You know you are doing well and running good when your days looks like this:
+$34.89
+$28
+$118
-$17
+$28
+$46
+$33
+$105
+$46
+$34.63
+$38
+$60
And - visa versa - you know when things are SOMEWHAT different:
-$14.25
-$3
-$3
-$1.10
-$17.25
all amounts from playing 6-8 tables of $10+1. Though I have to admit, todays session was starting with loading the $10 and ended with loading some $2 - LMAO.
I somehow (funny hah) felt the variance sneaking up on me the last many days/sets, and when my first table of todays $10 started (ended!) like this:
Full Tilt Poker Game: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (214179879), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 03:26:42 ET - 2011/01/24
Seat 1: Clinto_NZ (1,310)
Seat 2: R Calazans (1,215)
Seat 3: Firmian (2,285)
Seat 4: Sweetdeals (1,075)
Seat 5: PokaProphet (1,250)
Seat 6: Juanin52 (1,455), is sitting out
Seat 7: HERO (1,080)
Seat 8: ecirtap1977 (1,970)
Seat 9: Slickville (1,860)
ecirtap1977 posts the small blind of 20
Slickville posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [Tc Th]
Clinto_NZ folds
R Calazans folds
Firmian folds
Sweetdeals folds
PokaProphet folds
Juanin52 folds
HERO raises to 120
ecirtap1977 folds
Slickville calls 80
*** FLOP *** [4s 6h 5s]
Slickville bets 360
HERO raises to 960, and is all in
Slickville calls 600
HERO shows [Tc Th]
Slickville shows [As 5d]
*** TURN *** [4s 6h 5s] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [4s 6h 5s 8s] [Js]
HERO shows a pair of Tens
Slickville shows a flush, Ace high
Slickville wins the pot (2,180) with a flush, Ace high
I just knew how my path of badbeats was laid out for me. And of course I had to be humiliated with a runner runner flush. FFS just give him an A or another 5. This hand also shows you why these games are so juicy, but variance rules!
Only consolation is that I'm able to cut my losses to a minimum, but I'm seriously considering just playing the $2+0.25 to reduce losses further. Also I can juggle a bit with more tables, setups, and playing continuous, so that I'm prepared when things turn normal.
This day needs some song with power, and I introduce to you the Danish band "Nephew"
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Raping the regulars
Okay, don't misunderstand me. I'm not messing with some REG player, just running over the regular sng-tables as you can see:
Yes looks amazing - right? Nevertheless, taking out the luck I'm still running at 24.8% EV-adjusted ROI for the $10+1, so when variance settles I guess it's going to fade out somewhere between 15-20%, hopefully just around 20%. The ITM also looks like something one would wish would last forever, and it's nice to have some ROI and ITM to "spend".
As you can see I have played a few sets with 8 tables which have been going rather well, only trouble is how to arrange those 8 tables on my screen. At some point I have to consider playing more tables for higher $/hour, but maybe I'll stick to my old plan of moving up through the limits with just 4-6 tables - remember I'm not playing for the money (yearh right) but for the challenge.
When megatabling, you are missing many valuable spots. One is, when someone is betting into a pot without you having a hand. But playing fewer tables you can have full control and find spots where you can take control of the play. Here I will show you some:
Full Tilt Poker Game #27174042783: $10 + $1 Sit & Go, Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 03:19:32 ET - 2011/01/11
Seat 1: IrishCubsFan1 (1,150)
Seat 2: New Yoyk (2,750)
Seat 3: MattySpacowski2 (1,035)
Seat 5: lvtravellers (2,380)
Seat 6: funk1 (2,050)
Seat 7: HERO (2,240)
Seat 9: Oliver Grinder (1,895)
funk1 posts the small blind of 50
HERO posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [Kh 6h]
Oliver Grinder folds
IrishCubsFan1 folds
New Yoyk folds
MattySpacowski2 folds
lvtravellers folds
funk1 has 15 seconds left to act
funk1 calls 50
HERO checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 3c 7h]
funk1 bets 100
HERO has 15 seconds left to act
HERO raises to 245
funk1 folds
Uncalled bet of 145 returned to HERO
HERO mucks
HERO wins the pot (400)
His minbet screams steal - and I'm not likely to let those 200(300) go without a fight - so a little raise does the job.
Here is one HU from another game:
Full Tilt Poker Game #27174366521: $10 + $1 Sit & Go, Table 1 - 150/300 - No Limit Hold'em - 03:51:55 ET - 2011/01/11
Seat 6: Spanky25 (5,220)
Seat 9: HERO (8,280)
HERO posts the small blind of 150
Spanky25 posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [8s 7d]
HERO calls 150
Spanky25 checks
*** FLOP *** [As Tc Ks]
Spanky25 bets 300
HERO has 15 seconds left to act
HERO raises to 745
Spanky25 calls 445
*** TURN *** [As Tc Ks] [5c]
Spanky25 checks
HERO bets 945
Spanky25 has 15 seconds left to act
Spanky25 folds
Uncalled bet of 945 returned to HERO
HERO mucks
HERO wins the pot (2,090)
Again I don't value his donkbet much, and think I can get him to fold if I raise. But when he calls he must have something, most likely some kind of a draw, the king or the ten. The river is a blank, so when he checks I'm pretty sure he will fold to a second bullet where I can rep an ace or even a str8 - and he does!
Now all good things come to an end, and lately my luck has been fading out - running even-EV - and my last 2 sets have been -EV, so maybe my next post will be about variance?
Yes looks amazing - right? Nevertheless, taking out the luck I'm still running at 24.8% EV-adjusted ROI for the $10+1, so when variance settles I guess it's going to fade out somewhere between 15-20%, hopefully just around 20%. The ITM also looks like something one would wish would last forever, and it's nice to have some ROI and ITM to "spend".
As you can see I have played a few sets with 8 tables which have been going rather well, only trouble is how to arrange those 8 tables on my screen. At some point I have to consider playing more tables for higher $/hour, but maybe I'll stick to my old plan of moving up through the limits with just 4-6 tables - remember I'm not playing for the money (yearh right) but for the challenge.
When megatabling, you are missing many valuable spots. One is, when someone is betting into a pot without you having a hand. But playing fewer tables you can have full control and find spots where you can take control of the play. Here I will show you some:
Full Tilt Poker Game #27174042783: $10 + $1 Sit & Go, Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 03:19:32 ET - 2011/01/11
Seat 1: IrishCubsFan1 (1,150)
Seat 2: New Yoyk (2,750)
Seat 3: MattySpacowski2 (1,035)
Seat 5: lvtravellers (2,380)
Seat 6: funk1 (2,050)
Seat 7: HERO (2,240)
Seat 9: Oliver Grinder (1,895)
funk1 posts the small blind of 50
HERO posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [Kh 6h]
Oliver Grinder folds
IrishCubsFan1 folds
New Yoyk folds
MattySpacowski2 folds
lvtravellers folds
funk1 has 15 seconds left to act
funk1 calls 50
HERO checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 3c 7h]
funk1 bets 100
HERO has 15 seconds left to act
HERO raises to 245
funk1 folds
Uncalled bet of 145 returned to HERO
HERO mucks
HERO wins the pot (400)
His minbet screams steal - and I'm not likely to let those 200(300) go without a fight - so a little raise does the job.
Here is one HU from another game:
Full Tilt Poker Game #27174366521: $10 + $1 Sit & Go, Table 1 - 150/300 - No Limit Hold'em - 03:51:55 ET - 2011/01/11
Seat 6: Spanky25 (5,220)
Seat 9: HERO (8,280)
HERO posts the small blind of 150
Spanky25 posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [8s 7d]
HERO calls 150
Spanky25 checks
*** FLOP *** [As Tc Ks]
Spanky25 bets 300
HERO has 15 seconds left to act
HERO raises to 745
Spanky25 calls 445
*** TURN *** [As Tc Ks] [5c]
Spanky25 checks
HERO bets 945
Spanky25 has 15 seconds left to act
Spanky25 folds
Uncalled bet of 945 returned to HERO
HERO mucks
HERO wins the pot (2,090)
Again I don't value his donkbet much, and think I can get him to fold if I raise. But when he calls he must have something, most likely some kind of a draw, the king or the ten. The river is a blank, so when he checks I'm pretty sure he will fold to a second bullet where I can rep an ace or even a str8 - and he does!
Now all good things come to an end, and lately my luck has been fading out - running even-EV - and my last 2 sets have been -EV, so maybe my next post will be about variance?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Trying the $20+2
Could not resist trying out the next level, so started up 2 tables of $20+2 regular sng.
Had a pretty good start on the first table, but then ran a little carddead. Then at level 40/80 I have queens in the bigblind, and face an UTG+1 3x raise. My stack is 1595 so I don't want to push, and just call hoping not to see an ace. Flop comes 3 blanks under 9 and I checkraise him all-in, just to see two kings! But a lovely lady shows up on the river. I make 3rd place shoving 9bb with K6 into A9s.
On the second table I make it to the bubble with 3rd in chips, but then 17 hands in a row I get NO cards and NO opportunities to push . Furthermore I sit after the low stack who is a REG, and the REG has a fish to his right who folds or limps his small blind to him. And of course I have another REG sitting after me! If only the seating had been different I think i could have made it in the money here also?
Have to say that if I had not been lucky in BOTH games, I would have lost the $44.
This level however, is almost like another world of playing. Usually I study the next level before trying it out so that I have the regs marked, but this time I did it in game. And when we finished I saw that I had been playing 3 regs in each game. Not +EV!
Still, most players at this level knows what they are doing. But when I have gathered some more money on level $10+1 and have studied and found the regs in level $20+2 - I will move up, and I will counqer!
Had a pretty good start on the first table, but then ran a little carddead. Then at level 40/80 I have queens in the bigblind, and face an UTG+1 3x raise. My stack is 1595 so I don't want to push, and just call hoping not to see an ace. Flop comes 3 blanks under 9 and I checkraise him all-in, just to see two kings! But a lovely lady shows up on the river. I make 3rd place shoving 9bb with K6 into A9s.
On the second table I make it to the bubble with 3rd in chips, but then 17 hands in a row I get NO cards and NO opportunities to push . Furthermore I sit after the low stack who is a REG, and the REG has a fish to his right who folds or limps his small blind to him. And of course I have another REG sitting after me! If only the seating had been different I think i could have made it in the money here also?
Have to say that if I had not been lucky in BOTH games, I would have lost the $44.
This level however, is almost like another world of playing. Usually I study the next level before trying it out so that I have the regs marked, but this time I did it in game. And when we finished I saw that I had been playing 3 regs in each game. Not +EV!
Still, most players at this level knows what they are doing. But when I have gathered some more money on level $10+1 and have studied and found the regs in level $20+2 - I will move up, and I will counqer!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Goals for 2011
Now soon it is New Years Eve, and as many other maybe looking back at the passing year and making goals for the coming one, this is never something I have done. But as far as poker goes - and for the sake of this blog - I will make an exception. Off course I will spare you for my boring life, and only make it about poker.
In my last post I came around my poker up till now, so I will name some long term goals for my sit and go play. I wont be making any really short term goals or volume goals, because I don't want to be committed to play if I don't have the urge.
So here it comes:
- I want to reach level $30+3, maybe with a mix of $50+5.
- Maintaining a ROI of +10% at that level ---OR--- Making a minimum of $16/hour.
- Multitabling 12-16 tables - depending on the affect on $/hour.
- Becoming better at handling variance.
- Finding a sweat partner, or be in a sweat group.
To reach those goals I want to move up in level when I have around 50-60 BI. I don't want to play a certain number of games in one level before I move up, it will be more of a feel of the given level and play that will make me try to move up. I hope to reach level $20+2 in 3-4 months.
At some point I might make another move at the turbos, because sometimes I don't play a set if I only have one single free hour. This may affect some of my above goals, but should only be a matter of the level I will reach.
To finish this post, I will introduce you to a great Danish singer, with a song suitable for christmas/new year:
Happy new year!
In my last post I came around my poker up till now, so I will name some long term goals for my sit and go play. I wont be making any really short term goals or volume goals, because I don't want to be committed to play if I don't have the urge.
So here it comes:
- I want to reach level $30+3, maybe with a mix of $50+5.
- Maintaining a ROI of +10% at that level ---OR--- Making a minimum of $16/hour.
- Multitabling 12-16 tables - depending on the affect on $/hour.
- Becoming better at handling variance.
- Finding a sweat partner, or be in a sweat group.
To reach those goals I want to move up in level when I have around 50-60 BI. I don't want to play a certain number of games in one level before I move up, it will be more of a feel of the given level and play that will make me try to move up. I hope to reach level $20+2 in 3-4 months.
At some point I might make another move at the turbos, because sometimes I don't play a set if I only have one single free hour. This may affect some of my above goals, but should only be a matter of the level I will reach.
To finish this post, I will introduce you to a great Danish singer, with a song suitable for christmas/new year:
Happy new year!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
My journey in regular sit and go.
I first started playing sng in early 2009 and had no idea of ICM (heard of it), handranges, push/fold, multitabling or variance. So I made myself a little challenge; would play 20-30 sngs and see how I would do, and calculate my ROI. Apparently I thought that if I could make some money in those few games, I would be overall winning!?
So I started nice and easy with one table $5+0.50 on Ipoker, and had a pretty good start with one 3rd, two 2nd and one 1st place in only 7 games. Then I tried a single $10+1 and won it! From there on I decided that this was way better than loose your whole stack in cashgame to a 3-outer.
I continued to play the $5 and instead of moving up, I decided to put more tables on. First 2, then 4 and by may 2009 I had played my first 21 $5 games with a healthy ROI of 29.9%. Yes, I know - only 21 games in 3-4 months.
In august 2009 after playing around 100 $5 and still having a ROI of around 30% I tried to move up and play $10 but could not win in them. So after about 150 games I got tired of not getting anywhere, and stopped playing sng.
Then i February 2010 I stumbled over Moshman stake and applied for a stake, playing the 45man turbo. I got a 50/50 contract and had to play 100 games a week. After the first week and a profit off $96, I made my first encounter with the bitch called variance. And after another 60 games, loosing almost everything again, I asked for the stake to end, as I could not deal with the swings, and had to admit that I was not to be a grinder, but had to settle with poker as a hobby.
Somewhat crestfallen, I hiked around in poker-nowhereland not able to decide what to play. Finally in August 2010 - after quite some studying - I made my mind up to start in the $5 sng again, now at FullTilt. Started with 4 tables, then quickly 6- and 8-tabling.
But man these games take sooo long, so I tried shifting to turbos and got hammered:
Quickly back to regular again, and when I looked at my graph of the $5, I decided it was time to move up:
I started my move to the next level with 2 tables at a time, then 4 and now 6 tables. Now when I had my encounter with that bitch called variance again in the turbos, I fell on my knees and apologized to her: I'm so sorry ma'am for calling you a bitch" and now look what happened with my game:
WOW - what a heater! Finally she paid me back from the all the turbo 45s and 9s. So now when I play, I have my ma'am standing next to me. Sure hope she's gonna stay for long.
Now I know i have very few games, but when I look at my EV-adjusted ROI it still is very healthy with 24.5%. Furthermore, the most players in these games are just horrible, spewing chips left and right. But lets see how things develop when things eventually goes for the worse and the green line turns.
So I started nice and easy with one table $5+0.50 on Ipoker, and had a pretty good start with one 3rd, two 2nd and one 1st place in only 7 games. Then I tried a single $10+1 and won it! From there on I decided that this was way better than loose your whole stack in cashgame to a 3-outer.
I continued to play the $5 and instead of moving up, I decided to put more tables on. First 2, then 4 and by may 2009 I had played my first 21 $5 games with a healthy ROI of 29.9%. Yes, I know - only 21 games in 3-4 months.
In august 2009 after playing around 100 $5 and still having a ROI of around 30% I tried to move up and play $10 but could not win in them. So after about 150 games I got tired of not getting anywhere, and stopped playing sng.
Then i February 2010 I stumbled over Moshman stake and applied for a stake, playing the 45man turbo. I got a 50/50 contract and had to play 100 games a week. After the first week and a profit off $96, I made my first encounter with the bitch called variance. And after another 60 games, loosing almost everything again, I asked for the stake to end, as I could not deal with the swings, and had to admit that I was not to be a grinder, but had to settle with poker as a hobby.
Somewhat crestfallen, I hiked around in poker-nowhereland not able to decide what to play. Finally in August 2010 - after quite some studying - I made my mind up to start in the $5 sng again, now at FullTilt. Started with 4 tables, then quickly 6- and 8-tabling.
But man these games take sooo long, so I tried shifting to turbos and got hammered:
Quickly back to regular again, and when I looked at my graph of the $5, I decided it was time to move up:
I started my move to the next level with 2 tables at a time, then 4 and now 6 tables. Now when I had my encounter with that bitch called variance again in the turbos, I fell on my knees and apologized to her: I'm so sorry ma'am for calling you a bitch" and now look what happened with my game:
WOW - what a heater! Finally she paid me back from the all the turbo 45s and 9s. So now when I play, I have my ma'am standing next to me. Sure hope she's gonna stay for long.
Now I know i have very few games, but when I look at my EV-adjusted ROI it still is very healthy with 24.5%. Furthermore, the most players in these games are just horrible, spewing chips left and right. But lets see how things develop when things eventually goes for the worse and the green line turns.
Monday, December 20, 2010
For U'all
Hi there world and everyone. Finally took the jump to blog about my pokercareer, and maybe some other stuff, which most likely will be jokes and music when I stumble upon some good stuff. We Danish Vikings play some gooood poker, but not many small-stakers blog about it - so here's one.
I'm not like most of you young guns who grind long hours day in and day out. I would love to be so, but unfortenately i was born way before poker took off, so I have to deal with poker as a hobby. Yes, as you now guessed, I'm kind of an oldtimer - 46 - but my mind is still going strong, in fact maybe even stronger than ever.
As you can see from my blogtitle, I am one of the relatively few who plays the "slow" speed sng. The reasons are many, but mostly because I get to play some real poker and not only push/fold. Furthermore I dont see so many regs in these games, and I dont need to make a high hourly.
I started playing about 5 years ago. Deposited some $200 and played cash and tournaments. Worked my online bankroll nice and steady to around $2,500 located on numerous different sites. Two years ago I fell in love with sit & go'es after reading Collin Moshmans book.
Now I am kind af a nerd when it comes to mathematics and stuff like that - like gamingtheory. So I wacuumed the internet for every article, blog, video and everything else, and studied my ass off becoming familiar with all the strategies and techniques in these games. And now I finally feel I master these games, playing them well and winning.
Thats all for now - you got to know a little about me. Next post will be more i depth with my sng-games so far.
I'm not like most of you young guns who grind long hours day in and day out. I would love to be so, but unfortenately i was born way before poker took off, so I have to deal with poker as a hobby. Yes, as you now guessed, I'm kind of an oldtimer - 46 - but my mind is still going strong, in fact maybe even stronger than ever.
As you can see from my blogtitle, I am one of the relatively few who plays the "slow" speed sng. The reasons are many, but mostly because I get to play some real poker and not only push/fold. Furthermore I dont see so many regs in these games, and I dont need to make a high hourly.
I started playing about 5 years ago. Deposited some $200 and played cash and tournaments. Worked my online bankroll nice and steady to around $2,500 located on numerous different sites. Two years ago I fell in love with sit & go'es after reading Collin Moshmans book.
Now I am kind af a nerd when it comes to mathematics and stuff like that - like gamingtheory. So I wacuumed the internet for every article, blog, video and everything else, and studied my ass off becoming familiar with all the strategies and techniques in these games. And now I finally feel I master these games, playing them well and winning.
Thats all for now - you got to know a little about me. Next post will be more i depth with my sng-games so far.
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