you get them) and 75% skill. It has been proven mathematically that over time, the best players will win. I will get those pots from players like jean666, my bankroll will grow, and I'll make a good living from this crazy game.I'm really hoping for a big month in April, when I don't have to adjust my sleep schedule and I can basically play, and sleep, whenever I want.
Posted by Poker Clif at 11:53 AM
Saturday, March 20, 2010
#18 3/23/2010 Tournament Report #1A--for the poker players
I know that for me it's fun to read tournament reports, and see what the top players are doing and thinking while they play. In fact, there is a book entitled Every Hand Revealed, by Gus Hansen, that is just what the title says it is. He dissects every hand of a live tournament and tells you what he was thinking as he played every hand.
That's one of the poker books that I want to get at some point, but I'm trying to be careful to spend very little money on poker until I've established a regular income.
I actually planned to do this earlier, but in the earlier tournament, I played two hands and was out. I played both hands against a very loose opponent that was playing more than half his hands--in other words, he was bluffing a lot. My average in an MTT is to play around 15% of my hands, so just about any hand I play is ahead of his range, that is, the majority of his hands are going to be behind whatever I play. I happened to get in big hands with him twice, both times he happened to have very good hands, and that was that.
There is a problem with doing a tournament report for this blog. Poker players who are reading this will want to see something different than my non-poker playing friends. So I'm going to do this one for the poker players, who understand the abbreviations and want to know details that the rest of you don't understand and/or don't care about.
In my next post, I'll copy and paste this, then insert some explanations/translations for those who aren't members of the poker literati.
PokerStars Tournament #302010964, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $2.00/$0.20 USD
3191 players
Total Prize Pool: $6382.00 USD
Starting stack of 3,000 chips
Starting time 2015
That's one of the poker books that I want to get at some point, but I'm trying to be careful to spend very little money on poker until I've established a regular income.
I actually planned to do this earlier, but in the earlier tournament, I played two hands and was out. I played both hands against a very loose opponent that was playing more than half his hands--in other words, he was bluffing a lot. My average in an MTT is to play around 15% of my hands, so just about any hand I play is ahead of his range, that is, the majority of his hands are going to be behind whatever I play. I happened to get in big hands with him twice, both times he happened to have very good hands, and that was that.
There is a problem with doing a tournament report for this blog. Poker players who are reading this will want to see something different than my non-poker playing friends. So I'm going to do this one for the poker players, who understand the abbreviations and want to know details that the rest of you don't understand and/or don't care about.
In my next post, I'll copy and paste this, then insert some explanations/translations for those who aren't members of the poker literati.
PokerStars Tournament #302010964, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $2.00/$0.20 USD
3191 players
Total Prize Pool: $6382.00 USD
Starting stack of 3,000 chips
Starting time 2015
2030--Player "jean666" (not her complete player name, I don't "out" bad players online) is rated as a fish by HEM. After only 13 hands, she is 77/0/1.4. No action from me yet, I've been folding bad hands.
2036--I still haven't played a hand. In 3 of 15 hands, jean has pushed a player out of the hand with a pot-size bet. It's very unlikely that she has the goods that often. I hope that I get to play a big hand against her before one of us switches tables.
2042--jean called 2 all-ins with T3s and lost about 1/3 of her stack. I would love to catch some cards when she makes a move like that.
2047--I finally played a hand. I called the big blind, flopped 15 outs (fd/gs/oc), and hit my overcard (ace) on the river. My stack is 3,390, and I am 704 of 1,758 players still in, with late registration open until 2130.
2051--Vanessa Rousso got up on the desk, sat on my papers, and had to be evicted. No, my cat, not the poker pro. http://vanessarousso.com/ We needed a name for our new kitten, I was listening to the 2+2 PokerCast, and they named Vanessa as their female player of the year.
2055--I was moved to another table, and never played a hand against jean. :(
2055--Tournament break
2102--During the break I watched the International Space Station fly overhead. I was able to see it for about 3 minutes. I'm seldom in awe of anything or anyone, but that was an amazing experience! I already have my tournament highlight, that was it! And thanks to my wife for reminding me that it was time to get outside.
2119--After winning a couple small pots I just lost about half my chips, down to 2,115. Button checked and I raised with A9s in the small blind, button reraised and I called. A9s isn't a great hand against a reraise, but with so many players playing junk early in MTTs, I tanked, decided it was worth seeing the flop against one opponent, and reluctantly called. The fact that I had already seen bad players push players out of pots several times probably figured in my call as well.
The flop was three undercards, button raised. At that point all I had was two overcards (six outs), so I needed to be getting at least 3.14 to 1 odds to call. I folded, and mentally kicked myself for calling a reraise out of position with a good-but-not-great hand.
Registration is over. I am 1,765 of 2,000, with 495 places paid.
2122--5 hands later. With AKo UTG+2, there was a raise and a reraise. All of my chips are probably going to wind up in the pot anyway, so it's best to move first, and I shoved. I am called by AQo and double up. I'm now 867 of 18,22 with a stack of 4,580.
I'm in the top half of the field and just a bit under the average stack size of 5,327. I'm always reasonably happy when I'm in the top half of the field. When I get to the money, I usually do pretty well against players who don't understand when to take chances as the prize money gets bigger.
2127--I looked up "jean666" and she went out in 1,839th place at right about the time I doubled up. One of the things about tournament play that frustrates me the most is when someone like that is throwing her chips away, and I don't get to be one of the beneficiaries.
2133--Another table change. I have not played any hands since I doubled up. I have 4,344 chips (930 of 1,536) with an average stack of 1,536. About 1,000 players to get rid of before we hit the money.
Blinds are at 75/150 so my M is down to 19. I might have to start getting more aggressive soon. At this point my M becomes as important as my place in the tournament. I didn't realize that my M had dropped that far. I might have to reconsider doing any more of these tournament reports, or at least not take so many notes while I'm playing. As I have ADD, it's hard enough to concentrate, and my notetaking probably threw me off as far as keeping track of the tournament situation.
2155--Second break. I've played one hand since my double up and split the pot when we both showed AJo. My M is already down to 6. Wow, this really snuck up on me! I might be looking for a spot to shove real soon. I have 3,535 chips (not many more than I started with). Average stack is 9,039 and my place is 855 of 1,059.
2210--I shoved AQo UTG and picked up the blinds. My M is 7, place is 781 of 953. 500 more players to go before I cash. Of course, as the poker wisdom goes, I "play to win, not to cash", but I need to pick up more chips soon for either to happen. Plus, although it may go against that conventional wisdom, when I'm trying to build a big enough bankroll to generate an income, all cashes are welcome, even the small ones.
2219--I flopped a flush draw and shoved, and I didn't hit. Out in 852nd place.
Not much to say in summary. Except perhaps for not watching my stack size closely enough and not getting more aggressive a little earlier, I don't think that I did much wrong. Looking back, it's easy to see the "luck" factor in poker. There were so many places that just one hand playing out a little differently could have made the difference. I think about jean666, who was playing garbage and couldn't let go of a hand. Just one big hand for me when she was playing could have made a huge difference.
But, poker isn't about results, it's about making good decisions. Some have estimated poker to be about 25% luck and 75% skill. It has been proven mathematically that over time, the best players will win. I will get those pots from players like jean666, my bankroll will grow, and I'll make a good living from this crazy game.
I'm really hoping for a big month in April, when I don't have to adjust my sleep schedule and I can basically play, and sleep, whenever I want.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
#17, 3/16/2010 Weekly Summary
Week of March 7-13, -$5.00
March 1-March 13, +$19.97
Last week got away from me at the end. There were a couple times when I was about to cash, took a risk to move up (playing to win, not to cash) and it didn't work out. Still, it's the right play in the long run, so I'm not too upset about it.
All one can do it poker is make good decisions and ride out the variance until things turn around. And, as I've always told my wife, daily results don't matter, and weeks don't matter very much. All that matters to me is whether I'm up at the end of the month, and by that measure I'm on the right track.
My next post will be a tournament report.
March 1-March 13, +$19.97
Last week got away from me at the end. There were a couple times when I was about to cash, took a risk to move up (playing to win, not to cash) and it didn't work out. Still, it's the right play in the long run, so I'm not too upset about it.
All one can do it poker is make good decisions and ride out the variance until things turn around. And, as I've always told my wife, daily results don't matter, and weeks don't matter very much. All that matters to me is whether I'm up at the end of the month, and by that measure I'm on the right track.
My next post will be a tournament report.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
#16, 3/9/2010 Still going well; bankroll management
It occured to me that I should start both numbering and dating my posts, for easier reference. I didn't do either when I started out.
Week of 2/28 through 3/6, +$14.80
Last three days, 3/6 through 3/8, +$20.57
Bankroll end of 3/8, $150.37
I would like to do better than this, but as far as bankroll growth, if in my down months (daytime schedule) my bankroll goes up by $100, that would be a decent result. And since I've been a winner as high as $10 in the past, those targets are definitely achievable.
I moved up to $4 tournaments when I had 50 buy-ins, which is a bit low if I mix in many larger tournaments (which of course have greater variance), so I'm going to start adding an extra buy-in for each dollar that I move up. So before I move up, to start the process of getting my mathematical risk of ruin down to something like 2%*, I'm going to wait to move up from $3.30 to $4.40 maximum buy-in until I have $4.40 x 51 = $224.40.
My bankroll is over $150, so by bumping it an average of $25 a week I will be able to play at $4.40 in 3 weeks. It should be sooner than that, since in April I will be on my night schedule, and should get more playing hours and make more money.
Of course as I move up in buy-in level, the prize pools will get bigger, and I will win more money, and I will start building my bankroll for the next level up, again requiring one extra buy-in. When I get to $5 I'll start thinking about when I can start taking money out to help with the family bills.
It's an interesting balancing act--start make a small contribution to the family budget (say, $25 a month) once I start playing $5 tournaments, which will slow down my bankroll building. Or I can wait, build my bankroll more quickly, and contribute $100 or more a little later.
Of course, there is a third option. I might make a big cash in a tourament. Last year I won $250 cash in a live tournament (first out of about 50 players), and a $384 in an online tournament (5th of 2,200).
That big score will happen again sooner or later, but I have to be careful when it does. I don't want to move up in levels too fast. Rocketing through the levels because of a couple big scores can be dangerous, because you don't take the time to gain experience at each level. You don't get to know the players, but more than that, moving up too fast can put you in tournaments against much better players before you're ready.
Whatever happens with my bankroll, I'll follow a suggestion that I read on the 2+2 forums to spend a month at each level. (When the writer used the word "level" he was talking about $5 or $10 jumps, but since I'm not even back up to $5 yet, I'll have to think a little smaller.
I'm back on track now, and I'm not about to screw it up.
* The truth is that I can't really accurately calculate my risk of ruin. I have very small samples sizes over many types and sizes of tournaments, so trying to calculate my ROR would be statistically meaningless. But I know that with the types of tournaments that I play and the size of my bankroll, my ROR is way over 2%, and I need to bring that number down much closer to zero.
Week of 2/28 through 3/6, +$14.80
Last three days, 3/6 through 3/8, +$20.57
Bankroll end of 3/8, $150.37
I would like to do better than this, but as far as bankroll growth, if in my down months (daytime schedule) my bankroll goes up by $100, that would be a decent result. And since I've been a winner as high as $10 in the past, those targets are definitely achievable.
I moved up to $4 tournaments when I had 50 buy-ins, which is a bit low if I mix in many larger tournaments (which of course have greater variance), so I'm going to start adding an extra buy-in for each dollar that I move up. So before I move up, to start the process of getting my mathematical risk of ruin down to something like 2%*, I'm going to wait to move up from $3.30 to $4.40 maximum buy-in until I have $4.40 x 51 = $224.40.
My bankroll is over $150, so by bumping it an average of $25 a week I will be able to play at $4.40 in 3 weeks. It should be sooner than that, since in April I will be on my night schedule, and should get more playing hours and make more money.
Of course as I move up in buy-in level, the prize pools will get bigger, and I will win more money, and I will start building my bankroll for the next level up, again requiring one extra buy-in. When I get to $5 I'll start thinking about when I can start taking money out to help with the family bills.
It's an interesting balancing act--start make a small contribution to the family budget (say, $25 a month) once I start playing $5 tournaments, which will slow down my bankroll building. Or I can wait, build my bankroll more quickly, and contribute $100 or more a little later.
Of course, there is a third option. I might make a big cash in a tourament. Last year I won $250 cash in a live tournament (first out of about 50 players), and a $384 in an online tournament (5th of 2,200).
That big score will happen again sooner or later, but I have to be careful when it does. I don't want to move up in levels too fast. Rocketing through the levels because of a couple big scores can be dangerous, because you don't take the time to gain experience at each level. You don't get to know the players, but more than that, moving up too fast can put you in tournaments against much better players before you're ready.
Whatever happens with my bankroll, I'll follow a suggestion that I read on the 2+2 forums to spend a month at each level. (When the writer used the word "level" he was talking about $5 or $10 jumps, but since I'm not even back up to $5 yet, I'll have to think a little smaller.
I'm back on track now, and I'm not about to screw it up.
* The truth is that I can't really accurately calculate my risk of ruin. I have very small samples sizes over many types and sizes of tournaments, so trying to calculate my ROR would be statistically meaningless. But I know that with the types of tournaments that I play and the size of my bankroll, my ROR is way over 2%, and I need to bring that number down much closer to zero.
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