Friday, April 28, 2006
New game plan
Sorry for the lack of posting here, but what free time I've had in the evenings I've used to play a tourney (or two, if I go out early in the first one). I've spent a little time in the ring games, but very little. My focus has become tournaments, and I've been sticking to the 1.00 + .20 /45 person SnG tourneys at Stars, with one exception of playing a 1.50 + .25 turbo /18 person when I was short on time one evening.
I've done fairly well in the tournaments recently, at least for me. I've been working on my tournament play and it has paid off. I finally started using PokerTracker and it is showing me that I am in the black on tournament play. I've played 13 of the 1 + .20, paying 15.60 in entries and fees, winning 35.00 for a net of 19.40 (ROI 124.36%), finishing in the money 6 times. I've played 1 of the 1.50 + .25 and finished 3rd for 5.40, making a profit of 3.65 (ROI 208.57%).
Now I know this is not a big enough result set to be any indicator of solid tournament success. But analyzing my play shows that I've made very few "stupid" moves. One tournament where I finished 4th, I was the chip leader and had 2 back-to-back major suckouts from the same player to put me out. He even said "sorry" after the second one. First hand I had pocket AA going in, and on the river the 4th club hit the board to give him my flush. I had half my stack in - he was all in - so he doubled up. Next hand I get all money in pre-flop with KK. He calls, shows QT. A T hits on the flop, then the third T hits on the turn and I'm out. It's been little stuff like that.
Last night I finished 7th. I went out on a hand I could have played better, but was next-to-last in the chip stacks and felt the need to make a move with 99. Got called by JJ and that was it. So, didn't have the best hand going in, but with an M < 2, something had to be done. With a 2.00 payout for 7th, the tourney still paid for itself.
So my PokerStars bankroll now stands at 54.xx. I'm going to continue to focus on tourneys with some occasional uber-tight ring game play here and there. Once I build my bankroll up to 100.00, I may start trying the 5.00 tourneys and see how that goes. Any comments or suggestions?
I also played some at Party Poker in the last week. I logged in there after reading about people having money added to their account. Sure enough, there was a $20.00 bonus waiting for me there. Just play 200 raked hands and it's mine. And I can use their 20.00 to play my 200 raked hands. Ok, great. I play about 90 hands late last week, run my balance up to 26.xx. Then I forget about it. I realize Wed night that I had to clear another 110 hands that night, so I transfer in some money from my Neteller account and do some 4 tabling at .10/.25 to get my hands out of the way. I make it in about an hour, but along the way manage to give away most of my bonus money. I just end up with an 9.00 profit, which I transfer out (along with the money I transferred in) and it sits in Neteller waiting for the next bonus opportunity.
Two lessons learned here: 1) I still don't like the Party Poker interface much, even with the recent upgrades, and 2) I am not ready to 4 table. I need to focus on what I'm doing more in order to make good decisions and 4 tabling doesn't allow me to do that. I've done 2 tables, and I'm pretty comfortable with that, but I think I play my most effective poker when I have the time to watch the other players on the hands I'm not involved in. Helps me to push those small edges a little more.
I've done fairly well in the tournaments recently, at least for me. I've been working on my tournament play and it has paid off. I finally started using PokerTracker and it is showing me that I am in the black on tournament play. I've played 13 of the 1 + .20, paying 15.60 in entries and fees, winning 35.00 for a net of 19.40 (ROI 124.36%), finishing in the money 6 times. I've played 1 of the 1.50 + .25 and finished 3rd for 5.40, making a profit of 3.65 (ROI 208.57%).
Now I know this is not a big enough result set to be any indicator of solid tournament success. But analyzing my play shows that I've made very few "stupid" moves. One tournament where I finished 4th, I was the chip leader and had 2 back-to-back major suckouts from the same player to put me out. He even said "sorry" after the second one. First hand I had pocket AA going in, and on the river the 4th club hit the board to give him my flush. I had half my stack in - he was all in - so he doubled up. Next hand I get all money in pre-flop with KK. He calls, shows QT. A T hits on the flop, then the third T hits on the turn and I'm out. It's been little stuff like that.
Last night I finished 7th. I went out on a hand I could have played better, but was next-to-last in the chip stacks and felt the need to make a move with 99. Got called by JJ and that was it. So, didn't have the best hand going in, but with an M < 2, something had to be done. With a 2.00 payout for 7th, the tourney still paid for itself.
So my PokerStars bankroll now stands at 54.xx. I'm going to continue to focus on tourneys with some occasional uber-tight ring game play here and there. Once I build my bankroll up to 100.00, I may start trying the 5.00 tourneys and see how that goes. Any comments or suggestions?
I also played some at Party Poker in the last week. I logged in there after reading about people having money added to their account. Sure enough, there was a $20.00 bonus waiting for me there. Just play 200 raked hands and it's mine. And I can use their 20.00 to play my 200 raked hands. Ok, great. I play about 90 hands late last week, run my balance up to 26.xx. Then I forget about it. I realize Wed night that I had to clear another 110 hands that night, so I transfer in some money from my Neteller account and do some 4 tabling at .10/.25 to get my hands out of the way. I make it in about an hour, but along the way manage to give away most of my bonus money. I just end up with an 9.00 profit, which I transfer out (along with the money I transferred in) and it sits in Neteller waiting for the next bonus opportunity.
Two lessons learned here: 1) I still don't like the Party Poker interface much, even with the recent upgrades, and 2) I am not ready to 4 table. I need to focus on what I'm doing more in order to make good decisions and 4 tabling doesn't allow me to do that. I've done 2 tables, and I'm pretty comfortable with that, but I think I play my most effective poker when I have the time to watch the other players on the hands I'm not involved in. Helps me to push those small edges a little more.
